When I first started Airbnb I called my place a private room (it is a room and a private bathroom). It’s very well equipped and once I adapted the former walk in closet to accommodate full size fridge, beach equipment, ironing board, etc I started calling a guest suite, entire place. There is a microwave but no kitchen and it’s separate from the house, with its own entrance. But it’s just a room set up like a studio. Is “entire place” inaccurate? I just changed it back and am not sure.
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Great question. I have the same setup but with a private entrance. I call mine private room because I don’t want people thinking they have a kitchen and living area. Most of the places I see locally when I search “entire place” are stand alone or guest houses and have at least kitchettes. I don’t see places like mine. I also think it’s best to under promise and over deliver. But some people here think I could list it as entire place. I may even miss out on some bookings since people can easily search by entire place but private entrance still isn’t a filter. Lucky for me I’m getting plenty of bookings despite this.
If I didn’t have a separate entrance I would definitely not call it “entire place.” If I searched for entire place and got listings where I had to walk into the home with other people living there but couldn’t use any of the common spaces I’d be miffed.
Mine has a separate entrance and it fits the description for a guest suite. But when I list it as a private room it comes up as “private room in guest suite”. I notice listings like mine in South Florida under both “entire place” and “private room”. I put “no kitchen” in my description. But of course people often don’t read the description.
Mine says private room in house so maybe remove the guest suite check mark? I’ve only had one guest since I remodeled to add the entrance and ensuite bathroom think he was getting an entire apartment with kitchen. He was Italian and I chalked it up to language differences. I let them use the kitchen. But I tightened up my wording and haven’t had that problem again.
I wish Airbnb had the proper designation for places like ours.
I have similar set up to KKC, but do “guest suite” and “entire home/apt.” I’ve only ever had one guest early on who thought they were getting the entire house and they obvi did not read the listing. After that, I updated my description to say “315 sq. ft. bed-bath-kitchenette suite behind host’s home, private entrance with keypad” right up front. I have every kitchen appliance but a hot plate/stove, and no one’s complained. In fact, I don’t think anyone’s even used the rice cooker or the electric frying pan. I did have to up the electrical circuits to accommodate all the cookery equipment.
Entire place vs. private room is more about the privacy level than the amenities it contains IMO.
If your space has a private entrance and there’s no overlap of indoor common spaces it qualifies as an entire place.
Many hosts in my area let out the upstairs or basement levels of their homes this way. In Airbnb settings it’s “Property type: Guest suite Room type: Entire home/apt”.
There is some danger in listing as “entire place” that guests will think that’s an entire house with full kitchen and laundry facilities. Be sure your listing is clear about this. I include a “cliffs notes” of my listing at the top of the house rules in case they didn’t read the listing:
BEFORE BOOKING: Know that (listing name) is the second story of a two story house. It is small, self-sufficient and private, but only set up for beverage and light snack prep (Has fridge & microwave, but no range or kitchen sink). The bathroom and shower are small. My boyfriend and I live downstairs.
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If mine didn’t attach to my home and if it had a kitchenette I’d list as an entire place I think. I do have a room right next to the airbnb room that I could easily add to the suite. I could do it as easily as cutting an opening through the wall. That could become a sitting room/work room/dining space. The kitchenette could be in there or a tiny one added where I have a desk now, next to the bathroom. Considering how much I’d be adding to the suite the cost could be quite modest. Then I’d list as an entire place.
But at this time I don’t need it to be competitive. I could probably get booked 100% of the time but the pricing power gain would also be very modest. And then I’d have less room and less quiet for myself and the guests. I should have made the guest suite bigger when I had it added on.
Its the kind of question ABB could get involved with, raise discussion and perhaps use the outputs to refine the interface, but after contacting them on another issue I felt as welcome as a bacon buttie at a bar mitzvah.
Customer Relation Management tools are being used by all the platforms to hide behind
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I have actually only had one guest complain, and I hate to give up the search advantage. There doesn’t seem to be a “private entrance” filter -
I have had trouble searching as a guest for this reason because I don’t want to have to go through the host’s house.
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I’m almost fully booked and am usually in the first page of search with no filters on at all. I do have other things going for me though like 460+ reviews.
That sounds nice - mine is much more humble, and no kitchen sink.
I would call what you have described as a studio or guest suite.
This is excellent Allison. Thanks for your input. I think I’m going with “entire place” and making it clear there is no kitchen. When people book for a longer stay (over a week) I can remind them no kitchen and also mention that the laundry room is available but I need notice so I can leave it open for them.
Studio in America means an apartment that does not even have a bedroom – the couch makes out in to a bed, or there is no couch, just a “day bed”.
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I’d officially designate it as a private room but have the title include the words ‘private guest suite’ or ‘completely private suite’.
In the first sentence of the description I’d write something like ‘enjoy the privacy of your own compact designer suite with its own entrance…’
Sounds like it is similar to what it means in the UK.
A studio is a self-contained property with a large living room with normally a bed (sometimes a sofa bed) or a mezzanine bed area and a separate kitchen or kitchen area and separate bathroom.
These are all good ideas. I would never describe this budget Airbnb as “designer” but I definitely take these suggestions into consideration.
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Then:
‘enjoy the privacy of your own compact BUDGET suite with its own entrance…’
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Gosh - dont know what to call my little place. its a self contained space with private entrance, bedroom, with en suite bathroom and en suite kitchen.
I just call it a guest suite - would the panel agree?
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Gj5xbseJxNmhTF5caIwPZTJUyMtwSqil
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I’d list that as “entire place.” Entire place is one of the most frequently selected filters.
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