I should have my new Airbnb open in about a week. It will be a full house…not an individual room . Should I provide guests with cable-tv, or do you think hi-speed wi-fi with a smart tv will satisfy guests?
Most hosts (myself included) are fine with “just” a smart TV. Even my mom–a baby boomer–knows how to watch all of her shows on her computer.
Adding an HDMI cable might be a nice touch, though, just in case they want to project what’s on their computer onto a larger screen. We were so happy to have one of these for the Game of Thrones finale that we all wanted to enjoy on our family vacation.
Personally, I began with the idea of offering cable… until I learned it cost $600 a year just for the most basic package! A Roku box fit the bill just fine.
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I think in a whole house a TV is a nice touch. In the UK you can get freeview boxes, which gives you I think about 40 or 50 channels, which you buy for about 30 pounds, with no additional costs.
With a whole house I would offer a TV. You can find good Smart TVs used online which is what we did, and we got a used Roku for $25. We have antenna hook-up and a blu-ray/DVD player. The whole set-up cost us under $200 and it has no ongoing costs.
I definitely suggest a tv with a smart device , I myself have 3 entire house listings each one with an Apple TV , I find this device to be the best as to good quality and entertainment, and my guests appreciate it i also provide Netflix and Hulu plus
Good question - I’d like to add another component to it…
in a whole-house rental is one large main TV enough, or should each bedroom also have its’ own TV?
Seems like the question is related, but please tell me if this should be another thread.
To answer your original question, we have cable and smart access plus a dvd collection. I find that, personally, we watch TV on demand so it skips the commercials. We don’t have TV at home, so when we’re at the house cleaning we’ll take breaks and binge-watch reality shows. 
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I’ve been struggling with this issue myself - my husband thinks everyone travels with laptops/kindle etc and I like to watch news when I’m away. Weighing up each side with the cost of cable tv (at least $600 a year). We could offer our guests to walk over to the house (just a few steps) to watch cable though. What do you think?
A smart TV with Netflix is popular for families. We are even providing a tablett with netflix installed on it.
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I had this very dilemma this year, and eventually bought a smartTV since our winter nights are cold. Guests aren’t out and about in the evenings as much as during the summer months, and in fact, people have used the TV. Had a few that watched a soccer tournament, silly serial TV shows, and a few have hooked up their tablets with an HDMI cord. One group had Good Morning America, or one of the AM shows on as she got ready in the morning.
It has not encouraged people to stay in the house when the weather is friendly, but has provided some amusement when it was needed. The sun sets here at 4PM in December and January, and the winds get pretty rambunctious after the sun goes down.
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My whole apartment rental has a 27" Smart TV with Roku and Blu Ray player in the living room, and the bedroom has a 19" TV/DVD combo in it. But the only reason is because we had that TV already. If not, I would not have purchased one just for the bedroom.
I think it depends on what kind of guests you have. I get mostly couples, so the TV in the room isn’t entirely necessary, but since I also host families where the kids sleep in the living room the TV in the bedroom is a nice addition so that the parents can stay awake and watch local network TV (no cable provided) or movies.
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We have a detached cabin with WiFi and the minimalist Cable – major talking head networks, PBS and half a dozen other channels, plus a Netflix account which has a sector just for the cabin. Before that we had nothing fo most of a year and literally no one complained, except one guy who wanted to watch the Superbowl and I sent him to th classy sports bar a mile away!
TV helps on those rainy days. So, yes, I opt for TV.
We’re in a tourist area and we have basic cable. Our logic is that people don’t come here to watch TV. When guests arrive, I leave the TV on a certain channel. More often than not, that channel is still set when they leave. So - and this is just me - I don’t think that a TV is essential but it depends on your location.
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As a guest, I personally wouldn’t book a place that didn’t have a TV.
We have a 48" smart tv with Netflix in the room we ABB. The younger generation (under 60) loves Netflix but the more mature guys get grumpy when there’s no cable.
It’s completely irrelevant to me. We always travel with laptops, iPad etc. so can watch anything we want to. Just another point of view 
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Recommend TCL or Sharp roku TV. They are very inexpensive with roku built in. I have 55 inch in the living room, 42 in the master, very easy to use. I signed up with Sling orange package since it has lots of sports channels and Netflix and Amazon prime. So the subscription is $33 not counting the Amazon that I use it personally anyway. Have all TVs sign in for both my houses. So the TV bill is really low. All guests are happy.
No bad idea! People do not want to go into a host’s home to watch tv if they have booked private accommodations. I have insomnia and like to watch tv if I can’t sleep or catch the news at my local time? Do you want people popping over at 3am? They won’t but it might make them unhappy and youlll miss out on 5 star reviews.
Let me explain further. I do plan to have a television in the house. My
question is do I need cable TV or is just the internet okay? I was
thinking I would have a television, and Wifi. People could then use their
own Netflix account or other such service. Do you think that would be okay
or do I need cable television in addition to internet
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Oh right! My view would be save your $ and just go internet tv BUT this means advertising clearly (so I bring my password, save disappointment) and having great internet.
I would say though if you can afford it and charge decent prices I would expect and love 
️ cable.
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Good points! Hadn’t thought about the insomniacs, but I do agree with you. Sigh - I gues we’ll bite the bullet and buy 3 new tvs and pay for cable for the coming season.