Extra Guests: House accommodates 12, guest wants to bring 14

[Tiffany898]

Hey All!!!

I'm new to hosting and I have a 5 bed 3 bath home. My guest booked for 10 people, now says she has 12 people which is our max. She's asking if she can have 14 people stay at the house. 1) would you allow this? I have 1 day to turn over this house to the next guests. 2) how much should I charge per extra guest? 

I do think if I cancel this reservation it would get filled. This reservation is for 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) in August.

Thank you so much for your advice!

Tiff

Des Moines, IA

[Marie8425]

@Tiffany898 

Do not cancel, you don't have a reason to cancel.  Since you are new, my advice is it isn't legit.  You  don't suddenly have a family increase of 4  adults.  You can suddenly have 4 more friends  and 14 friends sounds like a potential party.  She made a reservation for  10, she has to submit a request to change occupants, I would suggest  just decline the change exceeds  your  max  and  see what she says. Her  response to your declining that  many people will  give you   a better idea of her intent.  If her response  makes you uncomfortable call Airbnb Support and tell them your auspiciosos of a potential party and they will probably cancel penalty free.

[Kia272]

@Tiffany898  You should absolutely cancel this guest, but do it through AirBnB so you won't be penalized, the reason being that she's already stated that she will violate house rules (exceed capacity.)

A guest who is willing to push your boundaries prior to arrival is not a good guest. Rules aren't rules if they can be broken for money. You set your capacity for a reason. Definitely cancel. 

Regardless of if you will be rebooked, bad guests and the damage they can cause can be way more costly than the revenue you get from the booking. 

[Helen3]

If you or your cohost are local and you have CCTV then you could accept the extension to 12 guests making it clear you can't accept the additional 2 guests as your maximum guest count is 12 and that if more turn up they will be asked to leave / it could lead to the booking being cancelled or as others say ask Airbnb to cancel penalty free as the guest has indicated they want to bring two more people than your guest maximum

[Jennifer1897 · Accepted solution]

@Tiffany898  Personally I would stick to your clearly mentioned capacity of 12 people. When she booked the initial reservation, she had to manually select the number of guests, so I guarantee she is aware that she is asking for something outside of your set rules. Sometimes when you allow guests to bend the rules, they take advantage moving forward. Not say to say she is this type of guest, but it opens the door for them to push further boundaries. Additionally, more people creates more wear and tear on the home, more cleaning, and additional use of amenities.

I would say something along the lines of "Hello XYZ, thank you for reaching out, unfortunately the max number of guests our home is set up for is 12 people. This number is set to assure the safety and comfortability of all guests. I would be unable to approve additional people. Please let me know if you have any further questions." 

[Bhumika]

Hi @Tiffany898 , Hosts have shared diverse thoughts for your situation. Did you get a chance to give it a thought and choose the best option for you? 

How are you eventually processing this reservation? Did you keep it or cancelled this instance? 

[Tiffany898]

Hey Bhumika!

Sorry for the delay in response to your questions! I actually went a completely different route. Haha! The guest called me directly and explained their situation. They were incredibly apologetic with how the request came off and after a good talk about guest expectations, I feel way more comfortable about keeping the reservation. 

Lessoned learned, is it doesn't hurt to be human and extend genuine customer service. Due to the great conversation, I've made new friends. After all, that's why we are all hosts. Providing a beautiful experience, friendship, and compassion these days goes an incredibly long way. The money made from hosting is a bonus.

Thank you all to everyone who took the time to respond! It really did help!