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Hello everyone! I am almost ready to publish my listing and become a host in Portland, OR wahoo! However, I have a dilemma…
My husband and I own a large 1920’s Craftsman house that is zoned mixed use. We live in the building and run a 600 sqft tattoo studio in the front of the house. My husband is well known and an amazing artist in our industry, I think the quirkiness of the place and his skill will be a draw. The suite will be completely private and will be an “entire house listing” with private entrance via the back porch.
I want to put the name of our studio proudly and be honest with guests that they will share a wall with the business but never need to intereact with it. I came across some other posts that worried me by letting people know the business name, they will essentially know where we live before booking. Should I be concerned? Any input is appreciated, thanks!
Maybe don’t mention the exact name of the place. Just call it a tattoo studio and say it’s run by a well known artist.
You definitely need to let folks know it’s next to a business, but I can’t really see that being a deterrent, unless it were a nightclub, fish&chips shop, fire house etc.
You could just mention the nature and quality of your business but not the exact name. I think it’s a positive and sounds like a really interesting listing.
Also, use words like studio, boutique, high-end, artisanal, etc so that people don’t imagine it’s the kind of sketchy place where drunks go to get questionable Chinese characters or “They’re all sluts but Ma” (I actually saw that once) on their biceps.
Haha! I definitely want to let people know we are a higher end shop and not a “get whatever you want for $40 kinda place.” We are appointment based and our artists are booked out for months typically. There are plenty of tattoo shops in Portland (over 100!) but I think ours stands out for the right reasons. Thanks for making me laugh, that poor bicep.
I would advise against making a big deal out of the name of the business. We have heard that doing that could be a violation of the TOS… since it would be easy for guests to go around Air and find you directly.
To wit. I had posted a few photos of my home located in a rural area of Hawaii, and certain enterprising potential guests drove right to it! Knocked on my door asking to see the room! Don’t give away too much info like this, details which would make it really easy to find!
I would just mention the studio as you described here, front of the house, with the rental being separate. I would also use the nature of the business to sort of play up the Portland free-spirited angle… subtly though. To me, it seems very much in character of the neighborhood, and that is what I imagine many guests will be interested in booking.
I would mention in the ad that you have a small studio in the front of the home from which you run your art-related business…skin art, er…of the permanent ink variety, and that it is completely separate from the guest living area but shares a common wall.
I assume you have tested it for sound transmission and guests won’t be disturbed by the “buzzing” sounds or screams (do customers scream on occasion?). Can you tell I’m not familiar with tattoo shops.
Last summer I stayed in a VR above an ice cream shop. With the windows open, all the soft moans and smacking of lips of those sitting outside sure had me peering down from the window a lot!
I know where we are staying next time we are in Portland!!! Would love to see your listing once it is live! Or PM me you hubby’s Instagram would love to see his work!
Agree you should add some awesome, indescript photos of the Tattoo shop, but omit the name. You don’t want looky loos coming around. You could also advert it as an ‘experience’ and offer guests appointments (if available) during their stay. I think you will get some awesome people!
For some people it might be an interesting listing, sure and they jump into clientele. But I personally will never book such place. You should be very careful. I have a very close mind about tattoo. For me who has a tattoo is trash. Just told you my view at this kind of art.
I can see how some people may feel this way. I myself am covered in over 250 hours of work that is anything but typical “trash”. My husband is a fine artist first and has an art degree, all of his tattoos are custom drawn by hand. Clients fly from around the world to get tattooed by him.
The rental will have no trace of tattooing and people will never need to see the tattoo studio unless they want to check it out. I think it is sad you would be so closed minded when you haven’t even seen my amazing space in Portland’s hottest neighbirhood. I respectfully implore you to open your mind a bit.
Tattoos are not for everyone, and I think you should def mention that your listing is connected to a tattoo parlour or you risk bad reviews from closed minded people. Plus, you don’t want those type of people staying with you, it will be nothing but problems.
Be straight forward in your listing. Everyone does not need to market to everyone who breathes. While I never want a tattoo, I know many people in my past who have had them - I used to work next door to a tatto parlor. I say go for it. And if I rented your place I could care less that a tatoo parlor was there…so you would still get my business if I chose to stay.
I renovated the space and started by letting visiting guest tattoo artists stay there and a few trusted clients flying in to be tattooed (some as far away as Indonesia). We don’t attract a certain crowd and are extremely busy. I am not doing Airbnb to get tattoo clients and I don’t need the money. Since we went through a lot to make it nice, I though why not get more use out of the space and share Portland’s awesomeness with others?
