Do any of you host have themed rooms and if so what kind of theme I am getting a new house and want my rooms to be themed to attract more guests
My answer is âsort of.â Both of our guest rooms had murals on the walls before we started hosting. The Poetry Room has a mural of a poem by Victor Hugo in French done in calligraphy on the wall. The Monet Room has a mural inspired by a Monet painting on the wall.
Each room has a hand-painted sign that is reminiscent of its mural. The roomâs bath also has a hand-painted sign.
Thatâs as theme-y as we get.
We have âbrandedâ the rooms by using their names. Repeat guests know them that way. And weâve had a lot of repeat guests. Guests also book a particular room because the theme appeals to them.
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No, but I once read about a small hotel somewhere on the Oregon Coast that had a themed âauthorsâ set-up. Each room was named after a different well-known author and decorated accordingly and with a shelf of books by that author. It sounded cool and I always planned to check it out if I ever found myself in the area.
For the Airbnb, I prefer to have it neutral so anyone would feel comfortable there.
I have the full Victorian catastrophe, with 15 foot ceilings, four poster beds, silk curtains, fringing, tassels and antique furniture. I get lots of weddings!
What reason would your guests be to your area?
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I use to stay in a hotel in NY called The Libray Hotel. I just looked it up and it is still around. Each floor and room is organized by the dewey decimal system. I often stayed on the 5th floor in the math room but also stayed in a photography room on the 7th floor and in oceanography on the 9th floor. There are even cooler rooms (fairy tales, Eastern religion, erotic lit, etc) but I tend to travel spontaneously so never got any of them. The place is pretty average otherwise but the dewey decimal system organization is sublime.
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I remembered the name of the hotel and itâs still operating. Looks very cool.
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Unfortunately, I donât have themed units. I would absolutely love to do themes. I donât have the time or money right now, but a girl can dream 
It would make hosting so much more fun.
And, as a guest, I will go out of my way for a theme accommodation. But it has to be done well. Even though I love them, they are mostly a disappointment. What I mean is, sometimes people do themes but itâs half-assed or they think that because thereâs a cool theme that it doesnât have to be clean and comfortable. E.g. you canât throw a couple of scratched up LPs into a Best Western and call it a rock and roll theme, thatâs just lame. Doing a theme will cost more time and more money if youâre doing it right. I wish you the best of luck and truly hope you create comfortable, clean and legitimate theme units. Please do let me know where they are! I will come.
edit to add: for reference, I posted above about the Library Hotel. I used to stay there in the 90s and it was a little funkier and a little more boutique. Looking at it now, it looks like a bland chain hotel with a library theme. I do still love the theme, but am disappointed that they made it bland otherwise. This tells me that they are trying to appeal to both a specific audience and a general audience at the same time. A good theme will say âscrew emâ to the general audience.
TL;DR: Themes are awesome. To be pulled off well they probably need to be a labor of love and not necessarily profitable (at least for quite awhile).
I like the fact that it exists and appreciate that they made it happen, but itâs lacking for me. Really, how the hell are you selling me a âHemingwayâ room that doesnât have a bar cart or not even a single decorative decanter in it 
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You looking for a small boat and a large rotting fish?
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As long as it comes with a cask of rum or bourbon.
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I donât have themed rooms and wholly agree with @JJD that you need to be very careful and not over or under decorate.
My husband stays at a property in CA because itâs clean and cheap. They have a safari room, complete with giant stuffed giraffe and pup tent in the room. The room is lacking basics, such as a desk, but has a pith helmet and mosquito net. It looks like a grown up nursery. The other room is the flower room that is a combo of diy pallet furniture and heavy floral print on all surfaces.
To pull off a good theme you need some advanced decorating skills and restraint.
Good luck and post photos when completed.
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Hereâs a great example of successfully pulling off a theme. We stayed here for a week a few years ago. It was awesome. I think what makes it work is that they started with these old shacks and instead of spiffing them up and calling it a theme, they just worked with what they had (a bunch of shacks in the middle of nowhere). They didnât try to do luxury modern in the shacks. They didnât even try to make it bland and appealing to the masses in the shacks. They just went with a shack theme. And when they added stuff, they didnât go off script - they added a big shacky building with lots of beer and blues stuff. More importantly, they did not try to pull off this theme in a bunch of condos on the beach 
Our shack had a clawfoot tub, an upright piano, a tattered chenille bedspread and a big screened in porch. We got to bring our dog. There was a bonfire and a band for a couple of the nights. It was truly awesome. But it is not for everyone. I think that is a good test of a theme listing: does this appeal to most people? yes? Then your theme is watery and lackluster.
https://www.shackupinn.com/ourstory
But to see the rooms, I mean, um, shacks, you have to got to the res link:
https://convoyant.com/resnexus/reservations/lodging/1B23D08E-47CA-4F07-AA35-0F9F5DF14837?ID=546
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@muddy â I used to live in Salem, OR and have stayed at the Sylvia Beach. Fabulous place with decent rates â back when I stayed there anyway; still not bad for the location and ambience!
