Inquires for Additional Guests

[Derek Miller]

We've officially listed our first property on AirBnB, and we have began to receive our first reservations. What seems to be a common thing already is guests inquiring about the number of people the house can hold. It is a 3BR, 2BA house, so it is not a large house by any means. We have it listed as sleeping 6, but I'm sure an air mattress for an extra 1-2 people would not be a big deal. 

So far, we've had one inquire for 9 (4 adults, 3 kids, and 2 toddlers) and another for 12 (6 adults and 6 kids... which sounds crazy to me). 

We've taken the approach to respond and kindly let them know we believe it will feel like a crammed house, and reiterated our sleeping arrangements. The responses we get to those messages almost sound like they are trying to reason with themselves on how they can make it work.

As new hosts we don't want to put a bad taste in anyone's mouth, but also don't want to jam a ton of people in here. For multiple reasons.

Does it sound like we're handling this correct, or is there a better suggestion? Is this common?? Do you use the feature to tack on cost for extra guests, or does that deter people who may have only one over the limit?

[Joe C.]

There is more to an STR than heads in beds. Do you have enough places for people to sit and watch TV? Eat at the dinner table? What about plates/bowls/mugs/etc.? Parking spaces? 2 toddlers might mean 2 high chairs and 2 pack-n-plays, do you have room for that?

Decide for yourself the maximum number of people you will support, set a hard limit and politely reject any request to go over. This includes number of cars. There's a big difference between 2 families of 4 each showing up in 2 cars vs. 8 single adults showing up in 8 cars.

Nobody will be happy in a cramped house no matter what they say. They will leave you bad reviews for all the problems they encounter. The bottom line is they can't afford the home they really need to rent for their group size and are looking for you to fix their problem when what they need is to rent the proper size home.