6 Weeks in Peak Season Query

[croatian_villa]

Hi there. I have been asked for a quote for a 6 week booking over the peak season.

Do you ever offer a discount over this period? I know that I would easily fill this period closer to summer 2013 so reluctantvance to reduce prices.
Interested if others offer any discount for bookings a or year in advance or would you quote normal rate?

[Mouse]

Never. Unless there's money saved on the cleaning etc.

Also be aware - you are very exposed if they decide to cancel. Trying to fill 6 weeks last minuite isn't good...so try and get them to pay upfront (and by all means offer a slight discount) or take a large deposit.

I do this for bookings 3 weeks+ just in case.

Mouse
x

[gardenboy]

I once did a 6 week peak summer booking & having looked forward to it for ages, ie, no cleaning or lost guests, it transpired they were guests from hell.

They really were the worst guests I have ever had. I doubt I can go into details but aside from being incredibly rude people they also decided to fabricate a robbery & stopped just short of perjuring themslves - they weren't that stupid.

So, sadly based on that experience I would never do a 6 weeker again in peak season. I much prefer if a bad one slips through the net that they are off next week.

[Happylady]

I once did a 6 week peak summer booking & having looked forward to it for ages, ie, no cleaning or lost guests, it transpired they were guests from hell.

They really were the worst guests I have ever had. I doubt I can go into details but aside from being incredibly rude people they also decided to fabricate a robbery & stopped just short of perjuring themslves - they weren't that stupid.

So, sadly based on that experience I would never do a 6 weeker again in peak season. I much prefer if a bad one slips through the net that they are off next week.

That's very good info. Don't expect I'll ever be in the position of a guest wanting a 6 week booking but interesting to know all the sme

[pepsipuss]

I don't think I would do it if I was not on site or nearby and had the opportunity to check up on them regularly.

If you can make great savings on cleaning and changeovers you could offer that as a discount but on the other hand it might pay you to do a weekly clean with the linen change - just in case!

[croatian_villa]

Thanks for the feedback

PepsiPuss. Why would you feel the need to check up on them constantly? Why would you want to check up on them anymore than say a 2 week rental?

I guess sending cleaners in every 2 weeks may be a good idea to check up periodically.

[pepsipuss]

PepsiPuss. Why would you feel the need to check up on them constantly? Why would you want to check up on them anymore than say a 2 week rental?

Just gut feel but I admit that when I wrote I was thinking of a large property - not sure how big yours is. My feeling is that if it IS a large property then there is a good chance that there will be a lot of changing over of people during a long let and so it would be hard to pin any potential damage on any particular person or people AND there is a possibility that there might be more 'overlap' and therefore over-occupation at some points. I know that makes me a bit of a cynic but I have plenty of experience of my own and others' properties to back it up! Hence the suggestion that there are plenty of 'site visits' and I would want to know exactly who was there and when.

I think the regular clean is important because a property can get VERY dirty in that sort of time if they are not feeling like cleaning up.

[Topcat]

Funnily enough I just had an enquiry for 6 weeks in peak period. I offered them a small discount and had a few more queries but then nothing. People think you'll heavily discount 6 weeks, but not in your main season; it would be madness.

TC

[pepsipuss]

People think you'll heavily discount 6 weeks, but not in your main season; it would be madness.

TC

Quite so

[Martha]

I've done it a couple of times now - once in summer, once in winter. I asked for 50% deposit upfront and I think I asked for the full balance 3 months in advance, both times - pointing out that if they cancelled, it would be very difficult for me to relet etc etc, which they were fine about.

Both times were fine. I included regular cleans and linen changes in the price. The main issue is trying to make sure that people who come to stay for weekends know about house issues like not putting anything down the loo, shower before hot tub, etc etc. Fortunately the main clients were sensible both times so all went well.

[croatian_villa]

Thanks all. I decided to quote the normal cost as this is the high season and also built in the cleaning for several visits.

I suspect they may of expected a heavy discount but I can't do this over the high season. I don't think people realise that it costs me the same in management costs regardless of how many weeks they stay. And aircon costs are also expensive over the warmest months.

[fincalospinos]

I am new to the forum, having visited it many times, and feel that I may be able to add some useful comments to this thread as I can make observations from both sides.
I have a couple of rental properties in southern Spain which are let out mainly in the summer months, but I also rent somewhere myself during July and August, either in Devon or Cornwall, or in Northern Spain. It gives me and my wife some respite from the summer heat.
If we get asked for a long let of 4 or more weeks in the summer we ask for the normal 20% deposit to secure the booking, a further 30% 12 weeks prior to arrival, and the balance 4 weeks later, so the full amount is paid 2 months before they arrive.
The only discount that we allow is the cost of the cleaning and laundry, although we do offer a cleaning and laundry service at extra cost. If they don't take up the extra cleaning, we insist on access to the property every two weeks for inspection. We tell them that this is a safety check and no-one yet has objected.
When the boot is on the other foot and we become the guest, I expect to have similar conditions imposed on us, and seeing the job from both sides, have no objections to paying up front and allowing the owner periodic access. I would however expect a reasonable reduction for cleaning and laundry costs.
We may well be looking for somewhere to rent in Devon or Cornwall next July and August, so if anyone has a 2 or 3 bedroom cottage to rent out, and you don't mind one very well behaved Irish terrier, I would be pleased to hear from you.

[Nemo]

I am new to the forum, having visited it many times, and feel that I may be able to add some useful comments to this thread as I can make observations from both sides.

Very useful input fincalospinos, thanks and welcome to the forum.

[oasiscouple]

This post is a few weeks old but I would like to add my comments.

We do give a small reduction for bookings 3 weeks and over, even in the high season. It’s not because of the saving in cleaning costs as we do it ourselves, but more the saving in time and hassle in less frequent changeovers.

When our house is rented out we live in our camping car at a camp site about 30 minutes away and we do go to the house once a week anyway for pool and garden maintenance.

The apartment is a bit different as we don’t need to visit to do any maintenance, but we have a 400 km drive there and back for the changeovers so we are quite happy to give a discount for longer bookings as it means less travel.

Changeovers at the house are on Saturday and at the apartment, Sunday, so sometimes we have very busy weekends and longer bookings are a real relief.
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