How do you manage staycation bookings?

[Stephanie]

Hi everyone,

Here in England, we are seeing the lessening of lockdown measures - today’s protocol means hospitality is restarting and many Hosts are celebrating booked summer calendars. 

However, leaving the country is still on the no-go, and that’s true for many countries the world over. I, for one, am itching to take a little break within the British isles which is what is being called a “Staycation” - holidaying in your own country.

As someone who’s living on the search platform as a guest at the moment for Dorset, Devon and Wales, it would be great to see how Hosts are changing (if anything) for a summer of staycations.

What’s different about Hosting staycation guests? What other considerations do you have?

Cheers!

Stephanie

[Louise26]

It’s a  ‘wait a bit longer and see’  for me in Bournemouth, I’m not convinced that I can embrace hosting again with this going on.  The constant locking and then lifting of restrictions seem to be creating an infinite loop of disease. I feel that just as we’re getting somewhere and knocking it on the head, we allow it back in by lifting restrictions. So frustrating. Yet of course it’s never quite as simple as that, especially when we’re thinking about the economy here. I really miss hosting, it’s a joy to meet such wonderful people from across the world 🌎 

Just don’t know yet. 
Presume that you’re going ahead up in London,  Stephanie? 

[Stephanie]

@Louise26 

I've rescheduled a weekend in Bournemouth no less than 4 times since it was previously booked for April 2020. I've heard from several Hosts that they're going to wait, err on the side of caution. Some are thinking to make plans for July (fingers crossed.)

I'm not actually in London, I'm in Hemel Hempstead. The office is in London though. I've never been one for the big city, much prefer rural areas. 

Thanks,

Stephanie

[Louise26]

@Stephanie I don’t think I know Hemel Hempstead, will Google it. Were you asking to book with us in your initial message? I’m so sorry, I thought you were throwing a question out into the Airbnb community. Were you cancelled by hosts four times or was it a lockdown situation? Either way, it’s a bore not to be able to make any plans. 

[Stephanie]

@Louise26 

With my cancelations it was purely down to lockdown measures - was just waxing lyrical about the last year of challenges. And yes, it was a general question into the Community (not to say my family and I aren't looking around for a break this year too!) 

Thanks

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Stephanie I used to live in Hemel Hempstead. A steep road near the ski slope. Derbyshire is far more rural but doesn't have the sea that Bournemouth does - in fact its about as far from the sea as you can get.

Getting back to the original question - We are open and taking quite a few bookings. We have changed our cancellation policy to flexible just for this year to encourage people to book but we plan to change it back for next year. 

Only challenge we face is having to check that people are only 1 household before May 17th.

[Stephanie]

Blimey you were about 10 mins walk from where I am now @Mike-And-Jane0  small world! 

That's an interesting tip you've shared about your cancellation policy. I hope you have a good run this season!

Thanks

[Sarah_Matthew0]

Unfortunately we have had to make the difficult decision to rent out our property as we need to have a steady income, we will miss welcoming our guests from around the world and showing them around our beautiful neighbourhood,  it may be something we can do in the future but the rules keep changing however my bills do not.

[Liv]

@Sarah_Matthew0 Sorry to hear that, but it's good that you were able to secure that income! Hopefully you'll get back to hosting soon 😊 🤞

[Fiona243]

We lost a family member to Covid. I have blocked my rooms until beginning of June, at which point I will reassess. I'm in no hurry to open up again and would rather be safe than sorry.

[Liv]

Hi @Fiona243,

I'm really sorry for your loss 🙁

I can understand that each host will feel comfortable hosting again at their own time, so I think you're right to wait until you feel safe. 

Take care and do let us know what you decide when June comes!

[Cathie19]

Hi all.

I’m hoping that as an antipodean, you’ll allow me to make some comments, as we are ahead of you with some important STR observations, changes and “ the staycations”. As for directing harsh remarks to the creator of this OP, reconsider how that all sounds from the viewpoint of others, including future guests who also belong to this forum.

Globally, we’ve all been tracking different timelines and stories since Covid19 began, so unless we’ve got something constructive to say, without the personalised comments, we should maintain that as our goal for all our responses. But I digress, for this is a personal opinion piece only.

