Hello all,
Please correct me if I am wrong but I havent seen it on the app or requested here the ability to block host requests for specific dates. I get a lot of requests and they are often for dates I am not home.
Thanks!
It has been discussed before, but it’s a good one, so thanks for raising it again.
itsi mentioned this is planned in an old thread.
“Our intention is to make a calendar feature as you have suggested where you can block out dates and last-minute requests.” -itsi
Others have also discussed the general topic of host calendars and related features here and here.
I would love to see at least a basic version of this feature soon. Besides making things more convenient for everyone, I think it could quickly improve reply/acceptance rates, make “part-time” hosting more viable (therefore more hosts), and generally help people waste less time on the app writing and reading requests that aren’t going to work out.
2 Likes
Nice, thanks for pointing it out, looks like I used the wrong keywords to search it.
I could write a PR for this if there is a clear spec of what needs to be done/documentation in place.
1 Like
Thanks for the offer! IIRC, we do have a design for this already, but I don’t think a PR has been created yet. Some of the things we have designed or planned don’t have PRs yet since we are still working through a huge backlog of other features (eg. event and discussion notifications) and loads of bugfixes.
Could you point me out where the design document is Jesse? Thanks
I just had a look at our figma and couldn’t find the calendar design for hosts; just the calendar design for when sending a request. I’ll add this to the list of things that the design team should work on, but it may be a little while before we get to it.
In the meantime, we could talk more about the specifications here. I think what CS has on their app is a good start, but how could we improve upon the feature?
My first thought is that we could have “preferred dates” and “blackout dates”.
Yes! I think the calendar should also show if you’re hosting someone already vs. dates blacked out. Because if you’re open to mixing groups or staying with hosts who already have guests those should be options too.
I could see my calendar having a mix of dates blocked, dates available, and dates with a guest (that potentially even displays slots open - so say I have space for 3 at home, the date shows guests but has like ‘Room for 2 more’ or ‘1/3 spots taken’ or something like that underneath). I know people who can host 5+ guests at once would appreciate this flexibility!
1 Like
Look at my calendar ( https://i.trail.it/CSI ) inside the page (actually the calendar inside is another page, that is loaded by the main one, even if it is optimized for fast load, so the user does not realize it is looking at three different pages).
When I accept someone I can block just the space used, or the whole room, and so is the reason why for some dates you see different number of places.
Note that a different number of places does not automatically means I expect guests, because it could be that on that day i cannot host more than a small number of people because i need one room for me.
Incidentally telling that you have other guests can lead to problem, with people complaining that they were the only guests and expected more people. But while if necessary i can promise someone that would be the only guest, and no accept other people, i cannot promise that will be other guests, that could cancel last minute.
I believe that the blocked date should not state the reason why they are blocked, personally I do not wish people to know that those specific dates are blocked by an other guest because it makes it hard to reject (“you are hosting a person on 10-13, why not me on 13-16?”).
stating the reason of block in general is to be avoided since could lead to people starting to bargain. You could do only if you are ready to bargain too. For example or example to the request o1f 13 to 16 when you had hosted on 10-13 an easy answer could be “i have to clean the house hafter having had guests for three days … and i have no time until 15 would you do it ?” at worst you may have the house cleaned for free.
A different question could be: should we have also an option for “possibly unavailable” days ? (an example: I cannot host on 16 and 17 because i will go to make an hike on the mountains; but if weather is bad I will remain home and host you [could be useful for some cyclist that travel with tent: if weather is good can sleep outside, if weather is bad inside is better]