Booking close to Thanksgiving?

[Paul8777]

I just got a booking request for a few days before Thanksgiving, checking out the day before Thanksgiving. I want to maximize occupancy but also don't know if forcing a day before Thanksgiving checkin will lessen the likelihood of getting those high ticket nights booked.

Thoughts? Accept it and roll the dice hoping someone will only want to book Thanksgiving holiday starting Wednesday or hold out to make a stay lasting Thanksgiving more flexible by having more says available before? Thanks! 

[Richard531 · Accepted solution]

The right thing to do is to take the request. 

If you meant to have a booking strategy in place related to Thanksgiving and forcing longer stays/occupancy/etc. you should have already done that before you got this booking request.

[Paul8777]

I'm new at this and learning as I go but thanks for the input. 

[Gillian166]

agreed, i'm trying to work out my xmas/nye strategy which is a bit tricky. 

[Anonymous]

@Paul8777  I agree that you should accept this request. It's your bird in the hand.

In the future, you can always manually adjust your calendar settings to set special requirements around holidays. But for now, I wouldn't let down this guest who's taking a big chance on a new listing with only 8 reviews. 

Your retreat does look like an awesome place to spend Thanksgiving, but I wouldn't worry about losing out on a booking - most people don't get that whole week off anyway. The day before Thanksgiving is often the busiest flying date in the year in the US because that's when people are rushing off to begin their holidays. As long as you're set for a same-day changeover, you'll be fine.

But your 2-night minimum might be a bit short for a property that size.

[Paul8777]

Thanks for taking the time to give me detailed feedback and help me learn things I can use moving forward. Much appreciated.