Excited to Start Hosting My First Airbnb – Advice Welcome!

[Pk20]

Hi everyone,

I’m thrilled to be starting my journey as an Airbnb host! I’ve just listed my house, and I’d love to introduce myself and get some advice from this amazing community.

[Elisa]

Hi @Pk20 😊, 

Thank you for posting this and welcome to the community!

If you’d like to introduce yourself, don’t hesitate to do it by clicking here 👉 New to the Community Center? Introduce yourself here ‌👇 

What kind of advice would you like to receive?

Warm regards 🌻,

[Vina595]

Welcome!  I just started hosting in August 2024 so I'm fairly new as well.  My motto is keep it simple and keep it clean.  I don't have an excessive amount of decor in the home.  To me it makes the home feel spacious.  I make sure everything is clean and beds are comfortable for my guests.  I also provide some complementary bottled water and snacks.  The guests really appreciate the small things like this.   

[Valentina-Yvonne0]

I keep the house decor simple.  Have a comfortable bed with linens.  Provide all towels and linens, toilet paper, soap.  Have washer and drier.  Make sure you clean and mop after every guest.  I provide all the kitchen tools. Provide coffee pods for the Keurig coffee maker.

i have a built in pool for the guests and I provide pool towels.

[Sophia699]

Hello @Pk20 

Welcome to your Airbnb journey! 

Make sure you have a short term rental certified cleaning team! These are different than an average cleaner because they focus on hotel grade. They fold your towels neatly, make the bedding neat, ect. I love using Turno to find and pay my cleaners. 

I noticed people are saying to keep decor simple. While this is a good advice, I would make sure there is art and decoration on the walls that is tasteful. Avoid completely barren bedroom walls and floor mirrors are always a good choice. Rugs are also great if you have a lot of exposed hard wood floors with no furniture. 

Photos! Photos! Photos! Make sure when you take photos, it's during the brightest part of the day. None of the photos should be tilted, very straight. You should have a photo of every space in the house. I would take photos after a deep clean with the cleaning team you hired. All beds and towels should be EXACTLY as if guests had just arrived. 

Have a great guest manual for guests to know the ins and outs. Have a printed copy of it inside the location.

Automate messages as much as possible so guests receive information in advance and timely to their arrival. 

During the first few months of a new property, I set out wine, water, and chips to all my of my guests if they book 3 night +. Shows my appreciation of them spending so much money and is a wonderful touch. 

Hope this helps! 

[Vicky584]

Hi and welcome to the journey of hosting. 
I have been doing this for the past 11 years and I love it. My experience it is a bit different because I live in the property and share my home with the guests . 
My advise in this case it is to make them feel welcome , like part of the family . 
Set up clear rules and have reminders around the house .
Clear rules will prevent headaches . 
Communication it is the key . 
Always try your best to allow flexible checking in . I know many people have check outs and check ins the same day , but in my experience as host this can be stressful and rushing ( even if you have a cleaning company) can hurt you more than the income of that extra night. If you have somebody cleaning the space for you, before you welcome your guests , it is always good to inspect. As a guest I had horrendous experience with places dirty. 
Wishing you a great year of hosting!