<Entire apartment hosted by ____ 2 guests · Studio · 1 bed · 1 bath

[Charl2838]

I am confused about this ad. I booked this ad by the understanding that by default 2 guests are assumed and not just one. And then you have to pay more for the second guest. 

Because when I made the booking I did not bother to change the guests from 1 to 2 because this ad clearly states to me that 2 people are assumed and that I'm renting an entire apartment.  Now the owner wants to charge me almost double per night for my girlfriend. That makes this from being just affordable to very expensive.

Also at the price block, it states R250 / night. Not R250 per night per person.
 

I'm very disappointed, is there some way to resolve a matter like this?

[Charl2838]

You are a host, right? Guests don't know or care about this. Guests see an ad that says Entire Apartment for a price. Then it means the entire apartment costs a price and not per person any more. Now it is like renting a house and not a room or a bed. So the pax does not matter. None of the other ads in the area for full apartments increases the price per person. It is not logical;
https://www.airbnb.co.za/rooms/46766318?check_in=2021-02-01&check_out=2021-02-28&source_impression_i...

https://www.airbnb.co.za/rooms/44111306?check_in=2021-03-01&source_impression_id=p3_1609860213_6YzuN...

[Charl2838]

You stated: "You assumed that it was the same price for 1 or 2 adults.
Some other travellers assumed is it the same price for 1 or 4 adults, 2 children, 1 baby and 2 big dogs (real case).".

I did not assume, I read the ad that said Entire Apartment - "2 Guests". Nothing was assumed. It was stated

[Charl2838]

The ad was clear: Entire Apartment - 2 Guests - Price.

No assumptions needed to know that I'm renting an entire apartment for 2 guests for a price. Please tell me what I am assuming. You are assuming I care about the technicalities and what the practise is in the business.

I am not in the Airbnb business, I bought something that was advertised for a price. It was clearly stated in one unambiguous line of English that we all understand.  There is nothing to assume about the heading and no further terms can explain away a statement saying that I will be paying a price for an entire apartment for 2 guests. 

Ask anyone that is not a Host what they know they are getting when they read that line, not what they are assuming but knowing. Like seeing a price on a car. You know you are getting all the weels. Not just 1. Come on people stop trying to protect bad practise and deceiving headlines. If you are running an honest establishment you won't be trying to attract business in this way. Most of the other reputable places in he are do not ask more for the second person if it is for the Entire place.

The host made it an average price for 2 and a complete ripoff for 2. Now even rising the prices after I moved in to further exploit the second person.

What am I missing here?

[Marit-Anne0]

@Charl2838 I am a host and a guest and I book on different platforms, not only on airbnb. 

It is simple, you need to enter the correct number of guests to get the correct pricing.

Different hosts choose different pricing models, you just happened to come across one that do not have a pricing model with a flat rate for up to two. And as said above, you are prompted by the system at the time of booking to enter the correct number of guests for various reasons, one of them is the price calculation, another terms of contract.

[Charl2838]

That is not the point about how I should book. The book is how the owner should advertise. If he said per person per night then I will choose the number of people. If I already own the entire house for the week it negates the purpose of choosing the number of people because I can now have the max there because the entire place is mine.

[Charl2838]

Why would Entire Apartments be more expensive then other places if you got nothing by renting the entire place. The fact is no one else can rent the space on the bed next to me, no one else except the people I invite in can make use of anything inside. So why should the owner be making money from something I am already renting from him. How can someone rent out the same thing to two people at the same time? You can't advertise something to rent as a whole but then break it up into beds when it suits you. Most of the places that advertise places as a whole don't charge more for the second person because what are you making the second person pay for. Because the second person is in a place that is in effect owned by someone else and can there for not be sold to him/her

[Johanna394]

"Most of the places that advertise places as a whole don't charge more for the second person because what are you making the second person pay for"

I am not an AIRBNB host or houseowner (so people correct me if I am entirely wrong about this), but other related charges come to my mind, like water, electricity, etc. The usage of those, and therefore the bills of the owner-host, are likely to increase the more people reside in the property, and so in some cases, perhaps the host wishes to cover the extra costs by charging per head per night?

