Listing all but dead since this summer - advice appreciated

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@faheem I see you advertise a cooked breakfast, can you add a picture of that to the listing? I would also change the picture of you out for one with at least a little smile. :stuck_out_tongue: Maybe add a picture of you and your sister sitting down to breakfast with some guests?

You do have some pictures that are redundant. There is a little trick I used when doing the pictures for my listing that you might find helpful: I imagined I was walking through the listing and ordered the pictures that way. You can tweak that a bit, for instance I started with a picture of the king bedroom as my main listing photo and ended with outside pictures, but in general this will both help you cut down on multiple pictures of the same thing and assist your guests in imagining the place in their heads.

By the way, I love your place. I’d stay there; it feels like real local living to me. The architecture and greenery is enchanting. I would even add a picture of the budgies. The tower room could use some kind of art on the walls as they look a bit bare, and I would move all the pillows to one end of the bed to make it look plusher.

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Yes, 40 is too many. Way too many. 15-20 maximum :slightly_smiling_face:

I really think it will show your awesome place better! Just one shot of each important space (bath, bed, garden, etc) and then a few detail shots of stuff you want to accentuate.

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You can just skip the thread, there’s no obligation to read it :wink:

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That’s what I do. Thank goodness we have new mods so I no longer feel I have to read everything.

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@faheem - Darn good advice from @georgiahost

@muddy gave you great advice on having better curtains - LISTEN. Other than the size of the bed it looks like a dorm room. You live in INDIA - where are the charming pillows, throws, etc.

In short - your place needs a WOMAN’S TOUCH.

MAYBE something can be done to “dress up the bathroom”? Maybe not - but look into it.

This is the Sales Game. Avoiding possible objections. If all you care about is listening to people who tell you that your place is great then skip ALL the rest of this.

Look - I will not pull punches. I am trying to help - but also will not waste my time and tell you that things look great when they look cluttered and messy. If I feel this way, then others will - and you are definitely losing some business.

You keep writing that you have some new updated photos. Ok Put Them Up already!

Here are some notions for what could be on that rooftop. This is from a place we stayed in Morocco:

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Here are some of your photos I would dump. They are either redundant, not attractive or not relevant:

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  • photo of you (sorry)

You do not need FIVE photos of a cluttered common area. Are the walls still green? If not, put up new photos - after you stage the area and clear all the stuff off the tables.

Three photos of a barren rooftop? Plus photo of “stairs leading to it”? Really?

Four photos of cluttered messy kitchen? Seriously?

When you take photos, FIRST PUT EVERYTHING AWAY. Tables and counters should be CLEAN, with only essential items on them.

Last thought to leave you with. SOME of your competitors are booked many weeks more ahead than you are - there are reasons for this. They are usually more expensive - so it is not a money thing!

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@faheem, it seems to me that people are giving you very well-meaning advice but seem to be getting a little bit bogged down with photographs and curtains and what you look like and why your terrace doesn’t look like a place in Morocco. :slight_smile:

It doesn’t really matter how many photographs you have. No one is forcing potential guests to look at them all. At least you are showing your space unlike the hosts who steal photographs of the local area from the internet (poor quality ones usually) and have those on their listing.

It’s great that you’re getting new photographs and I look forward to seeing them but I very much doubt that the lack of them has much, if anything, to do with the lack of bookings.

What doesn’t seem like a good idea at this stage is to spend money tarting the place up when it’s lovely and authentic just as it is. I’m not saying that it can’t be improved, almost every place can, but its not the curtains or artwork that has caused your lack of bookings.

As you’ve also explained, you furnished your terrace … when? Was it in 2016? I remember reading here when you did it. So that’s not an issue either. I doubt your pricing is either and if anything, it’s time for an increase. Lower prices can mean worse guests. Plus, your ratings are better than the few other listings I saw in your area. (And some of them look very un-Mumbai).

It’s interesting that a lot of hosts complain that they get low star ratings for location whereas you do well in that category.

