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Lindiewhite143
Being a typical cat person, I appreciate kind people, love to listen to gentle conversation, seek out comfortable companions and I admit that interesting cultures and creatures fascinate me. In our travels, my husband and I have seen how important it is to stand still and spend time with friends and family. We have a vacation rental, Festina Lente In Onrus - meaning 'hasten slowly' in Latin. We rent it out and love hearing from guests how much they enjoy the area, the beach and watching whales.
Hi M Adamopoulou and thanks for the comment.
And I agree, when I searched 'pets' on the forum, it is clearly a lively topic! Most of the posts discussed negative aspects of pet hosting, and I'm hoping for some suggestions on how to make this a positive aspect of our listing to (hopefully) attract more bookings.
Or, should I conclude that allowing pets is a minefield and it would be best not to advertise it?
As we rent out our own vacation home, our cat princesses go with us when we visit.
Gina Soetpatat (Afrikaans for 'sweet potato')
and Skah'lit (Cherokee for 'white')
seem to be as at home there as they are at our town apartment and, after sniffing around a bit, proceed to leave find a comfortable spot to relax, just as we do when we arrive there for a break.
Giving a thorough clean after guest pets is an absolute must, I realise. Would love to hear from other partners who allow pets what they do and don't do. :-)
Hi all
I agree, we live in a 10 second-next-headline-selfie-ADHD society! And lists of any kind or any Ts & Cs are usually just read by proofreaders looking for spelling mistakes or paralegals looking for loopholes.
The best way of communicating and emphasizing house rules, I've found, is by asking people to sign (yes, that old-fashioned thing with a pen and paper) a reservation form stating they agree to abide by the house rules plus keeping a refundable safety deposit to be returned only after their departure and inspection of the property.
But we're in this business because we still enjoy interacting with and learning from others and their ways, so we adapt or die, don't we? :-)
So the struggle continues
Lindie
Festina Lente In Onrus
South Africa
Hi Juanrwco
BDC works differently to other platforms and it takes a little time to understand their methods.
It may be to your advantage to request full payment before arrival and explaining that the reservation can be cancelled if you don't hear from guests beforehand.
It was on one of these Partner Forum chats that I read how important it is for hosts to communicate with guest as soon as they make a booking. Then request a pre-/part-payment by a specific date, providing your banking details. If the guest doesn't comply, call BDC to request that they cancel the reservation (hosts cannot cancel the reservation themselves). If you can prove that you've made reasonable effort to arrange matters with the guest, BDC seem to be willing to cancel the booking.
Make sure you always keep your calendar up to date and that you communicate with guests via BDC's platform, and don't accept another booking for the same dates as you will be penalized for overbooking.
All the best and happy hosting!
Lindie
Festina Lente In Onrus
South Africa
Hello John and Pam
I'm also quite new on BDC and have had to deal with similar disappointments - not only with guests not arriving, but also that you as host, cannot cancel the booking yourself.
It was on one of these Partner Forum chats that I read of a way to manage it: communicate with your guest immediately, requesting a pre-/part-payment by a specific date, providing a means for them to do it i.e. your banking details, and if they don't comply, calling BDC to request that they cancel the reservation. If you can prove that you've made reasonable effort to arrange matters with the guest, BDC seem to be willing to cancel the booking.
Make sure you always keep your calendar up to date and that you communicate with guests via BDC's platform, and don't accept another booking for the same dates as you will be penalized for overbooking.
All the best and happy hosting!
Lindie
Festina Lente In Onrus
South Africa
Hi Ian
Thanks for your suggestion #7
have a well worded booking form external from this site - make the guests sign it
Definitely plan to implement it!
Lindie
Festina Lente In Onrus
Hi all
Thanks for your suggestions - they make me rethink what we do right/wrong.
As we rent out our holiday home which is 150km from us, we arrange everything remotely, trying to build a rapport with guests, building enough trust for us to let them use our property without our oversight while not expecting them to become our personal friends, as it were (they may or may not want to stay in touch, so we don't want to intrude).
So, there are a few challenges, yes. We send guests lots of information about the accommodation and the area beforehand, leave a welcome pack with some snacks and sweets and a discount voucher on a future booking (as an incentive for them to leave a review). We provide and ask for their WhatsApp details, check to make sure they've arrived safely and answer any questions immediately.
We are constantly looking for ways to improve the experience we offer as we know word-of-mouth is one of the most effective ways getting repeat business. We've just ordered fridge magnets with the name/logo which we'll include with their welcome pack and which we hope will remind guests of their happy holiday (and keep our spot top of mind when they talk to their friends).
Can't wait to see tips and tricks from other hosts.
What a lovely feed and great photos, too! Can't wait for the next challenge!
Agree with above suggestions - especially the photos, as most people are in a hurry and my not read descriptions carefully.