Minimum of 2 nights stay

[MicheleandLouw0]

Dear hosts I would like to ask your opinion about one night stays. Are they  worth it? I have a cottage listed and feel that it is a lot of cleaning and washing for only one night. I have not had many one night bookings but I am  wondering if I change to a minimum of 2 nights  will it affect by bookings badly? To those of you  who have done this how did your bookings change after this? I think a room only will be much easier to accomodate one nighters than a whole  cottage. Looking forward to hear from you. Michele

[SarahJane0]

How do you set a different minimum stay midweek. I'd like to have 3 nights on weekends and two during the week. 😊

[Alan413]

Hi Sandra, I have read all the comments regarding 2 night minimum stay with interest as we have just finished our first year as AirBnB and have been very busy with quite a lot of one-nighters.  However, it has been quite lucrative for us and as you say, they rarely cook or make a mess, so it has been quite easy work. The one-nighters have been guests cruising through midweek mainly and no trouble.  However as we are getting busier I am thinking I would like to make the weekends minimum of 2 nights as that would work better for us in the weekends.  I have tried changing my website to do this using the instructions from AirBnB but it's just not working for me.  Could you please let me know how you managed to do this on your website?  Regards, Lesney and Alan, Papamoa, Tauranga

[Mary90]

IT DOES AFFECT THE BOOKINGS!

I recently had to change my availability to require three night stays because I am away caring for my gravely ill husband.

I want Airbnb to allow us to charge the cleaning fee for when we have a single night (or we set the number of nights after which the cleaning fee kicks in). I don't want to charge a cleaning fee generally...I think it's rude.

[Cormac0]

@Mary90

Hi Mary

I can’t agree that a cleaning fee is rude, allow me to explain my guests generally leave my apartment clean in the conventional sense, it’s not clean enough for paying guest everything in the apartment need to be checked you don’t want your next guest to find a used prophylactic under the bed, or the bin in the toilet unemptied, taps need to be shined and consumables replaced, beds need to be stripped and remade with fresh bedlinen, Mary all the usual stuff.

It takes me three hours to prepare my apartment for the next guest and I have no problem charging this fee, I would have no problem including it in the price if I could do this job while my guests are still in the apartment said with tongue firmly in cheek.

So, Mary please reconsider the cleaning fee as a necessity.

[Andrew90]

I also feel that the cleaning fee is neither rude or underhanded. Airbnb includes it in the price when anyone inquires and it effectively encourages longer stays.  If I have a younger guest or one without reviews I will often offer to refund it as an incentive to take care of the place. 

In my case I pay for cleaning and the cost exceeded my actual put of packet costs. 

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

@Mary90 - We're in the same market.  We rent to the same types of clients. We have similar listings and  I'm telling you, it does not make a difference.  I'm booked all the time.  I'm a Superhost, just like you.  There has never been a question of my cleaning fee from any guest.  You hit the nail on the head, it's a personal opinion.  

That being said, I'm sorry your husband is ill.  If you need a hand with your listings, please don't hesitate to reach out to me, I'd be more than happy to help you while you are going through this.  It must be very stressful. You can private message me here, on Nextdoor or Facebook (I'm the admin for the Morehead Hill Group - not the Neighborhood Association) or just walk down to Morehead Hill and knock on the door. 

[Emily145]

I actually ended up with more nights booked per month once I set a 2-night minimum, because I had fewer 1-night stays preventing other people from booking longer stays. I used to average 6-8 bookings a month, now I average 2-3 bookings but they total up to more nights and more money - plus I spend less time turning over the unit.

On the cleaning fee debate, I consider it to be kinder to my long-term guests to charge a single cleaning fee rather than build it into my nightly rate. I have to recover the cost of cleaning one way or another, and if I built it into the nightly price I would have to calculate it as the cost of cleaning divided by 2.5 nights, the average length of stay at my unit. That means anyone staying for more than 3 nights is overpaying for cleaning. With a flat fee, they only have to pay the amount once for their 7-night stay instead of 7 times if it were built into the nightly price. 

[Fabienne217]

i had this idea, but I didn't see where we can set up different cleaning fees.

[Wayne9]

I think the best answer to this one is, it depends.  For us, we live next door so the logistics are easy.  We charge a cleaning fee for each stay so, in a way, we make more on two one night stays than a two night stay.  I personally rather the 2 to 3 night stays over the one night stay, but I have had bookings where someone wants to come into town a day early, or they are in for a one day outpatient procedure, etc.  If I were remote to the location, I might re-consider, but unless it's a special season like Mardi Gras or Jazz Fest, I allow 1 night reservations.

Wayne - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/12366488

[Andrea-and-Michael0]

Has anyone figured out how to successful select a random single night and convert that particular date from a two night mimum to allow a one night rental? 

For the most part, I need to night rentals - simply for the sake of dealing with the laundry.  But there has been the odd period of time where guests have booked a Thursday and Friday night, leaving Saturday open.  

Because I work Monday-Friday, I am home Sunday and could deal with cleaning afer a one night stay on a Satuday night.  Much better to have the chance to host a last minute guest than leave it empty!

[Emily145]

I finally figured out this feature! You can't access it from the calendar the way you do with one-off price changes.

Instead, go to your Availability Settings and click the Edit button next to Trip Length: https://www.screencast.com/t/xRJkJjmrBQfF

Next, click the link to "Add another requirement" at the bottom: https://www.screencast.com/t/xun7l9xtq

In the During drop-down select Specific Dates, specifiy the dates, and a 1-night minimum: https://www.screencast.com/t/NwUqyz9yyVV

Voila!

[Fabienne217]

You have to be careful since it's a lot of work to clean the room after the guests.

[Lisa367]

We have a 2-night min stay requirement and it absolutely does not affect our bookings in any way.  We are booked solid every month with only 1 or 2 days off... mostly which we take off so we can have a break.

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@MicheleandLouw0 Happy New year to both of you! This is a very interesting topic, i previously used the 2 nights minimum stay option but then recently decided to switch to 1 night stay after i exchanged my banking settings to a more economic option "payoneer". What i have notice after changing the minimum stay to 1 night is a lot more viewers and even more bookings none were 1 night stayers but still the number increased rapidly. So my advice to you is to exchange your banking options to paypal or payoneer in order to avoid any bank fees so as to maximize your income even when hosting a 1 night stay. You may also increase your pricing depending on the seasons so as to adapt to the demand. Good luck!!!

[Chris-and-Jacqueline0]

I'd like to set the minimum number of nights based upon the number of occupants. It is a lot of work cleaning etc just for one person, one night.

I did try the 'cleaning fee' approach but that definately affected our bookings.

I've raised this with Airbnb to see if they can add this aspect.