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We’ve been guests using Airbnb for about 5 years, with over 60 five star reviews and appreciate every one of our hosts who have graciously hosted us in their properties over the years.
However, I have a question. When selecting a property the photographs are so important, but what is strange is how many hosts seem to miss how important they are to a guest in helping them select the property. Why do hosts include close up pictures of glasses of wine, close-ups of knickknacks, close-ups of a towel hanging on the bathroom wall… and most of all pictures of tourist attractions. As a guest, I already know Disney land is in the area, or the Alps, why include 15 pictures of tourist sites and 6 pictures of your property?
But what I really want to see is not close-ups but photographs that really show what the place looks like. Artsy pictures really have no interest to guests, we are looking for information to understand what the place looks like to picture ourselves in it and if it will be a good fit.
Show us the layout of the living room, showing the couch and the TV where we will be relaxing after a long day of sightseeing. Show us the bedroom so we can see the whole thing, what the bed looks like, show us the kitchen, not a close up of a cutting board with a piece of cheese nicely placed on it and then a close up of a nice cute little homey sign on the wall. Show us the bathroom so we can see the shower so we can tell it has one instead of a bathtub with a handsprayer. And most of all show us photographs. 50 is a lot but I’d rather see 50 than 3.
And especially in Europe, if your place has free parking on the premise, include a picture of the parking place, this makes life so much easier if we have a rental car instead of trying to decipher the parking situation by reading 40 reviews hoping a guest describes it when the host doesn’t. And please disclose the floor your unit is on when there is no elevator. If you’re on the 4th floor without an elevator please just say so.
I hope these comments don’t come across as rude, but I know how many times we’ve probably passed over what could have be a great place to stay simply because we couldn’t tell if it was or not.
@Notahost Not rude at all. It’s always valuable for hosts to get good guests’ perspectives.
As a host, I am in total agreement. Those photos of knicknacks (which I hate anyway) or a picture on the wall are pointless. As are tons of photos of local attractions, especially if they are things everyone knows about, like Disneyland. A photo of a local farmer’s market, or people gathered around the firepit roasting marshmallows can set the feeling of the location, but one or two like that are plenty. And guests don’t need five photos of the backyard or the bathroom.
Sometimes it’s hard to get a photo which shows the entire room- it is for me with the private room I list. So I have to show the room in a few photos, from different angles. It’s often impossible to get the entire room unless a wide angle lens is used, but that distorts the space and makes it look larger than it is, so that’s no good either.
Of course it depends on the size and number of rooms a place has, but to me, 15 photos for a small place with one bedroom is plenty, whereas a larger place might need 30-40, but I’ve seen listings with 75 photos, which to me is just ridiculous.
And I think a couple photos of landmarks to look out for in getting to the place, ie. “turn right here” could be useful for guests.
And yes, hosts who don’t bother to disclose things are doing themselves and their guests a disservice. It’s important to mention the warts as well as the beauties. If the neighbors are consistently noisy, say that. Some guests won’t care- they can sleep through anything. I mention the 20 minute walk to town, that it’s mostly flat with no big hills to climb, that I have big dog that has a loud bark, but isn’t a neurotic barker, that there is an outside staircase to climb to the guest room, which could be a problem for someone with mobility issues.
You’re new here, so you don’t know… but as almost every host here can tell you, no matter how clear and helpful the info in a listing is, we have all had guests showing up to a room with bath in a shared house expecting to have the whole house to themselves, or that they’ll be able to use the kitchen even though the host has stated multiple times that the kitchen is not available. In other words, every host here will tell you that guests don’t read!
But thanks for the comments, which echo my concerns when I’m looking for a place to stay when traveling.
The vast majority of hosts don’t include close up arty photos.
Although you know about local attractions not all guests do. They find it useful to have photos of the area the Airbnb is located in and an indication local attractions.
You can use Airbnb’s search filter to see if free parking is available. You don’t need to search through reviews @Notahost
Agree with OP.
I am a host and a guest. As a host I used to have photos of tourist attractions until i read this forum that it was no need to. THANX.
And as a guest, ooh yes. Take pictures of everything, artsy no need. Especially when the listing is 2 bedroom but only take picture of one bedroom. That makes me think the second bedroom is not available and Im on to the next listing!
, and some of this.
Oddly enough I have come across that in local listings while checking out the competition and as we are in a wine region I shrugged those ones off but the ones that do get me are the close up artsy pics but I guess they are trying to convey the vibe of their accommodation.
For me I find it frustrating as a guest when they have multiple photos of one bedroom without proper captioning. Then I have to start looking at the bedding, walls and furniture to determine if it is Bedroom 1, 2 or 3? Those kind of photos do make me delve into the listing description again for clarity.
Recently came across one yesterday where there was a photo of the toilet and bathroom vanity taken at a 2 foot height?! It was nothing spectacular but why the toilet at toddler height?
Not at all. It made me look at my photos again, thank you.
I am refreshing them bi-weekly now in an attempt to keep my listing “fresh”.
BlockquoteYou can use Airbnb’s search filter to see if free parking is available. You don’t need to search through reviews @Notahost
Blockquote
Yes, you can, however the parking seach and the way Airbnb gives hosts choices to list their parking option is probably the worst and weakest feature on Airbnb currently. (I beg them every time I get an improve airbnb survey to work on this feature)
When a listing appears filter for “Free parking on Premises” these are the actual results I find repeatedly, free parking on premises turns out to be:
Free street parking
(technically free parking… sort of on premises) however, in reality, this can mean you are staying in a low traffic area on a street with tons of available parking and you can park right out in front of the property ever night, or it could mean you need to circle the block 8 times to finally find a place 3 blocks away.
2 Paid street parking
Same as above except it isn’t even free
3 Parking at nearby facility (reservation will/will not be required) extra fee per day…sometimes the host will include the actual name of the parking facility and sometimes list the price per day
4 Property includes an asigned space (if available, please contact host if you will need parking)
5 Free parking on Premises -Property includes an assigned space (could be in an underground garage of the building or in an attached parking lot to the building)
6 Free parking on Premises -Property is an apartment or condo type building and has a parking lot around it
7 Free parking on Premises - Use of properties shared driveway
This is the situation we go through repeatedly everytime we are looking for an Airbnb in a city, in rural areas the situation is simple, but urban, the airbnb “Free Parking on Premises” filter is just an initial start to a much more tedious process of determining just what does free parking on premises really mean?
That hasn’t been my experience as a guest. Where it has said free parking on premises, that has always been exactly what it has turned out to be @Notahost
Sad to hear some hosts are not clear about parking.
I have a friend who does Airbnb photography and I have been saying this to her. Her clients ask her to do Artsy photos but as a guest I tell her 1 or 2 is fine but we want to see whole rooms and how the space is laid out.
I agree that the Airbnb filters aren’t the best. I usually have a car at my Airbnb and yes, in fact the parking can be all over the place (pun intended). As a host I have large, free off street parking. Almost my entire front yard is concrete and I have room for multiple cars and even a moving truck pulling a car trailer can just fit in my space.
Many folks with such a rig message and ask me even though I describe and picture the large space. It turns out that, like you, many guests have been unpleasantly surprised by their hosts misrepresentation of the parking situation.
