Get/book guests to your place

[Gift22]

Hi again!

I'm new and still discovering lots of things. Today, as I was browsing through different listings, I saw this place in California.  The host had been only 3 weeks old on Airbnb. But they had already lots of guests and reviews. I observed that they had not used any great photos to attract guests. Their place was very ordinary but the rooms were quite expensive. Despite all these, they got guests. I started wondering what could be driving their sales. Is it because the place is located in California since they are in a rural area? My question to you is, who is only one month on Airbnb, and you already have started hosting guests, what did you do that I can also copy to get guests to at least view my place, and if possible book it? This is exciting.

Thanks for your response in advance!

[Debra300]

@Gift22 ,

If you share the link to the California listing it will help others to see and provide a response to your inquiry.

[Gift22]

Hi, Debra300!

Thank you for responding. I thought of putting their link in my post but left it out. Because the point is that I would like a general overview from hosts who got guests fairly fast. What worked for them?

[Debra300]

@Gift22, 

There are many different factors that play in booking frequency:

- property location 

- listing type, e.g., room, apartment, house, etc.

- rates

- minimum length of stay

- number of guests allowed

- amenities

- ease and cost of reaching the listing

- number of available listings in the area

- cancellation policy

[Gift22]

Hi @Debra300! Thanks for sharing these helpful tips. I'm learning and taking note

By the way, do you know what! After I read your reply, I decided to explore again the new hosts with a good # of guests. I decided to focus on reading their guests' reviews. And this is what I found out in the sentiments of their guests.

(#1) I found out that most of them loved the environment where the listings were located. They said things like, "It is a beautiful view,  the mountains are gorgeous, it's a peaceful environment, the rooms are spacious and clean, the linens are very clean, etc." This is about the surroundings and the inside of the house.

(#2) I read also a few talks about the host. I recall comments like, "... You were a great host, very hospitable people, a very nice person, good communication, etc." These reviews, though not many, were about hosting styles.

Then, it hit me: my house doesn't have exceptional views of the mountains and rivers, etc. So, I started to look for other features that attract many guests to new listings without special views. So, I  checked for more new hosts. This is what I found out:

(#3) Some new hosts described their listings in connection to other people's activities in the area. For example, they would say,  "Stay with us and book the water rafting 6 miles from here, etc." And I think that this is probably where I fit in. There are lots of great activities nearby my listing. But I didn't say much about them in my introduction although I talk about them in my guidebook. And my guests may not know how close my apartment is to such activities. For example, we have waterfalls,  water rafting, kayaking, helicopter views of the falls, game viewing in the wild, etc. Wow! I must rewrite my introduction.

(#4) I found out also that some new listings were visited simply because they were unique, etc. For example, I saw this tiny invisible glass house. It had several reviews in just 4 months all talking about how great it was to live in a tiny invisible house. By the way, most guests rented it on their way to some other vacation.

There were lots of things I found out. And thanks to you for sharing great tips. You opened my eyes to a point where I decided to do snap research.

Warm Regards!

[Mark4752]

I offered a much lower cost compared to hosts around me - and other options such as Travelodge - initially to get guests in. This has worked and I've hardly had a free night so far. As guests have started to advance book, I raised the price steadily. I'm still much lower priced than 'the competition'.

Most reviews have been positive and I am now super host status.

I can afford to continue to offer low prices - I own the house outright (no mortgage) and little outgoings. If you are running an AirBNB as sole income and you have lots of outgoings, such methods may not be ideal in the long term, but might be useful initially.

[Gift22]

Hi @Mark4752!

Thanks for sharing. Your advice is great. That's what I used though I'm a few dollars above the last offer in the area.