New to hosting. Please critique our new listing.

[Kendall12]

Hello! We are excited to be joining the hosting community. We have been traveling with the airbnb community for several years now and have decided to become hosts. An interior designer by trade but a treveler at heart we wanted to mesh the two worlds so we could travel more. 

We started this conversation in order to introduce ourselves as well as getting the experienced communitie's opinions on our listing. We understand that experienced hosts have alot more insight than guests and we care alot about your opinions. 

To look at our listing click HERE!

Also we have a website we created for the listing. Click HERE!

We live in Nashville, TN and have been married for 10 years. We have been all over the globe and stay at an airbnb everytime. We really do see the value of staying with hosts and won't ever stay in a hotel again. My wife has her own interior design business that I recently joined, full time, in order to manage the rapid growth that she has had. We feel like we are adding value to the hosting community with Kendall's design asthetic, my business background, and the understanding that you have to bring something to the table if you want to eat at it. 

If you have any questions about home interiors then we have you covered. 

That about sums it up and we look forward to hearing your opinions about our listing and will be very active in the community. 

Thanks,

Kane and Kendall

[Fred13]

@Kendall12Your thinking is bright; yes at first one must take a higher risk and offer at a lower prices, to do get those smashing reviews and SH, then you can get more 'selective'. In the meantime, watch out for the mascara and the chain saws! LoL

[Kendall12]

Hey @Fred13 we will be on chiansaw and mascara alert no doubt. 

On a side not we had our first guests of 5 women. They were great. If we could have every guest be just like them then we will have nor worries. 

Question: How long does the guest have to leave a review? What is a good grace period before reaching out to the guest to prompt them to leave a review? 

Thanks,

Kand and Kendall

[Linda108]

Did you get an email prompting you to leave a review, @Kendall12?  I believe there is information about how reviews work and some hosts and guests don't read these automated prompts.  Anyway, both you and the guest are usually prompted to write a review.  The reviews are published when both reviews are written or after 14 days which ever comes first.  You can always prompt the guest to write a review especially because you are new and need to have reviews.

[Kendall12]

Hey @Linda108 thanks for the info. We did her review right away and she wrote ours within a day. It was a great first review and we actually just had an inquiry tonight. Hopefullt they book. That will mean we have had 3 bookings in a week of making a our listing live. YEAH!! We are so excited. 

Kendall

[Fred13]

Yeah, the groups of 5-8 women, they always work out really well.

BTW, at first, I used to use the 'sales angle', if they mention an interesting sentiment, your place being so 'different' is a perfect candidate to evoke them, I would say; "That is so cool, If you write a review, other guests will really love to hear that". Sure enough, they always would write a very enthusiastic review.

[Kendall12]

Hey @Fred13. I agree with you about the sales angle. We have taken that approach with a sign in book, hand written note, and business cards to prompt them to write something down and then making it more likely for a online review. We hope the review in the book for other guests to read will add another salesy element. Thanks again for the insight. Below is a pic we took after their stay.

Cheers,

Kane and Kendall

P.S. That thrid booking just confirmed as I was typing this!

[Fred13]

Guest books are a great idea indeed, guests love to read what others have said. We copy the most exceptional entries and paste them on our web site.

We are on our third book, some entries have been so cool: 'Georgy', 5 years old: "We are all so happy, including Nigel" (A pelican she made friends with). Another wrote: "Come to Bird Island with someone you love, and leave loving them so much more'. Many like that.

[Kendall12]

@Fred13 that is great that you are on your 3rd guest book. You must have a wonderful place. When you said that you post the guest book entries on your site did you mean on airbnb or do you have a website for the place as well? Curious so I could check it out since we have a website as well. 

Cheers,

Kane and Kendall

[Fred13]

Yes, the original way we used to get guests, till Airbnb did a feature on the place which changed things overnight.

