Airbnb Mistakes That Hosts Need to Avoid
Unfortunately, some common mistakes Airbnb hosts make may result in negative consequences and prevent you from building a successful and sustainable short-term rental business on Airbnb. To help you navigate your way in the world of Airbnb rentals, here are some of the most common Airbnb mistakes you should avoid.
Renting out your property on Airbnb can be a lucrative way to generate passive income from real estate. However, it requires a high level of attention to detail and a commitment to providing an exceptional guest experience. It can also be challenging, especially when starting as an Airbnb host.
Unfortunately, some common mistakes Airbnb hosts make can lead to negative consequences and prevent you from building a successful, sustainable short-term rental business on Airbnb.
To help you navigate your way in the world of Airbnb rentals, here are some of the most common Airbnb mistakes you should avoid because they can harm your success on the platform.
9 Common Mistakes Airbnb Hosts Make
By avoiding these common Airbnb mistakes, you can improve your chances of attracting bookings, getting excellent reviews, and earning the Airbnb Guest Favorite badge for your listing.
Underestimating the workload
One of the main Airbnb mistakes is that new hosts often underestimate the time commitment and effort required to manage their properties. Even if you list only a tiny house or a single room, you still have many responsibilities as a host. Some include updating your calendar and prices, communicating with guests via messages, managing check-ins and checkouts, assigning tasks to your cleaners, managing guest reviews, and more.
If you fail to keep up with any of these tasks, you won’t be able to meet guests’ expectations about the level of customer service, which can seriously damage your business reputation. Your guests will feel disappointed, resulting in negative reviews and declining bookings.
Managing your rental will be easier if you automate your hosting routine using short-term rental management software like Hospitable. Our STR super app offers a comprehensive set of features and will help you stay on top of your tasks and save time.
Ignoring local STR regulations
Due to the rapid growth of the short-term rental market, many local governments have enacted strict STR laws and regulations that limit property owners' ability to host paying guests for short periods. Ignoring these regulations can lead to fines or legal action.
Remember that STR laws and regulations are very specific and vary from city to city, so what may be allowed in one location may not be permitted in another. Airbnb regulations are also constantly changing. That means you should thoroughly research local laws governing Airbnb rentals and ensure compliance with them.
Inaccurate or misleading listing description
It’s essential to set the right expectations for your guests. While it can be tempting to write a listing description that oversells your rental space, it’s a bad idea to exaggerate the truth, trying to make your Airbnb sound better than it is.
You should always be honest, as a misleading description can lead to negative reviews and cancellations, hurting your Airbnb rating. Describe exactly what your rental looks like and highlight the features and amenities that make your listing unique. Provide as many details as possible to ensure your guests know what to expect. Mention nearby attractions, restaurants, shops, and transportation options to help your potential guests make informed decisions.
Not having a pricing strategy
Running an Airbnb is a business, so it’s important to price your listing correctly, and you can’t do it by just trusting your gut. Before you start renting out your space, you need to do thorough local market research and find out what your competitors with similar listings charge their guests.
Your prices should be competitive to attract customers. They should also cover all your costs and allow you to make a profit. It’s important to adjust your pricing based on the high or slow season and special events in your area to get the most out of your Airbnb rental and maximize your profits.
The easiest way to get your pricing right is to use a dynamic pricing tool that automates the process. The good news is that Hospitable users can take advantage of our built-in Dynamic Pricing solution, included in Host, Professional, and Mogul plans at no extra cost.
If you activate the Dynamic Pricing feature for your property, Hospitable will adjust your rates automatically based on demand fluctuations, competition, and seasonality to maximize your revenue. Our Dynamic Pricing will push recommended prices to all your connected channels, including Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Agoda, and your direct booking site.
Relying only on Airbnb for marketing and bookings
Airbnb is a major OTA platform, but if you rely solely on it, you limit your listing's exposure, as there are many other booking websites. Listing on major OTA platforms, such as Vrbo and Booking.com, will increase your visibility, reach a broader audience, and increase the chance of getting more bookings.
Unfortunately, booking websites charge hefty service fees and often make changes in their policies and algorithms that can affect your business. That’s why you should also create your direct booking website to build your brand, establish relationships with guests, and drive repeat direct bookings.
If you opt for Hospitable, you can easily create your direct booking website within minutes using our professional, easy-to-customize templates. The added benefit is that you can list your Hospitable direct booking website with Google Vacation Rentals and increase your property’s visibility at no extra cost.
Not considering security measures
Hosting an Airbnb can be a rewarding experience, but there is always a risk attached to it because you’re opening your home to strangers. It can bring in bad guests who may break your house rules, throw unauthorized parties, damage your property, or even engage in illegal activities. So don’t make the mistake of ignoring security measures.
