Do I need to offer tv and netflix

I rent my vacation home in the Catskills and I have two TVs with cable and Rokus, but I know lots of properties who offer only TV with basic cable, or only TV with a streaming device. You have to know your market and your demographic.

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This is the real secret to hosting!

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Since I house share, I also have to know my tolerance level :slight_smile: I would lose my mind if guests were blaring MSNBC or Fox News. Or just had the TV on while not even watching it. I know some people find having a tv on all the time to be normal, but I am just the opposite.

Iā€™ve thought about wiring up the guest rom, but then I determined that I donā€™t want anything that would encourage them to hang out in the room longer than guests already tend to linger.

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Tell me about it - Iā€™m the same!

Computer screen with Netflix for us and many tv channels from app of the tablett directly in the TV (we are avoiding so the Tv licence fees as itā€™s not a TV)

I rent by the month, so itā€™s not usually vacationers. Interns, people with a short term job or schooling. Iā€™m in the US and Iā€™ve found that people from other countries only care about wifi. Itā€™s the mostly Americans who watch TV, and only Americans who care that I have only basic cable.

I think that for some of us, NOT having cable or tv service is a great way to rule out those folks who we do not want in our home :slight_smile:

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I started with no TV in the room and added one later. I get more bookings now but that could be many things. I partially added to keep them in their rooms and not in the common space using mine or mindlessly taking up my time because they are bored. So, it is about what kind of clients and demographic you get. I think a TV helps me. It is Direct TV no netflix or internet connected to that TV. I have high speed internet and they can watch online programs if they want.

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I have a fairly elderly CRT Sony TV in the guest room. I forget the model - it might be Bravia. It was a pretty good TV in its day, but people donā€™t really use CRTs any more.

So, Iā€™m pinging this thread to ask - is it worth buying a wall-mounted LED TV? As of right now, Iā€™m inclining towards no, but a more modern TV would play nice if people want to hook it up to their devices.

I think this is pretty much a subjective decision, but if anyone switched from a CRT to an LED TV for their guests, Iā€™d be interested to know why.

I donā€™t watch TV myself, except on my computer in-between typing/writing and stuff. It gives my eyes a break.


looks quite good, for example, though Iā€™m not sure if it would fit. Itā€™s a small room.

(I was undecided whether to ping this thread or http://www.airhostsforum.com/t/is-tv-a-requirement/308/), but finally went with this one. Itā€™s newer and has more responses.)

I donā€™t provide TV in the room as I encourage them to do a lot of sight seeing. They can watch TV in the living room (which only a handful did) and they have fast internet.

From what I am reading here I think I understand that the choice of having a TV or not having a TV depends on the market you serve.
We live in a tourist spot, but also there are some business clients who use the space when they are in town. We want to encourage those clients to use our unit as much as possible.
AirBnB does not list a TV as one of the items needed to be included in their ā€œBusiness Travelā€ certified amenities, but what do you guys think about that? In other words, if you were a business traveler would you look for a unit with a television or do you think you would not particularly care?
Also, if we do add television our plan is not to provide cable, but to allow streaming. Do you think that would be a negative to business clients?

I really appreciate having this forum to consult. Thank you for any advice you can offer!! :smiley:

It was said on this forum that many members here like to have a tv anywhere they are staying so they can watch some local news or fall asleep with the tv on. So, I put one in along with a cable box. I have heard the tv for exactly 13 minutes total. Heading into the winter, I think that this might change. I am not providing online content, but the TV I purchased is ā€œsmartā€ and can connect to any of these services.

We nixed the TVs after a couple of years of hosting when we finally realized no one ever watched them. We didnā€™t watch it either. And it was costing a fortune!

Happy to be rid of it, and so far not a single mention of it. Just make sure you mention in your listing that you donā€™t have TV and you should be fine (depending on your marketā€¦ as others have said).

Iā€™m also a business traveler from time to time and I couldnā€™t care less about having TV where I stay. I have all the TV I need on my tablet and laptop. Netflix, CNN, and now DirecTV with pretty much every channel.

When I stay in hotels, I donā€™t even turn on their shoddy TVs filled with basic cable channels where you canā€™t find what you want anyway because the channel numbers are all messed up compared to what youā€™re used to. Itā€™s so much easier just to flip open the tablet and turn on exactly what I want to watch, using an interface Iā€™m very familiar with.

TVs in the room is looking more and more antiquated now. Like a throwback to a bygone era! People do so many other things with their devices than watch TV that most donā€™t even think about TV.

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In my rentals, I have 2 TVs: One in the bedroom, one in the living room. The one in the living room is connected to a local internet TV box (200+ local and intā€™l channels) and a DVD player, the one in the bedroom only has a DVD player.

No Netflix or anything else.

We had a computer screen that is used with a tablett to offer TV and netflix

Guests loves it.

We have basic free-to-air TV in the living room.

We donā€™t offer tv and nobody has ever mentioned it at all. Even the guest who was insistent every accommodation should have a fridge in the room and left us 3 stars because of it.
We live in an area where youā€™d be mad not to be wanting to spend time outdoors and most people seem to travel with laptops and tablets these days anyway

I have one TV in the living room and one in the bedroom. Both have Roku, with no basic cable. So far no complaints. But what I have noticed is that when you have a TV in the bedroom, guests eat in the bedroom. Even when they have a perfectly fine dining table in a nice sunny room at their disposal.

A great guest asked me why we didnā€™t have cable. Well we do on the family room 65" screen. The main bedroom only has a 40" screen and has local HD channels via an antenna and a BD player that has Netflix and other services. I do NOT provide the memberships, just a way to get to them using the apps on the BD player. I have had to clear out some peopleā€™s accounts when they did not remember to sign off before leaving. In our area local cable is only about $15 more with phone and high speed Internet. I believe the latter two are requirements so, $15 extra to list it seems cheap. Customers do use it at my house.