Booking Inquiries

[Todd377]

Hello, we are brand new hosts and just listed our home three days ago. I’m not sure I really understand the concept of people making inquiries about booking the property when we have instant booking set up. I understand if they have a specific question, but why would someone send an inquiry asking if they could book the property? Here is what happened:

A woman inquired as to whether she could book my property for a two day period. We had a back-and-forth conversation about the number of beds and the number of people she would be bringing. That was it.  She did not book the space, and after our conversation, the space was booked by someone else for those nights. 
Today I got a message asking if she could book the space for those nights later in the week.  That took me by surprise because the space has already been booked. Perhaps she does not see this? And is that a customary request? (To ask if one can book at a later time) Is she asking me to put a hold on the space or reserve it for her? I’ve been looking through the Airbnb information, but there is so much of it and I wasn’t expecting this situation. I am going to respond to her message letting her know that the space has already been booked, but I’m wondering if I am at fault somehow? Just confused and slightly worried—

Thanks for any input. 

[Emiel1]

@Todd377 

It is up to the guest to book or not.

If they first sent an inquiry, then you can pre-approve it, but he guest still have to book. If dates are not available anymore, guests can see it on your calender or, when pre-approved or having a special offer, it says that it is not possible (anymore).

It is not common (and also difficult) to "reserve" dates for a guest (unless you make this agreement with them for some reason)

best regards,

Emiel

[Emilia42]

@Todd377 

This is a classic example of you snooze you lose. The best piece of advice I can offer you is to emotionally distance yourself from the guests. Do not feel bad, or worried, or confused. It is on the guest to book. My response would be "I would love to host you but these dates have been recently confirmed and booked by another guest. Hopefully, I will get the chance to host you on your next trip to X. Good luck in your search!"

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Todd377 in addition to the advice above be aware that an inquiry just needs answering you do NOT have to approve or decline. If you do approve then you have the option of blocking the dates or not. NOT is the most sensible as some guests send multiple requests but only, obviously, book with one host.

Finally, if you have instant book on some requests still come through because the guest wants to break a setting such as check in time. Not necessarily an issue but look out to see if their is something included in the depths of the request.

[Todd377]

Thank you so much for the responses. This answers my questions. I sent a message letting her know the dates were no longer available but that we hope to host her group next time. I wasn’t sure if she was able to see that the house had already been booked for those dates because her request for me to hold the dates came after the home was no longer available. 

[Sarah977]

@Todd377  A guest should be able to look at your calendar and see that the dates they wanted are now blocked, but they might assume that you blocked them to hold them, or they simply didn't go back to look at the calendar.

And I don't think it's that odd or unusual for a guest to request different dates than the original inquiry, after all, people don't always have all their ducks in a row ahead of time and their travel plans may have changed.

There's many reasons why a guest might send an inquiry rather than IB, even if they meet your IB requirements or don't have specific questions. For instance, as I host a private room for one guest only, I get a lot of single female travelers, and many have told me they would never IB- they want to communicate with a host first to get a "feel" for the host, so they don't end up in a situation which makes them feel uncomfortable or unsafe.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Todd377 Just a thought on your listing. Should you state that the pool is only available date-date? I've no idea how people deal with this but I assume its not year round in New York state?

Ignore me if it is available year round or if I have missed the dates in your listing.

[Todd377]

We do close the pool at the end of October. I will definitely add that into the listing. As of now, we only put October as available, so I didn’t think to list that. Thanks for the heads up! 

[Helen3]

As a new host personally I would turn IB off until you have familiarised  yourself with how Airbnb works or set it so only guests with postive reviews can use IB. @Todd377 

Read up on tutorials and guides on this community .

Read Airbnb Help - look up their Q and As for cancellation policies, reviews, how to make a claim for guest damage, how to amend a booking, corona virus extenuating circumstances policy, general extenuating circumstances policy.  

Make sure your house rules state that they can’t have visitors or overnight guests - only those book and pay can be at the listing.

Have  host rules around quiet hours - particularly outside as you have a pool.

Don’t take longer term bookings until you are familiar with how Airbnb works and have built up your reviews - set a two or three week limit. 

you also need cctv outside and home insurance fir STRs