Undisclosed baby: tactful ways of addressing this with guests?

[Lorna-and-Zoë0]

I was wondering if anyone might be able to assist us in tactfully phrasing a message to our guests.  They made a booking for three, and disclosed in their initial message that it would be two adults and a two year old child, specifically.  Today, they arrived with a baby that we weren't expecting.  It's no trouble at all, but I just don't know how to write a message letting them know we're aware of this without coming across as being intrusive.  Their booking was made months ago, so perhaps circumstances changed, as they were quite upfront about their two year old.

We don't meet guests at check-in, so that they have the flexibility of arriving whenever they like, however we do live next door (when resident in Australia, that is), and our living room looks out onto our listing's driveway and front garden.  Guest's aren't aware of this, though.  When guests arrive, we're generally aware as we can hear their car pull up.  So, when our current guests arrived, we happened to see them.  We never actively monitor our guests, and I don't want it to come across as such, and as this is a rather common problem for hosts, I just wanted to see whether anyone had any ideas on how to phrase a message under these circumstances.  So far, I've written:

"Happy New Year!

I hope that you and your family had a marvellous time exploring Hobart today, and are having a brilliant time so far. 

I'm terribly sorry to ask, but I just wanted to confirm that there would be 3 guests staying at the cottage.  We happened to see your car pull up in front of the cottage, and noticed that there seemed to be one more than expected.  It's no trouble at all, of course, however we will need to modify the booking to reflect that there are 4 in the reservation, rather than 3. 

If you need anything at all during your stay, please don't hesitate to let me know.  I'm always more than happy to help, and am just an Airbnb message away. :-)"

Too indirect?  Should I have specifically mentioned that we noticed a baby?  Any potential changes others hosts might make? 

Thank you!

[Peter0]

There has been a lot of discussion about this topic in various forums in the last 48 hours.  Your proposal is pretty much with the majority view.  I was met at my door by my two booked guests plus babe in arms and cot recently!.  I would suggest you word your message like mine.  "I shall send you a change request to alter the number of people staying to rectify the situation".  In my case I added "We like to treat all human beings as guests who count no matter how young".  And I said "I don't charge extra for infants in their own cots but do like the situation to be clear between me and all my guests".  

[Deborah0]

Your plan sounds fine -- I sometimes think it would be helpful for all hosts who accept children, to state explicitly in their listing that all human beings, regardless their age, are considered a guest and must be counted on the reservation.  Because so many guests seem to feel free to assume that children don't count, or toddlers don't count, or infants don't count as people, and therefore come free.  

[Lorna-and-Zoë0]

Thank you for your advice, Deborah.  We actually do state that the number of guests staying at our cottage must be disclosed accurately when making a booking, including infants and children.  This is why I was quite surprised to see them arrive with a two year old child and a baby.

[Lorna-and-Zoë0]

Thank you for your advice, Deborah.  We actually do write in our listing that the number of guests staying must be disclosed accurately, including infants and children.  I think my guest must have been aware of this, as she did clearly state in her initial message she would be travelling with her husband and a two year old child.

[Deb0]

@Lorna-and-Zoë0 Try putting it in a photo caption also. My listing is a separate studio apartment. In addition to the queen bed we have a sleeping nook with a single bed that is appealing to small families for their kids.

In the photo caption I wrote: "Very small back room with a narrow single bed. Great for a child or small adult. Please be sure to include children in the guest count. Our extra guest fee applies to all humans."

It seems to have helped, I get fewer reservations with kids (yay) and the majority of them declare their kids in the guest count.