Hi, Lina,
It's really up to you, as the host, to make these decisions. You live in a large enough city for guests to want to explore it for more than a day, so think about your own views on how long you prefer to try out a new place. I'm in San Francisco and decided from the very beginning that most people only skim the surface and get stuck in tourist spots, if they only stay for 3 nights, so therefore I set up a 4 night minimum for every booking. It also saves lots of time and trouble, not to mention wear and tear from excessive laundering of your linens, if you set more than a one night minimum. If I've lost bookings for having such a long minimum, I haven't noticed. i'm often busier than I wish to be.
I also do not bother to set higher prices for holidays. One business client thanked me for having a reasonable price during a big convention, because one colleague was paying twice as much for a 3* hotel and another decided to stay next to the convention center for a whopping $1.500. per night. I definitely beat out competition by not playing that game.
My general advice is to set a price that makes it worthwhile for you to do a short term rental, considering the amount of time it will take you to clean, great guests, be available to help them, and replace items that get worn or used like cleaning supplies, shampoo, etc. I buy new linen every year, so nothing looks worn out. Be an easily available host, so guests feel they can depend on your help if a problem arises. this will help you get good reviews. Pay no attention to the suggestion of lowering your prices, unless you see that you are not getting as many bookings as you need. But keep in mind, that lowering the price does not correlate with the amount of work, that stays the same. People who lower prices end up having to book more guests and work harder than when they started. Looking at local hotel prices is a good thing to do, so you can make your prices significantly lower to attract guests. Then compare your prices to your local competition on Airbnb. If you look at local competition 2 months prior to a holiday, you can decide how to price for your advantage.
Reading many complaints from hosts about problem guests, can be a good way of evaluating potential problems and stopping them before they start, by setting practical house rules for guests to follow. The rules I developed after hearing horror stories were: no additional guests or visitors without written permission, I set a sheet replacement fee for any sheets soiled beyond the capacity to clean them by washing or laundering (there's a lot of sun tan lotion used in San Diego, so prepare for greasy sheets), and set rules about eating only at the table and away from upholstered furniture., no smoking anywhere on the premises and no loud noise after 9:30 p.m. Everyone of these is nit picky, and I know some of these rules are broken regularly, but mostly people want to respect your home, so it works, and when I ease up on some, guests think I'm being very kind. They are totally unenforceable, but it lets the guests know my concerns.
One more word of advice, apartment insurance or home insurance does not cover you for short term rental guests. Get a rider on your insurance. Once you make income from using your residence as a short term rental, you have turned it into a commercial space and all bets are off if your guests create serious damage.
