First guests arriving today

I joined a couple of months ago and you were all so helpful on suggestions for our website. Thank you. Anyway, back to topic, after medium renovations of putting TV's in the rooms, new linen throughout and converting a room into a suite we are at last receiving our first guests today... Hooray, money comming the right way at last! One question, our first guests have booked for 2 weeks (nice start) we do not charge a reservation fee or any moneys up front and it says on our website that payment is made on the last day of the stay. Obviously with such a long booking is it acceptable to request 50% payment upfront. What are your thoughts. Thank you.

Change your policy -you are asking for a trouble. Alway on arrival-100%, especially on the long stay. You do not want to find out on the last day that they overspend on their vacations and cc is maxed out. Than what you are going to do?

Congratulations on getting open. That's a big hurdle behind you!
I wouldn't make any change for these first guests, of course. They've already been told your policy, I assume. But in the future you need a tighter policy.
I get the first night's stay paid as a deposit at time of booking, making them have some commitment in all this. Refundable, less $25 fee, if they cancel with more than 7 days notice. I keep the whole deposit if they cancel with 7 or fewer days notice, or don't show at all. Many charge the full stay after the cancellation deadline.
The rest of the visit is charged in full the day they arrive. They've committed to pay you, so up front isn't a lot different for them, and it gives you a lot of assurance that their credit is good and they have the money to pay.
On longer reservations, like several weeks, I get night 1 when they book, week 1 balance upon arrival, week 2 in full at the end of week 1, etc.
You've got to protect your business and your cash flow. Waiting until departure on a 2-week stay is VERY risky, in my opinion.

Congratulations!!!
We have the same policy as Arks. One night paid with the booking and the balance on arrival.
Lots of our guests take off very early in the morning and we don't even see them. Not an issue if they have already paid.

Congrats! Have fun fun fun!
You will have to go with the flow and roll with the punches to see what works best for you. If I had a longer stay I would implement a 50% down at time of reservation policy.
Be warned there are many scams out there for 2 to 3 week stays, so this is one way to be extra diligent.

We actually say the opposite, payment is due on arrival. You don't need the worries, change your policy.

I agree with everyone else. Change your policy now. We do 50% when making reservation. If it's a long term stay, I'll take the balance on arrival, otherwise I charge at the end because we sell a lot of add-ons and want to swipe just once. On our website and confirmation letter it states balance is due on arrival, so that way they're never disappointed.

I think others have said it. Get a deposit up front so you know their credit card is good. We charged it all when they arrived and had no need to hassle with it at the end. I think that is the smart way to do it.

a big booking like this I would want 50% upfront - that way if they cancel close to time you have something till you get at least part of it re-sold and then the rest on arrival

We deal mostly in week or two-week stays, and our policy is 25% of the rent due on booking as a reservation confirmation deposit, the balance (including tax, pet fee, dockage, whatever) due on arrival. In the even of cancellation, the deposit is non-refundable unless we succeed in renting the cottage to someone else. Most of our bookings are made well in advance, and we don't get very many cancellations. For cancellation of a peak-season booking we are usually able to fill it (eventually), and we send the refund as soon as we have the confirmation deposit from the new booking.

Advice already given is all good. Change your web site policies now. To bring out some of the subtleties:
1. Early departure is a form of cancellation and should carry the same forfeiture. You may have a two week guest say on day 5 thank you for breakfast and they won't be coming back that evening -- they changed plans, dog is having puppies, etc. That puts you in a real bind. They may not sign a cc slip for the full stay and you can call the sheriff if they leave without paying at all, and ... you see: nasty.
2. Typical up front is 50%; here we charge 1/3 on any res over $1000. What you want is serious money. If a prospective guest isn't happy and says that is a lot to pay up front, that is exactly the kind of psychology you need to see up front: the guest maybe isn't committed to the long stay with you. He needs to commit and follow through: the money out there helps stiffen his backbone when his wife wants to change plans and visit her mom instead. Better a no-res than a late cancellation and a big hole in the booking calendar.
3. A week-plus booking in a short term marketplace is a scam warning. Nearly everyone on this board has been asked to put up the party of newly ordained Greek priests visiting "your town" for 10 days. You will get good at spotting them, but a valid cc means a valid guest; don't be shy about testing it with a deposit.
That said, B&B is a friendly and honest clientele. Use common sense. Smiles and tasty hospitality and all, B&B is still a business. It is OK to ask for money and to expect your customers to deal as square with you as they would with a big business.

