Critique my listing - Perry, New Forest UK

[Perry90]

Hi
I'm fairly pleased with my photo's but would love some feedback from the community as I've only have feedback from people who know me and the flat.
I would like to improve the kitchen photo and will try again when the sun is in the right place. But apart from that is there anything in the photos that might put you off? Secondly are they any that add nothing and could be removed? Thirdly is there anything else you would like to see.

The flat is over my shop in the high street, so there's  not much to see from the outside but would you expect to see it anyway?

https://airbnb.com/h/sleepyoaks

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Perry90 your listing says you have 8 beds - I suspect this is a mistake. 

Do use the preview function to see what guests see.

[Perry90]

Thanks for that @Mike-And-Jane0 , I do use the preview and looked at it 100 times, but never noticed that!
Took me a while to fix it as it turns out you don't list the number of beds, you have to specify what beds are in each room which I hadn't done. (it seems with 8 guests it defaults to 8 beds!)
No guests have mentioned it and luckily none haver complained. 
Thank you very much from saving me from a poor (justified) review!

[Anonymous]

@Perry90  The photos seem pretty thorough, but one thing I can't tell is whether any of your bedrooms offer storage space for guests' belongings. Not a big deal for a 1 or 2 night stay, but any longer than that and people want to know that they can unpack and stow their luggage away rather than live out of an open suitcase on the floor.

Without that, it looks like an extra bed is clogging up space in the bedrooms where a wardrobe ought to be. That would be the detail that most puts me off booking.

[Perry90]

@Anonymous  Thanks for that, good point, all the bedrooms have wardrobes, but I've failed to mention any! 
1st Bedroom has triple built in wardrobe
2nd bedroom has large closet wardrobe
3rd has freestanding wardrobe with drawers
All also have under bed storage

I'm not sure it's worth having photos of them as they are practical more than exciting. but I will today be adding the above to the bedroom desctiptions

[Huma0 · Accepted solution]

@Perry90  I think you've done a good job on the photos and listing description.

The only thing I noted was that in the 'you must acknowledge' section, you've listed:]

"󱤒

No parking on property — although there is no parking, the street outside has a loading bay to unload suitcases, but no parking. There is however a nearby car park and we will supply a parking clock for free parking

󱤕

Potential for noise — The apartment is on the junction of two roads, it has double glazing and is up high, so the sound of vehicles below is very slight, but we cannot say it is completely silent

Must climb stairs — There are stairs to access the apartment and a second set to access two of the bedrooms"

That's fine. It's good that you've included this there, but a lot of guests are never going to bother to read this bit as Airbnb has really hidden it. I would include some of this also in other areas, i.e. include no parking on property in your house rules (there is an option to add more detail to house rules other than the check boxes) and all of it in your description. Other things to note is probably a good place to also put all of this.

As most guests do not read the whole listing, especially the stuff that they have to click on further links for, it's best to be as explicit as you can. Otherwise, you will eventually end up with the picky, annoying guests who don't read and then complain/mark you down on stuff that you thought you had already made clear.

[Perry90]

@Huma0 
Thanks, I've noticed on other threads where guests have complained about something when the host had listed it and guest ignored it, so will bring those points forward, perhaps in shorter form

[Huma0]

@Perry90 

I've learnt that you have to prompt guests to read everything. It's amazing to me how many people book Airbnb accommodation without reading the details. Personally, I would want to know everything about where I am staying, but most people just can't be bothered! 

So, I always ask guests to make sure they read the full listing and confirm with me that they have. Even then, people would say they had and it would later become apparent that they hadn't at all. So, now I have an Easter Egg question in my house rules, which guests need to answer before I'll accept their booking. So many guests say, "Yes, I read everything," but don't answer this question, so I know they haven't!

You might feel that's too much but I have to be especially careful because I host long term stays in my own home so it's really essential that the listing is a good fit for the guests.

[Perry90]

I'm  hoping I'm not just having a lucky honemoon period, but we're on our seventh set of guests and not only have they all given us 5 stars, I would rate them all 5 stars so far - Crumbs in the bed is the most grevious sin so far 🤣

I'm hoping our location and layout help, I'd say we will have 100% holiday makers. Not a lot here for business guests, and we are not on the way to anywhere for transit guests.
The flat has it's own entrance from the main street and I or my staff work in the shop below, so we are onhand 10-5pm if they need us, also we can hear them when they enter and exit the building. We don't spy or eavesdrop but just can hear shoes on the stairs.

So I'm happy to leave it fairly low-key for now, but I have taken your advice @Huma0  and put the parking and stairs restrictions on the front descriptions and added a few more rules.

[Huma0]

@Perry90 

For sure, there's no need to fix what isn't broken! I also used to mostly host holiday makers/tourists and majority were absolutely great. I hope you don't have to deal with any difficult guests (some hosts here report they've had no problems after years of hosting).

In the beginning, it never occurred to me that I needed to be that careful in making sure that guests had understood what they were booking (e.g. that guests who are terrified of cats would book a homestay where there are three of them), but then I live in London and my listing attracts all sorts!

If you attract a very particular sort of demographic, then your guests' behaviour will inevitably be easier to predict.

[Gwen386]

My only concern is that you start your description with “spacious”; however, before I even read the description, I felt there was too much furniture in the rooms. Maybe consider 6 guests and remove a couch from living room, have only 6 chairs at table, and only 1 bed in each bedroom. These are only suggestions because I love the overall charm of your home. I’m just a person who loves lots of space. 

Edit

I just read your reviews and not one guest said they felt crowded, so please pay no attention to my suggestion. 

[Perry90]

Hi @Gwen386 
This is something we've considered. We are in an area that attracts young families, walking, cycling, woods and beeches are all inexpensive ways of entertaining younger children, in top of that we are a few miles away from 'Peppa Pig World' - love it or hate it, it draws people with young children from all over the country. (outside of Disney they probably have the biggest push-chair (stroller)  parks in the world!)

On reflection the rooms are big enough for the extra bed, especially the lower bedroom where we could always get rid of the settee.

I would not want to stay there with more than 6 adults, but happliy stay there with my inlaws and our three children in the lower room, so I've tried to reflect this by suggesting it's ideal for 6 adults, but those extra beds are very usefull if you add children into the mix

[Perry90]

@Gwen386 
I am paying attention to your suggestion, it is very relevent! I do not think the rooms are cluttered, the guests so far have not mentioned it, but if the photos suggest they are, then it is my photos that are at fault and I need to better convey the space that is there!

[Kia272]

@Perry90 I say nix the extra single beds in the bedrooms. Uggh. Nobody wants to sleep like that.....Lower your capacity to 6 and leave it at that. I think the biggest mistake that new hosts make is trying to allow for more guests/have a higher capacity. More isn't always better. 

Your place is lovely but the extra beds are killing the vibe for me. Also, I'm not a fan of your dining chairs. They look like folding chairs that a caterer would supply for a wedding. And they certainly don't do your table justice. 

Overall, nice place and good photos and captions. 

[Perry90]

Hi @Kia272 
Yes I can see the extra beds look a bit like we are trying to shoe-horn as many people as we can, but I have suggested my reasoning to @Gwen386  above due to the demographic of people we get.

Love your comment about the dining chairs, I liked them as they are comfortable and fold up, but looking from the quests perspective you're quite right, I suspect they are used at weddings.  I will look at finding wooden chairs (not ikea) that better match the room!