Help rate my Airbnb UK

[Carolyn558]

https://abnb.me/61clKVwyZ0

Hey all!! 

I am looking for the wisdom of you experienced hosts 🙂

Please have a look at my listing (above) and tear it apart, criticise, praise, ask questions, tell me what’s great and what really isn’t, the things I am missing and the things I really should have missed out! 

I am on my second month and so still learning would love to hear from you. 

Many thanks!!

[Gordon0]

OK, you asked for it, @Carolyn558.

Too many photos, and no flow. 

You should have house/bedroom/kitchen/bathroom(s)/others. Pic one should be the money shot. It isn't.

Gloucester Centre, great WiFi, garden & off Rd pkg

Wi-Fi is a given these days. Doesn't need a mention. Is a garden relevant to your guests? I'd go for 'Free parking' (I hate ampersands). And Central Gloucester has a nicer ring to it. That said, you seem to be a 20-minute walk from the town/city, so that isn't actually central, is it? .And you've been marked down for your location. 

You only need one external pic of the house (ideally without showing a huge satellite dish) and with a single pot, nicely planted, at least.

Hammock? Plain weird (photo and concept of sleeping on one). This isn't central America. 

You've spelt dining [table] wrong.  Lose the pic of a lamp. Lose sparkling vases. 

Pic 10 isn't a view of 'off road' parking (unless you park on the gravel?), and you've covered this already. Lose 12. And 17.

31 - branded parasol? Just no.

 

[Carolyn558]

Thanks Gordon, much appreciated! 
I agree with the 1st photo, just wasn’t sure, what would you have as “the money shot”?

[Gordon0]

A new one...front of house (no satellite dish), plant (in flower) at front door. A welcoming picture. 

[Anonymous]

@Carolyn558  It's a very thoughtfully appointed place with nice amenities, and good descriptions of the local area. Your guests are clearly impressed with your great hospitality.

@Gordon0  has some great suggestions. Some additional thoughts:

-  If professional photography is out of reach, try borrowing a wide-angle lens (or enlisting a photography student) to re-shoot the front room and kitchen. This will help you get more of the amenities into a single shot so that the layout and dimensions are clearer.

- You can change your points of emphasis seasonally. The garden is a good focal point for summer bookings, but heating and insulation become more important in winter. Indoor hammock is a rather specialized interest; perhaps there's a better use of that space.

- Be sure to edit the listing text where Airbnb has auto-censored things that look like numbers or URLS

- Flexible cancellation policy is pretty risky in the low season, if you're reliant on the expected income. You can easily wind up with large chunks of your calendar taken up by bookings that screw you over with last-minute cancellations and unfillable vacancies.

- House Rules & Pricing - I recommend having a clear policy regarding unregistered guests/visitors in place, because everyone eventually gets the Trojan Horse Guest, who maybe books as 3 people but turns out to be 12 people out-of-control.  Also, maybe a directive on shoes to keep muddy boots from staining the white carpet?

[Carolyn558]

Thanks so much, you have raised points I hadn’t even considered! Especially seasonal 

[Sarah977]

@Carolyn558  The "Other things to note" section is where hosts usually put things they want to make sure guests are aware of before booking in order to avoid any misunderstandings or issues. Things like if there are stairs to climb, whether there are any pets on the property, so not to book if you have pet allergies, outside security cameras, where the guest parking is, if there is the potential for noise, etc. That isn't where you list all the nearby shops and attractions- that would go under "the neighborhood", with a few of the major attractions maybe also mentioned in the first section of the listing description.

I disagree with Gordon re the hammock- I think it's a nice feature- I'd keep the photo of it and the mention in the description, but I definitely wouldn't list it as a sleeping space. While people do sleep in hammocks in tropical countries, they wouldn't be comfortable for all-night sleeping for most people. And what most people don't know is that in places where hammocks are common for sleeping, you use a large enough hammock that you can sleep crosswise on it- i.e. not end to end, but side to side- this makes for a flatter sleeping surface.

Don't think you need 3 photos of the bathroom, and some art on the wall over the bed would be a nice addition.

[Carolyn558]

Thanks for your help, I definitely will be putting art above the bed love that idea. Plus where to put info on my listing, great thanks 🙂

[Mark116]

@Carolyn558   I agree w/the other recommendations, especially that if you are going to keep the first photo as the exterior of the house to try and add some greenery there, flowers, shrub, something that leans in to the picturesque nature of the rest of the listing.

[Mike-And-Helen0]

@Carolyn558 I respectfully disagree with @Gordon0 about the hammock. 

Can you turn the brightness up a bit on the pics?

And/or can you re take them on a day/time when the sun is shining in?

If you can squeeze in bedside tables/lamps to bedroom two, then I'd do that.

You've clearly done loads of research about places of interest nearby.

Love Gloucester!