prices for extra bed

Bronwen3
Level 3
England, United Kingdom

prices for extra bed

My apartment has one double bed, and a sofa bed.  On the website you can only charge extra after 2 guests, but I am finding a lot of friends, family travelling together who request a second bed on booking for two people.  Airbnb seems to assume two guests will be a couple.  It would be really good to be able to charge for the second bed if hosting two guests.  Otherwise you have to mention that in the description and then request money through the resolution centre which is rather messy and confusing for guests as the headline price will not charge extra until three or more guests. 

 

I hope that makes sense!  But anyone feels the same please feedback to Airbnb about it.  Linen does cost to wash and iron!  It makes hosting 2 guests needing two beds less economic, especially if you have a number of them back to back as I have had recently .  

 

I'd be interested to know what others think. 

36 Replies 36
Ana1136
Level 10
Ohrid, Macedonia (FYROM)
Moira21
Level 8
Bispham, United Kingdom

@Bronwen3  Hi, My thoughts are, you clearly state what you offer in the listing so guests know what they're getting when they book. If you've only 2 guests and they don't want to share the double bed then they'll just have to flip a coin as to who gets the bed and who gets the sofabed!!

Michelle-And-Michael0
Level 10
Wollongong, Australia

@Bronwen3 I can understand your dilemma.... sometimes we have couples book, but then they sleep in separate beds. So they've made a booking for 2 people, and we expect that only the Queen size bed will be used, but after they leave we find that someone has slept in the single bed. Double the washing!!! 

We charge extra for a third guest.... but have never been able to work out how to charge for the use of the linen on the single bed, when only 2 people stay. And, I don't want to leave the single bed unmade.... as it looks unprofessional.

We also considered mentioning an extra charge for linen used on the single bed, but it seems all to messy and problematic.... so we haven't bothered. 

I'll be interested to know if you find a solution that works for you!

 

best of luck,

Michelle 🙂

@Michelle-And-Michael0   If you a set price for one person and additional for each extra person then all is covered. 

SIMPLE problem solved

Cheers Lynette

Hi @Lynette57 maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see it as being quite so simple.

 

If a booking is made for 2 people..... the price will remain the same, regardless of whether they choose to use 1 or both beds. Which doesn't cover the cost for the extra linen laundering. 

 

 

 

If you go to edit your listing , then go to extra charges and then edit guest number to be only 1 and all aditional at your required price , then 1 will be charged different to 2 or a couple.) hence 1 person ( 1bed) according to your listing is 140 per night then (eg additional charge $15 ) PN then 2 would be 155 and 3 would be 170. so if it was a couple in 1 bed then 155 would be your price wether its 1 or 2 beds

Yes! That's it!

Bronwen3
Level 3
England, United Kingdom

No because I'm happy for base cost to cover 2 people sharing the same bed, it's only if its 2 people requiring 2 beds. 

I totally get what you're saying here Bronwen and am reading this thread with interest. I'm frustrated so far that people don't understand your dilemma. My listing offers  a Queen bed and a sofa. A mother and daughter booked in recently and one wanted the bed and one wanted to use the sofa. I offered that she could bring her own linen for the sofa or she could hire extra linen for $30. I thought this was completely fair, however the guest didn't see it that way and argued my listing didn't say anything about extra charges and states I have two 'beds' available. It got messy and uncomfortable and I ended up having to throw in the extra linen at no charge just to keep the guest happy. As you say, it IS extra work to make up the sofa bed and launder and an 'additional' person charge doesn't cover this when 2 people book and one wants to sleep in the sofa bed. Airbnb should address this. Sure I can bump the price up on all listings, but I don't see why everyone should pay extra instead of just the 2 person bookings who want the sofa bed. 

 

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Bronwen3   Why are you under the impression that you can only charge more after the 2nd guest? That's not true.

Bronwen3
Level 3
England, United Kingdom

I know, thats not the issue! It's the cumbersome nature of how to charge for an extra bed for two guests, not sharing the main bed!

You don't have to provide an extra bed if your listing shows one bed and one sofa bed. If they ask for an extra bed charge $75 extra. My advice, get a rollaway bed that can fit in a closet and a twin mattress that can fit under the bed. Then voila! Extra bed.

But for the most part - if people are asking for something your listing does not provide, then tell them it is not provided. Or consider is this the best fit for you. People who don't read the listing are almost always problems.

Agreed!

Kath9
Level 10
Albany, Australia

@Bronwen3@Michelle-And-Michael0@Lynette57 @Christine615 @Sarah977, I think people are missing the point. What you're saying is that when only two people book, you want to charge extra if they use both beds instead of only one bed. In my view, if your accommodation was at a budget rate, I would request an additional charge for use of the extra bed. However, it seems like your price is already quite high (forgive me if I'm wrong, I don't know what the going rate is in Camden) so, based on this, I wouldn't be too concerned if people use both beds. I would just include it as part of the overall charge.

 

However, if you do want to charge extra for 2 people/2 beds, then you don't have to go through the resolution centre to do so. Clearly state on your listing that there will be an additional 'linen' charge for two people who use both beds and that guests must request the extra bed before booking. Also, double check with guests when they send you a booking request or instant book whether they need one bed or two (so that you can 'make up the bed for them'). If they do want the second bed, send them a Special Offer (bear in mind that this must be done prior to booking - you can't do it once a guest has booked). Do not provide linens for the sofa bed if the guest hasn't paid for it. Slightly cumbersome I realise, but much better than going through the resolution centre as you may or may not get paid and it would appear somewhat deceptive to guests to be charged extra after the fact.