Rate increases by number of guests

[Eric6025]

Simple question... why is it that if I research renting an entire house for a week the price per night increases with the number of people staying? If a place can accommodate lets say 8 people an you bring 8 people the rate per night is greater than if just 2 people rent the same house. Just so it's clear I am talking about adults 40 to 60 years old with no children and no pets just blue and white collar couples staying in the house. It does not make sense to me how this is calculated or justified. Any insight in to this I would love to hear the justifications for this. 

[Huma0]

@Eric6025 

More people use more utilities (which are especially not cheap these days) and create more cleaning and laundry. Over time, they also create more wear and tear and a greater amount of damages. It's quite simple really.

[Mark116]

@Eric6025  Not all properties have additional charges above a certain number of guests, but many do.  The reason is that more people are more wear, use more resources and the potential for damage increases.

[Eric6025]

I understand to a point some of the price jumps just seem a bit much. We bring most daily items with us like TP, Dish soap, paper towels ect. We stay for days an leave it the way we find it or better. 

[Huma0 · Accepted solution]

@Eric6025 

While the cost of stuff like toilet paper, paper towels and dish soap can add up over time, you're overlooking the major expense that is utilities. Gas and electricity prices have rocketed, as I am sure you know, so it would make a huge difference to a host's expenses how many guests were on the reservation. Even water is metered where I live. Eight guests showering, flushing toilets, washing dishes or running the dishwasher, maybe even using the washing machine, are going to use WAY more thank two or four guests. Even if you are out during the day, you're still going to shower and use the toilet, right? 

Then there is cleaning and laundry (which both require not only time but money). Eight guests are not going to be using the same amount of bed linen and towels as two or four.

As for leaving a listing the way you find it or better. Sorry, but you might think that's what you're doing but it's most likely not. I've hosted hundreds of guests and I can guarantee you that not even the most conscientious and tidy of them leave the listing the way the found it, let alone better. I don't think until you've hosted yourself that you can appreciate all the cleaning and other chores that go into getting a listing ready. It's not the same as a routine clean and tidy of your own home.

Do you wash, dry and iron all the bedlinen and make up the beds perfectly and leave piles of folded, fluffy towels? Do you clean the inside the fridge? Do you clean the skirting boards and light fittings? Do you not only empty the trash and sort the recycling but clean the bins too?

Of course, I am not saying you should do any of that, but the idea that you leave the listing as you found/better is only possible if you are staying at a place with low sub par cleanliness levels to start with. 

I only host private rooms in my own home, but can guarantee you that a couple usually creates way more cleaning than a solo traveller, which is why I changed my occupancy from two per room to one. The difference in terms of the work involved is substantial and I decided it was not worth the small extra guest fee I was charging.

Also, you shouldn't be surprised if prices have gone up. The cost of everything has gone up, especially utilities. My cleaners have had to put their hourly rate up as they have to survive in this economy too. Of course hosts have to increase their prices to reflect the economic situation.

[Eric6025]

I would ask that you keep in mind we are in different countries here and my opinion/comment was broad based and not a direct attack on how you run your business, but localized to the area we stayed. It is not 5 star we've found mouse droppings in kitchen drawers before. We took care of it and let the host know after our stay. We didn't write a bad review or ask for a refund or anything of the sort. I'm guessing here but I would say most people clean their own property and do not use a cleaning services. 

As far as utilities in this case it's well water and septic no cost other than electricity to run A/C's, fridge, and pumps for clean and dirty water. 

I mentioned the fact that we bring a lot of the daily items is because we've learned from past stays that what is staged for the week is never enough so instead of calling the host for every detail which would be obnoxious for both parties we are pretty self sufficient.  No we do not deep clean before leaving because we are charged for this, it's a lot easier and faster to clean someplace that isn't left in total disarray I would say. 

Yes I agree costs have increased in both our respective areas. Incomes have not unfortunately I don't know if you read my other comments, but we have used the same place for years and have a pretty good repour with the owners. Unfortunately we will be looking for a different place for next year which lead to my question originally because some postings don't change for number of people while some jump drastically and was just wondering why it was so all over the place when it came to final prices.   

I do appreciate your input into some of the things that happen behind the scenes that a host deals with.  

[Huma0]

@Eric6025 

Don't worry, I don't see your comments as a personal attack on me or on hosts in general. You're asking a question in a perfectly reasonable way. I'm just trying to give a perspective from the host's side.

