Airbnb

These days, travelers often regard booking on Airbnb as a valid option when planning their vacations. Aside from the lower prices compared to hotels, staying at a local’s place can offer you a more immersive experience if that’s what you’re looking for. Airbnb offers people the option of renting out an entire house or condo or even just a spare bedroom at someone’s flat. Other advantages include being able to pick a location where you want to stay. This is significant especially if there are no hotels nearby or if they are too expensive for your budget. You can read up on the reviews that past guests have left for the places they stayed at and see if these rental properties are the ones for you.

After personally having stayed at a few Airbnb places, we got to know some of our hosts and they all seemed to love what they were doing. They were all gracious hosts that were very helpful with our needs and they all seemed to genuinely enjoy meeting and interacting with their guests. After giving it some thought, we decided to try our hand at the hosting experience. We tried to apply all the information we had picked up through being guests and put it into making a stay at our place as pleasant as possible. So far, it’s been fun meeting people from all walks of life and it’s very fulfilling knowing that we helped make our guests’ vacations enjoyable and memorable. There are probably a lot out there who’ve thought about doing the same thing with a spare condo unit or extra bedroom so we compiled a few helpful tips (based on our experience) to consider before putting your space up on Airbnb.

Do some research about having your place rented on Airbnb. It’s good to gather all the available info you can regarding this new venture you will be starting.

Find out the rules in your building or village regarding short-term rentals. It always pays to be informed.

Go through the listings in your area in Airbnb so you can get a feel for the competition. It’s also a good way to gauge the price at which you could realistically rent out your place.

Formulate your house rules so you and your guests will know what to expect during their stay.

Sign up to Airbnb and go through the forms you need to fill out. It’s a good way of finding out what your place is lacking in order to get more bookings for your unit.

If possible, change your high power appliances to energy saving options/inverter to save on electricity charges and so as not to restrict your guests too much on air conditioning usage.

If you had pets in your place, clean your unit thoroughly or have it done professionally to avoid problems with guests with pet allergies.

Remove all personal and important things from your place that you don’t want damaged or stolen.

Provide new sets of linens and towels for your guests.

Take attractive photos that accurately show how your place looks like. People surfing on Airbnb are quick to look into listings with nice photographs.

A good internet connection and Cable TV is very important to guests so get connected!

Pay all your bills on time to avoid disconnections while you have guests at your place.

Coordinate with the security at your building so your guests will have a hassle-free time getting in and out of your place.

Some guests will appreciate amenities such as shampoo, soap, dishwashing liquid, etc. so it’s a good idea to provide it for them.

A personal touch is always appreciated so complimentary snacks and bottled water for arriving guests will make a good impression.

Create your listing on Airbnb and fill out all the descriptions completely and honestly.

Once your listing goes live, be patient with the inquiries and be professional with the bookings.

Once your bookings start coming in, meet your guests upon check-in so you know if they are indeed the people who booked with you and of course it’s nice to personally welcome people who are staying at your place.

Be prepared and courteous to your guests while they are at your place. Some guests will rely on you for some information during their vacation such as good recommendations for restaurants and places of interest.