@Gandyv8 â we only have one listing, a 1 bed Cabana, not a house full of rooms. Here in Southwest Florida, just a couple miles to beaches, we call it âKeysianâ decor â in the style of Key West and the Florida Keys â pastels, coastal and sea life themed bedding, towels, paintings and other decorate items.
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Iâd be really interested to know why you think that themes would attract more guests?
Youâll gather from that that I donât have a theme - other than the apartments are vaguely furnished in a way the reflects the era in which the complex was built. Only a handful of people have mentioned to me that it was a deciding factor when they chose where to stay and just as many have referred to it as being âdatedâ. 
Some of the themes mentioned above sound lovely but I wouldnât choose a place with a Star Wars or country music theme or whatever. And as @JJD says, to do a theme properly would add a lot to your start-up costs.
Iâd love to know what themes youâre thinking about and to see photos when itâs done.
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Yes, but more by accident than design. I had gradually collected balsa wood parrots over many years, then found some parrots on cushions, then duvet covers with parrots.
The Parrot Room emerged;-
I can hear the howls of ânot throw cushionsâ from here!
I sewed the rest of the cushion covers onto the hem of plain white curtains to match.
Forgot to add that guests love the room. Itâs part of a suite of two bedrooms with J&J bathroom. Itâs not unusual to hear them argue about who has which room, but I think they choose to stay here for many reasons, not just a theme.
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Agreed. I donât think having a theme will necessarily attract more guests and could certainly turn some off. Except for certain locations - seems like it would be fairly location dependent. Or dependent on the property itself (e.g. old shacks with an old shack theme). I am curious about @Gandyv8 location and whether it will inform the themes.
One place Iâm aware of that seems to do well with themes is Salem, MA. I helped a friend find a place there once. (Though this was before a lot of laws changed in MA and the pandemic, some seem to be gone or just not listed right now). However, a lot of the places have gothic furniture and stuff (which is odd because the witch trials happened between the Gothic period and the Gothic revival period, so I doubt it is historically accurate but I get the theme, whatever). And thereâs this person who has done a Harry Potter Theme place in Salem, Ma. As far as theme rooms, this person definitely matched up their place (and therefore audience) with their theme. Some places are outright witch themed and some are just time period themed. So, in Salem, and it is likely that they attract more guests with a theme because of the location.
I like this one:
Hereâs a good themed airbnb that looks well executed. Not sure why in St Louis and not sure that it helps them. St. Louis seems out of the way just to go for the airbnb even if you are a big fan of the show and not sure how many people who need an airbnb in St. Louis are big Stranger Things fans. Even though this one looks to be done very well, itâs hard to imagine that it brings them guests. But who knows? It looks like a labour of love project, which I believe is the way to do themes though.
This one is well-executed too. It being in Ontario is random, though the area is not drastically different than RI where Moonrise Kingdom was filmed. If I go to Ontario, I will stay here for sure. No reason to even shop around. Would I go to Ontario just to stay here? Probably not, but maybe.
This is the best Airbnb on a boat that I have come across. I think it does indeed benefit from the theme and attracts more guests. But this is very very specific.
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We share a big old VIctorian home so one room is very VIctorian. Another we call Eclectic VIctorian, which just means all our leftover furniture and decor, lol. I once stayed in a home that had a cheap but distinctive approach to each room. Each room had white walls but ALL the woodwork, furniture, and even decor, such as lamps, were painted the same color - light yellow, blue, green, etc. The rooms were just designated by color. It wasnât fancy but I thought it an inexpensive was to offer some differentiation.
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Why do you feel themed rooms would attract more guests and what sort of guest are you targeting @Gandyv8?
Disney style rooms for families at Orlando or Paris or seaside style near a beach maybe.
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I saw a listing with Disney-themed rooms in Orlando. To me, it was all quite tacky, childish, and hideous. If guests are coming to go to Disneyworld, I should think theyâd get enough of that at the the place itself, not have to eat, sleep and breathe Disney. And it effectively would turn away those who are coming to Orlando for other reasons, I would think.- a business trip or just to visit relatives.
Thereâs a quote I clipped out from a newspaper many, many years ago, because it was so no-holds-barred and non-PC:
" A horror made of cardboard, plastic and appalling colors, a construction of hardened chewing gum and idiotic folklore taken straight out of comic books written for obese Americans- a cultural Cherobyl."
Commentator Jean Cau, among the French intellectuals deploring the giant Euro Disney amusement park near Paris.
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Welcome to my guestsâ quarters! I couldnât describe the âthemeâ any better! LOL