Suggestions to attract more guests

[Hero0]

Hello,

we have just started renting a spare room again but have only had one booking.

2 years ago we had a lot of inerest in another room in the house. This room is cheaper, much bigger, has its own private shower room and a desk.

I'm trying to figure out what's made the difference in that time and what we can do to make the listing more attractive.

I think the problems are the following but I don't which is the biggest.

- Airbnb has become more satured since 2015

- We now have a toddler in the house and that might put some people off

- I don't want to use instant book (I never did before but it seems more common now) because I need to be more cautious who are guests are since we have a child

- I've marketed the room poorly in some way

- it's winter now (I'm surprised we are not getting any enquiries for Easter)

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/16061862

Any advice greatly received.

Thanks, Hero

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Hero0

Hi Hero - all of the above, plus of course as you have very limited availability for the next 3-6 months, so your listing will appear lower down the list when someone does a general search.

(I have to say your rate is incredibly cheap for what you are offering - it is rock bottom, so that cannot be the issue.)

Play around with your description, photo order, text, etc - all of which seem to give some listings a bump up in the listings order.

[Hero0]

Thanks Gerry and Rashid,

I'm very confused about the availability. In fact have found calendar setting a bit tricky generally compared to last time. There should be maximum availability on the room! That's the way it appeared to me. Hopefully in remarking the rooms as available just now it is better.

I've kept pushing the cost down because it felt airbnb were encouraging me to do this through smart pricing and all their advice (plus no interest).

[Andrea9]

@Hero0  Hi,

as @Gerry-And-Rashid0 say, your price is ridiculously low which is maybe why guests might not trust the quality of your listing..

Another point could certainly be that since your listing hasn't shown any or much activity, it'ts slipped much lower on the ladder.

Also, due to the fact that the no. of hosts has gone up by about 100% or so world-wide the competition is now quite tough compared to a couple of years ago.

[Hero0]

Yes I thought market saturation was probably a problem, but was difficult to know how big a problem.  Thanks.

As I said I've kept pushing the cost down to attract interest!

I've got lots of good reviews from before, but it appears these don't show up in my listing. In fact I couldn't even see the review that my December guest left. Do you know if there's anything I can do about this?

[Huma0]

@Hero0, your house looks lovely and you are certainly offering the room at a very competitive price. I could be wrong, but here are some suggestions:

1. The price is too low. When I see a space with a private bathroom, in a Victorian house in London starting at £15 a night, my first thought is, what's wrong with this place? What's the catch? That price automatically makes me think your place is not so nice, e.g. maybe the street/neighbourhood is horrible (I know your area by the way as my cousin lives there, but many visitors will not).

2. The fact that you have a toddler and especially that you mention that he can be noisy and guests must keep noise down after 7 pm would put a lot of people off booking, but there's not much you can do about that! It's a bit far to walk to the tube, but again, nothing to be done about that.

3. I think there is a lot of room for improvement in the photos. You have many nice verified professional photos, so why use so many additional ones that are not as good? Why 54 photos? I would get rid of most of the photos from no.30 onwards, especially the hallway shots. They are not doing anything to sell your space and you already have 29 mostly great images. That is probably enough. Sorry, I don't mean to be critical as you have a lovely space and maybe prospective guests aren't even scrolling that far, but I'd remove the below average pics just in case.

The house looks lovely and full of character, but there's something a bit plain and uninviting about the bedroom part of the space you are advertising (bathroom looks great by the way). Could you maybe inject a bit more love into this space, e.g. some pictures on the walls?

The exterior shots of the house aren't helping you. They were taken on a very grey, gloomy winter day. I know it's a bit tricky at this time of year, but maybe take some on a bright sunny day with blue skies (then later take some when the hydrangeas are in bloom rather than dead!) and NOT when the neighour's bins are lined up outside. Take a clearer photo of Horace if you want to feature him! More tips on taking photos here: https://community.airbnb.com/t5/forums/v3_1/forumtopicpage/board-id/new-host/thread-id/20384/page/8

I hope that helps.

[Hero0]

Thank you for very comprehensive advice. 

I was worried about dropping the price, but really felt airbnb was encouraging me to do so. We do also have an £8 supplement for a second guest. But perhaps its better to have a small supplement and a higher overall fee. I just didn't want to penalise or put off single guests.

I realise the room is a bit sparse at the moment, part of the reason for renting it out is to raise money to pay for the decoration and other furniture, and I don't have time to put up pictures I'm going to change later. so nothing to be done there for the moment. 

I'm going to review the photos. It was very frustrating. The sun was out on the day the photographer came but he was late and by the time he arrived the clouds were over. Unfortunately I don't want to wait 3 months for the flowers to bloom and the neighbours bins permenantly live there. Not sure why he included them in the shot.

Thanks again. hopefully some of these changes will help.

[Kirstie]

Hi @Hero0,

You've had some great advice and tips from @Huma0, @Andrea9, and @Gerry-And-Rashid0! I would also recommend looking at this Community Help Guide - 'How to get more bookings on Airbnb' which has more tips on making your listing more attractive.

Happy Hosting!

Kirstie

[Helen3]

Hello @Hero0

I agree with the others.

1. Ignore Airbnb's smart pricing. For an ensuite in London you should be charging  a lot more - at least double what you do now. Have you checked what others are charging for similar properties nearby?

2. It doesn't cost a lot of money to bring colour to a room. Go to IKEA and for less than 50 pounds you can buy prints, vases, dried flowers, plants, cushions etc

3. You don't mention which part of London you are in. Mention your nearest tube/public transport and how far you are from the centre.

4. If you rented out the property before and have the same listings your old reviews should show. If they aren't call Airbnb and ask them to help sort it out so they show up.

5. I wouldn't stay in a place where I had to stay quiet after  7 p.m. I understand I wouldn't be having a party but I would want to feel comfortable about making normal household noise in the evening.

[Helen3]

Hello @Hero0

I agree with the others.

1. Ignore Airbnb's smart pricing. For an ensuite in London you should be charging  a lot more - at least double what you do now. Have you checked what others are charging for similar properties nearby?

2. It doesn't cost a lot of money to bring colour to a room. Go to IKEA and for less than 50 pounds you can buy prints, vases, dried flowers, plants, cushions etc

3. You don't mention which part of London you are in. Mention your nearest tube/public transport and how far you are from the centre.

4. If you rented out the property before and have the same listings your old reviews should show. If they aren't call Airbnb and ask them to help sort it out so they show up.

5. I wouldn't stay in a place where I had to stay quiet after  7 p.m. I understand I wouldn't be having a party but I would want to feel comfortable about making normal household noise in the evening.

6. Your photos or all out of sync and there is no individual captions on them.

[Hero0]

Thanks Helen, 

I can definitely do some of those things. Good point about the location - thought it would just come up on the map.

I'll consider what you said about colour, and see what more I can do with what we have but I'm not going to put the time in for things I'm going to change later, and definitely not consume things I'm just going to give away (I'm a sustainability consultant).

I've tried to reword the comment about noise. It's really not an issue, In truth I've never really heard guests when they're here before.  B I do feel I'd better say something now. If people have a problem with toddlers, they'd better not stay. 

No one has mentioned the instant book problem. I do feel this penalises people who just need to be cautious about who they have to stay. (I'd feel the same if I was a single woman sharing my house).

Thanks again