Holiday dinner

[Mike2753]

Hello, we are new to hosting. We just got an inquiry for a family that would like to host their holiday dinner at our house. Our house sleeps up to 8 people. The inquiry states there will be up to 14 people there for the dinner but only 8 people will be staying the night. Do I charge more for a cleaning fee or daily fee since there will 14 people there or keep pricing the same since only 8 people will stay the night. I already accepted their reservation and would  hate to change pricing on them. This could leave us a bad review. Just looking for advice for future occasions. 

[Santiago60]

I personally believe that is considered an event, though it might seem simple sometimes people can take advantage of the situation. Usually, events always cost more,  and you shouldn't feel bad about charging extra for that. I suggest keeping everything in the Airbnb chat to be safe and collect the extra fees (if you like to charge) through the channel. 

If you think it will be ok, and they will follow the rules and leave the house on time, you can Do you have any cameras (like a ring) at the door to keep track of it? If you decide to not charge extra, you can always require a deposit, and if your home was left in a good condition and they follow the rules, you can return the deposit back. That way might be more secure. 

Best, 

[Jennifer1897]

@Mike2753  I would be cautious on accepting reservations such as these. Although under Airbnb standards gatherings of 16 or more people is considered an event/party, you are dangerously close.

Also, anytime larger groups of people have an event of a celebratory nature there is a higher chance that extra cleaning will be required, more resources and amenities will be used, and the house may be more prone to wear and tear or damages/accidents.  Allowing unregistered guest in the home can also create liability issues for you and can make it difficult to be covered under Aircover if anything were to happen. 

Additionally, you have now allowed the guest the extra 8 people for the day and essentially opened that door. Although the guests state the extra 8 people will depart in the evening, what if they don't. How do you intend to handle that? 

Personally, I do not allow guests that are not registered to be in the home. I also do not allow parties or events of any kind regardless of the number of people. There is just too much of a possibility of something going wrong.  Moving forward you can request extra payment for additional guest, but it needs to be clearly stated in your listing.  You can also require security deposits (although some have said they are useless and hard to actually get when warranted).  The cleaning fee is usually a set amount and can be based on length of stay, not occupancy.  While you could request an additional fee it would be up to the guest if they feel they should be required to provide that. 

I have linked Airbnb's policy on parties and events for reference

Party and Events Policy - Airbnb Help Center

[Mark116]

@Mike2753  I would be tempted to just say no.  You can empathize with them that you understand the desire to host a great holiday dinner at an Airbnb, but that your house is not set up for that and you believe it opens the door to too many possible negatives for hosts and guests.

Things that might sway me to say yes would be whether and how detailed the reviews on the guest is and how much detail the guest has given and whether you have any exterior cameras that can keep tabs on the dinner to ensure it doesn't turn into a 'party'.

*The one time guests asked us if they could host a dinner party(8 people), we said yes.  The level of grease left on the brand new stove ruined the finish, they cracked the towel bar in the bathroom, neither apologizing or offering to pay for it and left us 4 stars.  Lesson learned.

[Huma0]

@Mike2753 

Personally, I wouldn't go there for the reasons that others have posted. However, if you do, I think an extra fee would be in order. Naturally, this is going to involve more cleaning and probably a bit of wear and tear and that's if everything goes okay.

I have had experiences in the past (not with guests, but when I had longer term lodgers) where people asked if it was okay to have a 'few friends' over for brunch or dinner. Those situations turned out to be full on parties with hoards of people, full on sound systems with no respect for the neighbours, damages that were never paid for, drug taking, all sorts. 

It's very easy for a party of eight to turn into nine, ten, twelve, twenty-two...

Are you willing to risk it?

[Lorna170]

@Mike2753   Beautiful house....perfect for a PARTY!  I wish I could be more optimistic, but I think that you are going to have guests, guests and more guests...and I never trust the ones that say that only X people will be staying overnight.

Your guests want to host an EVENT.  You can choose to charge extra for the event, or anticipate that you will have extra cleaning, wear and tear, etc. that will affect your bottom line.  Request a refundable Event (damage) deposit via the Resolution Center.  Request a complete listing of the guests, both staying and visiting, by name.  Request a list of the number of cars that will be parked.  Request a list of the number of children attending and if an adult is lifeguard trained (you have a pool).  If your guest is on the up and up they will gladly provide this information.