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I’ve had my listing on Wimdu for awhile. I’m not sure how long, but maybe a year?
I just got my first Wimdu booking request. I’m a bit surprised. I’m also not particularly well prepared to deal with it, because I’m more used to Airbnb.
The booking guest didn’t include a message with her request. Not a good start. I don’t know if this is common with Wimdu. The only information I have are the dates - 4th January to 7th January. I’ve sent her my standard Airbnb response to booking requests.
I have one immediate question. On Airbnb, the platform does not block the host and guest from exchanging email addresses after booking. I like to send my guest guide and related information as PDF attachments via email. If I send email via the obfuscated Airbnb interface, it gets all mangled up.
So, it is possible to exchange emails with guests via the Wimdu platform? And if not, does Wimdu permit the exchange of PDFs? That would be a poor alternative, but better than nothing.
Clarifications much appreciated - thanks in advance. And suggestions for alternative more suitable forums to post in also much appreciated. I realise this forum is dominated by Airbnb hosts, so perhaps hosts using Wimdu are relatively thin on the ground.
I have but it has been a while. So I’m not sure if things have changed. You should be able to get their email address. I do because I need them to send me a deposit via PayPal. You can’t get it until the booking is confirmed. Are you trying to do it while it is a request?
@konacoconutz, no I haven’t said anything about email yet. My standard Airbnb reply, which I used here mostly unchanged, just asks for basic information about the guest. But she hasn’t replied yet. And like I said, her original request is completely blank. Oddly, she seems to be a host herself, though her listing is not active.
On Airbnb I ask for email after the booking is confirmed. It’s the first thing I do.
Are you saying that it should be possible to get the email when/if the booking is confirmed on Wimdu?
My prospective Wimdu guest responded, after I had gone to sleep. From the email, it looks like it was 12.37 am. I woke up and responded to her a bit after 2 am (it’s roughly 2.30 am now). Among other things, I asked her whether it’s possible to send email after booking, which is rather cheek, but she is a Wimdu host, so might know. She said she has been a host since 2013, but only has 16 reviews. I wonder if she hosts on Airbnb too. She hosts in a rather picturesque-sounding place called Stora Essingen, off the coast of Sweden. It’s part of Stockholm.
A few questions/comments.
Wimdu does not appear to have a equivalent of the Airbnb cleaning fee, which is a drag. I didn’t take careful note of this before, but that means I will be getting less money than I would on Airbnb. How do people here who host on Wimdu handle this?
Like Airbnb, they give me 24 hours to reply to the booking request. Unlike Airbnb, the remaining time isn’t listed on the Wimdu request.
Overall Wimdu feels like a rather rougher version of Airbnb. I’m not sure why they can’t adopt some of the Airbnb features, though.
It is a rougher version of Air but so what…? money is money. They do collect the cleaning fee but not the deposit. I get that separately from the guest and return it upon departure.
Just take the Wimdu booking Faheem and if you forgot the cleaning fee ask the guest for it and tell her it was an oversight.
They always do. I have it written in my listing and I remind them when I take their booking. I’ve had lots of Wimdu bookings and no one has ever refused to send a security deposit.
This is what Air was like in the beginning. More trust needed and less rules and restrictions. I’ve used Wimdu with confidence and they have always sent me awesome solo travelers. Some of my best guests ever, in fact.
Wimdu seems to send more self sufficient guests… less needy.
Air guests have been mostly good, but there have been quite a few to arrive with heightened expectations. For example, I got slammed by someone this summer because I wasn’t a resort room and didn’t change his damn sheets every day.
