Ames, IA Short-Term Rentals: Occupancy Limits (2026)

Chapter 35 of the Ames Municipal Code, the Guest Lodging Code, sets separate occupancy ceilings depending on which Short-Term Rental category a property registers under. Sec. 35.400(4)(a) limits Hosted Home Shares, where the property owner is present in the home overnight, to a maximum of two approved bedrooms and two adults as guests per dwelling unit, and requires the applicant to specify which portions of the dwelling constitute the registered premises available for the rental. Sec. 35.400(4)(b) governs Home Shares, where the owner is not present, allowing a maximum of two adults per approved bedroom but capping total occupancy at five adults per dwelling unit regardless of how many bedrooms the home has.

"Approved" bedrooms are defined in Sec. 35.200 by reference to Chapter 13's Rental Housing Code standards, so a bedroom that has not passed that inspection standard does not count toward the cap. These occupancy limits interact with the parking standard in Sec. 35.400(5), which ties required off-street parking to the same bedroom count for Home Shares, and with the 90-day annual cap on Home Share use in Sec. 35.400(8)(b). Because Concurrent Guest Contracts are barred under Sec. 35.400(8)(a), an owner cannot stack multiple guest bookings to exceed these per-dwelling caps; the whole dwelling unit is treated as one reservation at a time.

The Enforcement Officer designated by the City Manager can deny, suspend or revoke a registration for exceeding these occupancy limits, since Sec. 35.500(2)(c)(v) allows denial or non-renewal based on verified violations of the code.