@Charl2838 

[Charl2838]

Now the owner even pushed up the prices per night, because I'm now forced to pay for the extra person he now hikes the prices to get even more from this exploit. And with the Lockdown we have here, we are not allowed outside after 8 pm so of my girl came here after work she would get here at 7 pm and then she would almost have to leave again. This will effectively split us for a month.

[Lisa723]

@Charl2838 I see your point, but hosts have no control over how Airbnb displays the ad. It displays the maximum allowed guest count. It also makes it very easy for guests to accidentally forget to update their guest count, or, like you, not realize it is important. (It also displays the lowest available nightly price until you enter your dates.) 

So, please don't blame your host. While I personally wouldn't have a base price for one person, exactly because many people assume base price is for double occupancy, it's completely allowed and many hosts do it. All Airbnb users really need to acquaint themselves with how the platform works to avoid unmet expectations.

[Sarah977]

You came here looking for advice, yet you have pushed back at everything everyone has told you because it isn't what you wanted to hear.

Renting a place on a short term rental platform isn't like renting a house or apartment privately on a log term lease. When a homeowner rents a place on a long-term lease, they get references from the prospective renter, work history, the full ID of the renter, first ad last month's rent, and a proper security deposit, etc, etc. They have assurances that short term rental hosts don't have. And when you rent a place like that, the place is essentially yours for the duration of your lease- you can have anyone over you want, whenever you want.

Booking a Airbnb isn't like that. Whether the host charges the same price no matter the number of guests or has a base price for one or two guests and an extra guest fee for any additional guests, you still need to enter the number of guests who will be staying on the booking form. As another poster pointed out, you are prompted to do this when you book, but you obviously ignored that prompt.

Had you entered the correct number of guests in the first place, you would have gotten the correct pricing to start with, and could have avoided all this.

Yes, additional guests cost the host more money. More water, more electricity and other utilities, more towels to wash, and whatever the host provides, like toilet paper, soap, etc. 

Perhaps the host could have made his listing title more clear, but you are the one at fault for not entering the correct number of people who would be staying when you were prompted to.

@Charl2838

[Nathalie-Et-Gilles0]

@Charl2838 

Your reservation (contract) is for 1 people.
You have no right, contractually, to come with someone else in this studio.

For the insurance and the tourist tax, the number of people must be correct.

So now, you can :

- ask to change the number of people from 1 to 2.

- cancel the reservation. If you booked in less than 48 hours and if your stay in more than 14 days, you can cancel without penalty. If not, check the cancellation policy which can be flexible, moderate or strict.
- come alone.

Keep in mind that you did the mistake not entering the true number of people.
Some travelers do that to cheat because they don't want to pay for extra people and tourist tax.
In this case, the host has to right to refuse to let you come in and he can cancel the reservation on your behalf.

To be sure it is not a bug as suggest @Marit-Anne0, you can ask the host to send you a request for modification of the number of people so he can check the price is good.

[Lorna170]

Both you and the host have a problem.  The host assumed that one person was renting his accommodation, so he agreed on the price.  However, you did not disclose that a second person would be there, so the host could not agree on the price, AND the host was unaware that there would be more than one person in the accommodation.  This could bring about insurance liability issues.

To be fair, the advertisement does imply that the entire apartment is available for 2 guests at a single price.  Nowhere does it say that there is a fee for a second guest. The property has one bed, so a second guest would also have to sleep with the first guest.   

As a property owner, I would honor my contract with the current guest as we BOTH made mistakes.  I would also immediately update my listing to ensure that all interested persons know that there is a price for a second guest, and all guests must be disclosed at time of booking.

@Charl2838 

[Colleen253]

For sure the host could minimize confusion in future, by adding some statements to the listing description and house rules, but as @Charl2838 said "... when I made the booking I did not bother to change the guests from 1 to 2 ". "The host assumed that one person was renting his accommodation", because that's what @Charl2838 entered in his booking. If he had entered correct information when prompted to do so, the price would have updated. One would hope this host starts confirming number of guests before accepting a booking, after this mess.

[Lisa723]

@Lorna170 the host has no control over the fact that Airbnb headlines the ad with "2 guests" and the lowest available nightly rate for one guest.

[Lorna170]

If the host charges for a second guest, why is that not in the listing description?

I maintain that both the guest and the host are wrong.  They can now choose to honor the contract that they are in, or the guest can vacate.