Please comment on my listing

21

Hi @portlandgirl,

I agree, there is way too much clutter, particularly in the front/entrance room. It’s a bit better than it was in the photo. There were a lot of cardboard boxes to the left of the front door - I’ve cleared all those away. The bed to the left of the door also looks better than it did - there were a lot of pillows on it. I’ve cleaned all that stuff off. That bed really should be replaced by a proper sofa, but right now it’s just one more thing to put on a todo list.

Actually, I asked the lady who came to take the photos for Airbnb what she thought. She said something like: “the room is fine, but this area is quite a contrast”. Meaning the front entrance hall. That gave me the stimulus to do something about it.

There’s still a lot of room for improvement - the furniture isn’t the greatest, and is mostly quite ancient. And like you say, there is a lot of stuff lying on the tables.

I’m not sure about the kitchen. Is there so much stuff on the shelves? I think there might be a shortage of cabinet space, which is why some of that stuff is sitting out, but I’ll see what can be done.

Hmm, interesting. The thought never crossed my mind. Does anyone else concur?
I mentioned the hospitals, partly because Bombay is quite popular for medical tourism (tons of hospitals and doctors), and if people who were going to go to either of those places, then this would a good location for them. Also, personally, I’d consider the proximity of hospitals to be a positive thing. They’re places to go if one gets sick. :slight_smile: They’re both quite modern hospitals, though Saifee is far more photogenic. Bombay Hospital is ugly but functional.

Also, people go to hospitals for other reasons than being sick. :slight_smile: For example, I go to Saifee Hospital 3 times a week, to the gym.

Ok, I’ll think about doing that. That sounds like a good suggestion - people respond positively to green things.

Thanks very much for your feedback.

22

I was thinking the same thing - but didn’t know how to say it exactly - ‘play-up’ the authentic Indian experience, ‘how the local’s live’ ‘come share our culture’ type of thing.

23

Yes, the garden is very beautiful, exotic, appealing to people from other places.

Keep the place YOU - that’s what people want to see. I was fascinated, looking at the photos, because it’s so different from houses in the US. Which is exactly WHY I would choose it - because it looks so cool and different. If I wanted a ‘white washed’ experience I would stay at the Holiday Inn.

24

Regarding the hospitals: I never even thought about the medical tourism thing! That does make sense. And a gym at the hospital - that is wonderful… No such thing going on in hospitals in the states.

25

I completely agree. As one who loves interior design I was again looking at the photos lasat night and admiring his home. There are so many insipiring components (love the stripes on the stairs) and that (assuming) it is the home where he was raised ( sweet piece of artwork from childhood) makes it so much more enriching than almost all other Airbnbs.

26

I thought I’d update this, roughly a month later. The top post says I
posted it 26 days ago.

So, some statistics. I’ve now had a grand total of 11 inquiries so
far. This is everything under https://www.airbnb.co.in/inbox. I’m not
distinguishing between reservation requests and booking inquiries
here, since Airbnb is lumping them together. Of these two were
directly reservation requests, and one of the remaining 9 was
initially a booking inquiry and then a reservation request was made. I
did pre-approve the request, but I’m not sure if the guest used the
pre-approval or not. So a total of 3 bookings so far. Currently for 6
days, 3 days, and 7 days. At least for now, inquiries really don’t
mean bookings. The funny thing is that some of them sounded quite
serious about booking right away, and at least based on this small
sample, the number of questions they ask appears to be inversely
proportional to the likelihood of renting. The three people who
actually booked, collectively didn’t ask anything at all. The people
who made the current booking didn’t even send a message with the
initial reservation request.

The current guests initially booked for 2 days, and then extended for
a further 4. They are scheduled to leave Tuesday morning. I almost
didn’t book the lady who made the booking request, because she didn’t
include a message, but she did respond to my reply.

I was a little nervous about the currently resident couple. The
guest’s page had basically no information and she basically told me
nothing before arriving. Also, it turns out they are locals - the
guest page listed a different city, but apparently that’s out of
date. However, they’ve been out most of the day, every day, and been
practically invisible while they have been here - no requests, no
questions, nothing. I’ve got a feeling this is considerably better
than average.

