Listing a vacation rental property on Airbnb and similar websites is essential for every host and property manager. Although some hosts create their direct booking sites, today, top OTA platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, Agoda, or Booking.com account for 90% of bookings.
The vacation rental industry is becoming more competitive each day, and it’s not easy to convince guests to stay with you. So, how do you make your Airbnb stand out among the sea of options available to travelers? Check out our tips if you want to list your property on Airbnb for the first time or optimize your current listings to make more money.
Essential Things to Make Your Airbnb Stand Out
Before posting your listing on Airbnb and inviting strangers to your property, preparing your rental space for guests is crucial to ensure an enjoyable stay and make your Airbnb feel like home.
Upgrade Your Property with Popular Amenities
Most travelers consider amenities a top priority for a great trip and expect hosts to provide them. You should stock your house with Airbnb essentials, including quality bedding in bedrooms, the best toiletries in bathrooms, and kitchen necessities.
Your guests will surely appreciate it if you add a good coffee maker and turn an empty kitchen corner into a coffee bar. Complete it with jars of beans, mugs, and a decorative sugar bowl. This way, you can show your guests you care about their comfort. Alternatively, you may create a Coffee & Tea Center, similar to the one featured in this romantic cabin listed on Airbnb, to keep travelers energized during their trip.
Modern travelers also expect amenities such as Wi-Fi, TV, air conditioning, a washer and dryer, an iron, and a hair dryer, and they may filter their searches on Airbnb according to the amenities they prefer. So you should offer as many of the most popular amenities as possible.
However, if you want to impress your guests and make your listing stand out from your competitors, consider offering something more than the basic Airbnb supplies, such as a hot tub or an indoor fireplace. Delight your guests with a welcome basket. Then, you’ll be able to attract more travelers and increase your chances of winning excellent reviews that will help you get more bookings and build a thriving business.
If you opt for short-term rental software like Hospitable, we’ll help you get more 5-star reviews with personalized review templates and automatic review requests. If you prefer personalized reviews, you can save time creating them by having AI draft them for you. You can also reply to guest reviews for Airbnb with Hospitable AI.
Create a Homely Atmosphere with Tasteful Decor
Decorate your rental space to appeal to your target customers and make it feel like home, ensuring a pleasant guest experience. Your guests will spend a significant amount of time in your vacation rental, so ensure it feels comfortable and inviting. Here are some cost-effective ideas to improve your home décor.
Style your rental with greenery. Adding live plants and fresh flowers makes bringing life to your Airbnb space easy and makes any design feel complete and photo-ready. It’s also a great way to give your short-term rental a more homey vibe.
Take a look at this stunning Airbnb, featuring impressive modern decor and urban jungle vibes. Practically every room in this house is filled with plants, and none is fake. The ivy crawls on the living room walls, bringing pops of color, and many potted plants hang over the beds as well. Live plants bring the joy of nature inside and give the rental space a welcome, calming feel.
Add something local to make your Airbnb stand out and offer your guests a truly personalized experience. Search for posters from nearby hotspots, vintage postcards, local maps, artwork, or authentic decor unique to your area. Consider handmade items, such as pottery or hand-woven rugs. By incorporating regional décor, you’ll give your guests a story and a memory, helping them feel connected to your space.
Accent with bold colors. Although neutral colors are classic, relying on them throughout your vacation rental will leave it feeling bland. So, you can break the monotony and make your space full of life by incorporating bold colors into your décor accents. You can incorporate bold accents using pillows, throw blankets, pieces of furniture, block-colored curtains, and small colorful accessories. Bold accents will add personality to your space and help your Airbnb listing attract more views.
How to Make Your Airbnb Stand Out: Going Beyond Design
Create an Accurate Description
It’s essential to craft your title and description that are both attractive and informative, providing detailed information. Create an eye-catching and descriptive Airbnb title highlighting your unique selling points, such as free parking or an ocean view.
Your description should provide a brief overview of your place that travelers can read before they get into the details of the listing.
- Write about things that make your space special and describe its unique style and inviting atmosphere.
- Focus on the advantages of your property, but remain transparent about its downsides.
- Don’t make your listing sound more luxurious than it is. Setting unrealistic expectations and giving false promises is a bad idea that could lead to eventual refunds and negative guest reviews.
- Explain what it’s like to stay at your rental space and share the details that you love most.
If you need inspiration to write your description, take a look at this amazing Airbnb listing. The hosts have chosen the right words to paint a vivid picture, grab the imagination of travelers, and make them want to book this Airbnb. They use fairy-tale language that perfectly matches the stunning photos.
Pretend you are lost in a magical forest as you perch on a log or curl up in the swinging chair. Soak in the tub, then fall asleep in a heavenly bedroom with cloud-painted walls and twinkling lights. And when you wake up, the espresso machine awaits.
