Critique my listing - Lindie from Cape Town, South Africa.

[Lindie6]

Lindie here from Cape Town, South Africa.

We rent out our holiday house on many platforms, but we have not been successful with it on AirBnB. After trying various tricks and techniques (even a channel manager), we deleted it and relisted it afresh. Happily AirBnB sent a professional photographer and the images have been loaded.

I can see that it has been added to wishlists, however, no requests yet. Am I impatient? Is there something obvious that I'm not saying/showing?

Please critique my listing - https://airbnb.com/h/festinalenteinonrus

[Ng32 · Accepted solution]

Hi Lindie

I think you have a beautiful holiday house and your photos look really great.

As I am not well versed with your region, there may be few things you may want to rethink or confirm is ok with your listing?

1. Are they too many competing listings in your area and if yes call out what's differentiating your listing?

2. Is your pricing ok compared to others in the area ? Another way to think about it, is if the guests are seeing value in what they are receiving for the price point?

3. I am not sure if this may help but perhaps add few more lines of description on things or activities to do around your cottage for people not acquainted to your region.

4. Seasonal ebbs and flows in the region?

5. Is your listing showing up in the first few items when searching in your area?

6. Are you getting more bookings from a competing provider if so why?

Hope this helps.

Ng32

[Lindie6]

@Ng32  for your helpful suggestions and questions, some of which I wish I knew the answer to. 🙂

You certainly gave me some food for thought and I will definitely apply points 1 and 3 asap.

The pricing (2)  is low based on AirBnB's suggested smart pricing (and my lowest price is substantially higher than ABNB's suggested one). Not sure what to do about that.

And yes, there are many beautiful listings in the same area (1) and the season may be slowing down somewhat (4), however, I am getting many bookings via BDC and a platform used by local travellers (6). This, of course, fills the calendar which limits possible bookings via ABNB, but what I find confusing is that I don't even get enquiries (and hadn't had any for the past 5 years).

When I search at the moment, the listing appears first up (5), but I'm not sure that happens when others search.

I will keep honing the listing and hoping for some action in the near future. Thanks for your time and input.

[Huma0]

@Lindie6 

I believe that the listing search results can be skewed when you are trying to view it yourself. You have to try it from someone else's device/computer to really see where you rank.

Your listing looks lovely to me and I am sure the professional photos will help, so it's maybe just a matter of time providing that you are charging competitively with comparable nearby listings (of course, don't follow Airbnb Smartpricing suggestions as they are nonsense. You could not get a dorm bed here in London for the price Airbnb would suggest I rent out my rooms).

This may have no impact on your bookings if you are getting plenty on other platforms, but one area that might let the listing down is the kitchen. Although it looks bright and clean, I agree that the kitchen looks rather small for the overall size of accommodation and number of guests. It looks clean and fresh enough, but also not that high end, i.e. a bit on the basic side in terms of worktops, cabinets and handles. No offence, but you've obviously put a lot of thought into the decor of the other areas, so the kitchen doesn't stand up in comparison, even though there is nothing at all offensive about it.

[Lindie6]

Hi @Huma0 

Yes, you caught me ought, cooking is not my forte. 🤫 And during lockdown everyone started making sourdough bread and developing their culinary skills which make our little galley kitchen even less attractive.

Of course we have a list for future improvements, and renovating the kitchen may have to move higher up. Until then, we'll just have to encourage guests to focus on the outdoor braai (BBQ) which fortunately, is a favourite pastime for holiday makers.

Thanks for your honest and practical suggestions. I will certainly relook my pricing structure as well.

Regards from a rainy Cape Town

[Huma0]

@Lindie6 

I hope it is not as rainy in Cape Town as it is in London, where it has been 'raining cats and dogs' today. I used to live in Cape Town an age ago (back in the '90s) and loved every minute. Such an amazing place. I do miss it.

Yes, I get what you are saying. I have a fairly large and well equipped kitchen, so that has always been a draw, especially for long term guests, but I have also noticed an upsurge in cooking since the pandemic started.

[Lindie6]

@Huma0 

I've only been to visit London once and I know many Saffas suffer a bit with the grey skies there because here we have sunshine even during winter, but the weather here can also turn 'triestig' (Afrikaans for damp, drab and dreary). But we can't complain about the rain because not long ago we had such a water supply problem that we had to shower in 5L only!

All the best with the upcoming spring and summer season. We hope that some brave souls will visit us and hopefully stay at our house, Festina Lente in Onrus.

[Huma0]

@Lindie6 

It made me laugh when I lived in Cape Town and we would have those winter days when it was 25 degrees and sunny and I would suggest to my friends that we go to the beach. They would respond, "Are you crazy? It's winter!!"

[Lindie6]

Yep, @Huma0 

We can always tell the difference between locals and those from the Northern Hemisphere. Locals get dramatic if the temperature drops below 16°C and visitors will be walking around in shorts and crop tops! 😜

But we've really been missing those tourists for the past two years. Hope you (and all your family and friends) fly South soon.

I'll send a pic of the scene from Sea Point Promenade two days ago.

[Lindie6]

 @Huma0 Spectacular clouds covering Lion's Head and Table Mountain.

[Huma0]

@Lindie6 I used to live right near Sea Point (in Three Anchor Bay), but that was back in '96/'97 (before that, I lived in Tamboerskloof and Vredehoek). I wonder how it has changed since then. I really do need to go back.

[Lindie6]

Who knows, @Huma0 maybe we stood next to each other in a shop in the 90s ☺️ 

We lived in Fresnaye for a couple of years. Retuned to stay in Upper Orange in CT and then Bennington in Tamboerskloof before moving to corner of High Level and Glengariff (on the border of Three Anchor Bay) in early 2000s.

Small world.

We did a HomeSwap and stayed near Blackfriar Bridge when we came to London. Don't tell me you live near there, it'll just be too freaky. 🤔

Sliding Doors or Islands in the Stream.

Who knows, we may meet up someday, here, or there. 😜

[Huma0]

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@Lindie6 wrote:

Who knows, @Huma0 maybe we stood next to each other in a shop in the 90s ☺️ 

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Quite possibly! When I lived there, Cape Town seemed quite small, i.e. you could go out on the weekend and you knew you would bump into friends.

No, I'm not near Blackfriars. I am in South West London in an area called Stockwell, which is not far from Vauxhall. 

Yes, you never know, we may meet up here or there! My return visit to Cape Town is long overdue, but most of my friends there have either moved abroad or I have sadly lost touch with them. I can only think of one who I am still in contact with who lives in SA. He has a guest house but that's about an hour north of Jo'burg.

[Lindie6]

I agree, @Huma0, Cape Town is tiny in comparison to NYC and London (and many other beautiful cities) and sometimes us locals still tend to live in a bit of a never-may-care sunshine bubble. Even Joburg seems like a different country to us, nowadays.

Stockwell sounds vaguely familiar but Vauxhall sounds like a car my great uncle used to drive. We'll have to come and see it for ourselves one day. 😉

Hope you can fit in a visit to the bottom of Africa sometime soon. And who knows, maybe we'll meet in a coffee shop here on the Promenade. 

[Kenneth375]

Hi Lindie, @Lindie6 

Here we have some tips that might help.

•Room maximization: add those twist that others don’t have or that you have not paid attention to. 

• Check for what competitors are offering and see prices  and adjust them accordingly.

•If you have recreational areas mention them and add pictures. 
•Think about what guest want and anticipate those needs. 

Promote your place on fb and Ins: this will take some time but don’t worry you will learn all the trades. 

sending you good vibes from Gto Mexico.