Critique my listing - Kailani House in Garden City Beach, SC

[Jamie-and-Jennifer0]

Hi All!

My name is Jennifer and my husband and I are Super hosts. We have a great listing in Garden City Beach, SC. However, getting listings during the mid-season and off-season is particularly challenging (September through April in particular). We have lowered prices, have instant book turned on, and only have a 2 night minimum. Any other suggestions for helping us improve our listing for these seasons would be very welcome.

Here is the listing: airbnb.com/h/kailanihouse

Thanks all!

[Rebecca]

Hi @Jamie-and-Jennifer0 👋

It's been a while since you posted so I wanted to tag in some Hosts who may be able to stop by and leave some constructive feedback! 

@Mary1523, @Shelley159 & @Karen4131 - I hope you don't mind me tagging you in here, but I wondered if you could offer @Jamie-and-Jennifer0 some support with their listing? 

So many thanks in advance. 
Rebecca 🦋

[Donelle4]

I agree with Shelley the one night stay may be beneficial to those looking for an overnight stay. I also think it has nothing to do with your listing but everything to do with location and off season. 

[Christina1877]

@Jamie-and-Jennifer0 Your place is gorgeous. There is only two things I notice in the pictures. The coffee pot needs some help. I only say this because on my pictures for our condo, my husband noticed our glass sliding doors looked like that so now I notice when glass is not shiny. You can buy a coffee pot descaler, https://a.co/d/19jqv2h or https://a.co/d/2GTp4hv

The Laundry room picture, shelf covers like this would totally help, https://a.co/d/9ZFuPIA or cabinets like this, https://a.co/d/ff3G7IL would really help the space. 

I love your place!!!

[Shelley159]

Hi @Jamie-and-Jennifer0 

Your place looks great, I think that's why you're not getting suggestions! I guess your market is very seasonal, so winters may be a tough sell. The things you have already done to attract off-season guests are the logical steps. (You could perhaps go as low as a 1-night minimum to test whether it makes any difference, but use the cleaning charge to make sure you still cover your change-over costs.)

I think low price is by far the single biggest night-filler in the off season. You can click on an open night and look at the price ranges given for similar unbooked and (especially) booked listings. I know with your type of listing it would be weird to compete with the cheapest, but if you want to fill the calendar year-round that's likely where you'll find the bookings. You have enough experience to know when a low price is  is too low for you!

[Rebecca]

Thank you so much for popping by @Shelley159 😍

[Chavonne4]

Hi @Shelley159 ! These suggestions from Shelly are great. Here in Alaska it is a Very Seasonal Market. Negotiating on price is far better than vacancies.

The listing is beautiful & whatever the bargain is Guests will appreciate being able to stay at an affordable rate off-season.

Good Luck!!

[Mary1523]

Wow what a lovely place - beats mine to shame! So modern and everything I could see for a beach family holiday. And you are going to the trouble of providing bikes etc so you are willing to do all the maintenance etc. Well done you on great super host rating!

I can see you are making your property more appealing all year around given spa and firepit so you have that covered. They seem to be what people seek in winter. Are you planning to increase price to cover that, given the maintenance on it?

As to the other host comment, is this a location no one actually visits in off months? What's the competitors doing? Is there a tourism bureau , I'd have a chat to the staff and get their thoughts as well (if you are not living local?). I agree price is the biggest draw for off peak.  Definitely agree with min 2 night booking, probably not worth it for 1 night.

Not sure how you price, but are pricing per guest? Could you attract just a couple or a few people because the larger the house, the harder it is to get bookings (I'm in the same position, I take 12). Is there a way of sectioning off some of the area/bathrooms/bedrooms to make it available for less than 2 families? Larger properties need more time in advance for families to book. Its just a fact. The smaller the property the easier to get bookings.

