michael beeston

When you come to Australia one day come and stay and enjoy ..........you would love it.............Champagne on the balcony haha...enjoy.

Katerinka.................Maybe !!!..agree..But don't we all try to be the perfect host under difficult people sometimes.I like you point about luxury..............if its 5 star for instance there should be !! nothing (and I mean NOTHING) to complain about ........Correct !!!

Hello Katerinka and "M"...Yes I have been reading all the comments and sometimes it is terribly unfair of guests who criticize for no apparent reason,,,even if you go to extremes to satisfy them...............with wine/chocolate/jams/cakes.

For our apartment we CATER for an 11 point review (not being arrogant or whatever) and although we don't do breakfast or jams ect.we have a very Luxurious apartment with furniture over 100 years old and rugs/painting 80 to 100 years old and a magic view over the water.

and Rita goes to a lot of trouble to make sure we have coffees /teas/Champagne/Bubble bath/Toothbrushes/after shave/perfume..you name it is it there.No tricks but we get great money and it has now 86 ..10.s in a row so we must be doing something right..The apartment ranks number 1 out of 700 apartments and Hotels (including Versace) in Queensland Gold Coast.

No tricks but we do go overboard with Luxury items...........even the sheets and pillows are satin/silk.....nice..BUT as I always say for us it is purely Business and we Give what the guest wants.............................so far its been wonderful.............I get very upset to hear all the problems people in the Forum have ..We all work so damn hard to please and accommodate the Guest !!!!

hahaha Thanks "M"....just trying to help and give some useful information for us ALL.

Hello Madclaridge.....I have stopped using Airbnb entirely..we never had many bookings from them and the people we had any problems with were from Airbnb ????.........We have had about 140 bookings in the last 2 years with Booking.com versus maybe 10 with Airbnb so I stopped using them

Why do you wait one month with Booking.com ???..I use a Westpac (Australian) credit card machine with the following steps.

1. When a booking comes in from Booking.com I charge a 30% deposit within 24 hours on the guest credit card. (refundable if cancelled 14 days before the booking date)

2. When the guest arrives ..say 2pm (or whatever time )..I charge the remaining balance the morning they arrive on the credit card, this way I receive my money even before they check in.!!!!!

3. It works so so well and we very rarely have any issues, to be truthful None at all.

4. When I do the initial 30% deposit, if the credit card is declined (and it has happened) I send a message through Booking.com to the guest giving them 24 hours to fix the problem/change the credit card details , otherwise I cancel the reservation. (Not worth the hassle)

It works very very well and I would not change this method...Hope this helps..Regards Michael.

Hi everyone.have been reading the very interesting comments.................................I guess we have NO REAL control over someone who wants to write a weak or bad review (maybe that's the 5% )we all talk about...Just keep smiling I think, and hope the next guest is not one of the 5%.

Craigmoniecottage..............100% agree.............So hard to believe Airbnb would EVEN take a review from a guest who NEVER stayed ..That is TOTALLY unacceptable !!!! from them. Unprofessional to say the least

I have stopped using Airbnb for a long time now...they were almost a complete waste of time for my properties. Well said.Michael.

Kibokoafrica....Thanks glad you like it..................cheers.