Well, it’s possible that they might like to entertain that way and have only general plans to have different groups over for dinner.
As long as they aren’t doing anything illegal, I don’t care…BUT “dinner” can start in the early afternoon and end late, so in effect there are more than 2 people in the house every day, albeit not showering or messing up beds.
Yes, but they will use the bathroom, cause wear and tear on your furniture, be that much more likely to break dishes, use more water, produce more trash, utilize more toilet paper and paper towels, cost more in utilities, park on your driveway… They also increase the risk of an injury occurring that could impact your insurance.
Don’t feel guilty about wanting to charge more for extra people, even if they don’t stay overnight. I think it would be reasonable to charge an “event price” for each dinner party these guests want to have.
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You have no way of knowing if the guests of the guests will avail themselves of the shower, or decide to lay down for awhile in one of the beds you might assume won’t get used, or even have a bit too much to drink and decide to sleep there rather than drive home. They will certainly be using the bathroom, using up toilet paper and soap and dirtying towels. And the dinner parties mean the stove will get used extensively, and there will be more hot water used doing dishes, as well as electricity if you have a dishwasher. If you provide coffee and tea as amenities, those will get used up twice as fast. If you charge enough to cover all that and feel okay with it, that’s up to you. I do think it’s a good sign that the guest mentioned this plan, rather than make assumptions, and it may indeed turn out to be nothing more than having a few responsible adults over with good food, conversation and some quiet jazz playing in the background. But if you decide to let the reservation stand, I’d keep a close eye on the place during their stay.
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Your pricing may need tweaking. A 5 bedroom place should not be in the budget of a group of 2.
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Sounds like you are UNCOMFORTABLE…I would be.emphasized text
I would not allow this booking for 2 people in a 5 bedroom. Party possible.
And I include all visitors as guests…and I state it in my description…so this booking would not be an accurate representation of the number of guests, as visitors are included.
@PitonView said exactly everything else I was going to say, so I have nothing else to add.
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What they really say:”We want you to bend over backwards for us, we might…”
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I have no advice on the existing reservation. However, as someone who travels as a party of two I admit to sometimes wanting a larger, more impressive place with room in case a friend or relative drops in. In that case when I book I’m happy to spend more.
Set your minimum for whatever the house comfortably hosts. If you have 5 king beds and a pullout set your minimum price to include 10 guests, and then save the extra person charge for when they try and shoe horn folk in on pullout or air mattresses. As a party of two, I think that’s fair.
And post, ask questions. We can be blunt, do not take it personally. Take the best and leave the rest.
RR
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I am not sure how to reply to everyone on a thread - really a hopeless newbie - so I’m replying to myself - is that right?
Anyway, I agree that if a guest takes advantage of our negligence in setting up rules and proper fees, then we have to honour that contract.
However, it feels like they are paying for two people while six will be there at for an undetermined part of each day that they are staying there. I’m not comfortable with that but I’m also not comfortable saying I’m afraid they are going to have large parties. I don’t think that’s the case, and it’s unfair say that about them to Airbnb.
What I am concerned about id that “dinner” for family can go from early afternoon to late at night, so in effect there are 6 people occupying the house, even if they don’t use the showers and beds.
I think it can be said that it follows the rules of airbnb but not the spirit of the agreement.
We do have cameras installed, mainly to check if things have gone missing and for when the house is unoccupied. I find it sort of invasive to watch my guests real-time and kind of prefer not to host someone if I have to review every coming and going.
I want to thank you all again for your generosity in providing so much advice - you guys are amazing!
It is annoying to view all the coming and going but if you are going to manage a large house that can host a lot of people you have two options. You can considering monitoring the home’s coming and going as part of your job or you can set the price high enough that you don’t care how many people are there (as long as it’s not one of the large parties that makes national news.)
Things missing? I hope the cameras are all exterior cameras. Yes, lots of people find real time watching invasive. But as long as it’s outside and you are just making sure the people who booked are the people who are staying and have disclosed the same it’s not really an issue.
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I’ll add one note to what @KKC said. Yes, all cameras must be outside. I also think it’s important to disclose the existence of the outdoor cameras in your listing. There’s a checkbox for surveillance devices and a field to fill in. Ours says something like this:
We have four exterior security cameras. One on the front porch, one aimed at the street, one on the driveway, and one in the back yard. They are on all the time.
You are running a BUSINESS here. If anything the issue is NOT your “negligence”. Airbnb should not have had a default availability of 12 months.
According to the standards that air has in place AT TIME OF BOOKING the booking guest needs to provide the full names of ALL GUESTS. Naturally, they can’t do that since they are looking to take advantage of you and likely to toss a few parties. The Guest is ALREADY breaking the rules - their booking SHOULD have been for 4 or 6 not 2. They are already LYING, when they booked as they did. They are counting on you rolling over and they get to take advantage of you.
Bear in mind that pretty much EVERYTHING that airbnb does is to their benefit, not yours. Even their so-called $1 million policy stuff has been proven over and over to be such BS. Already, they suckered you into trying out their “smart pricing” - it is smart for them. Not you.
Please Do Not Feel Bad about taking care of your interests. Again - you are running a business. You are not hurting anyone and you do not owe anyone anything on this - especially not the couple who saw an overly cheap rate that YOU DID NOT INTEND for a year out.
You did not put yourself in this position. Airbnb did. It will not be the first or the last time that they stick it to you - guaranteed.
You’ll get some crappy review based on lies and they will NOT have your back. You’ll have damage from some horrible guest and they will do everything possible to get out of paying anything - or a pittance. You’ll have a guest who is savvy use the “extenuating circumstance” out - and leave you hanging with a broken booking.
I would urge you to call air, and have the reservation cancelled. Remember, just keep it simple - you are “very uncomfortable” with the listing. You get 3 of these per year and this is a great reason to use it.
Good luck.
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And yes, the cameras only view the exterior; one pointed at the entrance and driveway and another viewing the back door. Having cameras inside the house would be super creepy!
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With the listing? You mean with the booking. Also, if you have IB you get more than 3 cancellations a year “without penalty.” The first 3 can be executed with a few mouse clicks. After 3 in one year you have to call Airbnb. I have no doubt that the more cancellations you have, the more Airbnb will scrutinize your listing and reasons for cancelling. RiverRock has reported having his IB setting disabled due to a “penalty free” cancellation.
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It’s not just important, it’s required. If a guest reports surveillance cameras and they haven’t been disclosed in the listing description, the host’s listing will be suspended. It can even be suspended on a guest complaint while they “investigate”, even if the host has disclosed them.
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Also keep in mind that much porn is shot in airbnbs these days. A beautiful chalet, with different bedrooms/scenes sounds perfect for that.
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And you should charge extra for that:)
RR
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Just wanted to let you all know that Airbnb ended up cancelling because we require government ID and the guest hadn’t provided one.
I wanted to thank you all again for your valuable advice!
Have a great 2020!
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Wait, what? Airbnb let them instant-book without actually meeting the instant-book requirements? The booking should never have been confirmed. More stupid inconsistencies from Airbnb.
I hope you’ve got your pricing fixed now or you reduced your booking window to 3 months or 6 months.
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Yes we have - and Airbnb has let a few people instant book our place without ID…I have to be super vigilant.
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