[Kendall12]

Hey @Fred13 I just found your listing and all I can say is WOW!! Kendall and I know where we will be staying when we come to Belize. It is absolutley gorgeous. How long have you had the place? One of a kind find! I'm so glad we connected on the forums so I could have the opportunity to know there is a place like that on Airbnb. Kendall was in shock as well. Kudos to you sir. 

Kane and Kendall

[Fred13]

Thank you K. We are going on our fourth year. Two years ago, we had a big time producer stay in the island and he called a 'couple of his friends' in high NY media places, lucky break.  We get mentioned a lot in the media since, but now usually along the lines of: 'The most unusual listings of Airbnb'.

Actually, that was what I instantly thought when I first saw your place - what a cool unusual place.  I could see someone stay in it and 'let a few friends' in the media know about it. Be great fun if Airbnb did an 'unusual places feature' every month showing different listings, would help out many hosts.

[Matthew285]

Your listing looks amazing, and the art really makes the place stand out.

The photos are terrific, and are almost artwork themselves.

(Our place has no art at all on the walls.) (Sigh)

You should be very proud!

[Kendall12]

Hi @Matthew285 thank you for your kind words. Suprisingly about 30% of the artwork is vintage we gathered from shopping at antique malls and the rest has been accumulated over the years. We highly suggest pictures and art work to spruce up the place and some of our favorite pieces were really cheap. Kane was never really into antiques until he saw all the cool things that we found and how little they cost. 

Thanks,

K & K

[BedandStay0]

Hi Kendal!

OMG! I love your house. I hope one day I can have the opportunity to visit USA.

I am on the same situation than you, I am new on Airbnb. I just opened up a 3 floors house with elevator in Tokyo.

and also would like your help reviewing my listing and all advices and recommendations are welcome.

From my point of view the text and pictures are great my only concern is that you chose a Moderate cancellation policy and your house is so beautiful that maybe strict will be safer.

If you have a time please check my listing too:

N-House 6BR/Sta 2min/FreeWifi/Shinjuku in 15min: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/21581868

Mirtha 

[Kendall12]

Hi @BedandStay0 welcome to the hosting community. In our short experience we have had with the community we have been very pleased. 

We do agree to some extent with regards to the cancellation policy we are going to reevaluate this in three months when we get superhost status. We have lowered prices and made it as easy as possible to get a bunch of bookings. January 1st is our first evaluation date. You can read about the superhost criteria HERE!

We have not been to Japan but had some friend recently get back from a three week vacation there. They had an absolute blast. High on our priority list for sure. 

Your listing: It is unique to go through your listing and other listings in Tokyo. There is such a big difference in what people look for in an Airbnb in the US vs Japan. With that being said take everything I say with a grain of salt. 

I like how your first picture has all the amenities on it. I had never thought that would be an option. I'm assuming this is to help attract guests that are just skimming through the pictures quickly too catch their eye. In your pictures I would caption each one. It is one more way to communicate witha potential guest. If you take the time to do this, in my opinion, it shows that you really take pride in the place. The little things really do matter. 

I really like how you show yourself and the neighborhood. It gives that personal touch that Kane and I look for when we travel. Did you design that last picture. It's great. You could have easily conveyed where everything was just by typing but that extra visual touch is nice. 

I would add more color in your house. I like the flowers, but everything else is kinda plain. No keep in mind I am a huge color person and alot of people don't like color. They like neutrals and thats fine but if your trying to grabs someone's attention art on the walls is a great way to have the desired affect.  

I would change the title to something more unique. Here is a great article I read on how to maximize naming your listing. Click HERE! 

I would hire someone to do proffesinal photos. Airbnb has options now to hire a professional. I think pictures are the most important aspect of the listing. I believe people in general are very visual and with so many listings you need to stand out from the crowd with beautiful pictures that acurately protray the beautiful space. 

Overall great home with alot to offer. I wish you the best of lock and look forward to future correspondance. 

Cheers,

K & K