About to put a self-contained unit on air BnB any hints and tips from existing Airbnb runners / owners?
Not an owner the but the obvious things are:
Get some good pictures taken (pay for it if you need to)
Remembering that the platform works on recommendations be honest, have good communications, exceed expectations
Tell people all of the key benefits of the property (and ask for others' opinion as some things may matter to other people but not you)
Don't make stuff up or stretch the truth (ie, if it is a 20 minute walk to the nearest pub, don't say it's 10 minutes)
Ask for feedback from users so you can improve
Make sure it is spotless after each stay
Hire a cleaner - especially now they changed their Covid-19 cleaning policy.
4 Stella and a bottle of wine in the fridge is an easy way to get good feedback 😉
Make sure it's done legally and above board with any necessary planning/change of use consents for your area, pay your taxes and be nice to your neighbours. There's understandably a growing backlash against the high number of holiday rentals in some areas and regulations are slowly creeping in, you stand a much better chance of building a long term business if you are doing it all correctly from the start.
In terms of day to day running, automate all the stuff you can. We had a number of different tools to automate pricing, guest messaging, accounts, and things like Nest Thermostats and Ring video doorbells in the property which meant for many guests most of what they needed was done automatically with the various things we'd set up in advance.
Thanks for the responses.
planning has been sort and granted - we had to get planning as in a conservation area. Its attached / part of our village shop so community involvement has been positive (so far). No neighbors within 300yrds (other than a primary school and the village hall).
thermostat is underfloor heating and only controlled from the unit, will look into getting it remote enabled.
check in / out will be during shop opening hours so should work out ok.
A cleaner (local lady in village) has been hired already as we cant do the shop and clean for swap over during the day, and we are hoping to ship out the bed-sheets/towels etc through Johnsons as we have a dry cleaning pick up service already....e
As a end user, I really appreciated two different owners who provided some food. One provided a fresh loaf of bread and butter, another had a supply of those mini cereal packets and fresh milk in the fridge. Both were really appreciated as it provided a snack and avoided having to go find somewhere for breakfast on our first morning.
The cost to the owner for doing each couldn't have been more than a few quid, but it made those trips slightly easier and convenient. I left glowing reviews and have been back to both more than once due to the first stay experience, these stays may or may not have then been outside of airbnb so I think they may or may not have pocketed more of the overall cost instead of sharing with AirBnB...
Not an AirBnb owner but we deal with loads of them via work (web agency, S/C properties are one of our main types of clients).
All the above is really good advice. I can't stress this one enough though:
Get some good pictures taken (pay for it if you need to)
The difference in what a proper, professional interiors photography specialist can produce compared to anything a gifted amateur/good camera owner can do is night and day.
We quite regularly advise prospective start-up clients with a finite budget to spend it on photography first instead of with us, and then come back to us in a few months time for websites. Photography is one of the best investments you'll make - I promise.
Best of luck with it - it's a rapidly growing industry right now.
This is the thread I started on it about a year ago
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/holiday-let-airbnb-owners-hosts-lets-have-your-words-of-wisdom-andtails-of-woe/
Thanks for the tips all....
It's on the site now, so just waiting for the first guest....
Exciting times - make sure you take time to work out how all the config works there are loads of options and some aren't obvious. Good luck.
Yeah, the initial getting it on there was easy. Buy the added options and tabs after took just as long....
1st booking took a week but we are getting there....
airbnb.com/h/thecabinmiserden
Sorry not an owner but as a frequent user...
PIZZA TRAYS!
Oven Pizzas are a handy 'we've just arrived knackered and don't want to cook' meal but there's never any Pizza trays so you have to try and bodge something with tinfoil or the racks or existing smaller trays and risk dripping onto the bottom of the oven which ultimately must be more of a PITA for the owner?
1st booking took a week but we are getting there….
airbnb.com/h/thecabinmiserden
🙌