One day at a time question

[Aaron1262]

Hello everyone.   I'm a new host.   I'm trying to start off slow and just open my place up one day at a time until I get my feet wet.  

But when it's only open for one day, it's not visible unless you select that certain day.

The only solution to this that I can think of is to open my calendar more fully, turn off instant booking, and then explain to guests it's only open on Fridays.

I was hoping not to inconvenience guests that way, but I don't know of any other solution.

I've spoke to Airbnb and there said they believe it may be a glitch.   But I think it's just the way it's set up.

Can anyone give me some ideas here?

[Shelley159]

HI @Aaron1262

If I understand correctly, for now you want to open only Friday nights on your calendar for bookings. You can do this and the Friday nights will show as available to guests, as long as you have a minimum stay of 1 night. If you do this, only guests who want to book a one-night stay on a Friday night will be able to book. Of course, the more nights you open, the bigger the chance of getting bookings. I don't really understand the part where you say there is a glitch?

[Aaron1262]

If I open my listing on Fridays only, and I look for my own listing on a separate computer, it doesn't show up.

If I open multiple days and look for my listing it DOES show up.

Airbnb has said this must be some sort of glitch and are working to resolve it 

[Emilia42]

@Aaron1262 The reason why it does not show up when you only open one day is because when you use the Airbnb search without dates selected, the results default to "Any Week" which is a 5-day booking. 

This is not a glitch. it is how Airbnb is designed. I wish customer service had enough knowledge to be able to tell you that instead of wasting your time.

[Helen3]

I can't imagine a lot of guests will be interested in staying for one night on a Friday night only @Aaron1262 . By doing this you will minimise your chance of getting bookings.

[Aaron1262]

I hate to disagree, but often when I go out, and especially to new places, that's what I look for. I'm not there to stay for many nights, I'm there for only one night.

[Helen3]

But this isn't about you it's about what the majority of guests likely to be interested in staying with you are likely to want . @Aaron1262 

who have you identified as a target market to stay at your listing that want to stay for a single Friday night? 

your listing has no description of your location or the accommodation which will also put people off, as will you having no profile photo or host description.

I'd also suggest you either retake your photos. Or have someone who's good at photography take them.

[Aaron1262]

And this doesn't do much to answer my question, but thank you for your input 😉

[Zheng49]

"But when it's only open for one day, it's not visible unless you select that certain day."

Why would it show up if you select a different day? It wouldn't be available for booking. 

[Aaron1262]

Hmmm.  This is starting to sound a lot like the conversations I've been having with Airbnb and NOT an actual forum.🤔

But I'll answer your question for the sake of others that may be in the same boat.

Simply put; if my place has available days, why WOULDN'T it show up as an option?

When I check other airbnbs, not all of their dates are available, but they still show up as options.

The only difference between mine and theirs is that they probably have multiple days open on their calendar in a row compared to mine that only has single days out of the week.

[Joelle43]

Hello @Aaron1262 

You have to understand that Airbnb is run by an algorithm that selects 15 pages of listings from the thousands available for a given search so impossible for everyone's listing to be shown.

The algorithm will favour hosts that have a calendar that is open for months ahead and with open dates on their calendar.  New hosts get a push too for a month.  Hosts with great reviews too, the quality of your photos, amenities and many more criteria.  Read the link below on how the algorithm works to select listings:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/39#:~:text=The%20algorithm%20assesses%20many%20characteristics,t....  

I'm afraid that with only one day a week open on your calendar you are not going to be rated very highly by the algorithm Aaron and for you to appear in a search, a guest has to put in the filter for a Friday night and only wanting to stay the one night, further restricting your chances of being selected I'm afraid.  No bug, no glitch.  The number of listings on Airbnb in the last two years has doubled or even trebled so competition is tougher than ever for us all.