Because of my house configuration, I was able to section off wings of my property and have them as separate listings, which I pitch separately (one for older family, one for younger family due to what is on offer/available in those wings). And then I priced per guest so it kept the base rate really cheap with a token cleaning fee on top (whereas my full house i price per house and no cleaning fee). It took me awhile to get this pricing right with competitors in the region for a family of 5 or a couple with a baby, but it's working. I'm now getting more occupancy, and worked out a calendar sync. Because its base bottom more competitive pricing, these 'half house' listings of mine don't get the full service white glove treatment I offer the full house bookings to keep my costs down. ie no guest hamper valued $150RRP  (just a bottle of wine and a token biscuits/chocolate), no added value stuff I do for the full house bookings. They have to turn on the water themselves, get everything going themself. Results so far,  5 star ratings mostly because most guests realise they are getting a very big amazing property for basically the price of a hotel room.  And I'm getting more bookings in off season too as a result.

You might not need to set separate listings like I did depending upon what you already off(but it is interesting experiement and doesn't cost anymore to do). Could you provide 1 bathroom, all common areas, 1 or 2 bedrooms only depending upon # guests. Perhaps the spa, extra beach gear etc is all locked up too. That's an optional extra charge.

Hope this helps!

Kind regs MK

[Mary1523]

Also forgot to say, you obviously want to preference full house bookings so that booking window is available for 12 months, but my half house bookings can only be booked in advance 3 months so whatever gaps there are in the next 3 months, that's what my half house listings are for. And they can book with 2-3 days notice, whereas full house booking i need at least a week or more notice. I know my full house bookings are usually at least 3 months in advance because of the larger groups, but smaller families/a couple etc can book with just a few days notice. I got one this week with 2 days notice on the half house which was a bonus. So this approach works, as long as you can differentiate what you offer between the listings. I even have a different cover photo for each listing so guests aren't confused (had the same cover photo and i lost a booking because guests thought they were sharing with other strangers?...just shows you no one reads listings too much)

Kind regs

MK

[Rebecca]

Thank you so much for stopping by @Mary1523 😍

[Cynthia1338]

Hi @Mary1523 ,

I am considering do the same with my home - creating some efficiency spaces that are an alternative to hotel rooms.

How do you let people know that they are sharing a house with another potential guest? How do you juggle listing whole house while concurrently listing the separate spaces (or don't you?)?

I would love your advices and to see your listing!

Thanks so much.

Cyndy

[Mary1523]

Hi Cyndy , to be clear, no one is sharing. My 3 listings are exclusive of eachother. The full house listing has the priority as it's available for 12 months of the year to book. Usually my full house gets booked at least 3 months ahead, so then if there are gaps, the other 2 listings that represents the different wings of my house are only available within 3 months, and show the gaps that the full house isn't booked for. It's then a first come, first served booking from whatever listing. 

It sounds like Cyndy you might want to list as Rooms instead of entire property and that is another listing. I haven't done that, but I'm sure there's plenty of host advice on how to do that. Your trick will be to ensure the calendars sync between all of them. I had issues trying to get my 3 calendar listings sync and it screwed up the first time and I had to cancel a conflicting booking, but thankfully airbnb understood the problem and didn't penalise me. I had to pester airbnb for advice on how to set them up but eventually it seems to work, but I do double check everytime.

Hope this helps somewhat

Kind regs

MK

[Marie8425]

@Jamie-and-Jennifer0 

Aloha  now in Arizona Haha.  You may have lowered your minimum but you don't detail that in your description, say weekly bookings for these months but other months we can consider  alternatives.

You need to face like we do in Hawaii if it rains for you week, there is much to do besides the beach.  We had to tell guests PCC or horseback riding.  Highlight for me your other attractions.

[Rebecca]

Thank you so much for stopping by @Marie8425 😍

[Chethan2]

@Jamie-and-Jennifer0 Great house and location. It is the kind of place that me and my wife would stay and hang out with our kids during summer. During school season, I am not sure if there are families travelling. You may have more luck if you priced it for 2 people during off-season with an additional cost per guest over two. You could price it at a premier price but the whole house price is not very attractive for a couple.