Listings

[Pete5166]

Hi, I have a guest house with 5 rooms. Do have to create 5 seperate listings?

[Gunarto-0 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Pete5166,

I agree with what others have shared, and I’d like to add a few more points for consideration.

If you plan to run it as self check-in, it would be a good idea to provide a smart lock for each guest room, as well as controlled access to the front gate and main entrance.

When guests are not traveling together as a group but instead as individual travelers, much will depend on how expectations are managed. Key considerations include:

• Common spaces such as the kitchen, dining area, and living room
• Shared storage like the refrigerator and freezer
• Shared laundry facilities
• Shared entertainment (e.g., PlayStation)

The challenge is to balance privacy and convenience so that every guest feels comfortable. This becomes even more complex if guests come from different countries, with different cultural habits or communication barriers. You’ll need to think ahead about how to handle such situations to avoid conflicts and maintain a consistent 5-star guest experience.

If you have solid answers to address these risks, managing multiple room listings can work well. Otherwise, keeping it as a single entire house might be the safer option in terms of both operations and guest satisfaction

[Hank9]

There are a lot of things to consider in order to answer this question with any hope of being helpful. A single bedroom stay is very different from a whole house rental and will attract very different types of guests. It's also possible to do both, by creating linked calendars. 

Good luck!

[Jennifer1673]

I had a listing with "Whole House" and individual rooms. You can create the rooms as a part of the whole house so that if a "whole house request" is accepted, Airbnb makes the rooms unavailable and vice versa (if a room is rented, whole house is not available during that time period).

Agree with others. Whether it will work depends on the market, whether people are comfortable sharing the house with other unknown guests. I live near a hospital and expected more traveling medical people to rent the rooms. I stayed in a home like this and it felt mildly uncomfortable when another guest checked in. Funny though, I never ran into him. I just saw his shoes by the front door. 

I have a key for each rented room, with a number on the door and the key itself. I only rented a room once in six months.

I've since converted the home to a full-time rental when someone asked if I'd be interested. I found I was not making enough renting short-term.  

[Lana1222]

Hello @Pete5166 ! What a listing! There are several great suggestions- but it all depends on what you can practically accommodate . The number of bathrooms is crucial, if there are 5 different people for example. Persons may not (understandably), be keen to share a bathroom with a stranger, but you never know. I have shared a bathroom in a large accommodation when I was doing a course in the South of England long before there was an Airbnb, but in that case, those who shared paid less. 

Will you be providing toiletries, breakfast items and cleaning services during their stay? Is there a maximum number of nights? What about linens, furniture and cutlery and crockery?

How will you organise your charges? 

I may sound like D's advocate, but as a host where my guests stay in a spare room, and I am living in my home as well), there are many considerations, especially cleaning. If whole families with young children, are you ok with furniture and supplies being damaged (despite house rules)?

If 5 bathrooms and a communal dining area, couples or  students taking a "gap year" , may not mind sharing and meeting new people.

These are just my observations for consideration.

You must make the best , most practical and sustainable decision

[Mel50]

HI pete, I personally have 2 listings , one for each bedroom. I  also live in the home so my situation is easier to run since I am here to give house tours and explain how everything is shared and how the bathroom situation works. Its all in my listings too so that people know. I d say that if you want less work maybe just go with the 1 listing and focus advertising to groups and/or family's. If you have the time or money to spend on creating 5 separate listings than you can perhaps advertise it more as like  a fun hotel kind of environment where people can comingle in shared rooms like the livingroom, entertainment room, games room's. You would want to really consider how you want to do the bathroom situation as if theres only 1 or 2 bathrooms for everyone, that would be a tough situation. because I live in mine, im able to do mini spot cleans a couple times a day in the kitchen and bathroom. I also create labels for the fridges and cupboards so things are easy to find and people have designated spots to put there food and stuff. If you go the 5 listing route then maybe think about putting locks on each bedroom door for guest security ! I hope this helps you out . feel free to ask me anything, I love helping people, Mel

[Henry919]

You don’t need to create 5 separate listings unless you want to rent out each room individually. If your goal is to rent the whole guest house as one unit, you can keep it under a single listing. But if you’d like guests to be able to book rooms separately,* then you’d need a listing for each room

*[Link removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Funmilayo0]

Hi @Pete5166,

It depends on your goals and the layout. If each room has a lockable door and private bathroom, separate listings can work, especially for individual guests. Otherwise, listing the whole house may be simpler for groups or families.

Also, check local rules, permits, and taxes before renting rooms separately. Clear descriptions of shared spaces are key to avoid conflicts.

If you’d like help navigating local requirements or setting up compliance, feel free to DM me.