What's the most graceful way of increasing the cost of a one night stay?

I’m debating increasing the cost of my one night stay. I don’t want to do away with it. I just want to make it slightly more expensive, because currently it’s a fair amount of work for the money. I’m aware of cleaning fees, but they feel a bit artificial. Are there any other options? Currently I’m charging Rs 1950 (USD 29) for a single person, Rs. 2300 (USD 34) for two. I’ve got three different 1 night bookings now (none of them have happened yet). I was thinking of adding a few dollars to that. I haven’t decided how many yet.

You can’t add to the bookings you already have. I don’t think that’s what you meant but just to be clear.

I’d just raise the price a little for each night and let it even out that way. You can always send a special offer when you reply to an inquiry and have any price you want. But if I inquired about a one night stay and the host replied with a special offer that was a higher price than what was in the booking price when I sent the request I’d be annoyed. But if I inquired and the host replied with a discount because I was staying more than one night I’d be pleased.

Not really sure mate. Maybe increase a couple $ per night? see how it goes.

I find AirBnB’s pricing options to be frustratingly limited. To bump our first day rate, the best option is to use the cleaning fee. I agree it can look bad to customers to have one at all, but AirBnB doesn’t provide any other automatic way of making the first day more relatively more expensive than multi-day stays.

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I’d find all these pricing options to be confusing. I’m with the others. Charge a cleaning and you will feel better… a cleaning is really a turnover fee to compensate you for the extra work. There’s not really a way that I know of to charge more for one night. One night with me is a terrible value and I generally discourage people when they ask unless they are utterly desperate and insist. :smile:

Hi @KKC,

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, I’m aware existing bookings can’t be changed.

Yes, that’s not the way to go. Annoying your customers isn’t good business.

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Hi @Mo_In_TO, @konacoconutz,

Ok, I’ll consider adding a cleaning fee. Thanks.

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At your price point it will still be a bargain Faheem!

Yes, I suspect that cleaning fees are not popular with Airbnb guests. Though I was thinking about something like Rs 200 (USD 3), approximately.

Hah, I hope the guests think so!

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I know cleaning fees seem a bit artificial. But like Kona said, it is really a one time turnover fee per reservation…it’s not used to clean up guest mess. Just pretend that you have to hire a housekeeper and pay her each time to come out for a new reservation…that may make you feel better (and more justified) about it :slight_smile:

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Hi @cabinhost,

Actually, we have someone who does cleaning for us. And so she does the room cleaning too - it’s actually a small part of her job… But I still have stuff to do associated with a booking, of course, even for one night. It’s amazing how much correspondence a single booking can generate.

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Ok, this is funny. I tried adding a cleaning fee of Rs 200, and was told:

Your cleaning fee is too low. The minimum is ₹335.

LOL. Lower limits on cleaning fees? What’s next? I guess I could lower my base price downwards proportionately, but I don’t want guests to think I’m artifically jacking up my price. Decisions, decisions. Why on earth does Airbnb have a minimum on cleaning fees, anyway?

Hmm, Rs 335 is almost exactly USD 5. That’s probably not a coincidence.

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336! LOL. :smile:

That’s a bit cryptic…

Well, I took the plunge, and added a cleaning fee of Rs 350. Now I feel a little bit dirty…

I hope it doesn’t put off the one day/night people too much. But I suppose multiday people will barely notice.

5.50? 6 USD? Faheem, a cleaning fee is expected. I’ve never really had anyone complain about it… if they don’t want to pay a cleaning, they will move on.

You’re overthinking this. Make your cleaning fee 400 and let it go.

Also remember if guests pay a cleaning fee, they are psyched up to be a little more conscientious for some reason. In theory it should bring you better guests.

You already have some really good reviews. You don’t have to be priced so low that you are losing money. Just do it! Live a little! :smile: You deserve it!

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Hi @konacoconutz,

Thanks for the sage advice. I’m inclined to stay with Rs 350 for the moment. Maybe I’ll adjust it upwards later. BTW, is anyone impressed by how much extra Airbnb manages to charge on top of my rate? My one day rate is 30 Euros. Somehow they managed to raise it to 40 Euros. I’m impressed. I need to sit down and look at the breakup. Also, my price keeps fluctuating above Rs 1950. A few days earlier it was Rs. 1977. Now it’s 1952. Weird.

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What? What is that, and how can you see what they charge???

That’s my base price, as shown on my main listing page. If you see my listing on airbnb.co.in you’ll probably see the same thing.