As well as adding new photographs, maybe it’s time to start doing a little promotion yourself - just contacting local organisations and so on, nothing too time-consuming.

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Thank you for qualifying that with “can”. I get quite irritated when I read hosts stating that “Low prices attract low-quality guests”, as if that were some universal truth.
I have a budget priced listing for my area and what I offer, and I get consistently charming, respectful guests. For many people, especially seasoned travellers, their housing requirements are modest- clean and comfortable and safe are the criteria they look for- if it turns out to be thoughtfully and artistically decorated, and there are nice amenities, that’s bonus. They’d rather spend their available money on the travelling itself, buying unusual things from the areas they visit, or eating well. Fancy digs aren’t that important to them. And just because they look for budget-friendly accomodation doesn’t mean they are cheap. I’ve had guests take me out for dinner, bring me gifts, come home with a bottle of wine for us to share, make meals and ask me to please join them, or insist on giving me gas money for driving them somewhere, even if I decline and say I was going that way anyway.

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I am more price per night than average around here and I can tell you this is not true. I’m usually last to book being higher priced at least 50% of the time I rent. I end up with last minute bookers that have not planned ahead and I’m all they’ve got left. Especially high season summer and holidays. My place has higher end items and much more on amenities than others, but I still get good guests and crap guests just like everyone else lol…

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Can you let us know where you got this information from? I know that it was okay for hotels to be on Airbnb in the past but if this has changed can you let us know the source? Thank you.

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@jaquo Perhaps I am wrong? My impression has always been that air is a mix of home stays and “entire places”.

It is a given that some of these “stays” are “corporate owned” or “somewhat more commercial” - but it had always been my impression that hotels are not eligible for air or vrbo. But are clearly part of the mix on BDC, Expedia, Tripadvisor, etc.

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I don’t know. You said it so positively that I assumed that you knew that it was a new regulation that I am unaware of. Working with hotels surely makes a lot of sense for Airbnb. They have an even greater number and variety of accommodations on their website which, and I hate this phrase but can’t immediately think of an alternative, makes them a one-stop-shop for even more people.

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The Airbnb help page about hotels (etc.) is still there so I assume that nothing has changed?

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1526/what-are-airbnbs-standards-for-hotels-and-other-hospitality-businesses

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How about that? So, basically any hotel that is not a big chain type probably qualifies as “boutique hotel” etc. Learned yet one more thing today.

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A lot of larger resorts fall under this category also.

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The good thing is that so far, despite everything that’s going on in the world, the travel industry is still growing. (I read that it contribute something like $9 trillion annually to the global economy). So you can understand why Airbnb wants as big a slice of the pie that it can get. Providing accommodation and experience are both excellent ways of doing it - I wonder what will come next?

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I totally agree with this. I’ve always loved the look of your place faheem, precisely because it is so authentic and charmingly eccentric. I realise that last phrase possibly sounds condescending. I don’t mean it to be. It sounds very odd but there’s something about your kitchen/dining area that reminds me of my great-grandmother’s farmhouse kitchen in south Wales! It says to me that I will be comfortable there.

I also don’t have a problem with the photo of yourself. Perhaps it’s because I have got to know you a bit on this forum over the years (at least, as much as that’s possible). You don’t look unfriendly in my view.

I do think that your listing description is a bit too long, though. I’ll think about some suggestions to shorten it.

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That’s what I love too, amongst other things. If I was in Mumbai, I’d want to know that I was in Mumbai. That’s really one of the aspects that Airbnb still manages to maintain, I think, the idea of ‘living like a local’ and not staying in some faceless hotel.

That’s probably why I too think that having a photograph of Faheem is fine. It says ‘this is your host’ and is borne out by the reviews that say how good a host Faheem is. It show that - in the traditional spirit of Airbnb - guests will be staying with the host in his home rather than a place having a largely disinterested management company running it. I truly believe that personality and the standard of hospitality can overcome a lot of minor flaws in the business.

