Do you stay at your own listing from time to time?

Liv
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Do you stay at your own listing from time to time?

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Hey everyone,

 

Staying at your own listing can be a great opportunity for seeing your property from guests’ perspective. By recreating their experience and spending some time enjoying your place, you might notice small details that you wouldn’t perhaps think of otherwise. 

 

It could be for instance that you find out the bed is no longer as comfortable as you’d like, or that you wish you had an extra lamp next to the sofa. Maybe you realise the water pressure in the shower could be improved or that you don’t need that many pillows after all. 💡

 

Whatever the insights you get from the experience, many Hosts believe it can only help - whether you discover the need for improvements or you realise how amazing your listing is (and how much extra you could be charging for it)! 

 

Do you stay at your own listing from time to time? What insights have you gained from those experiences? 👀

 

Thanks,

Liv

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25 Replies 25
Laura2592
Level 10
Frederick, MD

@Liv  great question! We do, we try to stay once a month but sometimes its once every other depending on how fast it books.

 

We have actually gotten feedback from guests that they can tell we care about the space and know it well. We regularly restock items that are running out, notice things that may need repair or tweaking, sleep in the beds, sit on the furniture, and just generally hang out and see what our guests see. 

 

We really love our space, so we are always a little excited when we get an unexpected weekend cancelation lol. 

Liv
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

That's so sweet, @Laura2592! Would you say it's important to you that you're listing a place you'd actually like to stay at?

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@Liv yes absolutely. It's our getaway first and the guests second.  

We do. It’s our “in-law” apartment so we are there all the time when it’s not rented out. People are surprised it’s so comfortable and homey but we equipped it with everything we could think of for our family (even bandaids).

But using it is also a good way to keep improving it.

Liv
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

@Christine615 I like the idea of having family over! It sounds like a good way to get very honest and thoughtful reviews that you can use to improve your space. Do your relatives provide feedback when they stay?

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@LivYes - my daughter stays there with her boyfriend when she's in town and they worked remotely so she "tinkered" with the layout and made suggestions. Mostly she hated the color of the middle bedroom and wouldn't sleep in there. I may repaint it to a more muted tone. My mother in law shops for it when she's in town.

We realized no one uses the television in the kitchen so that may move. And she rearranged my back porch which is not advertised as part of the listing but with some work, it could be nice. The backyard is a work in process - that's the current project.

Ironically, I swapped out the previous porch table that she loved for a bigger, more sturdy one with a similar look and she admitted it's better. Now when she visits she comes to our house around the corner and resets things as if we are also an Airbnb. I have to say her redecorating is a huge improvement.

I do recommend people stay at their own units from time to time.

Till-and-Jutta0
Host Advisory Board Alumni
Stuttgart, Germany

As we offer a private room in our own apartment, there are (rare) occasions when we use this guest room for ourselves. And that's always a great chance to get the guest view!

"How can I eliminate that blue light coming from the charger?"

"Why is the heating starting so early?"

Liv
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

@Till-and-Jutta0 those are great examples of small details that would be hard to notice otherwise! Any other insights that you can think of?

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Laurelle3
Level 10
Huskisson, Australia

@Liv I have to say we lived in the cottage for 2 years emptied everthing out and did a makeover with new furnishings and equipment. We had several relatives stay before before putting on Airbnb and I  asked them for a review how could I improve the accommodation. 

After using Airbnbs myself I took the good ideas from these places and implemented them. It is probably time to stay there myself now and give a review.

Liv
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

@Laurelle3 that seems like an amazing way to do it - and I'm sure your relatives appreciated the chance to stay and enjoy the property 🙂 were there any recommendations they made that you thought were particularly insightful?

 

Also, do let us know how your stay goes! It would be great to hear about what you've learnt from the experience.

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Katja202
Level 10
Ruinen, Netherlands

@Liv we tried. LOL …. We put the Shepherd’s hut on Airbnb, expecting it will take a will to rent out. So we could spent a view nights in the hut. But in this time everybody wants to leave the cities for a bit of peace and quiet. So it is completly booked full. We hope we can stay there in winter. 🙂

Groetjes Katja
Liv
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Nicely done, @Katja202! Glad to hear you weren't able to do it yet for a good reason 🙂

I'm curious to hear about what you'll find out once you do get to stay at your own property. Good luck with your bookings!

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Ann72
Level 10
New York, NY

@Liv  I'm at my place now for a month so I could have all the upholstery and rugs cleaned, the windows washed, the boiler serviced, and some outdoor lighting replaced with Dark Sky Compliant lighting.  I've made some tweaks to the amenities, too.  Overall, though, it's better than I remembered it.  It's been the perfect place for remote work as well as for just relaxing.  And one more thing:  every night, I can't get over how comfortable the bed is.  Gosh, I'm patting myself on the back pretty hard!  🙂   But it's a great question, because if you never stay at the place, you really can't think of every single thing the guests might need.

Liv
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Good for you, @Ann72! You more than deserve to spend some time enjoying all the hard work and thought that went into making your listing so lovely 🙂

If you ever need any help, I'm sure we can arrange a "have a community manager stay at your listing and provide feedback" kind of thing 😜 

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