Private Room Vs Entire Place

[Krystyna1]

Hi All,

I need your opinion:

My listing is a Studio type room that has it's own entrance via the back door. It has a Television, small table for dining, basic amenities (coffee machine, small fridge etc) and private bathroom. At the moment I have the place listed as "Private Room" but I have seen similar listings which have very good ratings and reviews that list their pllace as 'Entire Place/Apt".

I am sure that listing as the latter would increase page views and bookings, as well as affecting the AirBnb smart pricing feature.

Any thoughts on this?

Here is the listing: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/12270048

[Marie159]

I would describe it as a private suite in a multi-suite building with a separate entrance.  That way they would know that other people may be on site when they are there

[Krystyna1]

Thanks Marie!

[Lawrene0]

@Krystyna1, put the words "private room" in the search bar in this forum and lots of discussion on this comes up. It will make good reading. Just noting, though, that someone a few weeks ago mentioned guests were disappointed that the "entire place" they listed was not really so because it was, like yours, a studio. So you will want to be precise in the description. Another poster mentioned having asked in Host Voice for a new category that exactly covers such situations as yours. You could look for that and "like" it. 

Hope this gets you started on the opinion gathering!

[Krystyna1]

Thanks Lawrene! I am new to AirBnB hosting but will definitely be getting more involved in the community portal. I will stick with Private Room for now, as technically the laundry area is shared and this may cause a similar reaction to the review's you mentioned.

[Giselle-And-Gaizka0]

Private room means that you have your own room in someone's house/apt.
Shared room means that you are sharing a room with someone else.
Entire place means that you are the only one staying in the entire place.
I'd put "entire place" and headline it with the word studio so that there aren't any surprises.

[Krystyna1]

Thanks Giselle. I think I need to stick with Piravate Room as I live and use the rest of the house and although it has a private entrance, there is still a chance I may bump into the guests in the laundry room.

[Amy130]

I'd just note that!  I wouldn't sell myself short when my listing could be, in all honesty, more attractive.  The laundry room is hardly a place I feel a need for privacy 🙂

[Jiw0]

I would try to get it to resemble a complete, private space fully and then list as Entire Place.

Private entrance is one thing, but the biggie is the bathroom: does the place have it's own private bathroom that nobody else can ever stumble into?   Secondly after a bathroom: a kitchenette of some kind, even if it's just a microwave and induction plate of some kind. 

At that point you can confidently list it as an entire place, I think a laundry room is less crucial.

[Krystyna1]

@Jiw0

Thanks for your response. The room has an entirely private bathroom that is gauranteed to be private. The entrance to the main room is via the laundry room which is alos how we access the garage. The issue is I wouldn't want to be restricted not to do laundry whilst hosting and technically we could bump into each other via the lunadry room so one could argue that means it is not a private entrance.

No kitchenette at the moment - just a fridge and coffee maker.

thanks

[Jiw0]

I'd be very tempted to just use 'entire place' in that case.   Also with a condominium building you're going to run into other people before you get to the door of the unit.   Do describe ecactly what it looks like in words and pictures and then see how it goes.

[Matt75]

I would definitely weigh your features against eachother in this case, and put your best forward. My suggestion is to list as an entire space, remove laundry access from ammenities, and then include in first paragraph of listing details that this is a private entrance to an attached room.

You can mention shared use of the laundry room.  This is marketing. Youre not lying, you are simply getting yourself out there.  More people are searching for "entire places" so let them get to your page and make their decision from there.

🙂

[Krystyna1]

Thanks @Matt75.

The hesitation I am having is that the "private entrance" is definitely private in that nobody else will use it besides the guest, but it is an entrance to the laundry room which the guest enters and then their is the bedroom entrance. So if I decided to do laundry one day and they came in the "private entrance", you could argue that it is not private because i would be standing there doing laundry

[Amy218]

It sounds like your laundry room is between the guest's private entrance and the door to their bedroom? If you're accessing any space of theirs at all during their stay I'd list it as a private room. 

I happened upon this thread because I rent out the lower level of my house. Guests use a private entrance to the lower level and the door to the stairwell is locked and we share no spaces but because it IS the lower level of the house I actually live in I feel compelled NOT to list it as entire place. My first guest is here now and she said, "Wait, I get all this to MYSELF?" I might see how the next few go and if I continue to get that response list it as entire place. THoughts?

[Laura3947]

As a person making frequent use of AirBnb and having been DEEPLY disappointed at the way both, Home-owners and AirBnb trick people into believing they are renting one thing when they are actually renting other (even postings where the "entire place to myself" ended up meaning a shameful sharing of a room with SIX BUNK-BEDS for MEN AND WOMEN, I can tell you, if any of your dealings happen next to the guests main door, or if you even share a staircase which is inside your property that should be posted as "private room" no matter if such room is furnished with a kitchenette and a washing machine. IT DOESN'T MATTER. And if the guest is expected to share any spaces or appliances with owner or other guests, it's a private room not a place to one self's. I have began to do my own personal crackdown  on dishonest postings and I will begin to report to local authorities, because I have had some bad experiences where zi could not relax during my entire stay.