Looking for advice on how to handle a common problem. Book for 1 person when there are 2

[Laurie116]

Hey y'all!

I've been an airbnb host for a while and I don't recall this happening so frequently until now. I have a separate apartment in my house as the bnb. People frequently book for 1 guest and show up with 2 people. During the slow months, I lower the weekday price and rely on the additional person fee to cover my costs. The additional fee of $10/night is nominal but helps cover the additional bedding/laundry, etc.  I'm able to charge a higher rate for the weekend nights, so its not a big deal.  When I've asked for the additional fee, I've received 4/5 reviews on value. I routinely have guests tell me that I could charge more, so I don't believe this is the reason I'm getting the <5/5 review. I feel that people don't like being told they owe more money after they've already booked. As the host, I would prefer not to be responsible for collecting on this as it makes me look like I'm in it for the money. Whether its done in error or its intentional, I feel that airbnb should step in, so the host can focus on being a great host and airbnb can manage the finances. Anyone else having this problem? Laurie in Austin

[Kelly149]

@Laurie116 Lots of ways to handle this. 

- make your listing clear that you expect an accurate guest count

-ask for all names & info on all guests IMMEDIATELY after the res is booked

- don’t feel bad when asking the guest to correct this

- charge the same for 1 or 2 or 3

This is a very common problem & even if you adopt some or all of those suggestions you will probably still be dealing with this in some way or another 

[Andrew157]

We have the same price for our place for 1 or 2 guests. We have only had one solo traveller 

Oddly we only got knocked down to 4* by a guest who got 10% weekly discount for a 9 day stay.  Since reducing to a 5% weekly discount we have not had this problem.

It is about perception of the price being good value rather than the actual price. 

[Bobbi15]

It may be due to an expectation that most hotels don't charge more for 2 ppl in the room unless there are meals of any type included.  Even then, the rate often is based on double occupancy.  Maybe build that in to include 2 if the market is higher than you are charging?  Avoids all the stress of 1 or 2.  Or...if you accept a single, note that the pricing is for a single and if there are additional people that show up, there is an additional fee of (X) amount.  Then it's upfront so no surprises for the guest who does a +1.

[Lawrene0]

Not sure how Airbnb will step in, @Laurie116, but there are a couple of things you can do. First of all, the default when booking from a phone is 1 person. I have had lots of guests book for 1 then tell me the boyfriend is coming. Not their fault, as setting it to 2 is easily missed. At that point I ask them to change the reservation to 2 or I put in that alteration myself. Which one depends on how capable they seem at navigating the site. So communicating ahead of the stay is one solution.

If, as in your question, they indicate that only 1 person is coming, but 2 show up, you can deny entrance to the 2nd person. In this case Airbnb sort of steps in, in that you can blame them for it. "I'm sorry. I can host only the number of people who have booked. It is company policy."

You can then suggest they alter the reservation on the spot and that you will accept it immediately to avoid any inconvenience for them.   

Will that help?  

[Fred13]

@Laurie116you have a lovely place.

   Just a thought, but it struck me as your approach perhaps requires too many follow-up adjustments. Making your offering to two (2) people as the default from the outset covers perhaps the most 'common' situation; a couple and/or two separate people sharing a room, but not a bed and perhaps making the price $75 will eliminate a lot of logistics on your part. I wonder if charging for a 3rd person, an odd combination, is even worth it.

   The emphasis on you being legal also caught my attention, I wonder if potential guests should be so thoroughly informed, outside of just mentioning it once, at the end; including your actual license number won't show up anyway because Airbnb blocks numbers.

   I adore dogs, and you are a vet (so is my daughter), the explanation of the dog reality left me with the impression - 'Thank God there are two separate entrances, in case 'Fido' doesn't warm up to you too quickly'.

   With guests oftentimes it is best to not to give them too much to think about or consider.

   Again, a lovely place and it is obvious you are a very caring person, just speaking from a business perspective.

