Airbnb/booking. com rental owners, are your bookings down?

[Oneafterthelaissezfaire]

Bookings have dropped off a cliff compared to recent years. I know it's Jan/Feb but we've always had a steady flow but this year it's just dead.

I have an annex next to my house so not ruining any towns before anyone jumps on me. Curious if it's the same anywhere else? I'm in the SE.

We also have an annexe and since January there have been three bookings compared to several last year. Very reasonable rates too but I blame the cost of living crisis. I think the media have played it down, the problem is worse than it appears.

Another thing as well when booking a weekend get away with the children unless your offering sea views and hot tubs or something. I can book a caravan on a haven / Landal type site for often less and we can then access a pool. No cleaning rules though we do the price is just the price without all the add ons.

I've heard too many negative stories about Airbnb to even consider that option. Hotels for me every time, mostly booked direct through their website.

For me I'm sick of booking, arranging travel etc the. Them being g cancelled for maintenance issues. This has happened a lot and I r been stuck with train tickets and no accommodation. The there's the cleaning fee but I have to clean it anyway. It's all got just bit like too much hard work

This happened to my friend, and it was for a big occasion too. Air B and B's model doesn't give any real protection in that situation, and they don't give a fuck either. Put me off using them.

Late Check in and early check out times are one of the reasons I don't use Airbnb type properties. I don't want to be out of the property by 10am, having been expected to also strip beds and clean up everything. It doesn't give me time to get up, showered, dressed, breakfast and then wash/dry and put away any dishes.
The last one we stayed in wanted £25 per hour for a later check out time and kept trying to push it.

Even a cheaper hotel the check out time is at least 11am, if not 12 noon. I don't have to have sorted everything out and they will look after my luggage for me until I want to actually leave the area, esp if I don't have a car with me.

This sounds like you feel your Airbnb is a hotel or is competing with hotels not BnBs or holiday apartments - aside from the annex. The Airbnb was considered to be a project to help people rent out an odd room or annex in their house or maybe just the one holiday rental they own. Now it seems just a less regulated small business vehicle.

We recently had stayed in an air bnb in south wales. Arrived 30 minutes after checkin and was told to go away for an hour as they hadn't finished cleaning. That combined with the cleaning fee has put us off booking one again.

We just booked two holidays this week abroad instead of several uk trips. Hotel, all inclusive, cleaning done, and weather almost guaranteed. Thanks but no thanks to staying home again.

I’ve got to ask why book through Airbnb if the charges are not all upfront? Booking sites that are regulated more don’t impose extra charges on the whole, unless you diss the place.

I agree re check in times, it’s problematic with holiday lets. We have often had two different lets over a period of just short of a fortnight. We usually book a Saturday to Saturday followed by a Friday to a Friday meaning we can arrange with the owner of the second let to arrive on the Saturday at noon. If you are traveling by train this really helps.

@Toomuchgoingon79 - you do know air b and b/ booking.com/ private apartment or villa rentals exist overseas?
The argument of going to a hotel abroad for guaranteed weather doesn’t make sense, you could book a rental apartment in same town abroad and the weather would be the same.

If you are running a business then Airbnb isn’t the best platform for the customer or the vendor.

At our rental, check in is 3pm onwards. Check out 10am. I need 10-3 to clean usually.
However if someone messages me asking for earlier check in, I happily let people if possible. If my last guests checked out day before it’s not a problem. If I had guests leaving Same day then I just tell guests that I can’t guarantee before 3pm, but they are welcome to come and drop luggage earlier and if I can get it ready earlier I will (ie if guests before actually leave at 8am then I can get in early/ or dh might be able to help etc).
We are only human, and people would also complain if property was clean and tidy enough also.
You 100% couldn’t get a hotel room for 4 in this town for less than our rental (the hotel would be around x3 the price, if not more)

People don't seem to understand that it takes less than an hour to clean a hotel room. To clean a two bedroom house takes at least 4-5 hours. Hotel check in is usually 3pm, my cottage is 3pm too! I also allow people to arrive and park/ leave luggage at any time.

Air BnB used to be a room in a home, but that changed years ago. It's just a booking engine, same as Sykes, booking dot com, VRBO. The holiday let industry as a whole is unregulated, not just Air BnB.

In fact, fire regulations are law currently and licencing is coming for England ( already there for Scotland and I think Wales) As an owner I think this is an excellent thing.

