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I’ve been working on this room for months and I got bogged down on details. My other listing has not been all that busy so I haven’t really pushed myself either. Texas is really hot in the summer and the Houston area is not exactly a vacation destination. This room is finally ready to list, though I’m not taking bookings until the second week of August. Still sewing the …[long list of expletives deleted] … curtains (it has been a slog, and I keep running out of supplies like thread and the stiffener for the top and hooks and not enough material…ugh).
Here’s my original listing which has been going since January:
mentioned ‘with private bathroom’ in the opening remarks - you have to catch them in the first 1 - 2 sentences. Searching airbnb listing is exhausting.
make sure you have a storage bench or space in the closet for all those lovely pillows, and let guests know that is where they should go.
Hi Chloe,
Almost nobody eats them! It’s nuts - the more I put out the less they use. My last guest stayed 4 days and drank two bottles of water and ate one package of animal crackers.
Hi KarmaCasa,
I would like to raise my rates but I don’t think the market will bear too much more. That’s why I decided to open the second room, so I could get double the bookings with not that much more work.
I understand. I have a brand new room with ensuite and can’t get more than about $45 a night either. Your set up is much nicer. How long to get to the Woods Pavilion for a concert from your house?
Very interesting. Maybe I’ll try that, the putting out lots thing. Right now I leave each set of guests 2 bottles of plain water, 4 cans of sparkling water, 2 small snack bags of peanuts and 2 Ghiradelli chocolate squares. Every single couple has eaten every single thing, every time, LOL!
You get tourists. Tourists are on vacation and think they are entitled to everything you put out. It’s like the people you see at the hotel breakfast buffet filling their pockets with stuff.
Hi KarmaCasa,
It’s about a half hour to 45 minutes, so by Houston commute standards - not too bad. For people from out of town, it’s just so hard to get them to understand how big this area is and how far away even the simplest things are.
I had a lady who wanted to stay at my place for Ironman (in The Woodlands) and she wasn’t going to rent a car, she was going to bike everywhere. I told her that it wasn’t feasible and she found another place. (I looked up the review and it was full of “host drove me all over town” so I’m glad I didn’t take her). Another guest refused to rent a car even though I told her multiple times before her visit that she would need it. Sure enough, she had trouble getting cabs and rides and I ended up having to take her to work 3 times (she paid me cash though). I was super pissed when she gave me 4 stars for location though, I went back and changed my house rules to “MUST have transportation and no standing at the foot of the driveway waiting for cabs” after that.
Hi Chloe,
I bet it depends on the type of guest. Most of my guests are traveling for work so the most they want to do is grab a cup of coffee and something small on their way out the door at o’dark hour. They eat out lunch and dinner and don’t return until later in the evening.
Also, most of my guests are women traveling alone. I think women have been socialized to be aware of how much they are seen to eat and so they don’t want to take too much. When I have couples, I notice that the pre-packaged carby foods get eaten a lot more.
Contradicting all this is the lady traveler who probably stuffed her suitcase with the food because it was all gone, and she drank 4 K-cups of coffee each day. But she was also a repeat customer who recommended me to all her co-workers so she was welcome to it!
Thank you! I watch those home shows on TV and I’ve been dying, just dying, to have a go at it. My husband thought the room shouldn’t be so clearly feminine, but I want single female travelers so this is one way to attract the specific customer without spelling it out in words.
Thanks! The windows were the real selling point when we got the house; our master bedroom and dining room have the same setup on the floor below and the rooms are always full of light.
I have already joked that there are two listings in my area that have nothing but a picture of an empty room and they have great reviews!
Lovely place! The only thing I would say is that personally I am always a bit wary of listings that announce ‘gorgeous’ or ‘stunning’ etc in the title. My eyebrow raises and my eyes narrow immediately and I tend to pass on by. Your windows really are stunning, though, so you don’t need to announce it! Best of luck.
WOW! Your place is gorgeous! You have some serious interior design skills woman! Absolutely beautiful, and I read your listing before you gave the explanation of why you put that self transportation is a requirement. Don’t blame you at all.
While my home and guest room is not any where as lovely and upscale as yours, it’s on the feminine side also, and a couple of my friends (who are not airbnb hosts) have suggested I go neutral. But that’s my room in the winter, and I like it
Wow, your place is so tidy and looks very much like a fine hotel. Your rates seem low for what you are offering; but maybe you’re “in the ballpark” for your location? Even still, Best Western or DoubleTree’s rates are double–even more I think–anywhere in the States.
Thanks brook2adks! For the first room (the blue one) I was originally going to reuse furniture that we already had but then nothing really went together so I started buying pieces to coordinate. Since it’s easiest to buy what’s in style a lot of these things kinda self matched (like the lamp shades and the bed cover). Then I started spray painting the old furniture to coordinate - the dresser was originally green and the desk was a medium brown.
When I did the second room is was empty so I had a blank slate and was able to plan everything at once. I made the headboard (so easy!!! all you need is material and a stapler) and had leftover material to recover the bench.
My biggest problem is knowing when to stop because now it’s going to take a year or two to get back my investment.
