My house is by RR tracks...Please help see if I wrote the "Summary" ok

The rail road tracks are about half a mile from our house but you can clearly hear the train and the whistle.
I put it in the “neighborhood” but I am finding few people read.
Not all people dislike the train but the ones that do give me bad reviews for location.
I just wanted to make sure it was clear since I put it at the top .
Thanks Faith

That is one of the most cluttered house descriptions I have ever read! I am not surprised that people don’t read it all. Use full sentences. Put the safety information before the endless names of parks, speedways, and golf courses. Really work to tighten your content so that it reads like an adventure; not like a laundry or shopping list.

I found the RR tracks information to be pretty buried. Twice. If you know how far away those tracks are, include that information along with the number of daily trains. 4 trains a day is very different than 45.

I admit, I read your listing on my phone which always reduces the quality of the experience, so please take that into account. I imagine that there are many people who will be incredibly attracted to what you are offering. The goal is to write “copy” that encourages them to choose you over the other options in your town/area.

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Here’s what I can offer

  1. Kudos for your amazing home, the pictures of the landscape and surrounds are amazing! Do you have any of the local cafes, antique stores, the train station, map of area etc in your photos etc you refer to, I always think its nice to have a few of these. Also fabulous as the pictures are I think there are too many. Try to reduce it a little, don’t need to have 3 pictures of the dining table etc otherwise people get bored and might miss something great.

  2. RR tracks is not a common abbreviation, especially not in my hemisphere so I would write it in full and remember a lot of people have to translate listings and that would not be translatable. I also don’t know what you mean by other camps nearby - spell it out.

  3. The info about the tracks and noise is too hidden, be upfront about it, location and number of trains etc as others have said.

  4. Explore why people are dinging you on location. I get 5 stars for location and live on the one of the busiest intersections in a major city with no double glazing, its very noisy with any windows or doors open and motorcycles in the middle of the night at a big pain! People give me that rating as I am right opposite transport but I am clear in my listing its very noisy but the compromise is the transport access and neighbourhood. It can’t just be the trains, is there anything else you need to be clearer about, ask your guests or think about.

I think the train information is just fine where it is. As others have suggested, I would also make another mention of it in another section. However, even though you do make sure everyone is aware that there is going to be train noise, it doesn’t mean they’re going to tolerate it well.

Do the trains run at night?

I agree with @anon67190644. Your listing appears too wordy to me. You have several repetitions and an unusual amount of detail. Much of the historical detail could be in your guest book for guests who are interested. You could mention that you have kayaks and that if guests wish to use them you will go over the safety procedures and local laws. It looks like you haven’t made entries in the guidebook. This would be a good place to list the local attractions, although again it seems like the guests don’t read it.

Regarding the train. I saw a thread on Reddit where a guest complained that the listing showed that it was near train tracks, but failed to mention that the trains ran all night. I think you need to be explicit about what guests can expect in terms of train noise. I know that many guests don’t read the listing, but this will offer some protection if a guest requests a refund due to train noise.

Your guests are very happy with your place and your hosting style so you’re doing a lot right.

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I once stayed in a B&B that was on a hill over a train track and the exit of a tunnel. Apparently trains need to blow their horns in tunnels and as they are coming out. As I learned. All. Night. Long. Apparently it amplifies up the stone hill. In the morning one guest said it reminded them of a sweet country song. I thought to myself “OH MY GOD MORE LIKE A/C D/C”. So yes, different people react to this sound differently.

Now I’m two blocks from a railroad and don’t often notice the horns.

Your ‘train whistle’ comment makes me think of a little tiny engine puffing merrily along the way - is it like that, or is it like the loud blaring reverberating up the cliff into my bedroom? As others have said, be very clear.

And for my taste, your listing has way, way, way to much information. Leave some surprises for the guests to discover when they arrive. Guests are shopping through lots of listings and don’t have time to sort through all of that. I always say ‘they need to know where they are going to sleep, and where they are going to pee’. Those photos need to be near the very front. Then a few photos of the other areas - one of the dining room, one of the living room, a few of the outside - guests get fatigued clicking through multiple photos of the same room.

But it is indeed gorgeous. I’m putting you on my wish list!!

PS - that same b&b with the blaring horn also had glass - yes - full-view glass doors on the bathroom and on the bedroom. No, I don’t get it either. In addition both doors were visible from a very large glass window that all the guests walked past to enter the building. Our host was dumbfounded when we asked for sheets to cover the doors!!! WEIRD!!!

lol, sounds like an interesting weekend away. I think if I was at a wedding and enjoying some wine and dancing on the cliff at a function, might be a treat but at 2am while Im sleeping after a day of sightseeing or trying to relax after a hard week at work and hosting, I’d not be in the appreciation camp.

No! And it was our first weekend away after having our daughter - about 6 years after!! We still had a great time but not much restful sleep.

What about turning the negative into a positive. Make the trains and their whistles appealing? In my hometown, the frieight trains roll through all night. They blow their whistles and this sound lulls me to sleep when I’m home visiting my mom. Trains whistles and tracks can be a positive. My boys were born and raised in Hawaii. When they were younger, they would have loved to have stayed in a a place by the tracks. When I was home I took them on a train trip just so they could ride it.

I have friend who is a train geek in London. She bought a place right by the tracks because she has to live by the trains. Some people can’t get enough trains.

Put it felt and center and turn the negative into a positive.

Even in the title.

'Gorgeous place right by the tracks!"

Nah, just kidding but you get my drift.

Just looked at the listing. I don’t have a problem with the summary. Absolutely gorgeous home and river setting. You put the railroad thing front and center already, so there’s not much you can do about those idiots who complain about it later. Honestly, guests. They never cease to amaze.

My daughter lives in London and the railway track is in a hollow outside her back garden. We love it - I find it a really comforting sound, though there are only about 2 trains per hour. I guess it might be different if it was a busy inter-city line.

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We still don’t know how often the trains run. All day and night?

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Your home is gorgeous I can’t believe what a low security deposit you have. If I had a place like that it would be $5000!
That photo alone will make people book and those curious/cautious will read through and those who don’t like to read will just see the photo, the price, the home, and canoe/kayak rental. Many people love trains that is not necessarily a bad thing. PS It’s funny I have the same carpet in my living room that you do under your white table and chairs.

Ack! All those paragraphs about things to do…Remove them. Put only about your property. When I book guests, I ask them if they’d like a nice summary of things to do in our County. Many of them say yes, and some say no - they’ve figured it out.

I also think that there are too many pictures of the outside scenery.

I got confused if I was looking at the Cottage or at your full time residence. I looked at the furnishings twice, read the particulars three times and think I was seeing the cottage where I would stay.

Your place looks amazingly beautiful! I grew up in PA and love trains. I had a major line than ran about 200 yards behind my rent house in my 20’s. About 80 trains passed by day and night. I’m a little confused with your ad though. Is the house with the big deck the one that is rented out? Or the other one?

Not the first adjective that would come to my mind for describing local trains here. What’s comforting about the sound? Just curious. And where is this, again? Spain?

Thanks everyone for your input. I am sorry for not responding .
I was trying to gather what everyone thought first. I did change things in my account.
We can not move our home and most of our guests love the river and surrounding ridges that we are
nestled in… There are just a few that dislike the train and I wanted to know if I made it clear about the train…
Thank you

But seriously you need to increase your security deposit. You do understand how difficult it is to make Airbnb pay up on their “host guarantee”??