This is Starting to get Ridiculous! Infants!

[Letti0]

Just got a booking for 3 days this weekend. 5 adults, 4 children, 3 infants. My rules say infants pay to put them in the childrens spot, not the infants! Now it's 3 pack n play and 3 highchairs needed. What the crap! I only have 2 pack n plays and 2 highchairs. So do I go out and buy another of each? Do I tell them I only have 2? Do I tell them I want my extra $180 for the said Infants? 

I replied:  We look forward to hosting you.

But it really ticks me off. Why can't anyone read the rules???

[Letti0]

Now he messages: Hello Letitia is it possible for us to get a early check in on Friday?

Really...

My reply: 

Hello XXXX,
It's difficcult to say if you can check in early at this time. We get a lot of last minute bookings as we do same day bookings for familes going to SeaWorld. How early? It takes our cleaning crew a while to clean. I'll say it's okay for now, but if we get a booking that includes Thursday night I will have to say no at that point.
Letti

[Ute42]

.

My standard information on check in is:

"Check in is at 4 pm as stated in my listing. Pls note an earlier check in , eg. at 3.45, ist not possible as I need the time for cleaning".

Recently I got this:

"We plan to leave Frankfort at 4 am and would arrive at apprx. 11 am. Could we check in at that time?

Me: No.

"But what should we do in Your area for 5 hours?"

Me: Just leave Frankfort later.

And they got it.

[Jeff158]

Letitia, you are far to nice

Give them a choice, pay up and you'll buy a highchair or don't pay up and bring your own.

Now i'm being far to nice.

just tell them you only have stuff for 2 kids and pay the extra.

[Letti0]

Jeff I did tell him we only had 2 of each available. He replied they only needed 1 pack n play, 1 highchair and 1 booster. So tell me how old are these 3 Infants (under 2) he's not paying for?

[Marie-Et-Simon0]

He’s probably travelling with his own pack n play or the infants will sleep in the existing bed. IMO it’s much easier to have a set price for the whole house, not based on number of guests.

[Letti0]

We tried that in April for bit and bookings stopped. We were than too expensive for parties of 4-8 which are half of our guests. We have very few future booking over 1 month. We book last minute or within the current month, although we did get a mid July booking a week ago for a BMT Graduation. If the Airman gets recycled we have to move the date usually by a week, maybe two or refund if we can't because that date is booked per our policy with military bookings. Due to this iffy date deal they tend not to book  4 or 5 day stays too far out from graduation dates . They want to be pretty sure their airman or woman is still on course to graduate.

We are also so close to SeaWorld we get lots of last minute bookings for families for just 1 or 2 days during the week also. This booking is for SeaWorld and was made today for 3 days this weekend. We've had 11 or 12 days booked this month so far and made approx. $3,000, so it's working for us. It's just these multiple infants for free that get me. I can charge for them on other sites. Since we're a newer listing and set to get Super Host status in July I don't wanna piss anyone off and risk a bad review yet. I will eventually start forcing the issue once I have more reviews and can handle a hit.

[Kelly149]

don't make it a question, just send them the adjustment

"we look forward to having you, I noticed that your guest count is wrong, here is your updated reservation. thanks!"

It's kind of ABB's fault, they totally hide the rules from guests. It needs to be in your listing text and in your rules and then you need to, in a very not bothered way, send them the correction. Immediately, so that they can pay correctly or cancel.

And no, I wouldn't keep going out and buying pack n plays. Many people bring their own, just tell them what you have. A basket of toys, a box of cheerios, some outlet plugs are all baby extras without you having to stock an entire fleet of baby gear.

My standard answer on early checkin these days (if it is available) is yes, we're happy to commit to an early checkin for you. The fee is xxx (usually half of our nightly rate) because we'll be leaving the space unoccupied the evening before to make it available for you. If it has value to them then they can pay, if it isn't worth the money then they can find something else to do until checkin time.

[David126]

I had to google pack n play, I would let them bring their own.

If I know I will be around and the room will be ready I do allow early check ins, in the vast majority of cases they never actually turn up that early.

Otherwise I will say I am out not sure what time I will be back, and will let them know when I am here.

Ditto they usually turn up after my check in.