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You have to decide what you want to do. So you want to have more than 4 guests at the house or not? If you so so then open your house for more . But don’t leave it up to guest’s to decide how many they want to bring.
I think it’s a major confusion going on here about this subject
Oh, well that is kind of awesome! Can they leave a review?
Really if I was to stick to the letter of the law, that is what I should have done. But my thought process was that if I said the extras mean your booking will be canceled, then they will just say ok well the extra people are leaving (since the extras were local, I think). And then I would get an angry review about how I ruined their fun. It would however get the extra people gone, so it would be worth it if it was a raging party or something.
You have a very wrong thinking I can tell you for sure .
Rules are created for a reason. Your way of thinking are creating anarchy. So everyone just can do what they want ?
Don’t be afraid of reviews so much. Also I think we as hosts should think of fire hazards and other dangerous situations where the property is over populated with guests .
Anyway your situation is a good example how hosts shouldn’t act.
No I agree with you. Really I am causing a problem by setting a rule that I don’t have the guts to enforce. Its like telling a 2 year old no- you only do it if you will follow through. If I am not brave enough to kick people out if they are more than 4, then I should make my rule something that I CAN and WILL actually do when someone breaks the rule.
So I changed my rules to charge money for extras over 4.
A ok. that sounds much better! I thought you didn’t like more than 4 people in your house because it’s so small. I have 4 bedroom house and I only let 8 people there . And the house is 3 times bigger than yours. I honestly don’t think 600 sq.feet can fit more than 4 people.
Yea I can’t imagine it is very comfortable with that many to sleep and I certainly would not pay the extra fees just to sleep like packed sausages. I think they spent most of their time in the living room which has enough seating for a group of that size, but still. I definitely would not let them do it another night if they had been booked for longer, so I do have a little bit of a spine at least. I am still learning though, I imagine/hope I will get better at this over time.
Don’t feel bad. You are learning. This definitely won’t happen again. But in the future. … it’s not that the guests need to alert you in advance. It’s that you tell them what’s what. You don’t allow extra people no matter how far in advance they tell you. The house is too small and not meant for that. The guest as not blindsided. She got what she deserved. I would not host that guest knowing she willingly intended to deceive. Bad, very bad.
I think part of the problem resulting in confusion is when hosts state their accommodation has a maximum allowed occupancy of a specified number of guests…and then go on to say that there is a fee for “extra” or “additional” guests. Huh?..it cannot (or should not be both.
Maximum means the most, the greatest, the highest amount or limit allowed. There is no fudging to expand and allow more. If a host allows more guests for a fee, then the word maximum should not appear in the listing.
If the host sets a maximum number of guests…stick to it and boot the unauthorized/unregistered freeloaders out.
That is why I set my extra guest fee to $299 
Yeah, and I stick to my 2-guest maximum rule. In fact, I have the word “strict” in parenthesis following it. I let guests know in the very first email that the only time I have retained any portion of a security deposit was for unauthorized guests. (Another platform, where I get to handle the money, not Air.)
No one dares to sneak anyone in.
See that seems like the best way to really enforce it.
As for this, I just want them to ask in advance so I can say no without waiting til they arrive on the doorstep with sad puppy eyes.
So now I am wondering about security deposits. I am reading old threads. It seems that they don’t really serve much of a purpose because you can’t make a claim against it unless the guest agrees?
This is true. Air does not collect and hold your stated security deposit. It is merely fluff 'n stuff to give you the illusion of security that you can be paid from it for damage and whatever. Forget about it.
Put it in your house rules. I state it positively.
Only your approved and registered party may be in the apartment or on the property at all times.
The only time anyone tried to get around it after the two bad incidents… was when I hosted two superhosts.
“We know your rules state no extra guests so that’s why we wanted to ask if our friends could come over for a BBQ. We will be very quiet.”
Eye roll. Tough ole Kona oconuts said, oh sure, it’s okay. Arrghhhhhh!!,
I think you handled this well, Jane. Now you know to add the fee, even if you only charge it when the unexpected extra people show up.
Similarly, I “manned up” 
and had Air rehome guests who couldn’t commit to observing my maximum occupancy. They snuck in an extra person the first night, we called them on it, asked them to confirm they would not bring the third person the second night, and they tried to persuade us to allow the third person. We were paid for the night they lost. We care more about our property than reviews.
@janeandcharley, I totally understand not wanting to be the bad guy and incur a bad review. Trust me that it feels better to not have the resentment of being taken advantage of, or to have the worry about damage/loss.
She can’t add fees over what she allows maximum. That makes no sense to set maximum
But still charge fees for extra people over that maximum.
This is how these fees should work: maximum occupancy 4 guest’s. Charge for one person 40$, charge for extra person 10$.
So if there are 4 people total will be 70$. But there is no way guests can bring 5th person , for fees or no fees
Yea I think if their stay had been longer I would hopefully have gotten up the courage to kick them out/ tell them to tell the extras to leave. But with a one night stay, and the extras only came in the evening…Well to be honest part of it was trepidation, part of it was concern about reviews, and part of it was just laziness.
Also, go easy on yourself too. You are new and don’t want to get overwhelmed. You had the right instincts, just be firmer next time when people sneak extras.
If there is a next time!
I have called AirBnB when extra guests arrive and told that the insurance covers only the number of guests listed in the booking. If something had happened to one of the additional guests you would not have been covered - I’m not willing to take that risk. Something to consider.
I would have had them change the booking to included the additional guests and called AirBnB to assist them in making the change if they claim they don’t know how. This provides protection to you and notifies AirBnB to a potential problem relating to this guest and their integrity.