Profile picture for the user s
2

Last second booking's

Well today was the mother of them all, at 12:45 i got from Airbnb a instant booking for today, now bear in mind over the last month during the quiet period i have had the apartment redecorated, increasing the sleeping capacity from 2 to 4 with the addition of a luxury sofa bed as well as a proper separate couch and a complete re modelling of the guest's terrace up on top of the apartment with artificial grass , pergola with roman awning several types of lighting and light cubes with sound system connected via blue-tooth and coloured leds, which then connects with the main house (we live on the side of a steep hill and have 7 terraces) and swimming pool. By 12:50 I had a phone call from the guest they wanted to come at 1PM. Well I had to say look I am really sorry its my complete fault I forgot to switch off auto booking during this period and I said to them "would they give me 2 hours to get the apartment ready".  I was honest and said the pool is not open to the 1 of June, the terrace upstairs is not finished but nearly but its not a building site. they said OK, I then phoned 2 friends and got them straight over and in 2 hours we cleaned the apartment made up the beds, got rid of all the tools and cleaned the floors with fresh smelling detergent which we buy here in a special cleaning shop, then we attacked the terrace, again all tools gone and cleaned and ready for the guests, my friends went home at 2.50 , I showered and spruced up and was ready at 3 pm on the dot as that was the time i said to turn up. When they were arrived I think they were expecting worse and were pleasantly surprised, I explained in my 3 emails and message to them about what was what etc and what was available and what wasnt and sent them a live location of where we live from Whatsapp, Having had a nice chat and a cup of tea that I made for them I have already connected them now with another client of mine that i know and the two of them are about to do some business together, I try and keep information on all my guests so i know what they do and if I can I link people together, It was part of my old career and I find I can use it here, They said they were very happy with the apartment and about the connection they had made. The fact that I told the truth and gave them a time they were pleased about, It was my fault as i did not turn off autobooking, it just shows that honesty does work and working hard for a couple of hours with mates gets the job done and the guests in. I was worried though as my wife normally does this side of things and I had a 50 point checklist she uses to work from, the only thing missing was a loaf of bread but it didnt matter as they are new to the area and are flat hunting and have just moved from one apartment to ours for a few days as they had to vacate the previous flat by a certain date and had a lot of food already.  They have already said they will need now a couple more days as the house they are going to will not be ready to Monday. Brilliant, Tell the Truth, Press the flesh and remember for the future how you can put people in contact with each other by just gleaning simple facts in the conversations that you have. Moral: Turn off auto booking before commencing works!!


Profile picture for the user t
7
Thuild - Your … 4 years ago

It's all nice and sweet story, but you do realize that this forum is for Booking.com, right? Not Airbnb :)