Weekly rentals

[Ana19759]

We are fairly new to this and thought we had figured out how to set weekly rentals beginning on Saturdays during our busy season. Then when on AirBnb via our computer, we saw that only Saturdays appeared as "opened" on our calendar with the next six days "blocked off".  If a potential guest clicked a Saturday, it did inform the potential guest that we had a seven day minimum (and seven day maximum with the ability to manually add on days upon request). But from a visual standpoint, again, it looked like we only had one night a week open throughout the summer. This same issue did not seem to occur if we were on the AirBnB app; all days throughout the summer appeared open on the app's calendar and it informed potential guests that we had a 7-day requirement. The problem with the app, however, was that it appeared to let guests book any seven days they wanted, not necessarily starting on a Saturday. We are at a loss as to what to do beyond letting people check in any day they want rather than a specific day for their 7-day stay as we don't want people to think our summer is booked except for Saturdays.  Are we missing anything?

[Lisa723]

@Ana19759 the calendar shows only available check-in dates. It's very annoying.

I don't have a theory about why the app wasn't adhering to your requirements.

[Isabelle623]

This is a known issue and I've discussed this with the support team some many times...but they don't get it. I gave up now.....

I guess if enough people complain, they might start listening.

It works fine on Homeaway and VRBO though. So what I do on Airbnb now is rather weird, but thats the only way I found to have it work. Here goes -> In the summer months of July and August, I only allow 1 week or multiples of a week. Due to this issue in Airbnb, I now block every even week off. This way, every odd week is shown as available and the only criteria I put is a minimum 7 day booking. This way people see that the entire week is available. The downside is that people can't book more than 1 week 😞 But this is better then getting no bookings. And then with each confirmed booking, I open the blocked weeks where it makes sense. 

Hope this makes sense...........

[Ana19759]

Thank you, Isabelle, for your response. Your strategy makes sense.  Unfortunately, to date, almost 100% of our bookings have come via AirBnB; none have come from VRBO despite having had our listing there too. Have you had luck with VRBO?  In your experience or discussion with others have people found that one platform is vastly superior to the others?  It’s only been a short time, but we seem to be getting daily booking through AirBnB. 

[Isabelle623]

Airbnb interface is easier..although they keep tinkering and making it worse 😞 But don't think any of them are vastly superior to the others. One downside I see is that VRBO & HA guests hardly ever post reviews. 

I have more than 80% of my bookings coming from Airbnb. Initially it was 100% Airbnb.....but in 2019 VRBO and Homeaway bookings started coming in and steadily increasing. But Airbnb seemingly seems to be the site of choice.....at least in Belgium as far as I can see. 

[Ana19759]

Thanks, Isabelle.  I'm also looking at other options found in the US such as Furnished Finders and Traveling Nurses.  I've called hospitals in the area to see if they have housing needs for their staff, but I have had no luck so far.