Newbie enquiry - effect of prolonged closure

Hi Folks; we opened late last year and so far we’ve had 21 guests. Sadly we’ve now got some domestic problems (not AirBnB- related). Basically throughout August and early September we’re having major work done to the house, then in late September we’re going away on holiday. Then after we get back I go into hospital for a new hip, so October is going to be spent recuperating. Consequently we’re shutting up shop from the first week of August to the first week of November. Apart from the obvious financial loss, would there be any negative consequences of this? Is it worth explaining this on our listing so that people aren’t put off booking for later in the year? Giudance welcome! Cheers; Mac

I had my calendar blocked most of October while I traveled. I saw no negative effect, to the contrary business has been better year over year. You don’t need to explain anything. Unavailable looks the same to the guest whether it’s booked or blocked. Some people don’t even open their calendar more than 3 months out at a time anyway.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Maybe just say in the first line, temporarily closed for remodeling, check back in _________!

We blocked off our calendar for a month. We dropped in the search rankings and didn’t get a single booking from a week or two before the block until just a few days before it ended. It was slow for the first week or two, but within a week or two we were back to normal.

I believe that blocking large chunks of time does affect search engine position. (However, it seems that the OP has no alternative).

A listing I look after was blocked for two months to accommodate a non-Airbnb long term guest. This was months ago and searches still don’t go well for his place.

It makes sense, really. Airbnb is more likely to favour hosts who are always available so that guests who are searching won’t be disappointed.

It’s possible that the Airbnb search engine simply gives preference to hosts who have a larger number of days vacant/available in the near future for whatever reason, whether booked or blocked off (say, the next 3 months, which seems to be some kind of default). Which, on the face of it, is reasonable.

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