Help! We can't host a guest! What do we do?

[John2273]

My wife and I are fairly new Airbnb hosts, with just over 30 guests.  Sadly, we lost track of the availability calendar and someone instant booked on a holiday when we can't accommodate them.  I've already sent a message of apology and let them know we can't host them.  However, it looks like once I cancel the reservation I will instantly lose our Superhost status. 

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle this situation in the least damaging way?

As a result, I have stopped instant booking and locked my calendar down.  I can only blame myself for not blocking off the holiday in the first place, but it is very frustrating to think a year of hard work building a Superhost status will be lost overnight from one cancellation.

[Sarah977]

@John2273  If the guest is still within the 48 hour free cancellation period, you could ask them if they would be willing to cancel from their end, considering all the penalties you'll receive, but I don't know that that's a really good idea, since it was your fault. It could piss a guest off and they might call Airbnb and complain. But if the reservation is a long way off, and the guest has seemed understanding of you having to cancel, they might not mind. It just doesn't seem very professional.

I wouldn't fret too much about the Superhost status- you could get it back again and it doesn't seem to affect bookings according to posts from others who this has happened to. I'd be more concerned about "The host cancelled this booking xx days before check-in" which will appear in your review section, which can make guests wary of booking, and the fine that Airbnb will apply.

But sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

[John2273]

Thanks for the suggestion Sarah.  I sent him a message already explaining we can't host him.  I was kind of hoping he might cancel on his own in order to re-book somewhere else.  I'm going to wait until tomorrow and see if he responds back.  I told him we would happily host him again in the future with a very good discount for this inconvenience.  I feel really bad about this.  We host because we enjoy it and it is not a business per se... we really take pride in having people visit and I'll always give a credit, refund, etc. to keep guests happy.  I really hate to let them down.

[Helen3]

Why don’t you just ask a friend if they can act as co-host while you are away? @John2273 

[Alice595]

@John2273  If the guest is reluctant to cancel, you may give additional $10 to the guest for the inconvenience. This will insure that you don’t lose your hardworking earned Superhost.

[Lyn3]

@John2273  Hi John, if the reason you cannot host them on a holiday is because you have family wanting to stay with you....if it were me, I would nicely explain to my family what is happening, and insist that I pay for my family's accommodation tariff in a nearby place, explaining to them the issues involved with cancelling an Airbnb guest... What are your thoughts re this?

[Emilia42]

@John2273 If you cannot make a sacrifice like trusting someone to check on the space while you are away or having family sleep elsewhere during the time of the guests booking, then you will have to cancel on the guest and lose your superhost status.