When I started hosting in 2012, I thought bookings would be quite infrequent - my home is just a regular house in a residential neighbourhood just outside the centre of a regional city. It's nice but I can't offer a beach, or a log cabin in the woods, or a historic building (or any other of the quirky 'categories' Airbnb promotes) - it's just bed-and-breakfast in a house.
Right from the start I have been busy nearly the whole year through - there is usually a lull in January and in August and there was the long shut-down during the Covid pandemic of course - but otherwise I am about 70% booked all the time.
I have had lots of guests who were working or researching at the local university.
I have had single women on business trips who don't like hotels.
I have had people on internships or work training or even for appointments with e.g. a local hospital (in one case to visit a specific tattoo artist.)
I also get a lot of people coming to see a football match as my home is within walking distance of Old Trafford stadium, which also hosts music concerts etc off-season.
The other notable group is people who have links to the local area, visiting adult children who don't have space to put them up, or who need a temporary base while they look for their own permanent place.
For a lot of 'general tourism' visitors, however, I think they choose my accommodation because it's cheap! It is very less expensive to stay in my home than even a budget hotel in the city centre - and the neighbourhood I live in has no hotels or commercial B&Bs.
Unfortunately this does lead to a lot of bookings from very young people who want to save money on their travelling costs, but who haven't necessarily chosen to share a home with a local person to get a traditional Airbnb experience, or even thought this through - and this is where most of the niggles and problems come from. I often get a certain type of guest who hasn't got much life experience and doesn't understand the perspective of a homeowner who is not their parent. These are the people who can't follow instructions about how to dispose of refuse, or who expect to be able to take over my kitchen, or who agree to check-in at a certain time and then change their plans without telling me...
So that can get wearisome.
There are a handful of other Airbnbs locally and to be honest I think we all offer the same package, and all within a very narrow price range. There are things about other properties that I can't offer, so I lean on my breakfasts and my local information pack - both of which guests often comment on. I have a beautiful friendly cat - 99% of guests are delighted to meet her and she gets regular mentions in reviews, but every once in a while I get someone who hates cats and has somehow failed to notice the prominent photo of her in the listing.
No matter what you put in your listing, at least half the guests just won't read it and you will find yourself repeating basic house rules/information that they could have checked for themselves before booking. If anyone has found a way to make guests actually check what they are committing to, I would love to know it!
