How many beds do I make up?

[Catherine2614]

Hi everybody, hope you can help.

We have just refurbished a third bedroom so can now sleep 6 guests in total

King size bed

Double bed

Twin single beds 

If I get a booking for say 3 guests how many beds do I make up?  

Do I ask the guest in advance?  

Do I make them all up and hope two won’t be used?

If they want the King and double do I lock the room with the twin beds.

If they want the King and one single, do I make up the other single or just put a throw over the unmade bed and then lock the room with the double? 

Hubby says just make them all up regardless but he’s not the one doing the washing and ironing if bed linen.

I’m sure you experienced hosts will have the answer for me. 

Thank you 😊 

Catherine 

[Pat271]

Unless otherwise specified, guests in an “Entire home” listing have access to all bedrooms and all beds during their stay. 2 guests can rotate around and stay in 6 beds if they want to, just like Goldilocks. For this reason, I always make up all the beds, no matter what the guest count is.

The only exception I make is the pull-out sofabed in the living room. I have a bedroom with a King bed, a bedroom with 2 twin beds, and the sofabed, but I only allow 4 guests. I make the sofabed available so that 4 single guests can all have their own beds, if desired. The vast majority of the time, I host 2 couples, or a couple with 1 or 2 children, so I don’t make up the sofabed, although I do make linens available for it.

[Catherine2614]

@Pat271

that’s helpful, thank you 😊

[Nina75]

@Catherine2614  Be aware that people will lie and try and take advantage of you. Many hosts here are not use to having larger homes.

I have several homes and I charge people to based on the amount of people who are booking. I lock off areas that people who book small groups cannot use. I will give people the option at Check in to upgrade to the extra rooms.

With all due respect to @Pat271 do not listen to hosts that tell you guests get access to the whole space. They DO NOT. Guests that book 3 people do not get access to 3 bedrooms. If they are couples they get access to 2 bedrooms, if they are single I ask them are you single or are you Couples? and I lock the other bedrooms.  I have a GuestHouse and do not get access to the additional bedrooms and bathrooms inside of the guesthouse if they do not pay for it.  I have 14 beds in one of my houses.  If you book lets say 6 guests I lock off half of the house, because 6 people do not need access to 14 beds.

I also upsell them to the other spaces. You can use this to upsell them.

I also have security cameras, so I will do a guest count and I check the security cameras periodically.  No one stays for free, do not allow people to stay in your house for free. People will take advantage of you, if you let them.

[Jennifer1897]

Echoing @Pat271  When a guest rents the entire property/space they should essentially have access to everything listed in the initial advertisement. I have served as a cohost to someone with a larger property and quite often I would see smaller parties (Less people than bedrooms) utilize every inch of the space. Sometimes people just like to test things out or use them simply because they can. Implying a limitation on the spaces usage based on a lower guest count may make some guest believe they are not getting their full monies worth. 

That being said I would always assume spaces were used, especially given the pandemic. I have had guest make beds and leave spaces so neat I would have swore they were never there. You always want to put cleanliness first. 

If the amount of work or cost of cleaning is a concern make sure you listing price is adequate enough to cover these issues. 

Good luck on your hosting journey 

[Nina75]

WRONG!!! People will lie to you all day long. I do not need extra work. You dont get access to extra rooms just because they are there. As a Co-Host this si something that you need to be watching for and billing the guests for.

[Sarah977]

@Catherine2614  I think you need to identify your target market. You can't be all things to all people. Adding a third bedroom and listing for 6 guests says to me that you are targeting those size groups, so I'm not sure why you are thinking about bookings for 3. If there are only 3 guests and they don't need a 3 bedroom, they shouldn't be looking at 3 bedroom listings. If there are 3 and they are amenable to paying what you charge for the entire 3 bedroom house, that's great.

Another strategy some hosts use is to have more than one listing- for instance you could list it as a 2 bedroom for a max of 4 guests and lock off the third bedroom, and have another 3 bedroom listing for 6. 

But it doesn't make much sense to list a three bedroom place and anticipate having 2 guests and locking off 2 bedrooms.

[Catherine2614]

@Jennifer1897 

thank you, yes good point.  

[Catherine2614]

@Sarah977 

thank you. Yes I was thinking that the price remains the same whether I have 2 guests or 6 guests using the property but understand what you say. 

However, I didn’t know I could have two listings for the same property so that’s interesting and something I shall explore. Would you know if you can link the calendars so you don’t end up with double bookings?

[Nina75]

@Catherine2614 There is a section that allows you to charge for extra people. Many people will select less people just to pay less.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Catherine2614 Yes you can link the calendars to prevent double bookings. If I were you I would have the 3 bed listing and a 2 bed listing. If the two bed is booked you could advertise it as a king plus twin but ask post booking if people would prefer a king plus double and lock off the other room as appropriate.

[Catherine2614]

@Mike-And-Jane0 
thank you, that’s helpful. I will do a bit of research and look into a second listing. 

Is this something you do yourselves or do you know of a host who does this? I’d just like to look and see how they are both marketed. 

Basically, would I duplicate my listing and then say remove the third room and any references to it or would I start from scratch so it doesn’t look or sound like the same property?  

I’ve heard hosts mention ‘professional tools’ for linking calendars. Are there then other criteria you need to meet to be professional?

Sorry for all the questions and I appreciate your help

Catherine  

[Sarah977]

@Catherine2614  Yes, you can just duplicate the listing, removing the photos of the 3rd bedroom and any reference to it, but you also need to mention that there is a bedroom you keep locked off because you also have a 3 bedroom option to book. Otherwise guests may be taken by surprise and complain that there is a locked room in an "entire house" listing.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Catherine2614 Once you have two listings it is worth switching on professional tools (click on your picture in the top right of your hosting page) and then go to the pro tools section. You can get these tools even if you only have 1 listing even though Airbnb help is out of date and says you need 5 listings. They are great as they allow the use of rule sets that give you lots of flexibility.

I wouldn't try to make the two listings look different. In fact I would explain that if people want 3 bedrooms there is a listing that would suit them and possibly say in the 3 bedroom listing there is also a 2 bed version available. 

[Catherine2614]

Thank you so much, that’s really helpful😊