VRBO Calendar Warning: Minimum Night setting does absolutely nothing

VRBO Calendar Warning: Minimum Night setting does absolutely nothing

Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

Under Calendar > Settings > Availability I've had a 3 night minimum set . . . . Or at least I thought I did. 

Several 2 night bookings have snuck through recently, including one covering an expensive weekend day in June which it was triggered me confirming this. Called host service, turns out that this setting does not actually do anything at all, because to actually change the minimum you have to click on the current date (or whatever date in the future) and do a date range for the rest of your open calendar in order to actually set the minimum within the actual calendar blocks. 

IIRC you used to be able to set minimums for certain check in days, because my calendar block where you select dates showed "2-3" as the minimum, so maybe it migrated the old minimums based on check-in day and applied them? Seems silly that VRBO has a very easy to find setting that does literally nothing for changing the actual minimum that guests can book, because the calendar selection block overrides this. 

While I agree with the general sentiment that VRBO attracts better quality guests, their User Experience is awful. They really need to poach some talent from AirBnb, who do a much better job of making a more intuitive interface, at the expense of crappier guests. Pick your hard I guess

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Rental Property Investor · Phoenix, AZ and Rehoboth Beach DE · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
5mo

It's hard to believe Vrbo can't get the minimum night setting right.  I use PriceLabs and set the minimum to 3 nights there in high season.  Then use their option for orphan days to allow bookings for 2 nights when they're in between other bookings.

During my last call from a Vrbo rep trying to get me to implement discounts, she proudly said they now have scheduled messages.  So I checked it out and found they still don't allow you to schedule messages 5 or 10 days in advance, like Airbnb. So it's almost no help. They really are behind on technology. 

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  • John UnderwoodPro Member
    Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    5mo
    Quote from @Jon Martin:

    Under Calendar > Settings > Availability I've had a 3 night minimum set . . . . Or at least I thought I did. 

    Several 2 night bookings have snuck through recently, including one covering an expensive weekend day in June which it was triggered me confirming this. Called host service, turns out that this setting does not actually do anything at all, because to actually change the minimum you have to click on the current date (or whatever date in the future) and do a date range for the rest of your open calendar in order to actually set the minimum within the actual calendar blocks. 

    IIRC you used to be able to set minimums for certain check in days, because my calendar block where you select dates showed "2-3" as the minimum, so maybe it migrated the old minimums based on check-in day and applied them? Seems silly that VRBO has a very easy to find setting that does literally nothing for changing the actual minimum that guests can book, because the calendar selection block overrides this. 

    While I agree with the general sentiment that VRBO attracts better quality guests, their User Experience is awful. They really need to poach some talent from AirBnb, who do a much better job of making a more intuitive interface, at the expense of crappier guests. Pick your hard I guess


     I've never experienced my min night stay change. I have it set to 3, then I shorten off season min days and increase the min night stay for peak season as needed.

  • Rental Property Investor · Phoenix, AZ and Rehoboth Beach DE · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    5mo

    It's hard to believe Vrbo can't get the minimum night setting right.  I use PriceLabs and set the minimum to 3 nights there in high season.  Then use their option for orphan days to allow bookings for 2 nights when they're in between other bookings.

    During my last call from a Vrbo rep trying to get me to implement discounts, she proudly said they now have scheduled messages.  So I checked it out and found they still don't allow you to schedule messages 5 or 10 days in advance, like Airbnb. So it's almost no help. They really are behind on technology. 

  • Real Estate Investor · Casselberry, FL · Member since 2008 · 41 posts · 33 votes
    5mo

    I've not run into this but I control minimum stays through Priceless. Hasn't failed me.

  • Mike GrudzienPro Member
    Lender · Eugene, OR · Member since 2019 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    5mo

    I have both Airbnb and VRBO, haven't had a problem yet, but thank you for the heads up!

  • Andrew SteffensBusiness Member
    Tampa, FL · Member since 2022 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    5mo

    @Jon Martin do you use a PMS?  Sometimes PMS will update and setting get changed.  I imagine this could happen with an OTA too.

    • Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
      5mo
      Quote from @Andrew Steffens:

      @Jon Martin do you use a PMS?  Sometimes PMS will update and setting get changed.  I imagine this could happen with an OTA too.


       Not yet but I plan to later this year. Seems like the overarching structure of the PMS should minimize these headaches. 

      On a related note I found that price labs and Airbnb have different maximums for out into the future they open your calendar. Price labs only does 18 months, so if you have Airbnb at 24 months it will default to your preset Airbnb numbers for anything over 18 months. Almost underpriced a high value weekend when I figured that out. 

      A lot of nuances to the way these systems interdict that you often only figure out the hard way!

  • JD MartinBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
    5mo

    VRBO can't get anything right. It is the crappiest platform I think I have ever dealt with. It gets better guests than AirBnb but the site is a train wreck, the support is a joke and the fees are obscene. 

    Skyline Properties
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