Introducing New Listing Amenties

[Alexandra316]

Hello all, I've been hosting at my primary listing for a year now, and in that time, I've made quite a few improvements. The bathroom has been remodled, and we went from having a kitchenette to a full kitchen (albeit a compact one). Now, we are adding an apartment-sized washer-dryer. We will be doing the installation next week, on Tuesday July 31st to Thursday August 2nd. We have blocked the dates on the calendar accordingly. These are the only empty calendar dates we have for the entire rest of the summer, so it has to be these dates.

My question is, when do you update your amenties to reflect these types of improvements? I find it challenging. When we updated the listing to include a full kitchen, our guest was upset with us because we didn't have a full compliment of pots and pans, even though when they booked, all we had listed under cooking amenties was a microwave and we hadn't even updated the listing to include the stove as a feature when they stayed with us. I want anyone who is considering booking with us to know that there will be a washer-dryer, but I also don't want it to be an expectation for people who have booked but haven't stayed yet, as I have three guests between now and the installation date.

[Ria16]

@Alexandra316 I would wait until after the renovations are done. Unless you could mention it in your very first paragraph  that new amenities will be available from such date . Good luck 🙂

[Lawrene0]

I would wait until they are actually installed, @Alexandra316. I did that for my listing's new bed, and then just explained to the people who had booked thinking they were bringing their own sleeping bag that extra luxury awaited 🙂

[Alexandra316]

Thanks @Lawrene0 and @Ria16...Guess I'm just getting too excited too soon :-). 

[Lizzie]

It is great to hear things are going so well for you @Alexandra316, you totally deserve it. 🙂 

Yeah, as it is so close to the installation date and you are booked out for the rest of the summer, I would update it after. I believe when your guests book they receive an email with your House Rules on them, but I don't think they receive your amenities, so I would probably just wait a few days. 

[Emilia42]

@Alexandra316

I just had a similar situation with an AC. In Maine, an AC isn’t really necessary since the temperatures can still drop quite low during the night (maybe it would be a nice luxury 2.5 weeks out of the year.) We had an unbelievable heat wave a few weeks ago and I got one really for my own piece of mind. I didn’t update my amenities right away. I didn’t want people to expect it and rely on it because some guests would probably keep it running well into September when all they have to do is open a window. A few people mentioned it in their reviews as a wow factor, which I thought was a good thing. It wasn’t until my bookings stalled a little bit that I added the AC as an amenity. I thought that maybe some people who live further south would filter for an AC when searching as they have it at home and expect it when they travel. Considering that you are booked up I don’t think that it would be too necessary to update your amenities right away. Let some guests be surprised (in a good way.) It will show in their reviews. Once you have everything perfect and a new season of guests do a little refreshing of your listing page.