The concept of a one night surcharge

[Jenny88]

I find it very difficult to clearly convey to guests that we charge a slightly higher rate, a surcharge, for a one night stay.

Many properties don't allow a one night stay so, in doing so, we are trying to comfortably accommodate the many folk who are passing through, don't have much time and so need to stay just overnight.

However, given the way that most websites are designed ie with the price shown as so much per night, it is sometimes quite difficult as folk note the price shown very obviously on the listing but choose not to read on where we do describe our one night surcharge.

So, then I have to explain and, for a few people, this comes as a surprise.

Perhaps airbnb can have a one night stay charge tag or section which is more obvious and clearly 'up front'.

Thank you.

[Dragan11]

I would like that option also.

[Jenna28]

We need this option!!! One nighters are too much work and I don't want to limit people from staying just that night

[Tracey62]

brilliant idea!

[Steve-and-Sylvaine0]

I would like to see a onw night surcharge option too 🙂

[Susan619]

I agree the one nighters (especially a saturday) block some one who may want the whole weekend. I have recently added a two night minimum but not sure if that wil make my rate of booking go down so i may have to re-evaluate.

[Emily145]

For those asking why not just charge a cleaning fee, I already do. But there is a limit to how much I can charge without turning off potential guests. I would love to allow 1-night stays at a higher rate but 2+ night stays are the vast majority of my income and I can't risk losing them to one of my many neighbors who charge no more than $25.

My location is so-so - I'm on a bus line but not near the subway, and there are a lot of people in my neighborhood offering units that are frankly nicer than mine for absurdly low prices. In the off-season I struggle to get more than $40/night and a $25 cleaning fee for my micro-studio, and it's frankly not worth my time to turn over a unit for much less than $100. There is no way most potential guests are going to pay a $60 cleaning fee or $75/night for that unit, and the full base price is what displays on the map, even if they are searching for 2+ nights and you have a 2+ nights discount in place.

It's also a basement unit in an old house which means even with professional cleaners coming in twice a month to deep-clean it, there are baseboard radiators that won't come clean no matter how hard they scrub (multiple pros have tried) and a faint musty odor that I do my best to mitigate with regular cleanings, zeolites, and by running A/C or keeping the windows open when there are no guests in the unit. To truly eliminate the smell I would need to do a whole renovation project to install a new ventilation system, and at $40-60/night depending on the season it would take months of being solidly booked to recoup the costs and I just don't have the spare capital right now. If I charge a super-high cleaning fee my guests are not going to understand that it's a "turnover fee" - they are going to expect a gleaming, spotless unit that I can't provide.

[Leslie208]

This would be a great option for hosts. It is more work to accommodate a one night guest but I don’t want to completely remove the option for a single night b/c we do get a lot of people passing through. Is airbnb even considering this as an option for hosts? 

[Sue51]

I personally don't find one nighters a problem and don't see the need to attach a extra charge. But I only have at the most 2 guests to stop over. I was also under the impression that the thought behind AirBnB was help keep costs down. I do it more for that reason and the enjoyment of meeting new people.