We got an email asking for a price of a room for a 2 month stay. It would be good for us, except when I took a closer look at the email it was for mid-2012....
Since we have only been open a couple of months it seems such a long way away.
14 years
That seems too far away. What about if you have to put your hostel rates up in 2012?
I'd say take bookings no more than 6 months in advance. If your hostel is in an area that is celebrating a huge event that attracts backpackers and during that time it is hard to find accommodation (and it's more than 6 month's away) than perhaps consider opening your bookings for then.
14 years
I would always take bookings far in advance. My thought is to take reservations when you can, because you never know what might happen in the future. I would assume that this guest wants to lock something down as soon as possible, and if you don't take his reservation then he may move on to a hostel that will.
My only reservation about the whole thing is the long term request, 2 months. We used to not have a limit on the length of time someone could make a reservation for, but then we got some long term guests we didn't enjoy being around too much. The hostel isn't huge, and several employees live on site, so when they have to basically deal with a new long-term roommate they didn't like very much, it was a problem. We changed our policy to allow reservations for up to just 14 days. If the guest wanted to stay longer and we thought it would work out just fine, we were happy to extend their stay. If the situation was the opposite, we would let them know that we had some big groups coming and there wouldn't be room, and recommend another hostel for them.
14 years
We are a small guesthouse, just 4 private rooms that face away from our house. So it's less work in the end for us if guests stay longer.
The email was very cryptic. It seems like English is not their native language. They are now saying they will come this year, but I am confused as to why they would even write 2012?
Anyway now they say they just want to come look at the room....
14 years
I don't know how people book so far in advance. I have trouble booking even two weeks in advance...
At one hostel I worked at, there was a guest who would book a year in advance before he checked out. We told him there was plenty of time, but he insisted on reserving specific dates. :)
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