Aloha - Critique My Listing - Eva in Kauai, Hawaii

[Eva2518]

Aloha,

So excited to be an AirBnB Host!  I have been an avid guest over the years and it's been interesting being on the other side of things now.  Our Hawaii Home listing isn't doing as well as we hoped/expected to our great surprise given the house is very very nice and in a great location.

We are having trouble getting bookings for our place.  We recently hired a nice photographer and updated the photos assuming that it had something to do with that, but we still haven't got any bites.  We also lowered the price quite a bit, but that didn't help.  We do not have smart pricing on because it doesn't seem to work very well in our area and prices the house similarly to some pretty bare bones condos that are MUCH smaller and noisier - but perhaps we should turn it on?  Curious to hear other hosts' experience with smart pricing.  Most co-hosts or hosts I talk with about it say it doesn't work for them.

My guess is that the source of the problem is that it's a house better suited towards families or larger gatherings, which take time to plan.  We only opened the calendar up recently, so we missed out on our key demographic, which probably books things months in advance.  This house is our primary residence, but we rent it out when we leave during the summer months.  We are almost certainly going to be renting it again next summer and I'm trying to understand by when would be best to open up the calendar.

Here is our listing:

www.airbnb.com/rooms/50775919

Also curious what other factors might be turning prospective guests towards other listings.  (note: we don't own a TV - it's a core value of ours...we have been considering getting a projector for guests to have movie nights...is a TV a big deciding factor for people?).

Very interested in any and all feedback; thank you so much for taking the time to reflect on an analyze my listing.  Really hoping to understand where and how we can improve.

Eva

Listing Feedback 

@listingfeedback, @Stephanie , @Quincy @Bhumika @Jenny @Paula 

[Kia272]

@Eva2518  Your property looks really nice. My advice? Ditch the THREE floor mattresses in the master bedroom. No adult wants to spend the night with 3 other people in their bedroom. 

Between your actual beds and the sofa bed keep your guest count to 7. 

While I respect your values, imposing them on guests is your choice, but questionable. Buy a TV for guests. You can put it away while you're in residence, but guests want TVs. 

Definitely don't use smart pricing because it's not smart. 

It looks like your cleaning rating has already taken a hit, so definitely look into what's being done and improve on it. 

Not sure why you tagged all the moderators? 

Good luck!

[Eva2518]

Aloha Kia,

Thank you for critiquing our listing.

Just for further clarification - we don't actually have any floor mattresses on the floor.  They are just stored in the closets.  Mostly we find that people desire use of the floor mattresses when they are having a family reunion/vacation and want to put their kids on the trifolds.  In light of the fact that we only set up the floor mattresses if they are requested - do you still advise removing them from the listing?

Thank you for the feedback on the TV - we definitely need to consider this.  I was hoping that by having lots of board games, art supplies, and beautiful Kauai that people would be spending their time truly connecting with their family, building new memories, and exploring.  And I figured most people travel with an iPad these days if they can't live without it.

Thanks for the perspective with smart pricing!    

 Ah yes - cleaning is a challenge in Kauai because the market kind of collapsed after COVID and many cleaners were forced to leave the island.  And now there are many remote workers moving in and there isn't housing for cleaners.  On the bright side you can make something like $100/hour now if you are a cleaner!

I thought you were supposed to tag these names for feedback - are they only moderators or do they also provide feedback to posts?  It said in the "how to ask for critique" post to tag them for feedback.

[Kia272]

@Eva2518  With regard to the floor mattresses, I do recommend removing them from the listing and reducing your capacity to seven. You can put some ambiguous language in the listing saying something like, "please let us know the number/make-up of your group, and we can adjust the sleeping arrangements to suit your needs." Personally, I think a thing like floor mattresses leads guests to believe that they could bring their own, and maybe exceed your guest capacity. By stating the above, it may actually encourage guests to be honest, and you could allow for more guests provided they are children, or maybe the odd grandparent or aunt/uncle. 

Definitely get the TV. Again, I appreciate your values, but statistically, most Americans don't. People watch lots and lots of TV. I don't pay for cable or any such nonsense, but I do have a smart TV so that guests can login to their own streaming services. I remind them in the check-in message to make sure they have their login info, because there's no cable service. Nobody has complained. 

The cleaning thing is super important. I think most guests will be turned away by a low-ish cleaning rating. 

I do think you need to figure out who your target market is. For most families, 7 should accommodate just fine. 10 would be a large family or two mixed families, but 7 (8?) could accommodate that. 10 is kind of a party number, so I'd vet guests carefully if you leave it like that. 

I've never read the instructions for asking for a critique, but the mods are just that- moderators. They'll pipe up and tell you your listing looks nice, but mostly they are here to make sure we act right, or to bump posts up or close them. 

Again, good luck in getting this all figured out. You could also list on other platforms if you haven't done that already. 

[Paula]

Hi @Eva2518 , it's great to see you starting a new thread seeking advice from our Community.

Regarding the "Critique my listing" instructions, I wanted to clarify that the Community Management team is available to help with any questions related to "Critique my listing" or any other aspect of the Community Center.

The idea behind the "Critique my listing" initiative is to encourage other hosts to offer their suggestions and opinions on how to improve certain aspects of your listing (as I can see our members are doing in your post). The purpose of the community is to support one another, as hosts are the true experts in hosting. Our role is to provide members with a tool to access the best advice from experienced Airbnb hosts.

Regards,

[Clara116]

@Eva2518 

You have a fabulous place but I think you are doing a couple BIG things wrong from the start! this might have a bigger impact than you think. 

Photos are all about the dining and kitchen.....I had to go to #19 to see the first bedroom....On laptops Airbnb does a collage of photos and when they are all the same it will not get you loads of  bookings.

Make the first 5 pics - Liv Room, Kitchen, Dining Room, Bedroom and Bath....and then add pics for other rooms but not multiple of the same space. You have about 8 seconds of people clicking on pics to sell them. If they don't get a big overview - they say NEXT and skip you! 

Your wording when they open the listing is a whole paragraph about the Island.. many hosts say Guests don't read a lot. But you have written the perfect stuff. It is just not front and center.

Please try it this way!  Use this that you have written but I switched which goes first. It is Perfect!

A taste of old Hawaii will greet you as you step over the threshold into the main living quarters with a Master Bedroom with private bath and two rooms sharing a guest bath with a tub. Master bedroom has private bath, large two person walk in shower, and a spacious private patio. Fold out couch upstairs and three trifolds perfect for kids.

Relax on a large second story lanai with expansive mountain views after preparing dinner in the great room with an open kitchen & dining/living area.
The second story main living area has large vaulted ceilings with lots of light and good air flow.

Hope this is helpful....my take on your wonderful place! Happy Hosting, Clara@116