Here is a inquiry breakdown by location: 6 India, 1 Canada (from an
Indian), 2 US, 1 Australia, 1 Vietnam. The three people who have
actually booked are 2 India and 1 America. Since my cancellation
policy is moderate, the two people who have booked but who haven’t
arrived could currently cancel with no penalty.

The inquiries contained some curiosities:

  1. The Australian gentleman who asked for a discount for a 2 week
    stay, then added “How do I apply the discount to the booking” and “do
    you provide a coupon code?” The funny part is that he is himself an
    Airbnb host for several properties (much more expensive than mine) and
    with good reviews, doesn’t offer any discounts himself, and further,
    doesn’t he know how Airbnb works? I don’t think coupon codes can be
    used with Airbnb. I assume the correct instrument for giving a special
    discount would be a “special offer”, so why didn’t he know that?

I offered him a 10% discount, but didn’t hear anything back.

  1. The Vietnamese lady who said she wanted to book outside Airbnb,
    then asked for a discount (for a two day stay), then said she “won’t
    cook at home much”. :slight_smile: (I don’t offer cooking facilities, only a
    microwave oven.)

I said no to both the booking outside Airbnb and the discount. She
replied saying she would think about it.

  1. The Indian gentleman who said his 15 year old son and a friend
    would be competing at a local tennis tournament. As he put it “On the
    other day I’ve done booking like this only.” I also wrote about that
    in http://www.airhostsforum.com/t/minors-travelling-alone/4668.

The couple currently renting the room were kind enough to fill out the
suggestion form I gave. I asked them to rate possible items on a
scale of 0 to 10, where 0 was “don’t care at all”, and 10 was
excellent. (Some of these are things that would have been relatively
straight-forward to do, but I put off because I didn’t know if anyone
would actually show up.) One item that they predictably gave 10 to,
was a separate fridge for the room. I think I’ll get that next, but
I’ll park it outside. More space for the fridge, less noise in the
room. And everybody likes fridges.

I purchased a domain name, http://towerroom.net, which now redirects
to my Airbnb listing. Eventually having my own website would be a good
idea, I think.

Overall, this is moving a bit slow, but there a lot of people listing
here, some of them are cheaper than I am, and some of them have
reviews. So I guess it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. Some people
have made suggestions about the listing. If other people want to
comment, it would be appreciated.

1 Like
27

Asking the guest to tell you exactly what kind of soap and breakfast they want could be complicated. Some people just have tea and toast in the morning, which would be very doable. But what about the folks who want bacon, omlettes, pancakes and so on? I have this visual of you spending your entire morning as a short-order cook. (I’m assuming you would not change your prices according the type of breakfast they want?)

I guess I would find out what other Airbnbs, small family-run hotels and inns in your city typically offer, and then go from there. (Obviously you’re not trying to compete with the massive all-you-can-eat buffets at the 5 start international brand hotels in your city. At your price point, no one would expect that anyway.)

Maybe add some local wall art to the bedroom. Something soothing.

As for the soap, just go with a mid-range, nice soap that’s available there. I would tend to go for products which are on the lower end of the scale in terms of how strongly they are scented. Or, if you could find some local hand-made artisanal soap, that might be a hit with certain kinds of guests.

I agree with the others about the visual clutter in the first few photos. At first I thought the place was a school.

28

Hi @Garden1Gnome,

Thanks for the comments.

We have a cook, so I wouldn’t be doing the cooking. I can’t cook, anyway. :slight_smile: Our cook can handle basic things. For example omelettes/scrambled eggs would be no problem. I’m not promising to handle all requests. Also, I clearly said that breakfast would be at 10 am. That’s when he comes in.

Asking guests about specific varieties of soap may be overkill, agreed. I’ll see if it starts becoming an issue and adjust it. One great thing about short-term rentals is that one is not wedded to any specifics; one can always adjust as one goes along.

Sounds like a plan, but communicating with other hosts in this city is surprisingly hard. Airbnb clearly has no interest in hosts communicating with each other, and provides no channels for that. There is a Airbnb India web group, but it’s not really functional. And Indians on average have such atrocious English writing skills that it is maddening to communicate with them. I posted one question to that Airbnb group some ago, and nobody responded. And you have probably noticed that nearly everyone on this forum is either from the United States, Australia or Europe.

