Guest Breakdown Adults + Children

[Jessica2253]

Good Morning,

Sorry for the newbie question. I am just wondering if it is possible to set the breakdown of guests.

I only appear to be able to set my total number of guests : 3

However I need this to be 2 adults and 1 child.

The room is not suitable for 3 adults as the sofa bed is very short so only really appropriate for up to 12yrs really.

I cant even change the beds as this isn't a "toddler bed" as fine for older kids but not adults.

I have put this VERY clearly in my description but I still get people booking for 3 adults in a room which I need to stop.

I don't want to cancel people as I get penalized for this even though people aren't reading the information.

Please help! I don't want to let people down!

[Sarah977 · Accepted solution]

@Jessica2253  There's really no way to separate it out. When you list a max guest count of 3 people, those searching for a place for 3 will have your ad come up. Many guests don't bother to read through the listing info.

What I would do in your situation is change the max guest count to 2, then say in your ad that you can accept 2 adults and 1 child, that there is a sofa bed that is not long enough for an adult. You could have an extra fee for the child of $10 or $15. You should probably state the length of the bed. There are 12 year olds that are less than 5 ft. tall and 12 year olds that are 5'7".

I would also have a photo of the sofa bed made up as a bed, with wording superimposed on the photo or captioned, that says "Sofa bed is only Xx ft. long. Suitable only for a child."

State in your listing that guests will only be able to enter the max guest count of 2 on their booking, but that they must let you know if they are bringing a child, so you can add the extra fee to cover the extra bedding, towels, and other essentials(or don't charge for the child, it's up to you), and prepare the space for 3, rather than 2.

That's the best I can come up with, maybe other hosts will chime in with other suggestions.

[Jessica2253]

Thank you for your help on this, I really appreciate it. Maybe listing as a 2 will be a better idea, at least no one will be disappointed when they book. I think i was just surprised, many people seem to book without reading as its the first line of my listing information.

Great idea on the photo though!! I will definitely do this and maybe add the measurement on there when I've checked it too!

Thank you so much!!!! 

Its odd that you cant choose to set the number of adults and children when that's the information you have to enter when searching for a property, it feels like that's a pointless step 😄

[Sarah977]

@Jessica2253  I only host a private room in my home for 1 guest, but I know a lot of hosts are frustrated by not being able to do exactly what you want to do in terms of being able to have a setting for breakdown of adults and children. You're not the only host who has been faced with this dilemma.

[Colleen253]

@Jessica2253 “…many people seem to book without reading as its the first line of my listing information.”

It’s a rare guets who will. People aren’t reading your house rules either. You can also turn off instant book and have request to book only. That way you can communicate info and ask questions of guests before accepting them, to clarify things as needed. ie “Please let me know who you’re bringing with you”, and “you’re aware of such and such, as noted in the listing description and house rules?”

[Elena87]

@Jessica2253 

The reason you firstly select the number of adults and children on the search parameters is that some listings have restrictions on children aged 2-12 and can label their listing as unsuitable for this age group. 

These restricted listings don't appear in subsequent search results.

With a private room, maybe it's best to stick to two guests maximum, probably you will find it much more comfortable at this level as a host, even though its tempting to stretch numbers to appeal to more potential bookers.

[Peter3213]

I have the same issue. Our condo is great for families with children. We do not really want more that two adults and up to three children in the apartment.

This area is known to have a lot of young people taking apartments apart. The OTHER site allows you to restrict the rentals to 2 adults and 3 children. It also allows us to control the age of the people booking.

 I'm shocked that Airbnb does not offer this.

[Erin5946]

I think the best decision is to put a recliner (where people can sleep comfortably) not to cancel people. Recliners don't take much space and you can find them at a reasonable price. I have the second one from this https://www.reclinerland.com/best-zero-gravity-chairs/ and really advise it. I suppose if it's a family of 3 (mother,child and father) then the father can sacrifice a little of his comfort in favor of people close to him and sleep in the recliner 🙂