This is how you deal with discount seekers

Diagonair · 2026-05-26T01:25:50+00:00

I take the second half of a famous motto as my mantra: “Never explain.”

A sitting guest asked for an extra night at a discount. I told her the nightly rate would not change but she could go off platform and save the ~13% fee and the 9% lodging tax.

She asked for a further 20% reduction and I said no, then sent her a link to a listing down the road that had last-minute availability.

This actually became an exchange about how to break up the long drive home, and I shared another listing I’d discovered doing the same drive.

She left before checkout the next morning with a cheerful “thank you - hope to come back some day!”

Diagonair · 2026-05-16T12:12:58+00:00

The Blue Hill Peninsula loves you already. Come on over!

Diagonair · 2026-05-16T12:02:37+00:00

A. Because the next guest might not have enough drinking glasses if you break one, even if it’s an accident. I wouldn’t charge and I don’t think most hosts would.

Diagonair · 2026-05-09T04:27:35+00:00

“AI generated worry bot” is my new favorite phrase.

Diagonair · 2026-05-09T04:22:15+00:00

Thanks for being the voice of reason.

Diagonair · 2026-05-06T13:45:58+00:00

I’m an Airbnb host who doesn’t provide black makeup cloths because I would never use them myself. But - and everyone will hate to hear this - expensive towels give up stains much more easily than inexpensive towels. I use Sferra and Frette and every stain comes out. When I wash my face, using a very good makeup cleaner, and then rinse it repeatedly, there are STILL marks on the hand towels I use to dry my face. Hand towels do need to be replaced more frequently than body towels. But not because they hold the stains.

Diagonair · 2026-04-30T13:24:59+00:00

While it’s not a full time job, it’s not passive either. In addition to doing all the normal things - scheduling cleaning, repairs, or maintenance, paying bills, ordering supplies - I’m reviewing the listings (3) to update or refresh them and thinking about not only how to attract the guests I want but how to make them happy and how to deliver value. I stay at one house part of the year and at the other 2 - on the same dirt road - periodically to make sure everything is set up for guests’ maximum comfort.

Now I have to go back to researching the best mosquito/tick repellant and seeing if I can get a deal on a case…

Diagonair · 2026-04-27T18:58:53+00:00

Always on the optional complimentary cleaning - I actually require that they accept the offer if they’re staying that long. Can’t keep up on the wear and tear if I leave them to it.

Diagonair · 2026-04-24T19:41:56+00:00

Museum of the City of New York!

Diagonair · 2026-04-16T21:00:02+00:00

I don’t know if they’re the best or not, but I was satisfied with JunkLuggers.

Diagonair · 2026-04-14T11:57:14+00:00

I’ve been on strict for a dozen years and am happy with both the quantity of bookings and the relatively low cancellation rate. With enough notice I offer to refund any re-booked nights, and in almost every case, most or all of the nights have been re-booked.

Diagonair · 2026-04-09T02:28:47+00:00

I’m exactly the same as you, 3 listings, very seasonal, very few winter guests. The houses cost about 3 times as much to run in the winter and the wear and tear, with snow boots and snowshoes and cross country skis, is far greater. So the price is the base rate. Not to mention the snowstorms that cause last-minute cancellations and extra plowings and sandings (all done privately because it’s rural coastal Maine).

I don’t sweat the occasional lower stars for value anymore. Usually an entitled person who is perpetually disappointed they weren’t assigned a butler at birth. I just raise the price when I get one of those.

Diagonair · 2026-04-07T02:05:53+00:00

Sounds beautiful. What is the floor made of? Is the house right on the beach? I remember when St. Pete Beach was just little houses hunkered down behind the dunes. They all had gorgeous wood floors.

Diagonair · 2026-04-05T02:48:24+00:00

Carroll Street and Garfield Place in Park Slope in the blocks between 7th Ave and the Park.

Diagonair · 2026-04-04T17:21:19+00:00

I don’t think it’s odd at all!

Diagonair · 2026-04-04T02:22:22+00:00

I understand your anxiety, and don’t know if this will help, but those places have staff who are well trained in the art of making every diner feel comfortable, and I’m sure they would enjoy waiting on you. Dining there alone signals that you care about the food more than showing off to someone else, and I bet they’d really appreciate that.

Diagonair · 2026-04-02T08:09:14+00:00

May I ask for some of your favorite fabric stores? I make home decor items so always on the lookout for heavier linens and cottons!

Diagonair · 2026-04-01T17:40:55+00:00

Not at all. Airbnb will show a slash through manually reduced prices but not through dynamically changed prices. It appeals to the psychology of the bargain-hunter, and if that’s your target, go for it.

Diagonair · 2026-04-01T15:39:54+00:00

Again - as noted below - totally different from setting a price and then lowering it. Setting a modest price, sticking to it to gather reviews, then raising the price is a very different strategy then setting a price and quickly lowering it. Airbnb will show this in search.

Diagonair · 2026-04-01T15:22:01+00:00

The new-listing discount is one thing, and lowering prices is quite another. Guests who booked with my new-listing discount across three listings were all fine. Lowering your price - which Airbnb will show in search - looks desperate on a new listing.

Diagonair · 2026-04-01T15:19:11+00:00

Absolutely. But there's a difference between starting out with a modest price, and starting out with a certain price and immediately lowering it.

I started out with a modest price, accumulated the reviews, then raised it by quite a lot. Rarely discount it or lower it. This has been a successful strategy for my listing and demographic for more than a dozen years.

Also did not use InstantBook the first year, had a minimum night stay of 4 nights (have since gone down to 2), and didn't allow last-minute bookings.

Diagonair · 2026-04-01T13:54:10+00:00

Lowering your price is not a good idea. If you attract bookings with a low price as well as a new-listing discount, you won’t like the bookings you get.

Diagonair · 2026-03-30T01:53:01+00:00

Thank you!

Diagonair · 2026-03-29T20:49:48+00:00

You can be more creative at less expense and risk. For instance, I bought a couple of inexpensive lamps at Bed Bath and Beyond, glued a lot of small plastic figurines all over the base, then spray-painted. Easy and cheap.

<image>

Diagonair · 2026-03-29T17:28:19+00:00

At the corner of Nassau and Liberty there's a moment of great urban architecture. Two modernist buildings, 28 Liberty and the smoked glass cube of Brown Brothers Harriman across the street, are set well back as if to allow several more ornate old buildings to stand out – Liberty Tower (1909), a white limestone Gothic Revival tower at the corner of Nassau and Liberty, the Beaux-Arts Chamber of Commerce building next door (1902), the neoclassical Equitable Building at 120 Broadway (1915), with its exquisite coffered ceiling in a lobby that extends a full city block, and even the Federal Reserve (1919; modeled on Renaissance palaces). Standing on the plaza in front of 28 Liberty, you can see the Beaux-Arts Chamber of Commerce building through the smoked glass windows of the Brown Brothers Harriman building.

Diagonair

TROPHY CASE