Possibility of being shut down by Airbnb

[Sally550]

This after denying 3 bookings. I am a 5-star host (5 yrs.). I don't book different parties at the same time (extended family members OK). This is my personal home. Two guest  bedrooms are next to each other on one wing (my "wing" is on the other side of open living). I share my open living/dining/kitchen if wanted.  I do all my own cleaning, sanitizing, stocking, washing, etc. My sister has end stage cancer and I want to be able to visit/help her and husband. My daughter has Luppus. So I require masking/distancing or vaccinations. I am 77, laid off work and have big mortgage.

Too much personal, but main topic re why might be denied booking for some time. 

Looking for suggestions or ideas. Seems all is  general and no way to deal with extenuating circumstances. 

[Emiel1]

@Sally550 

To minimize Declines or Cancellations:

- Disable Instant Book

- Booking Request: explain why not a good match, ask guest to retract the booking request

- Booking Inquiry: just answer the question within the time limit, no obligation to Decline

[Lawrene0]

What are you asking, @Sally550 ? Are you wondering whether you can require masking and vaccinations of your guests? Since shared space is involved, you should have no trouble with that if it is clear up front in your description. You might ask Airbnb, though, to be sure.

Absolutely keep your calendar up to date so you don't have to turn down too many requests re timing. When I am dealing with something upcoming for which the timing is vague, I block dates proactively. Then, when my dates firm up, I open up what is available.

As to cleaning for already-booked guests when you need to be away with your sister, could you hire someone? 

Are you worried that Airbnb will shut you down for saying no to requests or are you considering cancelling already-booked guests? I would block the calendar to head off the requests, and I would do everything I could to honour the already-booked reservations. If you cannot honour them (cannot find a cleaner, etc.), see what you can do to get your guests rehoused to everyone's satisfaction. You could start by looking at local listings to see whether they have open dates. You could contact those hosts or try going through Airbnb. 

Hope this helps a little. Apologies if I have misunderstood the question. 

[Jennifer1773]

@Sally550 Wow your guests LOVE you! Congrats on a great record of success. With COVID and your additional hardships, I am wondering if it would be best for you to combine these two listings into one? That way 2 different parties could not book at the same time. I am not sure of the best way to do this but it seems like you only want one party at a time, so ONE listing would be best that has the option of 1 or 2 rooms... I don't have this experience, but others might be able to give some advice here on how to set that up.

Maybe start by snoozing one of your two listings? Then change the other one to incorporate ONE or TWO bedrooms?

[Debra300]

@Sally550,

You've already received some very good feedback. These are my suggestions:

1. To avoid two separate parties booking both of your listings during concurrent periods, link the calendars of your two single room listings: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1864/how-do-i-link-airbnb-calendars-for-multiple-listings.  If one of the rooms is booked the calendar of the other room is blocked off for the same time frame, preventing any bookings.
2. If you want to make both rooms available for guests in the same travel group, you can create a new listing for both rooms together.  Then link the calendars of the single room listings to the new two room listing.  When the two room listing is booked, the calendars of the individual room listings will be blocked, preventing bookings.