@Kelly149 Well, guest #1 is so clueless and communication-challenged, she probably meant she wanted to roast a Thanksgiving turkey, rather than bake some cookies.
I would have declined her booking after the second time she ignored the questions and everything else you wrote her. You are far, far more patient and diplomatic than I would be able to muster. And I don't think people like this deserve such ongoingly polite and patient responses.
The "bird in the hand" just pooped in that hand. At some point fairly early on in communication with a guest, I think a host has to decide if further communication, rather than a decline, is worth engaging in, on the off chance that this guest will actually book, or not cancel, or turn out to be a good guest (chances are, they won't). Had she actually booked and kept the reservation, what you had to look forward to was her not replying to messages asking for an ETA, failing to read the check-in or check-out instructions, assuming that there would be amenities which weren't listed, etc. When someone shows you clearly who they are, believe it!
Maybe if hubby was doing the communicating, he would have changed his tune about giving them the benefit of the doubt 🙂 Sure, he saw the communications, but he wasn't the one sitting there having to come up with appropriate responses to their cluelessness and total ignoring of the content of your messages.