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We should probably start another thread about this issue! I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said but I do think that aspect of “live like a local” is waning. I mean, just look at the posts on here! The pressure is on to not look like a faceless hotel BUT we have to provide a “quirky” or “themed” or manufactured “truly authentic” place.

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Hi folks,

Sorry for disappearing from this thread. I’ve been a bit overwhelmed. Too many things to do. And sensible replies to posts are quite time-consuming. I’ll try to catch up.

Anyway, I finally bulk uploaded my new photos to Google Photos using (if anyone is curious), gpup. Note that this does not constitute an endorsement of Google. It was available, and relatively easy to do. The other option would be Flickr, which might also have a bulk option tool.

I don’t think I’ve ever shared photos before, at least on a photo sharing site. So I’m not familiar with Google Photos, or indeed any other photo sharing site.

The share link is

[79 new photos added to shared album] TowerRoom

This shows a gallery view of all the photos. There are 79.

I tried opening it in an anonymous view, and it worked. But I can’t guarantee it will work for anyone else. The photos are also not numbered, so I don’t see a convenient way to reference them. However, it may be possible to star individual photos and add comments (I’m not sure if special permissions are required for this). So I guess that might be an option if anyone wants to offer feedback. And of course, I would be grateful for such feedback. Polite and constructive, please.

The photos seem better than I remember, but I still don’t think they are terribly impressive for a professional photographer. For example, the first photo of the front doors looks quite different from the real thing. It’s just plain brown, with none of that weird white streaking shown in the photo.

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Faheem, no offense, I guessed you were a numbers guy before reading your listing profile! You seem very focused on showing everything, and (over)explaining everything, rather than marketing your set up as a genuine Mumbai stay experience. Do you have a friend who is in marketing? Get them to help! Who is your target market? If business travelers, I bet they will gravitate to the “modern” looking stays, so yes, you are right to emphasize efficiency, location and your double WiFi, but you may have to stick at a lower price point than your sterile apartment competitors. If tourists, you can focus on your traditional and homey ambiance.
No point in taking tons of pics when, for example, the tablecloth is crooked, there is what looks like a discarded paper cup on the floor under the table, and one of the bedroom pics is a close up of peeling paint on a rusted bedframe! Please put some extra pillows on the bed and a folded colorful spread or blanket in order not to emphasize the slim mattress. Maybe set up an attractive yoga corner in the tower room, as you are a yogi.
Not all guests read listings, but some do, and you’ve over-humbly hedged and apologized for your features, as well as being way too detailed (citing the window brand, for example, and describing the lock – enough to say “The room is peaceful and quiet with soundproofing features.”). I sent sample revised wording a while back in this thread, but you are still saying “you will get wet,” (how about just “Umbrellas are provided for traversing the patio areas of the property during monsoon season.”), and that the bathroom is a distance away from the bedroom, instead of it is private and surrounded by plants and flowers. Instead of saying “full Mumbai-style breakfast provided” with a lovely photo as someone above suggested, you are still saying “Breakfast is included if you want it.” You actually apologize (“sorry”) for your nice king bed, and practically guarantee that the WiFi will fail, instead of saying “There are two WiFi connections available to ensure communications in the event of occasional signal outages.” There is a way to word things that fully informs guests without setting up negative expectations. If you set up positive expectations (not over-promising, of course), guests will tend to have a positive experience. And they do – you’ve got lovely reviews.
I understand your personal note, but I think it would be sufficient to say, in the description, “I love hosting all types of travelers, with the assistance of my disabled adult sister who lives with me. I am always happy to provide an introduction the neighborhood and touring suggestions, but you can interact with us as much or as little as your please.” The all-caps instruction to see “A NOTE ABOUT MY PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES” in the profile makes your circumstances seem intimidating rather than normal, which they are.
I’ve favorited your listing and will certainly stay with you if I am ever lucky enough to travel there!

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