[The_Sanctuary]

Your advice please....

How big a deposit do you ask for?

Is 10% enough?

Can we charge extra for online payment transaction fees?

Is it OK if we say it's non-refundable?

What happens if a guest cancels early enough but asks for their deposit back?

You might think these are dumb & basic questions, but we have only just reached the point where the number of no-shows has become an aggravation. In our first seven years, we only had two cancellations and only one no-show. But this year we've already had five cancellations and two no-shows. Something has changed, not sure what, but it's not a change for the good. :-(

[mrrolandovervoorde]

We charge £20 per room per night, this feels like an amount of money which helps guests decide whether they are certain they are at coming to stay.
I add 2% for credit cards and an admin fee if I refund a deposit (£1) max.
Whether the deposit is refundable is up to you, so long as guests know before they part with the money. We decided we don't want to make money from cancellations so we only keep a deposit if we know we have turned away other bookings and room is cancelled within 7 days of stay. Our T&Cs say "we reserve the right to keep your deposit", that way some guests are pleasantly surprised to get some money back and will hopefully return another day.