What are your thoughts on two-day minimum stays? Yes? No?

[Ann489]

It seems it has been a while since this questions was posed, so I thought it would be a good idea to get some fresh input.    I am contemplating implementing a two-day minimum stay. After getting another, short-notice request for a one-night stay last night from someone with a brandnew profile, no government-issued ID(one of my requirements), zero info on profile and a message that said,"we want to stay at guesthouse, please",   I am inclined to do so.   What are your thoughts?

[Ruth152]

Unless a guest introduces them selfes to me - I am very likely to decline them. I have a full profile that they can read plus all my reviews plus the full write up on my property. They know all about me and they haven't got the manners to introduce them self. Then NO. Not a good quality guests.

[Ann489]

@Ruth152trust me; I have been VERY selective as to who I accept--especially, since Airbnb is making it harder and harder to properly vet any potential guests.  I do ask  lot of questions and even then, I trust my "gut feeling"....if something seems off, I'd rather decline.   This last request was one of those.

[Felicia48]

Great point Ruth!  

Definitely a 2 night minimum.  Last minute guests seem to be trouble. 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Ann489 

IMO, go for the 2-night minimum. 

On a slightly separate note...... Henry and I decided we wanted to take it easy this summer, so we upped our prices a bit  and changed from a 3 night to 5 night minimum. And we still got an inquiry - which we declined........ I'm sure you can see why 🙂

[Emilia42]

@Jessica-and-Henry0 at least he knew he was asking "several" questions. I hate it when they say "I have A question" and then rattle off a list of at least 10.   🙂

[Ann489]

@Jessica-and-Henry0   LOL....hmmm, yes, that one would definitely get a bit, fat "no thanks" from me as well!  We have decided to take it easy this summer as well and don't want to bother with the one-nighters at this point.  In my experience, they often tend to be the messier ones.  😉     Have a fun summer!

[Emilia42]

@Ann489 

I am in a 'passing through' area so can/do get a lot of one night stays. This summer I set a two night minimum mainly just because I was tired. Turning over one night stays when you have 10 in a row is hard work!

But sometimes I feel more comfortable with a one night stay because the guest is literally only there for 12 hours (arrives around 7pm, has dinner at the best restaurant in town, drinks the beer I left for them, has a comfortable night's sleep, leaves at 9am.) For a quick pass through like that, I can definitely provide a 5 star experience and still make good money.

[Linda108]

@Ann489   I think @Emilia42  post is right on point in terms of her target market which apparently includes a number of slingle night reservations.  You have a wonderful guest house that just should be appreciated in a more leisurely way IMO :D.  I changed to 2 night minimum a couple of years ago as I do not want to be in high turn over mode.  I am retired with an emphasis on "tired" 😄  Spent too many work years multitasking and do not want to continue with that.  However, more importantly, my area is a destination attending events and enjoying the beautiful weather (not in the summer, however),  so there was little change in my net revenue when I made that change.

[Alice595]

@Ann489  You have an entire house listed. I would definitely say "Yes" to have at least two night stays. Preferably 3 night stay is what I recommend. This will avoid a lot of booking from people who book your house for party purpose.

I used to have a 2 nights minimum on my listing. A guy lied to me when I told him that my house rule has no party. During checkin, I reinstated the rules. He told me that he and his girlfriend would just go to Casino for the nights. Two nights later, I saw my house was trashed. Furniture was damaged. Blankets were missing. Alcohol, cigarette, drug, weeds were all used. It took one week before the bad smell was totally gone after deep clean and odor removal treatments.

[Mark116]

@Ann489  It might matter if you do/don't have a day set aside between guests whether this would cause you to lose business or not.  We do same day turnaround and have a two day minimum, otherwise we'd always have people wanting to come just for Saturday night.  It's also a huge time investment to wash and stage everything for a one day stay.  We also find that the two day guests are some of the best...they're here for a short time, so tend to spend all their time sightseeing, so the apartment stays neat, no cooking, not much mess. 

[Ann489]

@Mark116  @Alice595 @Linda108 @Emilia42 

thank you all for your valuable input so far.   I have decided to go with a two-night minimum for now.  Let's see what happens.  😉       I'm not in the least concerned with losing business;  I'd rather make less money and have the right guests without stressing myself out than accept every reservation coming my way (as Airbnb would like for us to do).   

[Jody79]

I agree with the others, good call @Ann489 .  We started out allowing one nighters, but quickly changed it to a 2 night minimum after having 4 parties in our place within the first month we listed.  It's worked out well for us.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Ann489 

the average stay in Zagreb is less than 2 nights so many hosts have a 1-night minimum. But we are off-site hosts with 2 apartments and we physically can't make it. We have 2 nights min and we are doing fine. Yes, we would be booked a bit more and a bit sooner but the cost of benzine and laundry and our time would make it even.

If we would live in the same house and/or rent just one simple room without a kitchen then maybe.