Families compare rentals in the evening and can act only on sites that show free dates. Show a calendar kept in step with bookings, seasonal rates, the minimum stay and deposit, and offer a short hold on dates.

Planning the summer week

In March, families start planning a summer week away. After the children are in bed, a parent opens four or five rental sites in separate tabs and compares them.

Most show which weeks are free, what each costs and how to hold one. One says only: email us for availability.

The parent sends the email and keeps comparing. By the time the reply arrives next morning, the family has put a deposit on a cabin somewhere else.

What the email request costs

An email enquiry turns a decision that could be made tonight into a conversation that starts tomorrow. Families with a shortlist rarely wait for it.

It also hides what they need to compare. Without dates and rates on the page, the rental cannot be weighed against the others, so it drops out of the comparison first.

The owner sees an enquiry that went nowhere and concludes the family was only browsing. In fact they were deciding, and the site could not take part.

What families need to see

To compare one rental with another, a family needs a handful of facts on the page itself:

With those visible, the email a family sends is a booking rather than a question.

A calendar kept in step

A calendar is only useful if it is right. One that shows a week free when it was booked by phone yesterday is worse than none, because it sets up a disappointment.

Keep one source of truth. Bookings taken by phone, email and the website should all go into the same booking system, and the website calendar should read from it rather than be updated by hand.

If the rental is also listed on travel sites, their calendars must stay in step too. Many booking systems can share availability with those sites, so a week sold in one place closes everywhere.

Rates, minimum stays and deposits

State rates by season: the July and August rate, the shoulder rate for June and September, any long weekend rate. Say what is included, such as linens, canoes or firewood.

State the minimum stay plainly. If July and August go by the week, Saturday to Saturday, mark it on the calendar itself, so nobody tries to book four nights in the middle.

State the deposit, the date the balance falls due and the terms if plans change. A family is about to send money to a place it has never seen, and clear terms help that feel safe.

A worked example

A backcountry lodge on a lake at the end of a forest service road has four suites in the main lodge and three cabins along the shore.

In summer most guests are families staying a week to swim, paddle and hike.

Its website had photographs, a list of activities and a page headed Rates and Availability, which gave the rates and asked guests to email for dates. The owners replied each morning, before the day's work.

Many families never wrote back. The reason was timing: they had emailed at nine at night and decided by breakfast.

The lodge moved its bookings from a paper diary and a spreadsheet into one booking system, and put that system's calendar on the website, showing each cabin and suite by week.

Seasonal rates, the Saturday changeover in July and August, the deposit and the cancellation terms now sit beside the calendar. A request form holds a week for 48 hours, and held dates show as held.

A family comparing at night now sees free weeks and the full price while deciding, and can hold one before closing the laptop.

A way to hold dates

Families often need to check with relatives or with work before committing. A short hold keeps the week for them without payment while they do.

Make the terms clear: how long the hold lasts, what happens when it expires, and how to confirm. Show held dates differently from booked ones, so other families know they may open up.

Rentals in high demand can ask for a small refundable deposit instead. Either way, the family leaves the site with something done rather than a question sent.

Cabin by cabin

Give each cabin or suite its own short section: photographs of every room, how many it sleeps, the beds, the bathroom, the kitchen, and how far it is from the water.

A family of five deciding between two cabins needs to know who sleeps where. That detail is often what settles the choice.

Built for the couch

Much of this comparing happens on a tablet or a phone. A calendar that needs a mouse, opens in a tiny pop-up window or relies on Flash will not work there.

Test the calendar, the rates and the hold form on a phone in the evening, the way families will use them, and make sure the confirmation reaches both the family and the owners.

The counter-case

A rental booked solid each summer by returning families, often a year ahead, gains little in July and August from an online calendar. Its regulars book by phone.

Even there, the shoulder seasons usually have gaps, and the calendar is how new families find them. Showing the summer as full also saves answering the same question by email.

And owners who like to speak with guests before accepting them can still do so: a hold followed by a confirmation call keeps that conversation.

Before the summer bookings arrive

  1. Put every booking into one system, phone and email included.
  2. Show the calendar on the website, read from that system.
  3. List rates by season with what each includes.
  4. State the minimum stay and the changeover day.
  5. Set out the deposit, balance and cancellation terms.
  6. Offer a short hold with clear terms.
  7. Test it all on a phone in the evening.

Step one is the foundation. A calendar the website reads from the real bookings stays right without anyone remembering to update it, and a calendar families can trust is the whole point.

The same problem in another season, couples asking a venue about their wedding date, is covered in venue enquiry forms that do not ask the date.

Frequently asked questions

Why do families not wait for an email reply?

They compare several rentals at once, usually in the evening. A reply the next morning arrives after they have chosen a place that showed its free dates.

What should the availability calendar show?

Free, held and booked dates by week for the whole season, for each cabin or suite, with the minimum stay and changeover day marked on the calendar itself.

How do I keep the calendar accurate?

Put every booking, from phone, email and website, into one booking system, and have the website calendar read from it rather than updating it by hand.

Should rates be on the website?

Yes, by season, with what each rate includes, the deposit, when the balance is due and the cancellation terms. Families cannot compare a rental whose price is hidden.

What is a hold, and why offer one?

A short reservation without payment, or with a small refundable deposit, while the family checks with relatives or work. It gives them something done instead of a question sent.

What if we are full every summer?

The calendar still shows new families the gaps in June and September, and it answers the availability question for you. You can still speak with guests before confirming.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Still asking guests to email for dates?

Tell us how bookings reach you now, and we will suggest a calendar and hold that stay in step with them.

Start a Conversation