Originally, I closed bookings when Covid19 hit Australia due to family health. But I am also lucky enough to have a separate dwelling under my own residence. So I am aware this information won’t necessarily apply to shared dwellings, or where government restrictions are in place. Hopefully, I shouldn’t have to make that disclaimer to avoid the ire of others still under lockdown. 🙂

Criteria of my STR location

• Usually a very seasonal STR, we are now coming into our shoulder season, with next month starting our tourist season.
• We have no international guests, so our current source of STR income is our domestic market of fellow Australians, when they haven’t been in lockdown.....
• My more frequented interstate visitors were also unable to visit as they were often in state lockdown, or as declared hotspots, requiring self funded Govt supervised quarantine for 14 days... so that stops tourists in their tracks.
• New phenomena for me: A higher percentage of guests are booking only a week or a few days out. Obviously noting Covid19 restrictions eased across borders (areas aren’t in lockdown) and are going for it! This never happened preCovid19! Also when airlines are promoting cheap domestic airfares.

What works for me:

Items in the space

• My welcome folder with homestay information is in a display folder which can be wiped (sanitised)
• I limit one copy of each tourist venue information brochure/s in the space.
• I removed some unnecessary linen stuff, but kept books, board games and soft furnishings. They make the space a home, rather than a house inspection site. However, I religiously clean and wash and spray disinfectants. I care about my health as well as theirs. We are also still awaiting vaccinations.
• I have extra scatter cushion covers and now new removable covers on dining chairs to assist with the changeover between guests.
• I’m lucky enough to have the space to have created a segregated washing system in the laundry. “Their” washing machine, clothesline, basket, pegs, airers etc. Plus plenty of sanitisers, cleaning products and disinfectant in shared spaces.

You know what you want so don’t be influenced

• We have our own dog on our side of the yard, she’s very friendly but we have enough animals in the street. So I don’t allow pets and never will, so all of Airbnbs constant Covid19 promoting won’t win this host over.
• I won’t do self check in, no way-no how! Rapport and first impressions still matter. It also sets the tone... I can still be friendly and socially distance myself. (yes we practise this, even though we currently have no community transmission, only overseas returnees in supervised quarantine) I know we are blessed....

Calendar *blocked*

• My calendar is permanently defaulted to “being blocked”: this allows me to open only a short period or a few months ahead, as I see fit. This can also reduce the burden of cancellations.
• I have a minimum of three day stays, set on my calendar. I will not have faster turnarounds as the cleaning regime isn’t worth it. No one has contacted me wanting a shorter stay. There are hotels for that.... Most of my stays are now four to seven days or a fortnight. I’ve limited stays to a maximum of three weeks, to avoid over familiarity with house rules etc.
• I have set a minimum of two days notice for a booking, which effectively means 24 hours, depending on the time of the guest instant booking. (If they’ve met all my requirements) It stops my panic and stress.

Cancellation

• My cancellation policy stays at moderate, which essentially is flexible. I would refund or come to some other arrangement if a guest had to truly cancel within five days of arrival. (I suffer from shoe on the other foot syndrome, because I’ve been a guest who was unable to get to Scotland last year for my holiday - Covid19 and NO planes)

Attitude

• Cultivate your persona and see yourself as the guest might.
• Be patient and communicate a lot, as a host: I’m getting newly joined  or guests who have joined say back in 2018, but never stayed anywhere or have no reviews. These “newbie”/old guests are coming out of the woodwork in numbers - not wanting to stay in hotels etc.  The perception is they are feeling safer in an AIrbnb.
• Not a single guest has been over entitled or lacking in expectations.
• But my house rules are comprehensive.

Message board, Covid19 information and my requirements

• Guide guests through the process: I’m finding with a number of this newer type guest, I’m having to walk them through the booking and verification requirements and they have all been very happy to oblige with my requirements for government ID, facial profile images etc.
• As newbies, they are not necessarily having any reviews under their belts, but the communication between us is paramount and succeeding, as we have had (touch wood) excellent guests to date.
• Realise that if you are their first experience, you have a responsibility to prompt what the AIrbnb community platform is about.

