Generate bookings

Seasons and prices are the most important information in your property listing since these often determine whether an enquiry is sent or not. You can enter these for each property in your landlord login area under the tab “Seasons & Prices”. Besides indicating a price per night, you are also able to enter a minimum stay, discounts and arrival day. Furthermore, you can enter a price for additional services.

Please notice the following when entering season and prices:

- Enter for minimum a year ahead: Many guests plan their holiday months in advance. If you do not enter any prices your listing will not appear in a search including a price interval although your property is available.

- Enter prices dependent on season: Vary your prices according to e.g. high season, low season and bank holidays.

- Enter accurate prices: Consider whether the rental prices should account for the property or per person. If you have compulsory or optional additional services (e.g. final clean, bed linen, breakfast) please enter these as well. If final clean is included in the rental price, please also enter this information in “Additional Information” at the bottom.

- Full entry of prices: Please beware of gaps! If for example a seasons ends on the 15.9 then the next season has to begin on the 15.9. Our price calculator can otherwise not display a correct price.

- Minimum stay: Please consider the minimum number of nights a guest has to book in order for the booking to be profitable for you. During low season it can be beneficial to allow a stay for only a night or two in order to increase the likelihood of bookings during this period.

To simplify the entry of seasons and prices you have the possibility to either transfer the prices to other properties or to the following year. Moreover the system is set to automatically update your seasons and prices every three months for the following year. If you do not want this to happen, please unmark the service.

The price, which is displayed at the top of your listing, is calculated based on the rental price per night plus any compulsory additional services such as final clean. If the price per night is for example €50.00 and the final clean is a one-off cost of €30.00, then the price for a six day rental will be €55.00 per night (€30/6 + €50 = €55).

If the tenant has not entered any specific dates in his or her search, the price per night plus any compulsory additional services will be calculated based on a 14 nights stay.

A Last Minute offer can at the earliest be placed four weeks before the first day of the offer.

The rental duration for a Last Minute offer should be of a maximum of 14 nights.

An appealing listing, which makes guests want to spend their holiday in your property, is an absolute must. The following can help you improve your listing:

- Please ensure to upload meaningful photos in good quality. Fuzzy and dark photos or photos of untidy rooms will only leave the guest with a negative impression.

- The availability calendar should always be up-to-date.

- Take your time to write the description of your property and ensure to be as precise and honest as possible, while also considering the formulations.

- If your property received a certificate from Deutschen Tourismusverband (DTV) or another organisation, then please send us a copy of the certificate and we will make sure to add it to your listing.

- Encourage your former guests to write guest reviews. Prospective guests prefer properties with positive reviews.

To increase your booking you can book an affordable photo link, which gives you the possibility to advertise your property on the welcome page, on the search result page or one of the other attractive pages on Sicily-lodge.com. The photo has a link directing users directly to your listing.

If you would like to close any short term booking gaps, you can place a Last Minute offer up to four weeks in advance. The discount must be at least 10% of the normal rental price. Your Last Minute offer will be advertised on our special Last Minute page.

Do you have a private website where you advertise your holiday properties? Then take part in our free link swap programme to direct visitors to your listing directly to your website.

A booking request can seem suspicious when the guest wishes to pay with a cheque. Cheques can be cancelled until several weeks after it has been issued, and they are therefore used frequently by cheque fraudsters. You should instead require that the guest transfers the rental price, since a money transfer cannot be cancelled. Moreover, you should always send a rental contract stating the specific payment requirements (including the exact amount and payment deadline). It is often useful to ask for a deposit directly after a booking has been made. If you are in doubt then please reject the suspicious booking request.

If you are still worried about unserious enquiries then you can sign up for Online Booking or Direct Enquiry on Sicily-lodge.com, enabling the entire booking process to go through us. This will minimise the risk of fraudsters.