Calendar (as a host)

[Erica270]

As a host, I want to block out dates but the calendar blocks out the date completely instead of showing that the person is checking in late in the afternoon and therefore someone can check out on that same day.  Sometimes, when I have a 3 night stay, I'll only block off the middle day because I don't want people to think they can't check out the same day another guest is checking in or that they can check in the same day as someone checking out.  This is so confusing for me (unnecessarily!).  If I block all 3 days out on the calendar, will people looking for my rental be able to tell that those days are free for check in/out?  Please help.  This calendar is painful!

[Emiel1]

@Erica270,

I don't understand your posting. The bookings are not based on days, but on nights, same like a hotel. A confirmed reservations blocks automatically the right nights. On check-in second half of the day shows blocked, on check-out first half of the day shows blocked. So a new guest can check-in on same day (to stay the upcoming night) when the old guest is checking out (stayed the night before). For example: if a guest wants to stay 3 nights from 10 februari on: 10,11 and 12 februari should be available on the calender for booking. The guest checks in on 10 februari and checks out on 13 februari (13 februari does not have to be available on the calender, unless you want a new reservation being possible starting on 13 februari)

Think nights !

Hope this helps,

Emiel

[Erica270]

@Emiel4, I know that works if the booking is on airbnb but I often get bookings on other sites and I then go into my airbnb calendar and block off those nights and when I manually block off certain days on the calendar, it appears as if the entire day is blocked so that visitors looking at my calendar may not understand that they can check in/out on those block days.  Make sense? Sorry if I wasn’t clear.

[Sarah977]

@Erica270 I'm not sure if I totally understand your dilemma, but it's less confusing to think of them as nights booked rather than days. If a guest is booked the 1st to the 3rd, say, that means they are checking in the 1st, staying the night of the 1st and the 2nd, and checking out on the 3rd. You calendar shouldn't appear as blocked for a guest to check in later in the day on the 3rd- there will be a dark line on your calendar into the middle of the 3rd, but that doesn't mean a guest can't book for the 3rd.

Are you just seeing that line into, in my example, the 3rd when you look at your calendar in your account? If you are, try looking at the calendar in the preview of your listing- you should see the 3rd as available for a guest to book.

Have you checked your Availability settings above your calendar? Make sure you don't have "Block one day before and after a reservation" checked if you are good with back-to-back bookings.

[Sarah977]

@Erica270 And I don't understand why you are blocking off dates when you have a booking manually- those dates will get blocked automatically when a reservation is made.

[Lisa723]

@Erica270 @Sarah977 @Emiel1 I am assuming you are blocking nights because you have reservations from other sources... as has been said when you block a date you are blocking that night. A guest can check out on that date, but not check in or stay.

[Erica270]

@Lisa723

Yes, you are correct Lisa!  Sorry if I was unclear.  When a booking comes directly through airbnb, it nicely makes the calendar appear clearly that, for example, the guest who booked is checking in on Monday and checking out on Friday.  However, when I get a booking on another site, I then go into my airbnb calendar and simply block off those dates.  But blocking those dates makes it appear that the entire day is unavailable to potential renters and I’d like for the check in and out days to be obvious to the viewers of the calendar.  Maybe it is clear, I’m not sure, but that is why I only block off the middle dates, like Tues, Wed, and Thurs so other renters can see that Monday is an acceptable day to check out and Fri is an acceptable day to check in.  I don’t want to keep doing this as it is very confusing and I’m so worried I’m going to double book one of these days!

[Lisa723 · Accepted solution]

@Erica270

You should block exactly the nights that will be occupied. It will be clear to prospective guests.

[Erica270]

Thank you so much... I really appreciate it!