Lay My Hat

Interesting, not surprising. Stay in “unique, authentic places” on a platform “powered by local hosts”? Maybe sometimes.
Did you see...
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... four-homes

Airbnb charges the owner 3% plus VAT, and adds a booking fee for the guests of between 6 and 15 percent. So (in EU) their total take on bookings ranges from 9.6 to 18.6%, and is typically 15.6%. They offer additional promotion options to owners, in which case the guest booking fee is higher on a var...

#cleanforum - I think this amount is pre-authorised against the guest’s card, and the ‘host guarantee' is (for what it’s worth, probably not much) in addition to this. #mocketsfarm - there’s no enquiry-only form. Making potential guests state their dates in an enquiry means they know it’s available ...

I had a property which was really suitable for dogs - not much in the way of soft furnishings, and big garden well away from the road. Allowing them definitely brought guests who wouldn’t have otherwise booked, and they were never a problem. Cats, though, are a real pain and to be avoided.

Good on you. It's a shame it has to come down to this. People used to own their advertising; now they're just bullied by corporations.

Like the rest of the big players on the web, it's a scam dressed up as something which it isn’t, with a shiny FTSE ticker, or the prospect of one soon, propped up by all sorts of other scammy rubbish. Facts are irrelevant and legal enforcement is non-existent. Get over it! I dislike it as much as mo...

PLEASE don’t ‘flame' me for this post! I feel it needs saying. Enough time has passed for everyone who takes notice to become aware of the true cost of the big sites, and with their massive launch investment they have cornered the market; and lax oversight by regulators has allowed their cartel-like...

You add the various Bookalet widgets with a fairly short line of code, so compatibility is unlikely to be an issue however a site has been made. The line of code includes an external javascript, which means that some adblockers might prevent it from displaying so it’s worth also including a button o...

This site requires visitors to register before they can enquire. I’d expect a decent directory site to permit quick and easy enquiry via a form, and also show the owner’s phone number(s), and link to website too, on the page. People responding via directory sites are often doing so because they want...

Price is a huge factor, but minimum stay 3 nights is also bound to reduce the number of times you show up in search results. I think some properties are a good fit for Airbnb, and others not for a variety of reasons. Its popularity, and in some areas the emergence of low-cost hotels with dynamic pri...

Hundreds of bookings and very few problems. It feels like a machine though - the relationship with direct bookers is quite different, and almost always better. Interesting that people will pay 15% more without protest. Suggests there’s scope to increase prices on direct leads and improve margins. Al...

The Draytek looks like a good device but it’s expensive - about £300 in UK. If you search for 'mobile sim router’ in Amazon UK you’ll find similar products for less. If you own the device (and have ensured before purchase that it’s not locked to a network), then you’re more free to move between oper...

For my France properties, for which most bookings come from Airbnb, the majority of guests are from France. The second most numerous are from Spain, and the third UK, so it’s logical to price in Euros. Airbnb charge a premium to non-Euro currency bookers of 3% (to cover currency fluctuations - makin...

Jonathan - Airbnb can, in certain circumstances and at their discretion, cancel the booking, even if you’ve specified strict cancellation. As with all sites like this, their supposedly rock-solid guarantees can be exposed to be paper thin, either for owner or guest, on occasion.

I’d agree with Petitbois. Preventing reviews for unsatisfactory properties is a bit manipulative, and permitting them exposes the facts.