Thanks for the feedback. Looks like £150 is about right!
I totally agree about the damage bond / good housekeeping bond. We have never held money back for minor breakages. It seems to do its job 'just by being there'. On the whole the house is returned to us in very good condition.
One guest huffed a bit at the indignity of being asked for a GHB but we insisted it is part of our package and would be returned immediately at the end of the stay. They did go ahead with the booking and had a lovely time!
How much deposit do you charge?
- Beachbumbler
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Tue May 11, 2010 9:14 am
- Location: Sagunto, Valencia, Spain
50% to make the booking, then the rest 2 weeks before arrival for the high season, but at the moment we get a lot of 'spur-of-the-moment' bookings for weekends, depending on the weather (yes, it does get cold in Spain), so they can pay the rest on arrival. We even get people phoning on Thursday evening for the weekend, so in that case we take them on trust. I must admit that we don't often get let down.
We take a damage deposit of 100€, which we used to return after a quick check on leaving. This year we are going to return it by bank transfer after our cleaning team has really had a chance to inspect properly, as we've been having a lot of hidden breakages recently.
We've decided that, if we find anything that we will have to deduct from the deposit, we'll take a photo of it, date and time stamped.
We take a damage deposit of 100€, which we used to return after a quick check on leaving. This year we are going to return it by bank transfer after our cleaning team has really had a chance to inspect properly, as we've been having a lot of hidden breakages recently.
We've decided that, if we find anything that we will have to deduct from the deposit, we'll take a photo of it, date and time stamped.
-
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2012 5:48 pm
- Location: Cornwall
Re: How much deposit do you charge?
We are 25% like you say having a fixed depoisit wouldn't well all year around if your prices flucuate...Speyside Steve wrote:When we started holiday letting, we tried to keep things simple and chose a fixed deposit (£150 per week) regardless of the season. Advantages were that it simplified things for us when handling the admin. It also avoided the fact that many people are lousy at calculating percentages!!
As we have slowly increased prices over the past couple of years, the deposit has remained fixed and I am having a rethink. A deposit of £150 to book a summer week of £625 seems too low.
So the question is, what level of deposit do you charge? And is it a percentage of the rental or fixed?
Would really appreciate the benefit of LMH experience here!
We ask for 20% to secure the booking and the balance 8 weeks before the date of the holiday. We generally find that the deposit gets paid straight into the bank rather than receiving a cheque nowadays.
Also ask for a cheque at that stage for £600 as a security deposit for any damage or excess cleaning which we return when we know all is ok. I usually drop the guests an e mail a couple of weeks before the balance is due and they generally do a transfer straight into the bank.
Also ask for a cheque at that stage for £600 as a security deposit for any damage or excess cleaning which we return when we know all is ok. I usually drop the guests an e mail a couple of weeks before the balance is due and they generally do a transfer straight into the bank.
-
- Posts: 157
- Joined: Thu May 05, 2011 10:29 pm
- Location: Chipping Campden, Cotswolds