Oh, I forgot to say:
HAVE A GREAT TIME! You'll always remember your first guests.

Oh, I forgot to say:
HAVE A GREAT TIME! You'll always remember your first guests.

Arks said:

Congratulations on getting open. That's a big hurdle behind you!
I wouldn't make any change for these first guests, of course. They've already been told your policy, I assume. But in the future you need a tighter policy.
I get the first night's stay paid as a deposit at time of booking, making them have some commitment in all this. Refundable, less $25 fee, if they cancel with more than 7 days notice. I keep the whole deposit if they cancel with 7 or fewer days notice, or don't show at all. Many charge the full stay after the cancellation deadline.
The rest of the visit is charged in full the day they arrive. They've committed to pay you, so up front isn't a lot different for them, and it gives you a lot of assurance that their credit is good and they have the money to pay.
On longer reservations, like several weeks, I get night 1 when they book, week 1 balance upon arrival, week 2 in full at the end of week 1, etc.
You've got to protect your business and your cash flow. Waiting until departure on a 2-week stay is VERY risky, in my opinion..

Click to expand...

Arks said:

Congratulations on getting open. That's a big hurdle behind you!
I wouldn't make any change for these first guests, of course. They've already been told your policy, I assume. But in the future you need a tighter policy.
I get the first night's stay paid as a deposit at time of booking, making them have some commitment in all this. Refundable, less $25 fee, if they cancel with more than 7 days notice. I keep the whole deposit if they cancel with 7 or fewer days notice, or don't show at all. Many charge the full stay after the cancellation deadline.
The rest of the visit is charged in full the day they arrive. They've committed to pay you, so up front isn't a lot different for them, and it gives you a lot of assurance that their credit is good and they have the money to pay.
On longer reservations, like several weeks, I get night 1 when they book, week 1 balance upon arrival, week 2 in full at the end of week 1, etc.
You've got to protect your business and your cash flow. Waiting until departure on a 2-week stay is VERY risky, in my opinion.

Click to expand...

we had the same policy as arks, so i won't repeat it. but for long stays i think i asked for 1/2 the total payable a month in advance or something. i was very anxious asking for that big payment when they checked in, but it worked out very well for us.

The longest I have had is a 9 night stay. I get payment at check-in. No ifs ands or butts about it.

Congratulations! Time to really get to work! Best wishes and may you be as busy as you want to be.

Others are spot on about changing your policies. As you can see there are different ways to go about the deposit and full payment. You need to review these here as well as maybe do a search for other like properties in your area to see what is considered standard there.
One thing is for sure as far as longer stays go, a larger deposit and payment on arrival is a must.

Stu man please report back, what did you do? How were the first guests? Are they enjoying your breakfast?
Don't keep us hangin' on here, we just got to know!

And any time they are using a GC and add extra time, collect for the extra day(s) First - let the GC cover the LAST day(s). That way if they decide to leave early you have the extra pay.

Hey you all, Thanks for all your help. We changed our policy and our guests did arrive and didn't question payment upfront. (we actually did not have anything written about when payment was due - but that has now been added to our policies). First breakfast tomorrow morning, then more guests arriving at the weekend. All appears to be going suprisingly well! Uh oh!..!

Stu said:

Hey you all, Thanks for all your help. We changed our policy and our guests did arrive and didn't question payment upfront. (we actually did not have anything written about when payment was due - but that has now been added to our policies). First breakfast tomorrow morning, then more guests arriving at the weekend. All appears to be going suprisingly well! Uh oh!..!.

Click to expand...

Stu said:

Hey you all, Thanks for all your help. We changed our policy and our guests did arrive and didn't question payment upfront. (we actually did not have anything written about when payment was due - but that has now been added to our policies). First breakfast tomorrow morning, then more guests arriving at the weekend. All appears to be going suprisingly well! Uh oh!..!

Click to expand...

HURRAY!