Thanks for this - you inspired me to set up a Houfy account, linked to my square account. Quick question: if a guest cancels, or you cancel a guest, does Houfy do the request to Square to issue the refund? Or do you have to do that through Square?
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No. You only āconnectā your Square or Stripe account to Houfy. Houfy is not interested at all in handling monies between owner and traveler. Best is to join the Say Yes to Houfy FB group to learn more. The mods on this forum have told me not to discuss Houfy too much on this forum.
I find it difficult to bring up direct-booking with my guests. I have one guest that direct-books a few days each month and thatās working out well. However, early on, the second person I ever mentioned it to got really weird about it and itās scared me from pursuing it beyond the first guest. Iām not sure if it was just that person or if some guests are nervous about it for some reason - has anyone else had a guest that was turned-off by being offered a direct-booking option? (Or was I just lucky?)
I currently have a guest that wants to return in the spring for 3 weeks and Iād like to have her just book directly but most definitely donāt want to scare her off. Advice?
I only bring it up to guests I feel good about. So maybe you just tried too soon? Iām not sure Iāve done it on anyoneās second stay, maybe by the third. And Iāll say things like āif you feel comfortable doing it, it could save you on Airbnb fees. If not, Iām happy to use Airbnb for the reviews/ease/etc.ā I leave my business cards in the room and I often text the guest after they check out (and I see that the room is okay). So they arenāt faced with an uncomfortable face to face rejection of me.
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Never have I had a guest feel uncomfortable about saving money and booking direct. All you have to tell them is they can book you through (the site that shall not be named) and tell them they can save this much in fees next time.
I always bring it up casually. Also, I already have 3/4 of my guests join that site right after booking me on VRBO to read my blog posts to help them plan their trip. So they are already comfortable with it.
I think you were just unlucky. Having said that, there will be those ABB die hard fans who are just loyal to the site. You canāt convert those folks.
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Itās weird because I had 2 different ladies coming for work, routinely, at least once a month. Both great guests and had stayed a few times already. The first one was like, āwell, sureā and we have her booked direct monthly ongoing. She pays me through paypal about 2 weeks before returning. We have a friendly rapport with her and all is well. The 2nd woman acted a little paranoid or perhaps afraid that it was āillegalā or something. It was very awkward and Iāve never heard from her again.
Maybe this was it. It was awhile ago and I felt nervous about Airbnb finding out or something - (before this forum set me straight on that ,) so I approached in person, thinking there wouldnāt be any āproofā that I had asked.
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Some people do tend towards paranoia so yeah, she probably thought you were up to no good. OTOH, if that was her personality, the fact that youāve never heard from her again might be a good thing.
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Do you think itās too late to do this booking as direct? She messaged me on Airbnb about wanting these certain dates in April. (lol, Iām being paranoid now maybe)
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I know you are not directing this question to meā¦but this is my advice to everyone always: If the guest contacts you on the site, just accept the booking. Especially if you have already educated them to book direct for their next visit but didnāt realize best way to contact you. Nowā¦assuming you have her phone number then just text her. Sometimes guests will ask through a booking site how to book directly. Donāt risk your account is all I have to say. Donāt you have her phone number? Just text her. But make sure you reply through the platform after the convo.
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@cabinhost Thanks for answering! The thing is that weāve spoken in person a few times. We happen to have some stuff in common and have gotten into conversation (I live in the same house as my apartments). She first mentioned booking again in person, a couple of times, but just followed up tonight on the message stream. Surely I missed the obvious opportunities but didnāt want to put her on the spot/I was unprepared. Now she has mentioned specific dates on the messages (she didnāt actually request or book, just told me the dates that she would want). Do you personally think itās too late to do it as a direct-book? Itās for 3 weeks and it would save her a ton of money. Sheās a great guest and I would really like to help her out but donāt want to risk my account, as you say.
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Always abide by the rule of never risking your account. The fact that you might have her phone number alreadyā¦ then text - only if the reason she is reaching out to you is to book directly. If she really just wants to book on the ABB site then let her.
However, I would be leary of a 3 week stay and ABBās extenuating circumstances. Soā¦I would say it is up to you of your decision of why you want her to book direct.
Many owners donāt encourage book direct just to save moneyā¦rather they encourage guests to book direct so they are not held ransom to their policies. I know, for exampleā¦if she was a great guest - maybe nothing happened. I donāt know your relationship with her. I would not want to be held ransom by ABB is she needed to cancel for an emergency.
Is it too late? No. But ask yourself why you want to book direct. I donāt know your reasons. I know mine. If she wants to book through ABB and you feel uncomfortable then let her. As long as you are fine with aBB policies.
I will tell you this. I see on many Book Direct forums where many are hesitant to promote book direct and a traveler can smell it like a shark smells blood. Just be confident.
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If it were me, Iād import my listing into Houfy within a few seconds. Set my rates. And then text her to be sure she wants to book me on ABB or not save the $$$$ by booking your property on Houfy. Thatās what I would do. Thatās the most intelligent thing to do and send. You can have it done before you are done waiting on the next response in this forum.
I usually exchange real email addresses with most of my guests before they even arrive, because the map to my place that they need often doesnāt attach to those coded email addresses Airbnb assigns. So they usually already have my email address before they get here. On check-out day, I tell them if they ever want to come back, or have friends who would like to stay, tthey can just email me directly. Iāve certainly never experienced any guest having a weird reaction to that- they all say Great!. But in fact, I havenāt had any repeats yet.
Every successful stay gets the inquiry- will you be returning? If you are, here is my card and you have my phone number and if you book direct you will save all those feesā¦many returning guests and all happy and no stressing over the dreaded review ā¦I LOVE direct bookings!
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I donāt think it is too late. She hadnāt sent you a reservation request or a booking yet. Iām not sure how her inquiry was fully worddd but I would likely respond something like, āHello! Check your text messages.ā Or something like that.
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I went old-fashioned and slipped a note under her door!
For some reason Iām so nervous about it. But when I think about it, it really benefits only her (sheāll save a ton), so Iām not sure why I feel funny about it.
Oh!!! You didnāt say that she was actually there now!!! Of course! Discuss it in person if possible.
From doing that with my current regular we actually book her stays sometimes at $10 with Airbnb and she pays me the rest directly. That way we still get a chance to review and save some money! Although sometimes she still just books the whole thing directly because she is not very technically savvy.
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What? lmao. She is there in person? Yeahā¦if you donāt feel comfortable donāt do it all. But if you feel comfortable with her being able to cancel at the drop of a hat and not being able to replace that bookingā¦and you rely on the income - it should make you a bit uncomfortable.
I donāt judge either way. Everyone is on their own path in this business. Their needs, etc. But I didnāt realize she was thereā¦lol
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Even though I said in my original query that
Lol? Lmao? You read as well as the average guest. 
Well in @cabinhostās defense, I did see that when I read it and took it to mean that you have a guest (that is NOT there right now) but CURRENTLY wants to return. I thought this because would never have guessed you were asking how to broach this subject remotely with someone who was actually staying at your property now. I would have automatically assumed (as many here have) that if it was possible to speak to the person face to face that this question would not have even come up.
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