What would be the best way to list our cottage?

[Stephen1156]

We have a cottage that's both suitable for a couple as well as for a larger group if they wish to use the upper floor where the extra sleeping areas are (https://airbnb.com/h/bracken-cottage-at-rock-lily).

We're getting occasional bookings for this cottage as opposed to the very solid bookings we're getting for the other cottage on our property that's specifically set up for couples (https://airbnb.com/h/mountain-cottage-at-rock-lily).

What methods and listing tweaks are people using to ensure they attract the full range of potential guests, and thus bookings for places like our larger cottage? We want to make sure couples searching for somewhere to stay see it and are attracted to it as well as those groups and families that might want to use it as well.

Thanks in advance!

Steve and Alli at Rock Lily (Brogo, NSW, Australia)

[Mike-And-Jane0 · Accepted solution]

@Stephen1156 you should probably have two listings for the one property. Link their calendars to avoid double bookings.

[Stephen1156]

@Mike-And-Jane0 thanks for that. Very much appreciated. That's what I figured I should do, but I wanted to check with people who knew far more than I.

Steve

[Marit-Anne0]

@Stephen1156 you could also list the cottage with a base price for two and an extra charge for each person after two.  If you do instant book, you can ask the guests which bedrooms they would like to be prepared for them. Couples who choose properties with two or more bedrooms often want a bedroom each for personal reasons.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Stephen1156 You should also consider trying to block off the upstairs when it is only rented as a one bed. I am thinking you could use a sheet of wood laid horizontally between the spindles surrounding the staircase to the top floor. This would be removed and stored when used as a 2 bed. Without this how would you stop guests using the whole place?

[Daniel8941]

This is altogether a different question.  For pricing purposes, are we counting individuals, or beds?  Are we counting BEDS with each a person occupying it, whether it is a child or an adult?

A hotel owner is thinking about giving me 4 beds,  but the room has only 2 queen-size bed per room.  I don't want to rent separate 2 rooms of two beds just to get four beds occupied.  And this hotel won't allow me to put in an extra sleeper.  Can a sofa already in the room count as a "bed"? 

[Daniel8941]

At what age do children count as an occupying person? Of course, some children are "large" for their age.  Well, let me say it this way -- children come in all sizes.  But in our business here, I am to understand that no "beds" are free to children.  We're paying for "beds" OCCUPIED, right?

[Sarah977]

@Daniel8941  On Airbnb, they classify 0-2 years old as "infants". (That is of course ridiculous, as any of us who have experience with children know, a babe in arms, not yet mobile on their own, isn't anything like a 2 year old toddler who can climb up on things and get into all kinds of trouble if not constantly supervised).

Infants are not to be charged for, but that doesn't mean they don't count towards the maximum occupancy limit. This should be made clear on the host's listing- that all breathing bodies must be accounted for on the booking, whether an "infant" is charged for, or not.

Children over the age of 2 count as paying guests. 

How guests are charged varies. Some hosts charge the same amount whether someone books for say, 2, in a listing with a max guest count of 4. Other hosts may have a base price for 2, with an extra guest charge for any over that amount.