That sounds like a good idea.

Ok. Could you cite some specific examples, say using Amazon links?

Yes, it’s somewhat better than that photo shows. I’ve cleaned up the front entrance room quite a lot since then, though it still isn’t great. At some point I should perhaps take new photos, though they won’t look as good as the Airbnb ones.

29

Faheem,

First of all… wow… a PhD and degrees in subjects that I found incredibly daunting. Impressive. I liked that you told so much about your background as an academic. It makes me think you’d be a cool guy to rent from and I would be more inclined to trust you! :smile:

I also think your place looks cool and I would just have a couple of suggestions… in the lead photo of the yellow tower… the wires that are hanging down in front * might * worry me… I would wonder what they are and is that how electricity, etc. is supplied to the place? If you can’t move the wires… maybe take the shot at a different angle so they are out of view?

I would also clear out some of the clutter in the main living area, as others have suggested.

The garden is interesting… we have many of those exact plants in Hawaii!

Agree there are too many photos of the same interior. What about showing more of the surrounding area such as the markets nearby and such…? places to eat, or local color?

The penthouse terrace looks awesome! Could you maybe set up a patio table with umbrella up there?

Good luck! I think you will do well… You do need some reviews!

1 Like
30

This place looks wonderful!

I have just a couple of polishing edit suggestions:

  • In the description for picture 15 you describe the air conditioner as an air freshener (which is something else).

  • Check the formatting of your house rules (first paragraph includes extra line breaks)

  • In the description section “on-suite bathroom” should be “ensuite bathroom”

  • Because you want to keep the description as short and readable as possible, I’d also move the following text from the description to the welcome email:

"As regards your preferences regarding shampoo, soap, and breakfast
choices, please contact me in advance.

I’ll distribute survey/suggestion cards when you arrive. You can
return them to me whenever you want before you leave. I’d like
suggestions on how to improve the guest experience."

31

A lot depends on the type of guests you might receive- tourists from other countries or Indian businessmen?

If you think you might have “hipster” (can’t think of a better word) tourists or backpackers, they would probably love some Artisinal Free-Trade Locally Sourced-organic soap .

I just did a quick Google, and found:

If you are catering more towards businessmen/traders, I would imagine they wouldn’t really care as much. I don’t know which brands are popular there, but I have seen Dove and Pears in many countries. These are good because they are not too perfumed.

A few more things I thought of:

-Around the baseboard area of the shower/toilet there appears to be some rust. Getting rid of that would do a lot to improve the appearance of the bath.

-A stack of neatly folded towels in the bath would make it look more inviting.

-I would add an electric kettle to the room, and possibly some tea/coffee products plus mugs.

-Also, there should be drinking water in the bedroom, either bottled or some type of dispenser.

-If the guests will allowed to use the kitchen, then the rules should be spelled out. I doubt your cook would be happy if amateur chefs were cooking for hours in his “territory.” I suspect that would be more of an issue with budget tourists than businessmen.

-flowers in vase in the bedroom or even a green plant. It doesn’t have to be anything too expensive.

32

Good idea. I cut palm fronds from the garden. They cost nothing and add a nice tropical feel to the apartment.

33

Oops. I just noticed you mentioned microwave cooking only in your rules. Where would be preferable for guests to eat their food? If you don’t want them eating in the bedroom, then mention that and tell them they are welcome to use the dining table. (Or vice versa.)

34

If this is the case… I would ditch all of the full kitchen photos! They give the impression you welcome cooking! I learned early on to never show photos of things the guests don’t have access to… such as the sunset view from upstairs.

35

Good listing.
Nice big room.
As the guests and money starts coming in you can do little improvements here and there.

You’re leaving a lot of money on the table with that rooftop patio left plain.
Put in some patio chairs, tables, umbrellas, perhaps an outdoor carpet or two and that space would be transformed and a big draw.

More expensive adjustment I would make is to re- tile the bathroom for a cleaner look, and a fresh coat of paint in there. That’ll be pricier I presume, but would pay for itself back, as you’d get lots more bookings.
The painting in the bathroom wouldn’t cost much but would make a big difference for a clean fresh look!

Cheers and congratulations on the success you’re already having!

