Whether or not to remodel my space

[Renee216]

Hi all,

We've been hosting our space for almost a year now and have been happy with the way its going but are looking to book more dates.To give some perspective: We live in an area that has many wineries, weddings, and weekend events. We are about an hour from San Diego and 2 hours from LA. We do have probably the largest Indian Casino in California about 10 minutes away with other casinos about 20 to 30 min drive away. We are booked every weekend and a few weekdays, mostly for people going to weddings or visiting the wineries. All that said, we have a 2 bedroom, one bath unit that was originally at the end of a long hallway but has been made private by the addition of an entry door and secure door blocking off the hall to the rest of the house. There is a coffee cart in the hallway with a fridge and microwave.

My question is this, would converting one of these bedrooms into a living room/eating space and keeping the second bed in that space as a murphy or day bed increase my bookings and length of stays (more weekdays)? This would require opening up a doorway to make it more spacious and I don't want to spend the money if it's not going to make a difference. Is there a resource that can help me with this decision? My other option is pulling out the closet doors (wasted space) and put in a sitting area in each room which would be cheaper and less of a hassle. I know I also need to update my listing and change a few things but am waiting until I make whatever changes I decide on.

Would appreciate any helpful advice. Thank You!

[Paul154]

NO!

You won't gain anything. 

Remodeling is expensive and you always run into unforeseen expenses.

Your place is perfect as is. I read your good reviews - everyone is happy.

You can accomplish what you want without knocking down a wall. By putting in that murphy bed or sofa bed, you can make one bedroom a living area. (Don't be surprised at the number of guests who will choose to leave the bed down, cuz they don't care)

[Renee216]

Thank you for the input! I needed to have someone else's perspective on this.

[Annette76]

I think the thing to consider is who has been booking your space most. Do you get parties of 4 more often than parties of 2? My place can host 4, but the majority of my stays are couples, so I have slowly been making it more of a couples retreat. 2 fluffy robes, a couple of champagne flutes, etc. They tend to like to eat in for the most part so my kitchen is getting renovated to make it a bigger draw. 
If both of your bedrooms are being used with the majority of your bookings then I’d leave it alone. 

[Pete69]

The only way to increase revenue is with more beds. It may be illegal to have 4 people to a room. So keep at at 2 and 2.

You want to encourage guests who are gone all day -- Not people who will be just hanging out. If you're booked every weekend then you have the luxury of being able to be more picky about what guests you attract.

[Linda108]

I, too, have invested Air BNB income into certain remodeling of my home, which has 2 private rooms available to the same party.  I decided I would use this time I am involved with this business as an opportunity to increase the value of my home over all while writing off the cost of the remodel related to the guest experience on my taxes.  Perhaps this perpective would work in your case as well.

As to increased bookings, your 2 bedroom listing for 4 guests might be passed by a guest seeking to book for a couple.  You might miss out on some bookings.  I base my nightly rate on 2 guests in the primary bedroom and charge extra guest fee for guests over 2 or a room fee if 2 people want to use both rooms.  Adds income and flexibility of guest group configurations.  Perhaps this would work for you as well.

[Renee216]

 Thanks for all the great input. I’m probably going to just add a few extras rather than change up the room configuration as we do get mostly parties of 3 or 4. Thanks everyone!