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I’m a prospective Airbnb host (I use Airbnb as a guest as well) and am considering how best to go about it. There are two options:
I have a spacious two-bedroomed flat and travel often so there are times when I would propose to offer the whole flat (probably as a one-bed though, with the smaller room locked so I can clear my clutter/personal stuff away. I have stayed at properties where the host has done this and found it to be fine.).
However, as I have two rooms, it is also perfectly possible for me to host while I’m home too. Instead of the other room being locked, I’d be in it.
Is this possible to do on Airbnb? Effectively listing the same property but two different availability types? Or do I need to pick one type and stick with that - i.e. only rent when I’m away or only rent when I’m home.
I think what you propose is perfectly fine - and seems to work well, I’ve seen it done. You just have to manage from the calendar which property is active when.
I think you could do it both ways. You could even have two different listing types for each kind of experience. My only suggestion is that you decorate the prospective bedroom so compellingly that your guest will want to spend a ton of time in there. Nurturing your guests with super charged hospitality is key to 5-star reviews and re-bookings. Good luck!
Thanks, Vanya.
Just to be clear - do I just put one listing up and then modify it, or two separate listings? Two listings would be weird I think as people might get confused. I guess my question is technically whether Airbnb manages these customisations ‘behind the scenes’ as it were, so the people looking only see what is available on the day/s they are looking and not some other option (and can I set all that up within the dashboard). It might become clearer once I go through the process but I want to be clear about what I am doing before I start!
Thanks for your reply.
I’m trying to work out if two listing is necessary/allowed, or if I can set-up some conditions behind the scenes which the Airbnb will then manage depending on the dates. I don’t know if it’s as sophisticated as that or not.
I’m thinking if I were a guest and two listings came up for the same property it might be a bit strange. Although maybe that is technically possible, if it only brings up properties which are available on the exact dates searched for? Is that what you are getting at? As a guest, sometimes when I have searched properties and specified dates, I have been shown properties which are actually not available…
The whole place has just been completely re-decorated so it’s looking good. As well as the two bedrooms (one which I’d make available for the guest) there is a large living room, dining kitchen and dining reception hall (and a bathroom of course) so plenty room for a guest, I think?
Actually, I agree. Two listings would be strange. I’m just thinking that both scenarios would work so there must be a way to do it both ways. Maybe you could list both scenarios on the listing? I’ll have to think about it…
I am following this conversation as I have the same issue. Sometimes I am gone and the entire apartment is rented to my guests, but sometimes I am home and we need to share and only the living room is available. I’ve been going to the dates using my calendar, making changes in the price, but it is awkward as there is no place to make a note to the potential guest that it will be shared. There is a Notes section when you set the price on the dates, but the guest won’t see those notes. I have to state this when the guest writes me and he cannot find out ahead of time. Ahead of time all he sees is Entire Apartment, and when they find out it will be shared, sometimes there is a disappointment. I do NOT wish to build a separate listing as that is confusing to guests who are shopping online. This is an area AirBnB needs to attend: like just putting up a Notes to Guest option on each block of dates.
Thanks.
Susan
Did anyone figure out how to offer an entire home AND a single room in a way that isn’t confusing to guests? I am thinking of offering my place this way…and it still seems confusing.
Hello Eli, I tried this for quite a while and did various things, mostly just inserting text into the profile, the details, and ultimately it was too confusing to guests. So, I had to create a different listing for my Private Bedroom only. It is extra work to manage two calendars, but it is the only way to do it properly to make sure the guest knows just what they are getting. Ultimately you’ll have happier guests and your life will not be so stressed. So to keep the calendar from being too much work I set it for 3-month intervals and I find that easy to manage. Best of luck.
Susan
I actually have three listings for the same property. My single listing used to say that I could have between 1 and 3 guest. Now I have 3 listings to market to groups of 1, 2 and 3 guest. I have been a host for almost 3 years and have been using 3 listings for about 1 year.
It is a bit of a pain to manage more than one calendar but I have noticed that I have more reservations than I used to when I only had one listing. Every now and then I mess up and double book. the 3 times I have done this guest have been fine with other guest being in the house and I make double the money. I have been lucky that none of my double bookings have meant folks have had to share a room.
