What to do when you can’t respond for days?

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Hi, I’m a total newbie host who has not listed yet. I’m sorry if this question is not appropriate but I can’t seem to find the answer elsewhere.

I like to backpack and go on spiritual retreats and at those times I will not have access to a mobile phone or internet and I won’t be able to respond to inquiries or requests to book my place. Is there a way to let Airbnb and customers know I’m not available so that I don’t get a poor response rate and so that potential renters are not disappointed? Can I ‘pause’ my listing?

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Yes you can - BUT- you will drop in the listing pages as you are seen to be unavailable and the more you drop the harder you are to find and the less bookings you will get.

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or you could consider having a co-host to manage your listing whilst absent.

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You can snooze it but I concur. I just blocked the entire month of March and seemed to endure some kind of “punishment” for doing so. It is just now picking up again.

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I agree with the others “if you snooze, you lose”. Better to have a co-host friend who, like a cat sitter, can respond to Inquiries and Requests to Book on your behalf, while you’re up a mountain somewhere.

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Yes I snooze when I am getting on a long flight or going hiking, yoga retreats etc.

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Thanks everyone! The idea of a cohost is a good one - I will look into it.

What about sending an automated reply (saying I’m out of touch)? Is Airbnb onto that?

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Airbnb does not offer that service, but others do, like SmartBnB, the founder of which - @smartbnb.io - is an active and generous long time member of the forum.

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Agree! The point is though, why are you leaving your business? In every business scenario, business owners can go on vacation or whatever leaving the place in good hands. Airbnb shouldn’t be some casual thing but should be taken seriously.

That’s just my opinion though.

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Well everyone has different levels of commitment. After such bad experiences with guests while I have been abroad, never ever again. Even with a co host there. Not worth the stress and aggravation.

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I’m considering a 10 day vacation with limited internet service. I will snooze my listing. Any bookings I may miss are not meant to be.

May not be the best option but it is the one that will meet my needs.

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Interesting thought Kona. I only had 4 nights of ABB bookings in April and 20 on Bookings, TA and HWD. I have also had no enquiries for May on ABB. I wondered if this is punishment for using other platforms as I sync them using iCal so I presume they can see I am booked, and who with, on other days. Then again I could just be being paranoid. Really they should promote my listing more so I get booked on ABB before someone else not punish me.

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I have gone quiet for the last 3 weeks and I also use other booking sites.

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The permissions aren’t one way, i.e., ical can see this but Airbnb can’t? Other sites are giving permission to ical not to airbnb? I would presume Airbnb just sees that it’s blocked, same as a guest seeing my calendar blocked can’t tell if it’s blocked or booked.

My knowledge about this is nil, just making up something a liberals arts major would think.

I have posted before, as have others, that when I block a bunch of dates I get fewer inquiries. I blocked off last summer about 6 weeks and it took about 6 weeks to recover the booking rate I had prior.

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Thanks for the update! When iCal imports the booking from, say, Bookings, it does say actually in the ABB Calendar when it blocks it out that it is a Bookings.com or Tripadvisor booking. It is not a “note” either. Wouldn’t ABB be able to see the same things I see in my ABB calendar? Maybe that’s what you are saying.

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No, I guessed it would just show booked. My knowledge is less than nil on that. But I will say that in my experience, the busier I am the busier I am. If I block off a bunch of days in a row there is a definite drop off.

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17

Maybe it is just bad Karma?

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