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All of the properties we own and/or manage have very interesting names .... like Number 12 or Number 184 .... works fine for us and guests because they can see other property numbers and makes it easy for them to locate our properties ....
Some of the properties we manage have separate rate plans available (the options available to each property seem to be a bit random) - we don't use any of these - just the basic pricing in the calendar
In Property > Policies we set payment terms to Flexible 60 days, and the cancellation within 60 days is set to 100% and the No Show is set to Same as cancellation fee
So, any no show or cancellation within 60 days of arrival, we (should) still get paid
When setting the prices in the calendar, there is a tick box for Non Refundable - we tick that.
We are backing away from all the complex discounting schemes - if we do use a discount, we will set it to Non Refundable
We see no reason why we should expose ourselves or the owners of properties that we manage, to fraud, no-shows, or late cancellations that cost us all money
A friend of mine took over a property from another owner and managed to take over the Booking.com account too. You and the current owner will both need to contact Booking.com to make the necessary arrangements. It can take a long time. If the Booking.com listing has a lot of good reviews, then it's worth keeping, otherwise, it's not worth bothering with - just do a new account.
I'm not a hotelier, but I am a host. We provide self-catering properties.
We use Payments by Booking.com - so Booking.com collect the payments for us, and eventually transfer the money to us, less their fees. When we set the pricing in the calendar, we tick the box for Non-refundable. If the guest cancels or doesn't show, we still get paid. When the guest makes a booking online, they must pay at the time of booking. No more fake bookings, no more nonsense, job done!
There is a calendar sync somewhere in your Extranet, but Booking.com calendar sync is broken and you can get double bookings. Manually block every booking!
I would see about hiring in a generator for a few days - could save you a lot of time, hassle and complaints! If course, you'd need an electrician to wire it up so that everything in the house works as normal. Remember that if guests are not happy, bad reviews can be very bad for you ....
You will need to send a request via your Extranet - if they tell you that you must take cash for 3 months because you have a new property, tell them you can't do that, you can't wait around all day at the property for guests to arrive at random times etc. Fight fight fight with Booking.com and you might just win - we have. If not, use AirBnB - much easier.