What would you do when you more guests at your place than registered?

[Danny627]

I'm currently hosting a "group of 8" tonight is there last night but I'm a little annoyed. We have an 11 people limit for our sleeping arrangement and charge extra per guest beyond 8.

My security system have facial recognition so it's not hard to get head counts as they come and go. 

First couple days I counted 12 faces, 4 vehicles, just today I'm counting at least an extra 4 new faces. I have a strict no partying policy. 

They are only the 2nd guest that we've hosted. I don't want to ruin their vacation but also don't need them to ruin our house. 

[Nicholas439 · Accepted solution]

@Danny627 Had that happen and just bill the guest for the extras.  If you have the extra charge per guest in your listing then Airbnb will back you up.  I've discovered this type of issue a number of times, usually after the guests have left and my cleaner comments that more beds were used than guests.  I have security cameras outside so I can see how many stayed.  Most guests won't argue and are happy to pay the difference and the one time the guest argued I took stills from the security camera and sent to Airbnb resolution center and they got the bill paid.  

My overall policy is that if it is in the listing, that is the contract the guest is agreeing to so anything different should be communicated.  Onus is on the guest.

[Margaret1270]

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@Nicholas439 wrote:

@Danny627 Had that happen and just bill the guest for the extras.  If you have the extra charge per guest in your listing then Airbnb will back you up.  I've discovered this type of issue a number of times, usually after the guests have left and my cleaner comments that more beds were used than guests.  I have security cameras outside so I can see how many stayed.  Most guests won't argue and are happy to pay the difference and the one time the guest argued I took stills from the security camera and sent to Airbnb resolution center and they got the bill paid.  

My overall policy is that if it is in the listing, that is the contract the guest is agreeing to so anything different should be communicated.  Onus is on the guest.

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If you have more guests at your place than registered and you have a strict limit and policy in place, it's important to address the situation promptly. Politely remind the guests about the sleeping arrangement ** limit and the extra charges for additional guests. Monitor the situation using your security system and consider the issue with them to ensure they understand and comply with the rules. 

**[Link removed due to safety reasons - Community Center Guidelines ]

[Bhumika]

Hi @Danny627 , 

Adding to @Nicholas439's suggestions,  I wanted to share a few articles that talk about when guests want to bring more people and Adding an extra guest fee.

How has it turned out for you eventually? Did you charge extra fees for the other guests?

Looking forward to hear about the developments.

[Danny627]

@Nicholas439  I charge $25 for each additional guest with a limit of 11. I've had several guest reaching out wanting to host gatherings of 20-30 guests and I always reject them. The more guest just means more mess and damaged items.

I'm sure I can squeeze a few hundred bucks more out of this booking but since the guests leave, I asked for the cleaners to provide photos of the place BEFORE they start cleaning and the response was, they left the house as if they never checked in. Beds were made, towels were rolled out went above and beyond what we asked them to clean so I ignored it. 

[Veronica1190]

@Danny627 I charge 35.00 per head after they tell the lie about who they are looking for.  Also, take pictures of all of the people.   Trust me Airbnb will get your money for you but you must have it in your listing as a house rule that you will charge extra for extra guests.  Also, there is a box in there for you to select the fee for more guests than they register for.  I have dealt with this many times.  But I make sure I keep my evidence but do not charge them until they leave your property safely.  Because they will do some damage.

[Dawn241]

@Danny627 The extra charge per guest didn’t work for us. People always chose 2 and brought 4 or more. 

Due to recent licensing requirements including neighbor notification and 3 fines/ 3 strikes you’re out rule, I’ve had to “dumb it down”- Visitors are guests too, whether staying over or not, whether inside or out, max 4 means same 4 people throughout the duration of your stay, not 4 different people everyday. it’s in my listing description, my additional rules section, and my automated booking message. 

we often get instant bookings that immediately cancel because they clearly intended to have more than 4 people over. It’s better to prevent the problem than to fight with guests the entire stay and risk a retaliatory review. 

[Danny627]

@Dawn241 It's amazing how many people try to abusse the host. I started hosting since mid June and have now hosted 4 guests. 3 out of 4 have brought a lot more guests than they said all had some kind of gathering at our place.

I'm quickly realizing that it's the size and amenities of our place. The pool I think is a curse this time of year. People think they can just rent our place for a pool party. 

My current guest checked in yesterday (reservation for 4) and moments later, 4 vehicles showed up and a pool party started with at least 15 people I counted. 

Learning from everyone's recommendation here, I first message them when they did not reply, I called and asked them to have all the unregistered guests leave as they are breaking my house rules and reminded them that my message is clear on the listing and in the check in message. You got to be firm with these people. They packed up and went to the park with no further incident. 

I have this listed at 2 places on the listing and also once again in the message that's automatically sent 1 hour b4 check in time with their access code. All in caps as such, you can't say you missed it. 

ABSOLUTELY NO EVENTS OF ANY KIND ALLOWED IN THIS HOME. IF YOU NEED A PLACE TO HOST AN EVENT, PLEASE LOOK ELSEWHERE. ONLY THE OCCUPANTS AND NUMBER OF GUESTS CONFIRMED ARE ALLOWED. UNAUTHORIZED GUESTS ARE NOT ALLOWED. WE ARE VERY SERIOUS WITH THIS RULE WITH NO EXCEPTION. *******************DO NOT BOOK THIS HOUSE FOR ANY EVENT************