Being clear about space for adults and children

[Kassie10]

Our property comfortable sleeps 4 adults and 3 children. When we set up the rental, I did not see where I can separate the two. However, we have it in the listing description clearly. We are having some issues with people booking "7 people" and I'm worried that it will continue to be an issue. Is there a way to put how many adults and how many children you allow more clearly so that if they search "4 adults, 3 kids" we'll populate, but if they just put "7 adults" we won't?

Thanks!

[Alexandra316]

@Kassie10 There is no way to do that, no. I see that you already note it in your description near the top, which is good, but I would also re-state it in your rules. Perhaps something like:

- We allow a maximum of 4 adults and 3 children in our listing, including infants. [as an aside, Airbnb does not count infants as guests, so be aware].

You may even want to break it down further, given your sleeping arrangements: 7 people total allowed, 4 adults, 2 children, 1 infant (technically 6 guest maximum as per Airbnb).

However, the bottom line is, people don't read. I used to allow my space to be booked by 6 people maximum, but I stipulated in several places that it was okay for 6 for one nighters only (mostly to accommodate friends attending wine country weddings, a common thing for our area). I still had people booking for longer, and it was just more trouble than it was worth. Maybe best just to allow fewer people, or accept that people will try and push the envelope.

[Kassie10]

Thanks for the response! I appreciate it and have added that to the house rules section. I think, for now, we'll leave it as is. Then, change it if it seems to give us trouble. Thanks!

[Kerri28]

Hi @Kassie10 I have the same issue! Our space can sleep 8 (plus a portable crib for an infant), but I will not accept 8 adults. My one and only experience with 8 adults turned out to be my first Airbnb "resolution case" and also my first hosting experience with considerable damage. It did not end well.  I have in all caps with asterisks ** etc as the first line of my description *4 ADULTS MAX*. Then I go on to say I sleep 4 adults plus 4 children. I also have it in my house rules. In the last month, (Christmas season is huge for us), I've had 2 parties book with 8 adults. They don't read!!  It's shocking.  Anyway, Airbnb cancelled those immediately for me, and I will supposedly not be penalized. It's in my rules! They are already breaking my rules and they haven't even arrived (!!!!!)

Anyway, my make-shift solution is that I am featured as a "family" rental on Airbnb. If you aren't already, I would highly recommend that you jump through those hoops.  I also mention "kids welcome" or "family-friendly" in my title. And my most recent solution, which is not really a solution at all, but it will hopefully get me through my busy winter, is I changed my maximum to 6 people. I have 5 beds, so smart people can do the math, and some families actually probably search by bed count rather than number of people. If they actually read, they will see I can accommodate families quite easily. But those party-people with 8 adults won't ever see me.

I've asked Airbnb countless times to consider allowing hosts to specify max adults and max kids. It would help people like us a lot, and mitigate the parties (which we don't allow). Best of luck to you and Merry Christmas!

[Inna22]

@Kassie10 your title is pretty short. You can add it to the title "for up to 4 adults and 3 kids". Even though it does say pretty high up in the description, I would not necessarily assume that you can not do 7 adults and it has to be 3 kids. Plus my 14 year old son is taller than my husband. So more details about age or reason for limitation?