Set Competitive Pricing
It’s better to research and compare similar properties in your area when setting proper pricing for your short-term rental. To make the most out of your property, you should set your pricing, considering factors such as demand, seasonality, market price fluctuations, holidays, and local events. This will help you optimize your strategy for maximum revenue.
The easiest way to get your pricing right is to use a dynamic pricing tool that will automatically adjust your nightly rates in response to real-time market conditions. Dynamic pricing ensures that you are not leaving money on the table during high-demand periods or overpricing during slow seasons.
Hospitable users can take advantage of our built-in Dynamic Pricing solution, and the best thing is that it is included in Host, Professional, and Mogul subscription plans at no extra cost. Hospitable's Dynamic Pricing analyzes multiple data points to automatically set the optimal rate for each night, helping you maximize revenue and maintain optimal occupancy.
If you enable Dynamic Pricing for your properties, Hospitable will immediately push the current recommended prices to all your channels, including Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Agoda, and your direct booking website. Then, nightly rates are automatically updated every 24 hours based on the latest market conditions.
Boost your occupancy and revenue
Pro tip: Consider offering a discount to your first guests to encourage initial bookings and garner positive reviews, thereby improving your reputation. You may also develop weekly and monthly discounts to encourage longer stays and increase your occupancy rate, especially during the slow season.
Use Quality Photos
Photos are the first thing travelers notice as they scroll through endless options on their phones. If those pictures don’t grab travelers’ eyes, they’re unlikely to choose your property. That’s why you should invest in beautiful images that best showcase your home or apartment to boost the number of your bookings.
Including basic images of your rental property is not enough to convince travelers to book. Wondering what things you should focus on to make your Airbnb stand out?
- Add photos that show off bright or fun details, and they will set your Airbnb listing apart from your competitors.
- Highlight details that show off your property’s overall aesthetic, dishes and kitchen glassware, comfy bedding, complimentary toiletries, and additional amenities.
- Staple images in most Airbnb listings, especially those in popular vacation spots, are stunning views. However, it’s essential to include details from the property, such as whether the guest is looking out the window or sitting on the balcony.
You need not just show travelers the view, but also the experience of the view from your property, as in this Airbnb listing that offers a “secluded, wooded, mountainous” experience and a true immersion in nature.
Before taking photos, you should ensure your space is clean and decorate your property to enhance your guest experience. Add small touches, such as a couple of decorative pillows, artwork, and flowers, to create the desired vibe and highlight the elegance and coziness of your rental.
Hire a professional photographer to capture stunning shots of your property in a consistent style that can help paint a picture of what it's like to stay in your home. The photos should best show your listing’s layout and highlight key features.
Remember to add a photo of each room and some pictures of nearby landmarks. The more photos, the better. This way, you’ll help your potential guests visualize their stay. Don’t forget to add captions to provide context to your photos.
Create a Compelling Host Profile
Your Airbnb account is an excellent way for travelers to learn more about you before booking your space. So you should polish your profile. Filling in all the sections of your Airbnb bio and adding a professional photo of yourself is critical.
To help guests learn about you as a host, take some time to write a comprehensive description of yourself. You aim to show your unique personality and stand out from other hosts. Describe your hosting style and add personal details, such as your hobbies and interests, countries you’ve been to, favorite music, etc.
You also need to verify your identity to add credibility to your profile. You can do it by adding a photo of your ID, your legal first and last name, and specifying your legal address. Remember that your robust profile helps other people feel more confident that you’re reliable and authentic.
Improve Your Response Time to Boost Visibility
Airbnb appreciates responsible hosts who pay due attention to their communication with guests. Airbnb measures your response rate and time to evaluate how you communicate with guests.
You should keep your response rate higher than 90% and respond as fast as possible if you want to maintain a high position in search results for your listing. Besides, the quicker you respond, the more positive guests will feel about your listing and be satisfied with their visit.
That will encourage guests to give you 5-star reviews. They will serve as a signal to Airbnb that you are a great host who provides a perfect guest experience. Airbnb rewards such hosts and moves their listings to the top of search results.
You can easily improve your response time and ensure personalized communication using Hospitable to automate your guest messaging. You can also use AI tools in your Inbox to draft and correct detailed personalized responses when manually messaging your guests.
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Final Thought
We hope our tips on making your Airbnb stand out will help you create an Airbnb listing that looks most appealing and allows you to stay ahead of the competition. You need a great Airbnb listing to increase your chances of success.
Remember to create a comprehensive listing with attractive photos and detailed information about yourself as a host. It’s essential to attract more bookings. You should also follow best practices to enhance your ranking on the platform and go the extra mile to provide an excellent guest experience, making your guests happy.
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