10 years
Thanks for the update. I found 10% of our guests like to book on the date of arrival so I assume that it's good to loosen the release date.
Recent Changes from HW (June 2014)
Hostel Reviews, Booking Engines, and Directories
HW sent out an email recently announcing some changes. Here is a summary:
1) You can now upload up to 30 pictures of your hostel, and the size limit for those images is now larger than previously allowed. All newly uploaded pictures need to be a minimum of 1900 X 1200 pixels.
2) HW will now only show properties that have availability for the entire period that the guest searched for. If you don’t have at least one room type available for the entire period the guest wants, then your hostel will not show up in those search results.
3) They would like you to set your release period to 0 days so that guests using the HW app can book on the day of arrival. You can call or email your Buddy to change your release period.
4) Backpack Online (BPO) is now connecting with HostelBench.
The full email is below.
A warm greeting from all of us at Hostelworld.com
Whilst everyone is busy, we hope you get a chance to catch some of the World Cup action! We have taken a break to update you on what is going on here in Hostelworld and with some timely suggestions on how to boost bookings, even in high season!
Images
We know how important good images are in helping the customer decision making process. Hostelworld now allow all properties to load up to 30 images through the Hostelworld extranet. We’ve also improved the process to allow you to upload much larger photos than previously. All photos uploaded to Hostelworld need to be a minimum of 1900 x 1200 pixels in size. If you don’t have 30 images to hand we’ve also included a handy guide which gives you some great tips and tricks when taking photos.Availability on Hostelworld.com
After months of data analysis and conversion statistics we have made some changes to improve the user experience on Hostelworld.com by only showing rooms that have full availability for the dates required. For you this means that your property will show online once it meets the searched for criteria, you must have availability for at least one room type for all nights searched. So please ensure that you have your availability updated to give you the maximum exposure possible. Remembering that the most common search is for two nights, for two people on two consecutive days!Release periods
We are currently in the height of Summer season and our customers are becoming more and more dependent on their mobile devices to look for and book beds on the same day they arrive at their chosen destination.
Ensure our customers become your guests by changing you release period to ‘0’. A simple process that can be completed over the phone or through an email request. Please contact me and start receiving additional bookings straight away.Backpack online
Hostelworld’s FREE property management system ‘backpack online’ has now teamed up with ’Hostelbench’ – for all your benchmarking needs. For more information on backpack online please go to: backpackonline.comAnd as always…. If you need assistance with any query don’t hesitate to contact us – our support is available 24 / 7!
- Comments
10 years
We allow same day bookings, but we rarely get them through HW. Guests may check with them to see if there is space, but they usually come to us directly. I’m happy with that. Some backpackers still think that no availability on HW means there’s actually no availability. :rolleyes: It's worth it to give them beds for the same day just to make sure I show up on the list.
Related Pages
Log in to join discussion