Set clear rules to inform guests of what they can and can’t do during their stay, specify quiet hours, outline your policies on smoking indoors, and outline visitor restrictions. Install noise-monitoring devices in common areas of your Airbnb rental—they will help you proactively address noise disturbances and prevent parties.
Although Airbnb does background checks on guests, their system isn’t perfect, and you can’t completely rely on them. So turn off Instant Book and take some additional steps before you accept bookings: communicate with your guests via messages, check their Airbnb profiles, and read their reviews written by other hosts.
Hospitable users can also request ad hoc guest verification for already accepted reservations. We’ll send your guest a link to complete the verification process powered by Autohost, the leading guest screening platform for the hospitality industry.
Ask for a security deposit—it will serve as a financial guarantee in case of damage and can encourage guests to be responsible. Just keep in mind that you can charge an Airbnb security deposit only through the property management software that integrates directly with Airbnb.
Hospitable is an official Airbnb Integration Partner (with Preferred+ status for 2025) and offers a built-in security deposit feature, making it easy to protect your property. You can enable a security deposit for any of your Airbnb properties, and Hospitable will automatically collect and release it to your guests.
Hospitable can also help you set up rental agreements to give you additional legal protection and automatically send them to guests for signature. Your guests will see their Airbnb rental agreements in their guest portals as the registration task they must complete.
Not taking advantage of guest reviews
Both hosts and guests can leave reviews for stays booked and completed on the Airbnb platform. When travelers are looking for a place to stay, most of them check online reviews written by people who have stayed there. This allows potential guests to get insider information about the rental, the host, and the overall guest experience and make an informed booking decision.
Getting many positive reviews from your guests is essential to your success on the platform. They can help improve your Airbnb search ranking, attract more guests, and win more bookings.
Don’t be embarrassed to ask your guests to leave you a review in your checkout message. Remember, you’ll get more reviews by writing one for each guest. If you don’t know what to say when reviewing your guests, check our blog article, where we share some review examples.
Not responding to reviews is also a common Airbnb mistake. You should always respond to all reviews, both positive and negative, to show your guests that you’re attentive and responsive. Thank your guests for their feedback, and let them know you’re working on any negative issues they mention.
Not offering upsells
Selling extra amenities and services to guests beyond the stay itself is a great way to enhance the guest experience while generating more profit from each customer. There are many things you can offer your guests for an additional fee, such as early check-ins, late checkouts, mid-stay cleanings, special welcome packages, luggage storage, or equipment rentals.
Guests are often happy to pay more for convenience, comfort, and memorable moments. Still, it’s important to choose the right upsells that align with their preferences and deliver real value to their stays. And make sure to price your add-on services fairly.
Manually promoting and managing upsell strategies can be rather time-consuming, but Hospitable can help you manage everything effectively. Just create a catalog of your offerings and send your guests the link to their guest portal, where they can purchase the available options under the Upgrade your stay.
You can also automate your upsells by adding the Smart Upsell smart code to your messaging rules. Then, Hospitable's AI will automatically offer upsells to your guests where appropriate. The real magic happens when guests purchase an extended stay—all your scheduled messages and smart lock code adjust accordingly.
Avoiding smart home devices
In today’s highly competitive STR market, smart tech is essential for Airbnb hosts. Modern travelers aren’t just looking for a clean space and a comfy bed. They are increasingly seeking smart Airbnb home rentals that offer technologies similar to those they use in their daily lives. Smart home devices can also simplify operations for hosts and help you manage your properties more efficiently.
For example, installing smart locks is an effective solution to ensure a smooth self-check-in process for your guests, making it easier to manage your Airbnb remotely. With smart locks, you can provide temporary access codes for guests, eliminating the hassle of physical keys. Your guests are sure to appreciate the flexibility and ease of access to your property.
If you opt for Hospitable, you can leverage its integrations with popular smart lock systems to automatically generate unique door codes for each stay and send them to guests via your messaging flow at the right time. You can also assign custom, permanent, or one-time access codes to cleaners, co-hosts, and repair technicians.
Consider investing in smart thermostats. These eco-friendly devices can help you control the temperature in your Airbnb by setting heating and cooling schedules to ensure comfortable stays for guests and save on your energy bills.
You’ll benefit from smart thermostats in your Airbnb more if you connect them to Hospitable and sync them with your booking schedule. Currently, Hospitable supports smart thermostats from Ecobee and Honeywell and can automatically adjust the temperature in your rental space based on bookings and vacancies.
Most short-term rental software solutions offer smart locks as paid add-ons and don’t have integrations with smart thermostats. Hospitable users enjoy smart device integrations at no extra cost starting from the Professional tier.
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Table of contents
Underestimating the workload
Ignoring local STR regulations
Inaccurate or misleading listing description
Not having a pricing strategy
Relying only on Airbnb for marketing and bookings
Not considering security measures
Not taking advantage of guest reviews
Not offering upsells
Avoiding smart home devices