@Caspianberg I said the weather is almost guaranteed in my post if you read it correctly.
We have actually had accommodation overseas, four times, but again we're been stung with cleaning fees and no basics like hand wash and toilet roll, and this is why a hotel is preferable going forward. At least the ones over seas didn't ask us to go away and come back.!

This was actually a topic of conversation this afternoon amongst family, and everyone feels that people just jumped on the bandwagon and that there are so many poor accommodations out there. No one is booking an Airbnb compared to everyone having several trips booked last year.

I'm on 3 different platforms, everyone on the thread has latched on to the Airbnb element of my OP which is fair enough given it garners a lot of hatred!

@Toomuchgoingon79 - ok. But surely it’s the Same as a hotel in that you look at what’s included? A basic apartment isn’t going to include much v a 4/5 star hotel. But if you book a luxury apartment or villa and read what it includes, it should include everything.
Things like toilet roll or hand wash have been in every basic rental I have used tbh. But I always book direct or booking.com, not air bandb.

Fyi we include toilet paper, hand wash, all dish washing stuff, all machine laundry stuff, all cleaning stuff ( if you want it), all cooking basis like foil, Full kitchen with everything. Kids stuff like cots/ high chair/stair gates/ pram/ scooter/ toys/ outdoor toys/ pool floats. Picnic bags, beach umbrellas and towels. There’s a herb and vegetable garden. There’s a e car charger. BBQ with everything needed. Many many things you wouldn’t get in a hotel.

Don’t get me wrong. I use hotels also, as I like the whole breakfast included, etc. And for a couple of nights great. But most our guests are small families staying 2 weeks who want separate bedrooms, and kitchen facilities, laundry, more space. So it’s not an either or thing, it’s a more suitable type of accommodation for some people.

But the uk is much more expensive imo for what you get

There have been a few threads on this lately - one here:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/5048392-hard-times-for-the-holiday-let-industry-in-the-uk?

The recurring theme is poor value as prices for airbnb/holiday lets have rocketed and conditions have declined (early checkouts) and increasingly ridiculous requirements from some landlords (esp post covid)

There are undoubtedly still good lets available but as with the residential letting market, hobby landlords trying to milk every penny out of the customer offer poor value and the reputation of the industry goes down.

I won't take holiday lets these days without a personal recommendation as they are just not reliable enough. It can also be cheaper to take a villa elsewhere in Europe, including flights over popular areas in the UK.

Thank you for the link.

I try my hardest with my guests and love my job, it makes me truly happy when they say they've had a lovely time, it's such a shame that others have ruined it for those that do care and want to provide a good service

Fwiw, my check out time is 11am and I don't expect anyone to lift a finger although it's massively appreciated when people leave the place tidy!

Having lunch, there is a piece on R4 World at One circa 45 mins in.

They seem to be saying that there is a lot more accommodation available in some areas than there was. People are allowing pets etc. to attract the (finite number of) bookings.

To answer your original question OP, we have friends with businesses around Cornwall and St Ives and bookings are much lower this year compared to previous years. I suspect the COL crisis has hit far more people than initially thought, plus this may be the year of properly returning to pre pandemic numbers too.

Peak season should be busy as usual but the beginning and end of season months are looking much quieter, not great for those businesses reliant on tourism for 8/9 months of the year.

The new regulations and charges associated with holiday letting is going to make them unviable business models if bookings slow down too much. Rightmove is showing a lot of holiday homes for sale- selling them at inflated ‘investment property’ prices is going to be tricky.

I have a place in Cornwall and my bookings are up on last year

Peak season should be busy as usual but the beginning and end of season months are looking much quieter, not great for those businesses reliant on tourism for 8/9 months of the year.

That's interesting. Anecdotally, I'd noticed that there don't seem to be many bargains to be had over summer, but I know of people who got a cheap price for UK Easter breaks.

It's such a shame for the decent owners, but I've definitely gone off uk holiday lets lately.

The nice ones are too expensive for my budget and the less nice ones have either been clean but dated or decorated nicely but not that clean. I have had less than perfect apartments abroad too but at least you get the weather.

Not sure what we'll do this year tbh. Maybe won't bother and will spend the money on activities at home

I agree. It was always a cheaper option but it isn’t any longer. Early check out times and late check in put me off as well as all the cleaning stuff. Who has time to do everything before they check out at 9am in the morning. It ruins the last day. Also the worry you will accidentally you fall foul of some of the long list of ‘rules.’

9am certainly isn't the norm. Maybe during Covid it was more common.