[Matthew285]

@Laurie116, this is a difficult problem!

I did not want to face the challenge of having to argue with guests trying to check in the wrong number of people, so we just set our price to be the same for any number of guests (up to capacity, of course).

We were hoping that this would give guests little incentive to specify the wrong number of people, as all they would be doing would be to short themselves on the number of towels and welcome chocolates.

Having a generally higher price also seems to dissuade the problem guests from booking.

Do you think your situation would be worse if you made the price to be the 2 person price all the time, for everyone?

[Marzena4]

One more person means using more water, electricity, one more towel, sometimes more bed linen, @Laurie116. If they request two beds, even more work to make them. Don't feel ashamed to request that money/alter their reservations. 

[Fred13]

  That is one cost @Marzena4 , but the exercise over keeping track of how many the booking was intended for, who finally shows up, and the added step of charging is another 'cost'.

   Personally, the last thing I like to do with guests is even talk about money, if I can help it; I do by charging a flat price, now we can talk only about their visit and how I can help make it better.

[Andrea9]

@Laurie116

If you change your listing price for 2 guests it will show:

"Extra guests: No charges"

So that will probably not solve your problem.

I've seen a couple hosts who say they've solved the problem by stating a default price for the maximum # of guests they want and then add an exorbitant extra guest charge .

You could also keep as is and send a confirmation message thanking them for their reservation for ONE guest. I'd also re-iteratethere will be ID check (and maybe registration) upon arrival acc. to your area's regulations (whether that's a real regulation isn't something they'll be checking. It could even just be your insurance demanding this.). However, an ID check is something that needs to be announced in your House rules. It has an additional effect of keeping most in check since they know you have their data 🙂

Nothing against trying out all versions for a period of time in rote to see what works best for you.

[Fred13]

She can always -

Make the base price for 2 guest and put '$10' for extra guest beyond two (2) which cancels out the 'Extra Guests: No charges' statement. Then set the limit of guests to 3.

[Marzena4]

I know, @Fred13, and starting pricing with one guest is, imho, only possible when you can have some control over it. If it's a room listed, it makes sense - there are a bunch of solo travellers and, just like in my case, @Laurie116, it helps them find a cheap place to explore the city. In your case, it is the whole apartment within your house, right? Ask the question: what kind of solo traveller would need the whole apartment? And then they would rather search for a studio for 1. It's the eternal problem with whole places - the easiest to cheat the host, damage etc.

[Fred13]

I heard you, always a dilemma. Perhaps set it at a 'compromise' price ($69) and make life easier for all.

[Sally4]

I know an ABNB host that charges $200 for extra guests.  Her way of saying "No Guests." She says it is effective...

[Laurie116]

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful suggestions and differing perspectives! After weighing all of the opinions agains my own philosophy, I do feel that I want to offer a lower price to an individual traveler because it seems like the old school airbnb thing to do. I will reach out to the guests on an individual basis by having them alter or myself altering the reservation and give them the opportunity to cancel if they feel that the additional fee is too much. Hopefully, this will prevent the negative perception and still allow me to offer a discount to 1 vs 2.

In regards to the comment about having info about my dog in the listing. I agree that some people will be turned off, but because I'm a vet, I do have a much larger responsibility in terms of liability and the last thing I want for my dog is for people to feel free to approach him when he's in his yard/his space. He is a sweet boy but he is absolutely terrified of people he doesn't know and its not fair to him. I'm afraid that if I didn't have anything stated, because he's adorable, people would try to approach him. People can read my reviews and see that there is nothing in them about my dog and I'm totally ok if only compassionate dog people stay with me. I prefer it!

I also think its important to state that I have a legal listing. I put my certificate number in the listing where airbnb told me to. The number shows up when you book and that is a requirement of the city. 

I'll experiment with this and let y'all know how it goes. thanks again and happy hosting!!