By The Hospitable Team
With Airbnb listings increasing yearly, travelers are growing pickier and overwhelmed by their options. That means you, as a host, must make your property stand out from other vacation rentals to attract more bookings and get better reviews.
One way to make your listing appealing to travelers is to design your Airbnb property’s décor around a popular theme to give your guests a unique experience. You can turn your short-term rental into something extraordinary with a themed design. But is creating a themed Airbnb worth it?
To help you decide whether starting a themed rental is the right choice for you, in this blog post, we’ll look at some pros and cons of themed vacation rentals. You’ll also find some amazing Airbnb theme ideas for your vacation rental.
You may also want to check out our Airbnb interior design tips to help create a great and memorable listing.
Themed Airbnb Rentals: What Are the Pros?
A theme can give your rental space a unique feel and attract guests looking for something different. Still, it’s essential to consider the pros and cons of doing so.
Let’s start with the advantages of styling your property to fit a certain theme:
- Renting out a space with a specific theme can greatly differentiate your business from the competition and attract more guests.
- An interesting theme can give your guests a reason to look past the other rentals and choose your listing. People who resonate with your themed interior design will definitely book your space.
- A themed rental is considered a “premium” experience, and many guests will be willing to pay more to impress someone they’re traveling with or to take photos in your unique space.
- Creating a themed interior design for your rental may be great fun if you love decorating. In addition, you’ll be able to take amazing photos that are key to success on Airbnb.
But themed interior design is just one of the steps to creating a memorable stay for your guests. You’ll also need to ensure perfect communication with your guests to make them feel welcome. Messaging your guests can take time, but you can automate this time-consuming task using vacation rental software like Hospitable.com.
Have conversations with your guests even when you sleep.
Themed Vacation Rentals: What Are the Cons?
When deciding whether you should spend your time, money, and effort creating a themed vacation rental, you should also consider the potential drawbacks.
- Not all travelers are looking for a themed experience. Some of them may prefer a more traditional rental space, so you could turn away potential guests.
- Creating a themed Airbnb rental is a lot of work. It requires careful planning to ensure the furnishings, decorations, and amenities fit the chosen theme.
- It’s important to ensure that your themed short-term rental complies with all of Airbnb’s rules and regulations.
How to Choose a Theme for Your Airbnb
When choosing a theme for your short-term rental, you should research what kind of themes are popular on Airbnb. If you want to use interior design as a key selling point, choosing something well-known is better; otherwise, booking your rental has no enhanced value.
You should also consider your target audience and figure out what themes your ideal guests will love. Do you want to attract couples, families with kids, budget backpackers, business travelers, or nature lovers? Or maybe you want to target adults who are traveling solo?
Finding your niche can help you grab the attention of a specific type of guest. For example, if you’re targeting families, choosing a theme specifically for the kids makes sense. Although the parents will make the booking, they will likely want to choose a place their kids can enjoy.
For example, you may think about popular kids’ movies to delight your youngest guests from Disney and Pixar. Additionally, some more general themes like dinosaurs, pirates, and fairy tales are also a huge hit, and they allow you to get as creative with decorating as you want.
And if your ideal guests are adults, well-known movie or TV show themes are a great place to start. For example, some of the best-themed Airbnb rentals are based on such classics as Star Wars, Harry Potter, Friends, and Game of Thrones.
Many travelers make sustainability a priority during their getaway. They love the idea of staying in natural, eco-friendly homes with many green plants and organic up-cycled furniture. There are a lot of listings on Airbnb that tout their environmental consciousness, for example, through reclaimed materials or solar-powered energy.
You should also consider the location of your short-term rental property. It’s wise to pick a theme that better fits the neighborhood where your rental is situated. Is there a popular tourist attraction nearby? Is your house surrounded by mountains or is located in an area near a national park? Then you can prolong the travelers’ experience by welcoming them in a national-park-inspired Airbnb with a rustic feel.
Or maybe you have a beach house rental? Then you can enhance your guests’ experience with something like a coastal theme, which is perfect if your target audience is couples looking for a romantic getaway. Use mainly beach-inspired colors, such as blue, white, grey, and sandy beige, and add wall art that accentuates the coastal atmosphere.
It’s also important to be clear about your budget. Some themes are more affordable than others, and they allow you to shop for furniture items at a flea market or raid your parents’ house for some old decor pieces. You don’t need to invest a lot of money to create a retro-decades-themed rental—you just need to get creative. Enthusiasts of the decades that have passed will rush to book your listing if you evoke one of these periods: 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, or 90’s.
You should stick to just one theme in your Airbnb. If you try to create a different theme in each room, your rental will feel chaotic and confusing. For example, if the initial theme for your Airbnb is beach-inspired, you shouldn’t try to force pirate-themed décor into your rental space. Although these two themes go together, they are different enough to make your rental feel cluttered and poorly thought out. That’s why choosing one theme and carrying it throughout the house is important.
By carefully planning and implementing your theme, you can create a unique and memorable experience for your guests and set your business for success. And using vacation rental software like Hospitable.com, you can make your short-term rental business more efficient. Hospitable will help you automate a lot of routine tasks.
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Airbnb Ideas for Themed Rentals
Finding a perfect theme for your specific location, layout, and unique home features can take time and effort. If you are looking for an innovative way to create an unforgettable experience for your guests in your short-term rentals, here is a list of some other incredible Airbnb ideas:
- Arabian Nights
- Wild West
- Superheroes
- Mancave
- College-themed
- Scandinavian style
- Jungle/Safari
- Victorian Era
- Botanical paradise
- A book lover’s theme
- Japan-inspired
- Haunted house
- Las Vegas
- Wildlife-themed
Final Thought
Creating a themed Airbnb to give your guests an extra special vacation experience will help you stand out from other listings and attract more guests. When choosing a theme for your Airbnb, you are only limited by your imagination.
Still, ensuring your theme is relevant to your target audience and shareable on social media is important. Then your guests can take stunning photos in your rental and share them on Instagram to boast of their exciting experience while staying in your property.
Unique Vacation Rentals: Cool Places to Get Inspired
One of the main reasons why a lot of travelers prefer accommodations in short-term rentals to staying in hotels is the unique experiences they offer. Let’s take a look at some unique rental properties listed on Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com. These extraordinary rentals attract travelers looking for cool experiences to make their stay memorable.
Glamping Business: Beginner’s Guide
Glamping or glamorous camping is a new trend in the tourism industry that is quickly becoming popular worldwide. The global glamping market size is huge, so starting a glamping business as an alternative to traditional vacation rental homes can be a great small business opportunity to explore.
Most Expensive Airbnb Rentals
Airbnb is a marketplace offering some of the most unique and luxurious places to stay around the globe. It lists grand mansions, historic villas, luxury estates, medieval castles, private islands, and spectacular places to stay in cities.
We’ve conducted a research to offer you a list of the most expensive Airbnb listings worldwide.
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