How to get weekday bookings?

[Brianna164]

Hi everyone! I’m new to hosting and have been getting weekend bookings but can’t seem to get any weekday bookings. Any advice or anything you see on my listing that would help?

[Paul1255]

Hey @Brianna164  I hope you are well!

Certain listings, especially larger ones such as yours tend to attract weekend bookings- friends and families who like to travel and spend sometime together will usually do so at the weekend when people are off work/kids off school etc.

I have one listing like that, all I can do is drop my weeknight prices to a level where I might get a booking for 2 guests to use a bedroom each who might be travelling for business etc, rather than a group of 6 who would use both bedrooms and sofabed.

It totally depends on how you are set up and your location, but it's worth trying different things- but I would say price is the main factor for my weekday bookings in certain listings.

You have a 3 night minimum at the weekends from the look of your calendar, but 1 night minimum during the week- I assume if you get a 1 night booking in the week it would be financially worth it for you?

Best wishes

Paul.

[Elaine701]

@Brianna164 

Well, it's a lovely house and similarly sized as ours. You're in Central Atlanta? I would expect that to be a tourist attraction, if not a magnet for professionals. And in that case, you probably have a high season and a low season.

In the high season, I'd expect you could have at least a minimum 5 night stay, flat rate priced for the entire house, and still be able to fill it with bookings for the season. We have 7 nights min in the high season, and we're guaranteed to be booked. But we've built a long history of good hosting, so we tend to bubble up in the search results. 

In the low season (ours is November through March), we originally used the same model, but quickly discovered that 8 people don't book a villa for 7 nights in January. It's always less than that, usually 2-6 pax. So, in the low season, we charge per person, starting with a rather high minimum for the first 2 (because it's really spacious and desirable for 2 people), and then just 20€ per person  above that. And a 3 night minimum. And that keeps it booked, because it's affordable for small families and work groups. 

I don't know how you can afford to have one night bookings. The first night is the most costly for us. Cleaning, bedding, towels, any hospitality such as a bottle of wine, flowers or snacks... All gets spent on the first night. The following nights have very little incremental  cost, and so that's where you make some profit.

I'd strongly recommend at least a minimum 3 night stay. Or 5... That will help weed out the drifters and attract families and professionals, and make you more money. You may need to develop a lengthy list of good reviews before you can expect to attract lots of interest from better, longer stay guests, and you'll also need to look carefully at who's booking, and scare away certain types... to prevent damage to your lovely place. But it's all possible and you can make money... 

Really, you should be able to keep it booked. Not just for weekends. That's just not good enough for that house. 

Anyway, good luck with everything. You'll figure it out!