From My First Hosting Mistake to Managing 3 Properties – But Why Aren’t My Airbnb Bookings Picking Up?

[Gernide0]

Hi everyone! I’m Gege — I’ve been hosting for about a year now and currently manage 3 short-term rental properties.

When I first got started, I listed my first property directly on Airbnb. But I had a hiccup early on—one of my first guests left a bad review before I really had my systems and space fully dialed in. That review stuck, and it really affected that listing’s performance. Because of that, I ended up moving it to Evolve so I could start fresh and keep building my experience.

Since then, I’ve been steadily growing. I’ve added two more properties, created clear house rules, added pet policies, tightened up my cleaning process, and even built systems to streamline guest communication.

The issue I’m having now is that I’m not getting many bookings on Airbnb—especially compared to Booking.com, where I seem to get more consistent traffic. I’ve been posting regularly on social media (TikTok, Facebook, Instagram) and even running local ads to promote my listings, but Airbnb traffic just seems slow.

Has anyone else dealt with this?

Could it be an algorithm issue, bad visibility from the old review, or maybe I’m missing a key optimization? I’m open to advice on anything—from pricing tools to listing titles to Airbnb-specific marketing tips.

Really appreciate any feedback, and I’m grateful to be part of this community!

Best,

Gege

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Gernide0 my guess is that your booking.com success has damaged your Airbnb bookings. Basically while no one knows for sure the algorithm seems to reward bookings with higher search placements. Thus if all your bookings come from elsewhere your search placement (and hence Airbnb bookings) will suffer.

The real question is - Does it matter? As long as you are getting bookings who cares where they come from.