Guests not disclosing who is traveling with them?

[Pete-and-Barbi0]

Recently we have had a slew of guests booking for one then showing up as party of two. We have a home share and we want to know who is in our home but have been probably too patient with people. Today we had the guest check in and turns out it is couple with a small child and an infant. 

Our listing notes we are not a good fit for small children, primarily because we have a hot tub and are concerned about child safety. Our listing also notes if there are any children present the hot tub will remained locked for the the entire stay - no exceptions.

We knocked and advised we were not aware of the children coming and the hot tub would be locked. They still started up about, 'if we decide to use hot tub.' We flatly explained that is not an option.

What is best option to deal with this? Should we request a booking update? We won't require payment for the 3 year old, but want to document their non disclosure so if we get a bad review we can dispute it.

What to do?

We changed the listing limiting now to 2 people in hopes of avoiding this problem in the future, but that makes us less accesable for groups of 3 or 4 adults.

[Nina75]

@Pete-and-Barbi0  The first thing that I do as soon as a guest books is I ask them How many people will be coming with them on the trip. (Period)  Very simple Question (keep it friendly, and non-threatening).  Here is an Example: Hi "Guest", I just want to get a Confirmation on the amount of people you will be bringing. Do you have 9 Adults or a mixture of adults and kids? How many adults and how many kids? Thanks  🙂

2nd thing that I do is after I get confirmation I remind them how many people they are bringing and that certain parts of the house are not available for their group (or Are available) depending on the size of the group.  Here is an Example: Thanks for the info I appreciate your honesty, just a friendly reminder that, the Guest House is not Available for less than 16 People, I keep it locked for safety reasons, if the size of your group changes keep me updated. 🙂

I also have a security Camera right at the front door so I know exactly how many people come and go from the unit and I count them.  Don't let people mess with your income. Put it back and 4 people and remind them that there is a security camera at the front door for their protection. 

When I confront guests who cheat the system and try to be slick, I feel that I am doing ALL AIRBNB HOSTS A FAVOR. We cant let people just run over us. If AirBnb hosts are know as pushover then people will just continue to take advantage of us.

The other thing is that you don't want to be rude or mean, I dont like it when hosts are rude to guests that bring kids. I just think that you need to politely ask them to pay up.

[Linda3345]

I communicate with my guests as soon as they book, asking if they are bringing any pets, and I want to know the ages of the children. I prepare especially when children are expected. I do a different level of child-proofing if there will be a toddler, and I set out appropriate age toys and books for all ages of children. This is one of my favorite parts of hosting!  

I feel it is my responsibility to know how many people (and approximate ages) are staying in my home overnight. I think of the worst-case scenario, like say a tornado hit or something, I would want to know how many people might need to be rescued. 

[Gregory87]

@Pete-and-Barbi0 :  When we first starting hosting, there were sometimes "misunderstandings" about reservation dates, number of guests, and whether there were adults, kids, and/or infants.  As @Linda3345 and @Nina75 have mentioned above, you need to verify the information you received from the guest during the booking.

Hence, we started to parrot the dates they entered as well as the number of guests (and list the breakdown if it is a mix of adults and children) as part of the Welcome/confirmation message.  Finally, I also state, "In preparation for your stay, please provide the first and last names of all overnight guests.  We must know specifically who is residing in the premises due to insurance regulations and safety/security practices."  Like @Linda3345 , if there is a fire/tornado or other emergency, I want to be able to determine who is safely out of the rental and share who might still be inside to first responders.  Should there be an insurance claim, it should involve people who were recognized paying guests.

Guests MUST provide this information before I will provide the door code upon their arrival.  Also, I have a doorbell camera and can see who is entering/leaving the rental.  

As a host, you must be proactive in running your Airbnb as you see fit!  If a guests arrives with additional people or invites "a friend or relative" to stay overnight, I quickly advise them of my policies and explain that they need to submit additional payments to cover their stay.  Most guests are understanding and will comply without an issue.

Good luck.

[Nina75]

I dont ask for names of guests because that to me is a little bit intrusive, and when you have larger properties it is meaningless. it not like we are going to verify everyones ID. I think over the last 10yrs Ive looked at 2 Id's.

[Louise1073]

It sounds like you have managed guest expectations pretty clearly in your listing. I agree it's best to repeat/reinforce in the messages but it's hard to double check everything - some guests will really blindside you. All you can do is politely and firmly enforce your house rules. Especially because these rules are for the safety of guests and children, I think it's completely reasonable to enforce them. Guest wellbeing come before anyone's comfort.