New to Hosting

[Jane3491]

Hi I'm Jane and I started hosting late last year, I only had one guest, he and his friends upset all the neighbours and left a mess, he didn't leave a review.

Since then I have had one inquiry from a lady running a cleaning business ( wanting me to use her) and two people wanting New Years Eve and New Years Day which Airbnb blocked as they probably wanted to use my property for a party.

So I have no reviews and no bookings, what should I do?  I've reduced my price.  I'm at the point of giving up!

Here is a link to my listing and any advice would be welcome.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/52820324?preview_for_ml=true

Many thanks

Jane

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jane3491 be patient. Bookings are often slow in January/February but they will come.

On price check out your competition and don't price too low.

[Jane3491]

Thanks, I must admit I was hoping for more interest but maybe I’m being impatient.

[Mark116]

@Jane3491  The living room looks a little stark, maybe warm it up with a rug and something on the walls.  You can check other listings in your area to see if they're getting booked, or probably, this is the slow time of the year Jan & Feb.  You can also, rather than lowering your price do a custom promotion that will increase visibility in the searches.  You could try it for some of the weekends and see if that helps.

[Jane3491]

I agree with it being a bit stark, I’m going to change the seating to a sofa bed and two new arm chairs.

How do I set up a customer promotion please?

[Mark116]

@Jane3491  Go to your calendar and on the right side there should be a tab for 'promotions' if you click on that you can set a custom promotion for XX dates at a discount of 10% or more.  

[Jane3491]

Thanks

[Sarah977]

@Jane3491  I would suggest you change your cover photo. A photo of the front of a house is fine if it's something eye-catching and unique, but no offense, it's not. It's pretty ordinary looking, which is fine, it just isn't a grabber for the cover photo.

It's also not a good idea to show the entire outside of the house when you aren't renting out the entire house- it can lead to misunderstandings with guests. Do you live downstaiirs? If so, you should make that clear in your listing info.

Your cover photo is what first grabs guest's attention. I would use the photo of the bed with the yellow bedframe and the blue wall. 

Which brings me to my second comment, which is that I agree with Mark- I wouldn't quite call it stark, dull is more the word that comes to mind. Apart from that bedroom with the yellow furniture and blue wall, which is cool, everything else needs some color and livening up.

Also your listing description is quite scanty and doesn't do much to talk the place or the area up.

[Huma0]

@Jane3491 

I have a few comments to make on the presentation, which I think could easily be improved as you have a great base to start from. However, I'd firstly suggest you take out the comment about the sea view being blocked by the neighbour's extension! Why point out a negative and highlight what guests no longer have?

[Huma0]

@Jane3491 

EXTERIOR

I agree this shouldn't be your main photo. Also, for security reasons, it's better to blank/blur out things such as car registration/house numbers.

You could cheer this area up by putting a few large potted plants outside in between the doors. Choose something low maintenance if you can't visit the listing often. I have an olive tree outside which seems very happy with minimal attention. Bay trees also require very little work.

Maybe paint the front door a prettier colour if you're allowed to. A sage green or duck egg blue could work with a coastal location, or perhaps mirror one of the colours you have chosen for the interior.

[Huma0]

@Jane3491 

While I love colour and pattern, I don't really have a problem the colour palette of your walls and furnishings. It is neutral and modern with a few stronger colours thrown in. It just needs warming up with some more accessories.

LIVING ROOM

- Good idea to update the seating. The rest of your furniture looks fine, but the living room seating looks a bit dated. 

- Think about the layout of this space. The coffee table is in an awkward spot. A coffee table needs to be useable while seated. Side tables are also useful if you have space for them.

- The blinds look stark. Add curtains or voiles. They don't need to be expensive, but will soften the space.

- An area rug should be large enough to fit the edges under the seating and coffee table. The bigger the better. There are lots of inexpensive ones out there (try Wayfair for example).

- Add artwork, a few cushions, maybe some potted plants if you are able to maintain them.

[Huma0]

@Jane3491 

DINING AREA:

- Again, hang curtains to soften the look.

- Don't hang artwork too high. Think of the 'average' person's height and then hang them with the centre of the frame at eye level. Or, even better, group pictures together rather than having them dotted around. Even if you don't have enough for a 'gallery wall', a few together will still look better. A stylist's trick is to group things (pictures, vases etc.) in odd, rather than even, numbers, so always 3 or 5 instead of 2 or 4.

- Add some accessories to the console table. A small pile of magazines looks better than just one place there.

- Not sure what the grey things are that are leaning on the door?

- I'm not a fan of having a rug under a dining table as it'll just get covered in food and crumbs, but you could definitely add some more artwork, plants, curtains, accessories etc. to make this space more welcoming.

[Sarah977]

@Huma0  I have also always found an area rug under the dining table to be a head scratcher. Seems like it would be constantly dirty and unsanitary with food ground into it. 

[Huma0]

@Sarah977 

I was actually talking to a guest about something similar just the other day, but in relation to rugs in the kitchen, which is something I have never understood. I read a lot of interiors magazines and look at blogs and lots of interiors images on Pinterest and noticed that rugs features again and again in kitchens, but only on American sites.

You never see that here (how impractical and unsanitary is that idea?) so assumed it was an American thing. I mentioned it to an American guest the other day and she said it's not. She told me you never see that in the States. I wonder then why it is such a feature in American interior design magazines and blogs. Weird...

[Huma0]

@Jane3491 

BEDROOMS

- Bedroom 1 currently looks a bit cosier than bedroom 2. Add an extra pair of pillows and towels to the bed, art work and a bedside table and lamp. Where room is limited, you can get wall lamps that don't require wiring.

- Maybe add throws or a bedspread and maybe a couple of scatter cushions (you don't need to go overboard) to both beds.

- Again, curtains and rugs would really help make them cosier.