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.

There’s so many factors to consider. I think summer will always be busy for the popular destinations, a week or 10 days abroad can easily go into the £4-5k+ during peak school holidays compared to £2k or less on a week in a cottage.

Outside of peak summer tends to be when those with a ‘big’ holiday already planned will do a week away, it seems like stretching to another trip is off the cards for a lot, or they’re waiting for May half term to guarantee better weather.

Hope hotel owners are reading these threads. They could clean up by offering more family suites - a couple of really little bedrooms (just enough to sleep in) attached to a living room with a sofa etc. There are huge numbers of people who feel driven to use "holiday cottages" entirely because "we don't want to go to bed at the same time as the kids," and would actually prefer to just use a bloody hotel if the above setup was more widely available.

(Why are holiday homes always called "cottages" in the UK? Most of them are not actual cottages of any description; it's an odd term to use.)