In my message feedback, I provide plenty of homestay space information and note they have accepted all the house rules for the ones who have instant booked. (Reverse psychology).  The others, I tell them I’m happy to accept if they accept all our house rules. (and ask them to advise and respond)

I also mention they will have a hard copy of a Covid19 checklist declaration to complete on arrival and send the government links to them, along with the link to the local NT Territory Check In App for QR code scanning at venues etc. Covid19 changes in process and infrastructure

• Initially, I blocked three days either side of guest bookings. Now sometimes two days; but ensuring plenty of ventilation and fans in use after a guest leaves. I ask them to open the louvres (windows) before departing.
• I now use a clothes dryer to finish off linen, to assist with elimination of the virus and / or other bugs. As we come out of the monsoon / wet season, the wonderful UV rays are so strong, they kill anything in its track.

Anyway, if this helps some of you, than that’s great! If not, I wish you well with your journeys.... 🌺

[Liv]

Those are some very thorough tips, @Cathie19! Thanks for sharing 😊

Even though each country is in a different situation in regards to the pandemic, I think it's really helpful to get an idea of how others are handling hosting at the moment. Hopefully your experience will serve as a benchmark for other hosts moving forward 🌸

[Christine615]

I had a great guest for a 6 week staycation and we are now friends. She was a new user and delightful (as was her family)

But not all of my extended guests have been as "considerate" about how the space was returned. So if Airbnb would help guests understand their responsibilities, that would go a long way.

I am also appalled at the uptick in requests for multiple households in my one-bathroom space. There are too many Airbnb guests who don't mask (evidenced by my exterior cameras) and are starting to come in for large events. I wish Airbnb would require guests to state they haven't been exposed, tested negative and will apply proper Covid-19 safety practices. I make the latter a requirement in my house rules now.

[Ade5]

Hi @Stephanie  we’re in Johannesburg South Africa, where whole home airbnbs were allowed to open up last August, whilst international travel, including the inbound tourism, remained restricted, so some of our experiences might be relevant.

For some context, we run 5 apartments (4 of which are penthouses) in a building in the old city centre which is a trendy but up and coming part of town, that is close to most of the culturally relevant attractions, museums, art galleries etc. Our apartments each sleep 4 - 6 people in 2 - 3 bedrooms.

Historically 80% of our guests have been international tourists and our pricing is targeted at this group. We’d generally had a bit of an aversion to local staycation bookings as they accounted for 90% of the problem guests that we’d had over the years. And, in an apartment building, we came close to having short-term rentals banned, because of the issues these problem guests caused.

We saw a ‘mad rush’ of bookings for the first 6 weeks or so, after the things opened up. Clearly there was pent up demand for people to get out of their homes on staycation. With the exception of the December holiday period, things subsequently calmed down to pretty much weekends only, after that.

Whilst the penthouses are practically fully booked at the weekends, the non-penthouse apartment is getting almost nothing.

Of course, we’re aligned with the enhanced cleaning protocol and have gone a step further to include a whole house spray sanitization, after each stay. We’ve included an image, in our photographs, to highlight the focus on cleaning, to prospective guests.

In recognition of the fact that the rules (around who you can mix with etc.) can change, we’ve updated our house rules to emphasize that  it’s the guests responsibility to ensure that their group make up meets the current Covid rules.

We’ve found that locals, who are much more likely to know the area, almost never read the listing or the house rules, so we resend the rules in the message thread and ask them confirm the have read and understand them, before we’ll accept a booking request. We’ve also turned off instant booking and insist on guests having a Verified ID.

One difference with staycation guests is they are much more likely to have a car. And, especially with our 3 bedroomed apartment bookings, perhaps even 2 cars. This has caused parking issues as the limited parking means each apartment has a single parking space.

We continue experimenting with pricing, looking to increase occupancy without encouraging more problem guests.

After such a long period of people generally working from home, we thought we’d see bookings from people that just wanted to work from somewhere else, but haven’t.

Hope that is useful

Ade

[Jadine1]

Our accommodation was already self contained so we have had very little changes to do, We decided not to re-open until May as I wasn't sure they would go ahead with re-opening and I am so tiered of cancelling peoples holidays.

We do have accommodation that can hold up to 12 so I will be checking with guests that they are all from the same bubble - however I manage the properties remotely so there is no way to check.

fingers crossed we can all stay open and don't have another year of cancelling holidays

Jadine