Easy Ways to Make Your Airbnb Guest Love Your Home - Part One

It’s a competitive world out there. AirBnB hosts everywhere are falling over each other to compete for bookings and earn all star guest reviews. Here are a few basic, and in some cases pretty obvious, ways that go a long way to earn the appreciation of guests from around the world and turn your home into a wonderful London vacation rental home.

 

 

Coffee machine. This is basically essential. Guests from overseas, especially those from North America, love coffee in the same way that Brits love tea. Remember also that depending on where they come from, they may be battling jet lag, so all the more reason to provide them with some form of coffee making equipment. It doesn’t need to be a £2000 barista-station, a Nespesso-capsule compatible machine will do find (but do provide at least a starter amount of capsules and tell them where they can purchase more). Alternatively, a French press / cafetiere is also acceptable. Most Americans will be used to a filter coffee machine, which you can purchase on Amazon for about £20 (again, provide a supply of filters and some starter java…)

 

Microwave. This is pretty important and we at Ivy Lettings now require all our hosts to provide one (even though many hate them!) Again they are an important feature in US kitchens (more so clearly that in an English one) and will significantly add to a guests enjoyment of your home. It doesn’t need to be a massive one, a small microwave which can be stored away if needed will suffice.

 

Hairdryers. These are another Ivy Lettings must have for our homes. Travellers don’t like bringing their own (bulky, need adaptors) and so providing one is an easy way to make their lives easier. If they complain that there is no three point socket to plug it into in the bathroom, just tell them that’s a matter of domestic law, not poor bathroom design.

 

 

A good night’s sleep is critical to most people and that goes for your Airbnb guest too. We find at the enquiry stage guests cite a comfy bed as a key search criterion. Providing a bed with absolutely clean mattress, mattress protector, linen, duvet pillows is an absolute basic essential and nothing will turn a guest off quicker if this isn’t the case in your home. Beyond that you should make sure your sheets and duvet covers are properly ironed and you use the nicest quality linen you can afford (same goes for the towels - it counts). To cater for the allergic travellers - with no disrespect, Americans appear to suffer from allergies more that any other nationalities - provide foam pillows and hypoallergic duvets. Feather is so last century and to avoided, unless you’re selling it as a Downton Abbey experience. At Ivy Lettings we provide 5 star quality bed linen and towels as standard. It’s expensive but it goes a long way to pleasing guests.

 

 

Another sensitive area. Clear and store away all your toiletries. If you can provide a fresh supply of hotel-style minis (shower gel, shampoo etc) then great. But a clean and clear bathroom is an absolute must. If you’re serious about attracting guests, bear in mind that a shower for travellers from many countries of the world is essential, the more powerful the better. We recently listed a wonderful property in South Kensington which just wasn’t getting the booking levels we hoped for and when we looked into it, it was because it just had a bath. We persuaded the owner to install a shower and the home took off pretty much immediately.

 

More to follow...