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This seems like another of those situations where communication upon booking is crucial.
Just save a message in the system about “there are two beds but only 2 people can stay, blah de blah.” Then add that if they don’t confirm their understanding of that in writing within 24 hours you will have to ask them to cancel their booking so that they are within the 48 hour free cancellation window. If you send the message and don’t hear back, then text them to the phone number listed. Or at least talk to them and make sure you get the payment for extras, if you prefer to do that, right away.
I wouldn’t have listed the sofa sleeper as another bed, but instead just mentioned in the listing description that if the max 2 guests don’t fancy sharing a bed, that you have a sofa sleeper in the living room.
Thank you for your interest in my condo. Before We complete your reservation, let’s make sure the following is acceptable to you.
Cleaning the unit: To help make the unit affordable, it is self-service. (no daily maid service ).
Linens and towels are there. You must wash and dry the unit’s linens before you leave. (Many guests bring their own so they aren’t doing laundry the day of checkout)
Limit 2 cars-no motorcycles, no trailers, no golf carts.
The unit is NOT directly on the waterway. It is a short walk to the community docks.
HOA rule: renters aren’t allowed to have pets
Maximum two guests including children/infants.
Do you have any questions or concerns before I accept your reservation?
I use instant book and I modify my message to say “Thank you for your interest in my condo. Before all is final, let’s be sure this rental is an excellent fit for you.”
Content
“Do you have any questions or concerns?”
I rarely get IB reservations. This summer 2 out of >30 reservations were IB.
I also add a fee for extra guests over 2 for similar reasons. My house is small and the 2nd bedroom is normally an office with a convertible sofa.
Setting up and breaking down the 2nd bed takes a good amount of time and adds 2+ loads of laundry to my post-stay cleaning.
The reason is that i had a few guests in the past who have helped themselves to the extra bed, scrounging around for extra blankets, using pillows from the sofa etc, and it annoys me. The last person who did so damaged the sofa cushion in the process and it’s a really nice, newish one.
So I added text to my listing that states that there will be a $50 fee if the guests(2) want an extra bed. So far, only one person pushed back but they were not a really forthright honest person. Said a friend was going to stay for 1 night and use a sleeping bag, he ended up staying for 4 nights and rearranged all my furniture, oh and took some things too. The guest also had a hooker come up from Boston on his 2nd night. Really not a cool guest and he couldn’t leave soon enough.
At this point (3 years of hosting), I am suspicious of anyone who tries to get around my rules, or starts modifying things at the last minute. For this reason I make rules and reasons explicit in my listing and then query them during the booking process to guarantee they have read the house rules and that it’s documented on the Airbnb messaging system.
We have 2 double beds, 1 single bed and 1 settee suitable for small adult. We charge 50$ per night, per guest over 2, if they put in the correct guest count we get the extra $. Our maximum high season is 4. I don’t care if 2 people use all the beds, 95% of bookings are 2 people only.
