How much deposit do you charge?

[Speyside Steve]

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!

[january]

30% on booking, balance 2 weeks prior to residence, no damage bond.......so far so good.

[aasta]

As a B&B we charge 30% deposit which is not refundable and balance due at arrival. We recommend that our guests take out travel insurance.

[Beachbumbler]

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.

[NewquayGetAway]

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 are 25% like you say having a fixed depoisit wouldn't well all year around if your prices flucuate...

[Pamski]

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.

[Big Sis..]

£100 off peak £150 peak[about 25%] balance 9 weeks ahead, I like to be different

Next year Ive got a booking and Ive asked for the balance 10 weeks ahead.

[HoneypotCottages]

We charge 30% deposit with balance due 8 weeks before start of holiday.

We charge 40% deposit for xmas / new year bookings.

Are there any issues with holding a security deposit? How do you record it and how long is a reasonable amount of time before it is returned?

Andy

[katz]

We charge 25% with a minimum of €100 or £100 depending on the currency they are paying in.

[pambon]

30% non refundable deposit with the balance to be settled 8 weeks before arrival. 150€ Damages Deposit is paid on arrival and refunded on departure. Don't deduct for minor breakages and I agree that it does it's job by being there. Never a problem in five years. (Thankfully!)