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Just gone live with the 2 spare rooms and bathroom upstairs, I’d ideally have a group of 4 guests at a time.
Now I’m wondering about long empty periods that could have had one couple in one room - what’s the best way to do the listing?
I would go with number 2.
Personally, I’d do two separate listings with a shared bath. I think you’d get more bookings that way. If there’s a group of 4, they can just book the two rooms separately. That’s what we do. Maybe offer a price break for one group renting both rooms.
We do option 1. Sometimes we have to make up an extra bed for the cheaper rate (if we get 2 friends who don’t want to share a bed, rather than a couple) but it’s still less work than 4 people in the space. We just make sure our ‘cheap’ rate isn’t something we’re going to resent
Blimey! Three completely separate opinions 
I was hoping for a resounding united answer, just to convince me, but I appreciate all input.
And I respect your thoughts more than most!
Very good point Mike. However, we’re a bit unique, in that we’re willing to lose bookings, if it means we’re losing ‘cheaper’ bookings. It’s part of our home, so we’re going to appreciate the downtime, rather than cram all week every week.
yeah, I see how that would work…it’s not too often you get friends who want separate rooms, compared to couples. I’m in Brighton, traditionally the ‘dirty weekend’ town, so I imagine our bookings will be ‘couple heavy’
I’d do it by the room because then there’s no inquiring into guests’ sleeping arrangements. Not every group of two will share a bed and booking by the room will make it clear what’s “theirs”.
Many of my 2-person reservations have slept in multiple beds (I have a 2BR - 1 Queen, 2 twin listing), cannibalized spares for pillows/blankets, or used them for luggage storage - all of which effectively cause as much work as adding extra guests to the reservation. Since I charge for the whole space I don’t mind if it looks like 4 people stayed there.
We have an almost identical setup and list our place twice. Once listing for the entire place, one bedroom unlocked. Another listing for the entire place, both bedrooms unlocked.
The listing calendars are linked, obviously.
Allows us to set all the amenities “correctly” and pricing proportionately.
@Barns, I’m assuming you don’t want to rent out the two rooms to separate guests at the same time? Ie. guests would be sharing the bathroom with other guests that they don’t know. Understandable. It’s doable but not ideal.
What is the set-up at your place? Are the rooms right next to each other and what size are they? If you had one double room and the other with two singles - even better if you have one of those zip lock beds that can be either - you would attract multiple configurations, eg. families (unless you don’t take children?), two couples, a couple and two friends etc etc.
It’s not often, I think, that two couples travel together. Plus you will more than likely have one room booked every weekend by a couple and so the other one will be empty.
Sounds like you will be the most helpful to Barns! Out of interest, how often do you get both rooms booked by two couples?
I get a large number of guest groups with three friends, parents with their teen or even adult children, plus two friends who don’t wish to share a bed. My maximum number of people is 3. I understand that area offerings with maximum of 4 get many of the same type of groups, plus one.
It is annoying to make up a second bed for a second person without an increase in income, but I have decided not to split my listing up with two listings based on number of beds.
Why don’t you charge for the additional guest? It doesn’t have to be much, just enough to cover costs and your time.
I charge for the third guest… not the second. As I have said repeatedly, I wish that AirBNB had a per bed option as well.
But you can charge for any additional guest after one, no? I do!
I don’t care to. Choice I made a long time ago, and still prefer.
Ah, fair enough. Actually at some point last year, after a few long bookings of one person, I decided it could be more lucrative to have a slightly higher flat rate and not charge for an extra guest. So I amended all my price settings and ta da! it screwed up everything. Called Airbnb and they couldn’t work it out or help (big surprise) so I went back to normal. I wonder if I should try it again… not got the energy at the moment to go through all that hassle if it doesn’t work, though. I actually sent a complaint to them recently about their appalling lack of technical support.
(@Barns, apologies for derailing your thread).
Opened the “double” this year, we left one bedroom locked for storage before. Been hosting for about 18 months so far.
To date, probably 20% of the stays are double.
Splitting the listings is a one time effort, but maximizes your options and profits. Just my $0.02