Of course, things do vary from place to place and water costs might not be an issue in some areas. Here in London we are facing the driest weather since 1976, so it's an environmental concern, not just a monetary one. 

However, I have been a pretty active member of this CC for a few years and have learnt a lot from hosts around the world. Using professional cleaners is far from unusual, especially in the USA (not sure where you are from, but your references to dish soap, septic  etc. made me think you are possibly American), and there they are way more expensive than here. Just the other day, I was chatting to an American host about cleaning costs and couldn't believe that in his neck of the woods, you pay minimum $50 an hour. That adds up very quickly. I do not charge a cleaning fee (except for when my guests want me to clean their rooms during the stay, and that is optional), but I can see why US hosts do! Like I said, I don't think that guests should be required to do the jobs I mentioned above at all, cleaning fee or no cleaning fee. I was just trying to give an idea of the many things that go into getting a listing ready. Guests generally don't notice all the work that goes into it, but they do notice if you cut corners!

I'm sorry that you've stayed in places that have cleanliness issues. Unfortunately, the quality of Airbnbs varies enormously. I do not offer 5* accommodation. The reason I have a lot of 5* reviews is because I put my heart and soul into it. I have an old house, in a state of 'organised chaos', where there are always some repairs to be done, and three cats floofing everywhere. My cleaners just come once a week to do the communal areas and I do the rest of the cleaning myself. However, my time is also worth something. While I don't make a fortune through hosting, I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't economically viable. There are many, many hosts like me around the world. I know this from reading the conversations here.

Whichever way you look at it, hosting larger groups is going to incur more expenses than not. How much a host should charge for those additional purposes... well, only they can decide, because the expenses will vary enormously from property to property and, as you mention, region to region.

Also, while some guests like you might be conscientious, not all guests are. In terms of cleaning and energy consumption, the host has to base this on the 'average' guest, which only they will know based on their personal experience or, if they are a new host, whatever advice they are being given or making some kind of guess. I have heard of some hosts though who offer a refundable cleaning fee, i.e. if you leave the place in a good condition, you get the fee back. I have never tried it myself as I don't charge a cleaning fee.

[Huma0]

@Eric6025 

PS Why did you decide to no longer stay in the listing that you had booked several times before?

[Amanda660]

We have a similar set up - increased guests = increased nightly rate) £25 per guest per night over 2.

As well as the extra laundry, cleaning time, electric, heating, wear and tear, etc we are also on Water Rates.  8 guests (our max) will use way more water and generate a lot that say a couple.  I have found that groups of  guests can sometimes be a bit rough on a property too.

Look upon it the other way ‘round - the full price for the house it based on max capacity but a smaller guest count affords a discount. 

[Emilia42]

@Eric6025 

I stock the house based on the reservations group size. Larger groups are left with more paper products, more towels, more beverages in the refrigerator, a larger container of coffee, etc. Extra utilities are also used: more water, a/c units turned on in all occupied bedrooms, more laundry to wash/dry, more trash, etc. More wear and tear on the house. This all leads to extra costs. When the house is maxed out the reservation total is the maximum cost. When less than the max books, I don't charge as much.

[Eric6025]

OK I can follow that reasoning. I was just kinda shocked when after I max out the number of guests some of the increases are ridiculous. I travel with a group of friends we all ride motorcycles and we get together once a year to visit NY. The house we rent is home base we are gone all day in to the evenings daily. We are all 40+ white collar & blue collar professionals. The house we have rented for over 5 years in a row we have decided to no longer use for several reasons. Looking around again in the same area now and noticed all the price changes. 

[Mark116]

@Eric6025  A filter that would only show places without any extra guest fee would be a great idea.

We've done it both ways, but our max is only 4 and our extra guest charge was ten or fifteen.  We found doing it that way we got a lot fewer 4 person reservations, which was great, as less wear and tear, especially for longer stays.  But since the pandemic we get fewer stays even over 4 or 5 days so we went back to a single price for renting the space.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Eric6025 some hosts do this to make an otherwise expensive house affordable to a couple or smaller group.

The simple way to overcome this is to specify the number of people in your search parameters and then the right price should come up

[Huma0]

@Eric6025 

Also, @Mike-And-Jane0 makes a good point here. I have always had a different price for one person versus two for my rooms (although it's not a huge difference), not just for the reasons mentioned earlier, but as someone who has travelled solo extensively, I know how expensive it can be. I like to keep my accommodation affordable for solo travellers as they often don't have affordable options.