When did you get your first booking?

[Quincy]

You've created your account, added photos, made a description, reviewed your house rules and lastly, set the price. 

You're waiting for that first notification from a potential guest, as minutes turn to hours that feel like weeks… Silence… What is going on? Why is it taking so long? Are my settings correct? 

PING! My very first booking! I was filled with joy, but also with nervousness as it would be my very first guests booking my place after all. 

"Hi Quincy, My wife and I are visiting Scotland for leisure, and it would be an absolute pleasure to stay at your place. Looking forward to seeing you! R." 

This was my experience when I started hosting. It took at least 5-7 days  2 days (correction) before my first booking was confirmed. It started quietly, and grew more and more over time! 

When did you get your first booking, and how did you prepare? Do you still remember the very first message your guests sent you? 

I look forward to hearing your stories!

Quincy

[Debra300]

@Quincy,

I initially started with Expedia, and I received a booking within a few hours after publishing my listing.  It was a Russian woman who worked as a porter on a luxury yacht that had docked at the nearby marina.  She just wanted to get off of the boat, and have a short getaway from the crew.  Similarly, when I listed with Airbnb, the booking occurred within a few hour after the listing was published.  He was a St. Lucian working on the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico new Louisiana, and was returning home for a holiday.  I no longer have the first message, but the guy now lives on island, and he has passed by a couple of times just to stay hello.

[Quincy]

Hi @Debra300, it's lovely to hear that he has passed by to say hello 👋 . How long have you been on Expedia for if I may ask? 

[Debra300]

@Quincy 

I signed up for Expedia in 2017, but have snoozed the listing, because I haven't yet updated it with new pictures and details after the renovations.  The benefit of being on that platform is that guests can purchase their flights and car rentals at the same time as booking a stay, and there are travelers who like that kind of one-stop shopping.

[M199]

@Quincy 

Great topic!

We started with a local property mgmt company in Aug 2020.  From Airbnb's media reputation, my partner was against Airbnb.  Surprise, after a month of prime summer and not one booking through the mgmt company, we fired them.  Why? Not one booking, no communication, no control.  Lesson learned.  They taught us just enough about the industry (they hate Airbnb, admittedly) that they drove us over to Airbnb.  We listed, if I recall, Sep 1, 2020.

Our first booking on Airbnb, not more than 1.5 hours later!   

Btw-we were only open due to seasonality for Sept and Oct 2020.  It was a test to see if Airbnb was a fit.  Made Superhost by mid Oct and we're  still here for now😁

[Quincy]

Interesting change of events there @M199! Blimey! 1.5hrs?!? What was your reaction? 

[Emilia42]

I wish I could be reminded of my first booking message but the inbox does not go that far back. The calendar does not go back past a previous year either 😞 Airbnb doesn't want us looking up past info I guess. Unless there is another way I am not aware of . . .?

[Quincy]

Hi @Emilia42, I was able to find my first message in my email inbox. An email was sent at the time showing the message that the guest had sent, with a button to either Accept/Decline. 

Perhaps you might be able to find it that way? 

[Emilia42]

@Quincy I used some inbox search filters and did a lot of scrolling but I was able to get to the first messages. Wow, I was such an amateur back then! I'm always amazed I was given so many 5 star reviews!

[Clara116]

@Quincy I was just telling someone 2 days ago about this very story when they were saying they plan to turn their other place into an Airbnb. So I had retired and flew to Germany to visit my best FF for real....over 30 yrs. She was very sick and in the hospital and so I wanted to be near and the hospital was in the city center and hotels were so expensive. Someone said the magic word Airbnb...?? I'd not heard so I stayed in an airbnb walking distance from the hospital with a German woman, still in contact with also/it was fabulous. On the plane ride back home I chatted with my seat mate also world traveler and frequent Airbnb guest. I knew then I could convert my therapy building into a terrific cottage to rent....I just needed to learn about Airbnb. I studied like going to college a solid 4 months learning all about the platform so that I was informed and could do it like my therapy business. We began the conversion and the planning as I did my study and I was nervous when I hit the publish button....10 minutes later I got the first booking and that was almost 5 yrs ago now. The sweetest lady messaged and was my first of so many awesome guests....I recall her name and message and she was new to Airbnb also, so I could share what I knew to my first ever guest. Now about 200/actually 400 guests later as mostly couples stay here - my last guests left an hour ago and they were so very cool....he was teaching Wilderness Medicine....and she too was a host so we had lots to chat about. My cottage sits at the back side of our property with its own private driveway and private fencing. Its ideal for Airbnb and we bought the home many years ago because of the location and my business....and it has been perfect for my Airbnb cause once again....its about location, location, sharing! 

[Quincy]

Oh no, I am sorry to hear about your friend @Clara116. Despite the situation, it's interesting to hear how you got introduced to Airbnb. A friend introduced me to Airbnb as well at the time.   

10 minutes! That's fast! Have you shown your last guest the Loofahs? 🙂 

[Clara116]

@Quincy  Great news.....since then my friend is cancer free....!! And I've returned many times since then.

Funny you ask about the luffas/loofahs....yes, indeed. Some guests that are interested in my husbands organic gardening that they can see out their window or on their walkway. I even gave my guests this week a couple of sponges and a soap with luffa inside that I made. These guests didn't know that those sponges were NOT from the ocean as most folks assume. I have also shared luffa seeds with guests from areas that can grow them....and gotten reports of progress on their growth. In Pensacola, in our local plant groups I'm known as the "loofah lady", :)) 

[Sarah977]

@Clara116  There was a place my daughter lived in southern Baja that had an outside shower enclosure, with a loofah vine that grew all over the fence and over the top of the shower stall. You could just reach up and pluck a loofah off to wash with. 🙂

[Clara116]

@Sarah977 That sounds so very amazing....thanks for sharing that. I' m imagining my own picture of how that would be with the flowers of other loofahs growing really lovely to think about.

[Quincy]

After digging deeper in my email  inbox, I could actually see that it took 2 days before my first booking, and not 5-7 days! @M199 @Emilia42 @Clara116 @Debra300. Received a booking enquiry on day 1, but the booking never went through.