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My listing is on Instant Book, which for the most part works fine for us. So, though I don’t want to go off IB, I would like certain dates on the calendar to not be on IB, while the rest of the time is. To the best of my knowledge, this is not possible, am I right?
We rent rooms in our home. We like to throw a big bash at least once a summer and this year we’d like to do it around Labor Day. I’d rather not block the date on my calendar because it could be part of a lucrative booking. But I would like to talk to potential guests before they book to see if they would be okay, knowing there will be a big party happening from 10AM to around 8PM on a particular day.
You could TRY to add something to your house rules, but I really do think it is hopeless. To rely on people to actually read that stuff would be most difficult, however if it is in the house rules, then if they don’t like the arrangements, you are not at fault.
[Clearly, I have been pondering just this topic. My example is Thanksgiving. I can’t be responsible for feeding people on a day that most restaurants are closed or fully booked, but would have no issues hosting someone who was here to visit with their families.]
The only thing I can think of is maybe pricing it so high that no one would want to IB it but contact you first and then you special offer it? Or maybe put in your house rules that if someone is trying to IB during the holidays that they should contact you first and make sure your accomodations will work for them during these special times?
My 2 cents is that those are not unreasonable hours. You shouldn’t be asking guests for “permission” to do anything anyway. Leave your calendar as it is. If someone IB’s you tell them in the message about the event. If that freaks them out they can cancel. Maybe raise the price just for that day such that someone wanting to book might contact you first to ask about it? As the day gets closer and the window to book around it closes maybe just block it off?
