# of guests

[Diane-And-Allen0]

My listing allows 6 guests in a booking.  If the guest has more than 6 people there is an extra charge per person per day.  I am wondering how other hosts handle a situation where a guest says there will be 4 people but when they arrive there are 6 or more.

[Nalin67]

Hi Diane-and-Allen0,

I understand your concern about managing extra guests who show up unexpectedly. It's a situation many hosts encounter, and having a clear strategy can make a big difference.

Firstly, ensure your house rules explicitly state that the booking is for the number of guests declared at the time of reservation and mention any extra charges for additional guests. It's important to be upfront about this to avoid any surprises.

A day or two before check-in, send a message to your guests to confirm the number of people arriving. This not only helps in reinforcing your house rules but also provides an opportunity to remind them about any additional charges if they plan to bring more people.

On the day of arrival, if you can, greet your guests in person or have a reliable check-in process that allows you to verify the number of people. If more guests arrive than booked, kindly remind them of your policy and request the additional payment.

In case the guests refuse to pay the extra charges or if there are any issues, don't hesitate to contact Airbnb support for assistance. They are there to help you handle such situations.

Having these measures in place can help manage extra guests smoothly and ensure your hosting experience remains positive.

Best,
Nalin 

[Diane-And-Allen0]

Thanks for the input! @Nalin67 

[Bhumika]

Hi @Diane-And-Allen0 , how are you currently handling such unexpected guest situations? As @Nalin67 advised, did you update your house rules with the expected number of guests and have a clear communication strategy with guests? 

I wonder what would some of the experienced Hosts in the community @Kitty-and-Creek0 @Laurelle3 @Pat271 @John7474 @Bettye6 would do, if they encounter a similar situation 🤔. Do you have any tips for Host @Diane-And-Allen0 ? 😉

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Bhumika 

Thanks for the tag. With respect, this is my honest answer.

I'm pretty old fashioned about rules. I don't have a fee for rule benders/breakers to pay, to make it "OK." The mere existence of such a fee seems to me to say it is OK to bend or break rules if you are willing to pay extra. It's like smoking in my home, or having a campfire - my rules  are for a reason, and are non-negotiable. Many of them are requirements of my business license, my insurance policy, and public health and safety regulations/concerns.

Our infrastructure is easily stressed by having more than the number of guests we planned for.  It also stresses us personally. 

I do have a friend with a really nice well-located motel for any overflow guests.  

What would I do if more than the reservation's worth of guests show up? I'd have to politely say we cannot accommodate them, and with their permission, make some phone calls to local motels to find which of them  would have room for them. I would hope this would become a win/win for everyone. 

[Guy991]

Hello @Diane-And-Allen0 ,

I had two incidents where guests tried to sneak in an additional person. I believe one of them was a mistake, while the other was intentional. In both cases, I greeted them calmly, showed them the house, and went through the usual check-in procedure. This gave me time to double-check the number of guests on the reservation. Just before granting them a set of keys, I calmly explained to the primary guest that there are only X guests on the reservation, but now they have an additional guest. For insurance and regulatory reasons, the Airbnb reservation must be accurate, so I asked them to modify the reservation immediately. Only then do I provide a set of keys.

In both cases, this approach worked well. One guest, who was a super host themselves, apologized and made the modification. The other guest accepted the request but did not apologize. 
In both cases, it didn't affect the review by the guests. 

hello @Nalin67 ,

Thank you for the great idea. I will add a shortcode with the number of guests to the scheduled message.

[Nalin67]

Great 

[Elaine701]

@Diane-And-Allen0 

We've occasionally encountered this, and in almost every case, they've tried to hide it. The guests that simply decide to add more people seem to be pretty transparent and ask permission, and will change their reservation, and pay (if applicable).

In the high season, we don't have a per-person rate. It's one flat rate for the entire villa (8 pax max). So it really doesn't apply, unless they bring 10 or 12, but if they're hiding it, it's difficult to prove, even if you count more pax than what they booked for.

In the low season, to accommodate the more common 2-6 guests, we price on a per-person basis.  BUT.... we lock the unused bedrooms. So that means the extra pax are stuck with sleeping with each other - or on the couch 🙂 That's not very comfortable - and since they had more pax than they booked for, they can't complain without admitting guilt. 

If they're hiding it, there's little you can do without confronting the guest directly. Since they're trying to hide it anyway, any confrontation is not only likely to be met with denial, but will likely result in a scathing review. 

You can't prove it without some invasive action, which will result in an "invasion of privacy" complaint, which you're unlikely to recover from, unless you can prove they made the whole thing up, which, if you were invasive in any way, you can't. 

So, you're best tactic is to just let them think they got away with it, and write it in the review of the guest. That's about all you can do. Chalk it up to a cost of doing business.

[Laurelle3]

 @Diane-And-Allen0 and @BhumikaBhumika has mentioned me as to my experience and views relating to extra guests. We have experienced this twice in 4 years. Our Airbnb is on a shared property as ours and the guests have to pick the key up from the main residence. I have eliminated this by informing guests "For registration can you please inform me the names of your guests and or family members and if children their ages please"

This stops finding extra guests have arrived to stay, as our fees are 2 people for the price of booking and $25 per person extra per night. We also say the 2nd bedroom will be locked if they only have 2 people staying. (this was introduced because of Covid, but we have kept it in our rules as we don't charge a cleaning fee). Sometimes we are asked to use the 2nd bedroom and we allow it, especially if they have children under 2 or they mention their partner snores or they are friends holidaying together and or if they are elderly I allow them to use the space for their luggage. Most except what we offer.

The occassions guests have  said that they thought they had the whole cottage. I politely say please check the rules and add guests with Airbnb. As we show them through the cottage,  I open online my rules and show them what is writtenin and my rules ... if they are not registered they will be asked  to leave..

This has been my experience and had no real issues.

I have only one person communicate the day before that they have said they have a small dog and is well trained. I have answered unfotunately we have a no pet policy and I will have to inform Airbnb my reasoning ibeing s if my next guest has an allergy and an anaphaltic incident occurs they will be held reponsible. Also stating I have witnessed this as a nurse and I don't want and   try to prevent  this to occurr.

@Diane-And-Allen0