How do you manage gaps between bookings?

[Jenny]

Hi everyone!

A full calendar is a thing of beauty, that I’m sure many of you aspire to! The shape a full calendar takes can however change from one Host to the next, depending on how you approach gaps between bookings.

On one hand, taking into account the time required to prep and clean a listing from one guest to the next, you might be planning some breathing room between stays. On the other, those few free days may seem like a lost opportunity and some Hosts could try offering some last minute promotions to get them filled in instead.

What is your strategy, when it comes to gaps between bookings? Do you purposefully carve them out, or try to avoid them?

Looking forward to reading your tips and experiences!

Jenny

[Fred13]

I manage them by welcoming them, in fact nowadays we rather book solid (with 50% of the time a day between guests) and welcome reservation moves as little vacations.

[Jenny]

It's great to hear you're so busy, @Fred13!

[Renee291]

My calendar is pretty booked. I might have 2 to 4 days unbooked each month.  if it's one day between bookings, I often block it and use that day as a break or to complete a project.

[Jenny]

Have you completed any projects or had any breaks lately, @Renee291?

[Renee291]

Had a stump ground out in the front yard yesterday.

[Ted307]

@Jenny 

We just consider "fully booked" to be booked every weekend. Weekday bookings are pretty rare for our bunkhouse, and they are usually just a 3 day weekend break for the Phoenix worker-bees who are our usual guests. We have a regular guest who is a traveling nurse and books 3 days, Thursday-Saturday. We have the calendar block the day before and after to be sure we have enough time to get ready between guests, too.

Lately, for the first time since we began hosting 2 years ago, we have had some open weekends. We still are not booked for Labor Day, which the previous 2 years we were booked far in advance! When we are not booked by guests, we use the space ourselves -- use the Bar-B-Q and nice patio for our own guests and we might just host a neighborhood cook out if we do not get a booking for the long holiday weekend. We are debating if we would even want a last minute booking for the long weekend. If a party is to be held, it will be one of our own making!

[Jenny]

I love the idea of a neighborhood cookout, @Ted307! Feel free to tell us about it if it goes ahead!

[M199]

@Jenny 

During my first season a few years ago, we took every booking to build our customer base.  We are seasonal (Apr-Oct) and it was exhausting. Year 2, no more single nights, it's not worth the effort.  Now, we start the first third of the season with minimum 3 night stays.

If we see a decline in bookings after that, we will drop down to a two day stay.  Also a key factor, we open for bookings from January of the seasons year, giving guests ample time to book.  Most of my repeat guests ( around 22%), know to book early to get prime time.

[Jason1679]

We have lake houses not far from where we live.  It seems pretty easy to book weekends, but the weekdays are where my gaps exist.  I have lowered the week day prices by about 20% of weekend prices, and that has helped fill weekday gaps.  I have also changed to 1 night minimums on weekdays, and that has helped fill the gaps too.  I know we have picked up a lot of guests who are traveling across the country and need just one night.  

[Huma0]

@Jenny because I host long term guests (minimum 28 nights), I often have quite large gaps between stays. Actually, the gaps could be anything up to 27 nights. Previously, if I had a gap of a week or more, I would open up those dates by reducing the minimum stay and applying it just to those nights using a rule set.

However, pre-COVID, I was very busy with work and travelling a lot, and also got quite a few problematic guests for these shorter stays (perhaps because I was using instant booking at the time or maybe because those bookings tended to be more last minute) so sometimes it just wasn't worth it.

Now I only open up the dates if the gap is substantial, i.e. two weeks or more, but that rarely happens as the gaps tend to be up ten days or less. So, I try to use those dates to do maintenance/make some improvements in the room if I am not too busy with work, or just treat it as a bit of a breather. Because I have three rooms listed in my house, it's usually only one room at a time that has a gap, with the other two booked. Very rarely, I have a few days with only one room booked, but I don't think they are ever all empty at the same time!

That may well change going forward as bookings have ground to a halt since the Summer Release (with the exception of repeat guests). If the calendar starts to get very, very empty, I may need to take shorter bookings, even though I'd rather not.

[Kathleen887]

I am in Pensacola, Fl. I have been pretty much booked for the last 15 months. All of a sudden it's quiet. I have a 30 day minimum per HOA. I have a one bedroom w/loft that has a full size bed and a 2 bed, 2 bath right across the street from the airport. No bookings ahead and none now for three weeks. I was on Instant book but took it off for two other properties I have. I also have two town houses in another area. Minimum 4 day stay. I had three it was too much work. Too expensive to swap everything out for a few days. That also has come to a halt. I am a super host. Not sure what is going on. Last year at this time I only had two properties but was booked. Not booked for Labor Day either. The majority has been business travelers. Medical professionals, military, and some local people having work done on their own house and needed a place to stay for a few months. All has been good til now. I'm concerned about this lull in the schedule but have also got a few things accomplished which I couldn't do while guests were there. 

[Huma0]

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@Kathleen887 wrote:

All has been good til now. 

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Yes, for you, me, and many other hosts. The Summer Release has really screwed up my little airbnb business and there doesn't seem to be any improvement in sight. We have been told that our feedback is being passed on and that the engineering team are looking into any glitches associated with the release, but my feeling is that the entire new booking system is set up in such a way that, for many of us, guests simply won't be able to see us anymore. 

Have you looked at other booking sites? I've read reports here from several hosts that say, while they are barely getting bookings on Airbnb anymore, they are getting them on VRBO, booking.com etc.

[Kyle325]

In all likelihood, your downturn is due to Airbnb's 'Summer Release' product.  It's been a disaster for MANY hosts.... our views have dropped by over 60% and our bookings have plummeted.  Read through other threads to get a better understanding of how it's impacting hosts around the world....  very frustration and very disappointing that Airbnb took an extremely successful platform and tanked it...  hope things turn around for you

[Trayce0]

I schedule gaps between. My condo is small and I rent the guest room so I need the break; I don't like to be in a rush cleaning either, and I enjoy solitude once in a while. When the room hasn't rented for a bit, it's nice to be reminded how lovely it is to have others around making a bit of noise to explain away all the ghosts. LOL After, it's just as lovely when the guests leave and you feel the freedom of an empty house for a bit. A constant reminder that the grass is equally green on both sides of the fence!