Minimum Number of Guests

[Yadira22]

Hello All,

hope you are well.

i have an « entire place » listing- composed of 4 beds and 2 bedrooms and everything has been set up accordingly.

is there any way I can put a minimum number of guests similar to dates- have looked around but no real solution has been provided and realistically do not want to rent this space out to just two people who want a separate toilet- especially as we are restricted to renting up to 90 days per calendar year (for entire places in London).
Thank you in advance 🙏🏻

Yadira 🙂

[Ricardo85]

@Yadira22 

Set up your price so it becomes expensive for only two guests.

Ricardo

[Anonymous]

@Yadira22  It's not possible to set a minimum number of guests. But your base price need not have anything to do with the number of guests.

If one or two people are happy to pay full price for more space than they need, how is that a problem?

[Reason1]

I agree with Andrew. 

If you are getting the booking at full price what does it matter if 1 person booked it. 

If there is something we are missing definitely do what Ricardo said 🙂

Hope we[they] helped lol !

[Yadira22]

Hi 

thank you for responding

@Ricardo85 we do this already 

@Anonymous and @Reason1 we have several reasons as to do this

- London has a 90 day rule meaning whole places can only be rented out for stays less than 90 consecutive days up to 90 days per calendar year and truthfully If renting for longer than 3 months Airbnb would not be my ideal first choice.

- several times we have groups booking but putting reserving under one guest only as “to save money” and they want to get over the paying more by informing me via the Airbnb messaging service the true guest total. It’s happened enough times that it’s getting a bit tiresome. 

When booking entire places guests will pay the premium price for the sense of privacy- but with a limited window and an added risk of house parties etc I was wondering if I could avoid both situations whilst possibly increasing my earning potential. Hope this makes sense. 

either way- thank you! 🙂

[Alon1]

@Yadira22 

It seems you are getting plenty of warnings, but not doing anything to counter it, failing to uphold your own rule: 'no guests outside of the registered group.'

Firstly, it's extremely rare for 1 person to book an entire flat for 6 people.

For those 'informing me via the Airbnb messaging service', you simply reply via the messaging service that numbers need to be precise, adding that Airbnb 'Host Guarantee' won't apply, therefore you can only accept the booking if a formal ALTERATION to the booking is applied.

For those who don't inform you, as soon as you discover it, you phone Airbnb to contact the guest with ultimatum to pay the difference or booking will be cancelled.

I would only acknowledge you face a greater difficulty as you have self-check in. Perhaps also if you use Instant Book? (I don't know how it works since I don't use IB.)

The only alternative would seem to be to scrap self check-in and be there in person to greet every group. 

Finally, just to clarify, as a live-in Host, and one who doesn't do IB, though I'm occasionally confronted by this issue, it's very simple to resolve. It's more common that Enquiry is for 1 guest but a plurality 'we' is mentioned in the message. I reply that 'Airbnb will only process the booking & apply Host Guarantee with the correct number of people. --' It's far more rare for the single guest to book only to inform me afterwards and still prior to arrival. Anytime it's happened I've sent the guest an Alteration request with which they've complied. 

[Yadira22]

Hi @Alon1 

thank you for the feedback. 

Upon every booking we ask the guest to reconfirm their group size and full names, if incorrect we send an amended reservation on Airbnb as to counter this and mention the need to cancel if not accepted and if we already see they are not great at responding we remind them that  any cancellation if penalty free the first 48 hours after booking etc and deal with it as it happens in varying ways. 

 As mentioned above a lot of those who do try this are new to the platform or simply cheeky. 

i already talk with Airbnb if the reservation change has been acknowledged but not accepted by the guest  after 24 hours and get it cancelled by guest. 

Regarding the check in we use a local business for key collection and I get told when exactly the guest collected these and we have an exterior camera Outside our property and probably London’s biggest gossip (but lovely) neighbour. So we verify again.

We do fix this situation before arrival and only once did they come and it was not fixed before but we handled it. And it was not done simply because the lady who booked had the worse sense of communication and only responded after she realised she messed up and already arrived but this was for a double occupancy room not entire flat. 

As mentioned before I wanted to avoid this situation and this is why I ask if possible- guessing it’s not or seriously hidden as a feature. I do wish Airbnb automatically set the count at zero or there was a minimum guest count etc as it would seriously minimise these occurrences.

However, thank you for both your time and insight! Have a gorgeous day 🙂

[Alon1]

@Yadira22 

Thanks for reply.

re  'I do wish Airbnb automatically set the count at zero or there was a minimum guest count etc as it would seriously minimise these occurrences.'

I must confess it's not clear to me how this would work in practicality?

I think the current system with count set at 1 Guest is fine, because the vast majority who book with me clearly understand it, and like you I get quite a lot of first time users. -- Very few genuinely don't understand or try it on.

[Yadira22]

@Alon1 

i think the problem is with the app

when I book if the correct number of guests is not inserted before the search for a place is done then by default it’s set at one and unless you are sincere and observant this is not caught beforehand. Personally I think it’s unfair to both the guest (primarily) and host but the desktop site does not have this issue.

if set at zero- the guest needs to confirm the correct number as a booking with 0 guests is not logically sound. So guests should need to manually update this with the correct information before booking etc is even allowed. I think it would be an added safeguard for hosts who do entire listings or double occupancy rooms. The majority of guests are sincere when booking but there is always one or two... 

[Alon1]

@Yadira22 

I am not familiar with the App as I only use desktop.

Still, if the default was set 0 guests, I believe the 'one or two' who wish to try it on, will likely still do so.

My most recent experience was of a young lady, first time user, who booked for one, and after the booking informed that she will be accompanied by her mother. -- I replied by sending Alteration and explaining the reason as well as informing her it will be more expensive.

She complied immediately, but explained that she thought it was 'like booking a hotel room'.

I didn't reply since she complied, but if I would have, would have stated that to the best of my knowledge even hotels advertize different size rooms for various numbers.  

[Reason1]

Yes, I completely understand this! 

Hope you find a solution that works soon 💛 Good luck