“Double” bookings

[Mariam260]

Hi everyone,

I just would like to ask for some advice please. I have a great guest who is visiting second time and she asked if she could stay longer. I agreed as the place was available and I was happy with everything. She has not booked yet and now I received a new request from another guest. It happened quite quickly. How do I manage this without being awkward? 

[Guy991]

Hello @Mariam260 ,

This is one of the greatest feelings when two guests want to book and one of them is a returning guest. Clearly, if the existing guest is great, there’s no reason to change.

If you have instant booking off, I would decline the new request and allow my previous guest to book again.
If you have instant booking on, I would not cancel the request and unfortunately would have to let go of the existing guest.

The best practice I can share is that when a current guest mentions wanting to extend, I block the calendar immediately to avoid this situation. When the guest is ready, I open the calendar so they can make the reservation before others do.

[Mariam260]

That’s a great advice! Thanks @Guy991 

Much appreciated ❤️

[Ethan748]

Hey Mariam,
That’s a common situation, you handled it well by keeping communication open. The best way is to message your returning guest right away and let her know another booking request has come in, so you’ll need her to confirm soon if she wants the extra dates.

You can say something like:

“Hi! Just letting you know another guest has requested those dates. I’d love to host you again, but I’ll need to confirm soon to hold them for you.”

This keeps things polite and transparent. If she doesn’t confirm quickly, you can accept the new booking guilt-free.