1 Like
36

Hi @konacoconutz,

Thanks for the nice words. Yes, that’s certainly part of the reason I added all that stuff, apart from the purely informational aspect. The hope being people will think that someone with an academic background won’t be a psycho and a lunatic. Though anyone who has actually spent any time in academia can tell you that this is not a given. :slight_smile:

Just to be clear, are you talking about the wires that are running vertically down the side of the yellowish-orange pillar about 1/3 of the way from the left of the photo? If so, I’m pretty sure that has nothing to do with me, and I’m not sure I can do anything about it. But I’ll check on it. Thanks for pointing it out.

That’s indeed interesting. Perhaps the climate is similar?

Perhaps, or maybe a couple of exterior shots. The neighborhood isn’t exactly photogenic, imo.

Yes, the people currently staying here said much the same thing. I guess I can do something along those lines next. Along with the fridge. I like the term “penthouse terrace”. Maybe I’ll borrow that. Even though it’s an Americanism.

Thanks. Yes, I need some reviews.

Well, the guests have physical access to the kitchen area. The microwave and the fridge are there. And there are bathrooms adjacent to the kitchen area. I might have other stuff eventually - a coffee machine and a toaster for example. I’ll reconsider if I get complaints about misleading photos.

Regards, Faheem

37

Hi @Lucy_R,

That does actually refer to a air freshener, not the air conditioner. I’ve edited the description to make it more explicit.

If you mean the “No smoking”, etc. on separate lines, that corresponding to Airbnb’s house rules settings, which one can toggle on and off in the Booking → “House Rules” setting. I’ve gone through some of the writing as well, making all the sentences wrap.

Thanks. I changed that to “en suite bathroom”, because that seems to be the closest to the French original.

Thanks. I removed that because it does indeed seem out of place (too specific) in a general advertisement (which is what the listing is.)

Hmm. I’m not sure about removing this one. The idea is to reassure potential guests that I’m a concerned and caring host. :slight_smile:

Thanks for the comments.

38

Hi @Garden1Gnome,

Yes, that sort of thing would probably appeal more to non-Indians of a particular type. The kind that think India is quaint and charming and has a deep spiritual culture (ugh). Thanks for the suggestion.

Color me clueless, but is perfumed bad? And if so, why?

Yes, that’s a good idea. Thanks.

A stack of towels in the bathroom, you mean? And you presumably mean in a photo, not in real life. Though the bathroom is so small there is little room for it. Maybe on the side of the sink?

Also a good suggestion. Actually, the current guests already suggested a kettle. I meant to do something about it today. Need to create a todo list for the room. Thanks for the suggestion.

Actually, in my lengthy update, I mentioned that I am going to add a fridge at the boottom of the stairs. Nobody referenced that post - maybe nobody read it. Bottles of water can live there - a fridge is a good place for that.

I’m currently not allowing cooking, aside from use of the microwave oven, which can do basic cooking, I think. These are early days, but it is unlikely to change - I don’t think we could co-exist happily with a guest who was doing significant amounts of cooking. And it would interfere with our cook’s regular cooking. And I’m not sure it allowing cooking adds significant value to our listing.

That also sounds like a good idea. Thanks for the suggestions.

Hmm, well they could either eat in the guest room, or in the kitchen. If they make a mess in the room I might have to revisit that. There is a dining table, but it’s in the living room, which is not part of the guest-accessible area. I’d actually be Ok with people using the dining table (which we actually don’t use), but it might be tricky if they decided to make themselves at home in the living room. Is there a good/polite way to say - you can use the dining table, but you can’t hang around in the living room afterwards? :slight_smile:

Regards, Faheem Mitha

39

Hi @AquaticQuests,

Thanks. But actually, it’s small. :slight_smile:

Yes, I plan to.

Yes, that sounds like a good idea. But it would all have to be easily portable. We get torrential rains in the monsoon here. If we’re lucky.

Painting the bathroom sounds like a plan. Not sure about the tiling. Do I hear a second? Someone else mentioned fixing the rust in the bathroom.

Thanks.
Regards, Faheem

40

I wanted to chime in about perfumed things. Some people are allergic to perfumed soaps and other things of that nature. I assume though that I need to bring my own soap or detergent because of this. My wife will use them though but some scents are bad for me.