How to list a dormitory of 12 beds so when a reservation is done other beds dont get blocked

[Caricako0]

I have a Hostel, I have 2 private rooms and a dorm wth 12 beds. I made 3 listings, one for each room. the Dorm I listed it as a dorm with 12 beds. But when someone books a bed, all the rest of the beds get blocked and cant be found when someone is searching for it. 

any recomedations how to list the dorm so that it works like a Dorm with independent bed reservations? should I do a listing for every bed? (I hope not) 

Ricardo

[Dave-and-Deb0]

Hi @Caricako0,

Unfortunately the only way to do this is by making each bed a separate listing.  You will need to make it very clear as well that this is like a dormitory setup.

Cheers

Dave

[Regina0]

Hello @Caricako0 this link will help you.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/289/how-do-i-list-multiple-rooms

[Annies0]

We have this problem too @Caricako0, we have to make a listing for each room type and when we receive a reservation we have to activate (list vs unlist) a duplicate room type. There is no way to increase availability of a listin once a booking has been made as it occupies those dates and room type in the calender.

[Merlin2]

Hi Guys,

Is this information still relivant? or has anything changed sinse 2015 when this was posted? i am in a simular position to Caricako?

Thanks for any advice?

Merlin

[Richard911]

How many bed you have in this dorm?

For example, create a listing with 1 bed then clone it into number of bed you have in this room.
Next, create another listing with total of bed in this room and the correcsponding price for whole.
At the end, you export the whole room and sync with invidual listing bed. Do not forget to select option to lock the bed when the whole room is booked.

Hope this help

[Alejandrina4]

Hey!
This has been super helpful, thanks. But I can't find where to lock the bed when the whole room is booked as you say at the end of your comment. Could you please help me on that?
Thanks!

[Hello6]

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1864/how-do-i-link-airbnb-calendars-for-multiple-listings. The best tool available now - Oct 2019 - to prevent overbooking across multiple lisitngs for shared bed / dormitory space is the Linked Calendar Option: This allows the ability to block rooms or beds if say you have x1 room with x4 beds and have multiple option listings like " Book 4 friends private in Room 4 beds" and "Book 3 friends private in Room" and "Shared Room Dorm Bed(s)" etc.  You can link the calendars of these listings to prevent an overbooking should someone Instant Book under one of them.  You can have these multiple listings to best describe deals, privacy and group configurations.  Yet link the calendars to prevent a possible overbooking under Instant Book.  Another option is multiple listings with no Instant Book Option however oir experience has been no Instant Book means very few guests booking.  Most guests for us Instant Book in the 2 weeks up to their arrival so missing out in Instant Book guests for us is not an option.  See what works for you and let us know your solution please.  It would be wonderful if there were a better way to list our shared hostel beds and dormitory configurations and as well keep from overbooking beds.  🙂

[Hello6]

We have a similar situation with our hostel. x3 main problems with having a hostel / dormitory / shared listing(s): #1. Under -booking & Over-booking exposure; #2. Advertisement of actual sleeping arrangement's can be confusing, misleading; #3. Exposure to no and / or poor reviews / negative press when problems or too many listings looking like copies. It would be wonderful if there was a way to list each separate bed in a Shared room and even be able to show specific picture and placement like the new accessibility tools for describing amenities. Yes, the current Oct 2019 answer is a separate listing for each specific bed however this does little for attraction of groups / friends families as a guest can't book friends if there is only x1 bed available. Our current solution is still the same that existed from the beginning. Make separate listings which best describe the beds available. Make multiple copies of these listings and then set the number of guests allowed. = problem #1 & #2. We are overexposed by 14 beds and we technically misrepresented available beds. x1 listing allows 12 guests to book. x3 listings allow 4 guests to book and x1 listing allows 2 guests to book. Under Instant Book theoretically we could overbook by 12 to 15 beds if a a series of guests were all to book at the same time all our listings. If we set these listings to block each other theoretical is x1 guest can block 11 to 14 beds from bookings if just x1 guest books. There is no good solution for problem #1 at the moment then to accept risk of over or under booking and to monitor and block listings manually. We chose as solution for problem #1 to play the overbooking gamble and offer x5 listings with potential for 15 guests overbooked as we do have space to make a temp dormitory and small reserve fund to pay for needed beds should we face a situation that causes us to overbook. We are lucky to have the space to expand and should we overbook hopefully enough days / guests to cover most costs of development of another dorm space. Flip side is we can not afford our bills with x1 guest blocking 12 beds from lisiting as they book only x1 bed under our group listing. To prevent this we raised the cleaning fee on the group listing. Raising cleaning fee = #3 problem: misrepresented poor / no review lisiting. Our private rooms do really well and pay the bills. Our dorm beds are what really helps us get ahead. Like your situation we have 12 shared beds available in 6 bunkbeds. We have 2 bunkbeds per room. So we have x3 rooms with x2 bunkbeds each. Our group listing reads as x1 room with 12 beds on the opening page. Having spoke with Airbnb circa Sept 2019 these problems are being looked at. We are very happy with Airbnb and would be ecstatic if they solved a way to list shared beds better and reduce over booking exposure risks and better way for guests to see and book for friends and families our space. We would like to continue solely listing with Airbnb as with experience with other hostels and other websites Our staffing levels and size is perfect for the numbers airbnb can and does send us. We would suggest to the tech department to loom at how hostel world lists its dorm beds for hosts as their system from previous experience did more to prevent over booking. We choose not hostel world however as Airbnbs liability insurance makes a huge difference as does the house rules ability. Anyway food for thought and thanks if you made it this far into our ramble. Best solution is a way to list all beds and have them block both number of guests who can book and the beds available. 🙂