Do we need TV’s in all bedrooms?

[Meghan94]

Hi All!

Super excited to have our first few booking and fantastic reviews!  Woot!

Briefly, we rent our beach home for the summer season.  We have a large TV in the living room, but don’t have any in the bedrooms.  My cousin has a nearly identical property next door and is insistent all bedrooms should have TV’s.  She’s a successful SuperHost with several properties...so I guess I should just take her advice!

We’re not big TV people, only have 1 in our permanent home so it’s just not something I’m accustomed to.  Just not sure if the investment of 5 smart TV’s is really worth it.

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

@Meghan94  The whole TV-in-every-room thing is well past its peak now, as young folks are getting most of their entertainment from their personal devices. I don't think 5 extra TV's would add enough value to a seasonal property to be worth the expense, especially seeing as how a current TV could well be out of style in just a couple years.

If you have a budget set aside for adding new features to the property, I'd suggest getting creative and finding memorable things to offer that set your place apart from other nearby properties. Guest feedback is a great guide for that.

[Emilia42]

@Meghan94, I, personally, hate TVs in bedrooms. Everyone has a laptop, ipad, etc these days. If they want to lay in bed and watch something they can do it on their own device. I don't think a TV in all bedrooms is a 'wow' factor by any means and probably not worth the investment. Especially for a beach house .... Guests should get outside and go to the beach! If it's raining, they can sit as a family and watch a movie and/or play a boardgame in the living room.

[Jim472]

I'm with @Emilia42  I have one TV in the living room and a desktop running a Plex media server loaded with movies. I bought TP-Link powerline adapters for each bedroom. Should people want media in their bedrooms they can watch it on their devices.

[Meghan94]

Amazing feedback!!  Wow!  I totally agree that if you’re at the beach...well you should go to the beach. I honestly hadn’t thought that TV’s are becoming passé at this point given our access to technology literally in the palm of our hands.  Excellent point to take that $ and invest it so our property really stands out.

Thanks 🙂

[Kath9]

@Meghan94, I'm with @Anonymous, @Emilia42 and @Jim472 on this one . I will very infrequently have someone complain that there was no TV in the bedroom (even though this is clearly stated in my listing) but this is usually older people only and the vast majority of people couldn't care less and probably wouldn't watch it even if there was one. As the others have said, young people don't watch TV anymore - if they want to watch something, they have their devices. It would be a complete waste of your money, not to mention an obscene level of consumerism, to have a TV in every bedroom. The TV in the lounge is perfectly acceptable.

[Sarah977]

@Meghan94  Not sure what it is with Americans and their "a TV is essential to life", but I have never had a TV in my home, ever. And a bedroom is the last place anyone should be watching TV. There is lots of scientific evidence that concludes that watching TV before bed (or any online stimuli) contributes to poor sleep.

You have a beach property. Why would they book it to watch TV? They may as well stay home. Put in some board games and cards, some books and magazines, and you'll be surprised at how many guests you get saying they hadn't played a board game in years and it was great family fun.

[Tim-and-Holly0]

@Meghan94:
We get lots of praise about our TVs in every room.

[Veronique271]

@ Meghan113 : I lost some bookings because I hadn’t a TV in the master!... Now there is one... sad but ... it is what it is!

The next house is going to have TVs in every bedroom on top of the XL one in the living!

I personally will never want one in my own bedroom:-)

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Meghan94 

why 5 smart tvs? Why not the cheapest ones, maybe even used?

[Anonymous]

@Tim-and-Holly0 @Veronique271   Must just be something about Tucson 😉

[Emilia42]

I was just going to say that same thing! 🙂

[KevinandStacey0]

@Meghan94  We thought about TVs in the bedrooms, too, but decided to wait and see if anyone mentioned it.  No one has to date (9 months later) so I don’t think it is a major deal to be without in this area. We have a roku, so people just log into whatever streaming service they have and can watch that way. We don’t even have cable....

[Gregory87 · Accepted solution]

You need to consider your audience (guests), @Meghan94 , in order to determine the value of buying and installing TVs.  I have a TV in both the living room and bedroom.  My renters tend to skew middle age to older.  Often they are couples although I do have families and singles who book long term (7 - 21 days).  

During the post-visit inspection, I tend to notice that couples have utilized one or both units while others less so.  The TVs that I installed were older units that I had available.  I didn't purchase anything new.  Also, there are only broadcast channels provided and DVD players, so no added expense for cable/satellite.

I agree with @Anonymous  that you should take any extra funds to invest in improvements.  If you were to find that your guests are clamoring for TVs, you could go that route, but I suspect for a seasonal beach property, your guests are looking for other features.

[Alexandra316]

@Meghan94Definitely look at the average age of your guests before you decide whether or not to add TVs. In my experience, only older people (50+) tend to care about it. I'm a millennial, and I don't like TVs in bedrooms, personally. The money is better spent elsewhere.