How to Get More Shortlet Bookings

To get more shortlet bookings, fix what is inside your control first. Keep every night you can host open and priced. Answer requests fast, or turn on instant book. Reward longer stays, pick a cancellation time guests trust, make your listing easy to understand, and send your own guests to one booking link.

None of this is a promise of more bookings. Each step removes a reason a guest might book somewhere else. This guide walks through each one, with the exact Cabans settings. If you have not started yet, read how to take shortlet bookings online.

Make every open night bookable

A guest can only book a night that is open and has a price. Every closed or unpriced night is a night nobody can book, however good your flat is. Check these settings on your listing’s edit page, in “Availability, prices and booking rules”:

• “Open all dates by default”. When it is on, guests can book any date you have not blocked. When it is off, only the windows you add are open. Forget to add a window, and the listing may show “No dates available yet”.
• Every night has a price. A night with no price shows grey, and a guest who tries it sees “Some of those nights have no price yet, so they cannot be booked.”
• Closed weekdays. Untick a day of the week only if you truly cannot host on that day every week.
• Blocked dates. Use “Block Dates” only for real clashes, such as repairs or a booking taken elsewhere. Guests see those nights as “Closed”.
• “Guests can book up to”. This is 1 year ahead unless you change it. Guests planning December, a wedding or a relocation often book early, so a short window turns them away.
• “Minimum stay (nights)”. This is 1 unless you change it. It applies to every date, so a long minimum also blocks quiet weekday stays.

For busy dates, raise the price instead of closing them. Use a price window for a season, or “Custom Day Price” for one day. Our help guide shows how to set night prices for busy days and seasons.

One trap is easy to miss:the listing’s Save button does not save the calendar. Press “Review and save calendar”, then “Save and publish calendar”. Calendar changes go live straight away, with no approval.

Answer fast, or turn on instant book

On Cabans, a booking request reaches you only after the guest has paid. They are waiting on you. If nobody answers within your time to accept, the request is declined for you and the guest is refunded in full. That is a lost booking you never saw.

• “Time to accept a request”. Choose 2, 6, 12, 24, 48 or 72 hours, or 7 days. 24 hours is the standard. Once guests have paid, they see the time by which you must answer.
• “Instant book”. When it is on, “Paid bookings are confirmed straight away, without waiting for you.” Guests see an “Instant booking” badge instead of “Host confirms”.
• Keep an eye on “Requests”. The Bookings page shows each request with the time left to answer. The seller menu shows an amber badge with the number waiting.

Only turn on instant book if your calendar is always right. With it on, you do not get the chance to say no. Read instant book or request to book to decide, and how to set your booking rules and instant book for the steps.

If you cannot watch your phone all day, get help. Give a trusted helper the Process Orders permission so they can answer requests. Booking emails go to your store’s email, the owner and up to 10 team members with that permission. The Host Academy lesson run it as a team shows how.

Offers that win longer stays

A guest who stays a week fills seven nights with one clean and one check-in. You can reward longer stays in two ways:

• A longer-stay discount, up to three tiers, such as “7+ nights, 10% off”.
• A free-nights offer, such as “Stay 5 nights, get 1 free”. Guests see it above your calendar before they choose dates.

If you set both, each guest gets whichever saves them more, never both. Offers are part of your listing, so the Cabans team approves them before guests see them. Set them well before a busy season. Make sure your “Longest stay (nights)” allows the stays you are rewarding. Our guide to weekly and monthly shortlet discounts works through the maths.

A cancellation time guests trust

Every bookable short let lets guests cancel for a full refund up to a cut-off you choose. There is no “no cancellation” option. Your choices are 24 hours, or 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 14 or 30 days before check-in. If you choose nothing, it is 48 hours.

Guests see the result before they pay. Once they choose dates, the booking box says “Free cancellation until” a date and time, or “No free cancellation” if the stay starts inside your cut-off. A long cut-off protects your dates. A short one gives guests more freedom to book early.

One rule softens long cut-offs. Cut-offs longer than 15 days apply in full only when the guest books more than 30 days before check-in. The cut-off is set for the whole listing, not per date. Read which cancellation cut-off to pick before you choose.

A listing guests understand

Guests book what they can picture and trust. Before they book, they see your photos, description and the facts in the booking box: check-in and check-out times, minimum stay, cleaning fee and caution deposit. Make each one clear:

• Photos of every room, the kitchen, the bathrooms and the entrance, in daylight.
• A title with the area, the size and one strong feature.
• An honest description of power, water, Wi-Fi, parking and security. Say how many hours the backup power runs.
• “Maximum guests (optional)” set to what the flat really sleeps.
• A fair cleaning fee and caution deposit. Both are shown before a guest pays.

After booking, guests see your stay information: “House rules”, “Arrival and check-in instructions” and a “Check-out checklist”. Put your key rules in the description too, so guests know them before they pay. See shortlet listing tips and our house rules template.

Want ideas? Browse shortlets on Cabans and look at your listing the way a guest would. Compare it with homes near yours, such as shortlets in Lagos or shortlets in Abuja. Which listing would you book, and why?

Bring your own guests to your booking link

Guests cannot search Cabans for “bookable online” or “instant book”. They find out on your listing page. So the guests who already know you, or ask about your flat, are worth sending there yourself.

• Put your listing link in your WhatsApp status, your Instagram bio and your replies to enquiries.
• Send it to past guests, office travel desks, event planners and anyone who refers guests to you.
• Companies can book with a business profile. You see “Booked by a business” on the booking.

From your link, guests pick dates, see the full price and pay securely online through Paystack. They pay Paystack’s payment fee, so it does not come out of your earnings. Cabans charges hosts a 5% commission. You are paid within 7 days after the stay, and sooner when the guest approves the payment after their trip.

If you also take bookings elsewhere, close those nights with “Block These Dates” straight away. Cabans does not link to other calendars. For more ideas, read how to advertise a shortlet apartment and shortlet flyer and caption ideas.

Track what works

Occupancy is the share of your open nights that were booked. Work it out once a month:

1. Count the nights that were open for guests.
2. Count the nights that were booked. The calendar’s “Booked nights” list helps.
3. Divide booked nights by open nights.
4. Write down one change you made that month, such as a new offer or new photos.

Change one thing at a time, so you can see what made the difference. Compare each month with the month before, and with the same month last year.

Ready to put this to work? Take bookings online with Cabans, or list your short let if it is not on Cabans yet.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

Weekly and monthly shortlet discounts · Instant book or request to book · Shortlet listing tips · How to advertise a shortlet apartment · Shortlet pricing mistakes