Newbie help desperately needed

[Greenbeanie]

Hi everyone, I wondered if I could ask some advice. We have newly renovated a coach house in Lincolnshire to make a 1 bedroom holiday let (it will eventually be 2 bedroom once we raise some more money!).

I'm trying to put together a Weebly website but I'm unsure how to put an availability calender on it so could do with some advice on the best way to go about this.

I've registered on owners direct, where else should I be advertising? We are situated on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds and a 10 minute drive from the beach. Plenty of things to do locally particularly for walkers, wildlife lovers etc.

Also the property will sleep up to 4 with the massive sofa bed in the living room although there is only 1 bedroom. Do you advertise as to sleep 2 or 4? it will be the same price regardless.

Finally can any one point me in the right direction to get some advice or templates for putting together holiday let terms and conditions please.

Sorry for all the questions Here was me thinking all the renovations were the hard bit of the project

[kevsboredagain]

I think Dateblocker is still just on so running, so maybe that can be used. It's the only decent look free offering I know of, without doing some coding. Perhaps others can help there.

I don't mind if you use any parts of my terms which are useful to you. (Just don't take anything from other LMH members unless they offer, or they may get very upset.)
http://www.samoensalpineholiday.com/Terms.html

I have the same sofa bed dilemma, so advertise as sleeps 4-6 (in my case 2 bedrooms) You must make it very clear how many bedrooms and real beds there are. You will always get someone that squeezes in the maximum number of adults and then complains it was too small or the sofa bed was not comfortable.

[Casscat]

Hi Greenbeanie Can't help with the calendar query as I have my site via Promote My Place which has a bookings calendar. I'm not remotely techie so I'm afraid I update all my calendars individually

As I'm overseas my preferred listing sites will not dovetail with yours but others will be along with thoughts, and I know there are members with properties in Lincolnshire.

I would probably advertise it as sleeping 'up to four' in one bedroom because there are plenty of people who do not mind the whole sofabed thing and noting that there is only one actual bedroom will alert the casual viewer to the fact that there must be a non-bedroom based arrangement for the other two bodies - unless they are expecting to squeeze four in a bed!

[French Cricket]

You can easily use a calendar on a Weebly site - you just need to insert it as an html element ("Embed code"). Look for a calendar that uses iframes or straighforward html as Weebly won't support php or Java.

I'm using one from availabilitycalendar.com - if you want to see it in action on a Weebly site (albeit a very customised Weebly site!) you can have a look at the prices and availability page on mine. Don't nick anything from it though or I'll come after your bits with a pair of garden shears. It's me that kevsboredagain is talking about

[kevsboredagain]

If iframe is an option as FC says, then this one will also work for you: http://www.ajaxavailabilitycalendar.com/

It has the advantage of being hosted by yourself and free.

[French Cricket]

No, that one won't work kev - it needs a server running php (which Weebly doesn't have).

[Greenbeanie]

Thank you so much for the help and advice. I had put the property on owners direct and there was an html code to copy and paste for the calendar but it has just come up with page not found!

I think much more fiddling is needed before I get this anywhere near where I want it. I have had a look at promote my place too.

Does anyone use aviivo and have an opinion on it?

I think you're right about the bed issue 2-4 is the way to go.

[kevsboredagain]

No, that one won't work kev - it needs a server running php (which Weebly doesn't have).

ah ok

[French Cricket]

If you get totally stuck, Greenbeanie, you could add me as an editor for your site and I'll see if I can sort out your calendar. You do it under the Settings tab, then scroll down to Editors - you can use the email address from my site.

[kevsboredagain]

Does anyone use aviivo and have an opinion on it?

I would start your business and see how it goes before buying all the tools in advance. Most people manage fine without any tools other than maybe a spreadsheet or calendar. You won't really know your requirements until you've been running a while. Save your money.