11 years
It’s one of those situations where you’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t.
You’re completely within your rights to charge for the 2nd night, since they canceled with less than 24 hours notice. You should definitely charge them if you had to turn away anyone who wanted to book for that night, because that clearly represents a loss of business. If you still have unsold beds, then it’s harder to convince them that they caused you to lose business. In this case, there’s not much difference between telling you upon arrival and telling you a week in advance, at least from the guest’s perspective. Either way, they won’t be staying with you.
In the interest of customer service (they’re still a guest for one night, after all) we normally don’t charge for the canceled nights in situations like this. At least if they go tell the couchsurfing community how nice and accommodating the hostel was, then maybe the local hosts will direct travelers back to us the next time their couches aren’t available.
As for whether hostels should be more lenient that hotels, I’m not sure. It comes down to the guest’s perception. If you tell them that they have to pay because the faceless corporate hotel entity says they have to, then it’s out of your hands and they can accept that. That’s just business. If it’s clear that this is your decision (as the owner) then they are more likely to hold it against you and your hostel. I know of at least one hostel where the owner won’t tell the guests that the place is his for exactly that reason. He’ll even tell the guests “I would let it go, but the owner would kill me if I didn’t charge you” to put himself on their side while upholding the cancellation policies. I know of another one who blames the policies of “the Corporate Office” even though she runs the corporate office. In the end they both collect the guest’s money.
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