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Finally a thread where us fellow south Floridians can post and share tips. Airbnb has been getting a lot of increased attention here in south Florida. Share any stories or any tips here!
Intro: I’ve been hosting for over a year and so far not 1 bad experience as a host. I’ve never been used Airbnb as a Guest. Soon though, and I’ll be super host too.
Yay! I’m in Fort Lauderdale and have lots of questions I’d like to ask hosts who are more experienced. Although we’ve been hosting for a few years, we’ve only been on Airbnb since December last year. So far, I’m loving every minute (apart from cleaning the toilet!)
I wonder if I’ll get jaded after a while?
But my first real question to experienced Florida hosts is about occupancy during the summer. Should I expect demand to drop off dramatically during hurricane season?
I came on line December 1st as well and was wondering about our slow season which begins June and ends October 31. I am 5 mins away from two wedding venues Thalia estate and Crawley square so I am going to be visiting both places and ask for wedding coordinators that they work with and leave my card.
For my sister’s listing that I manage in Bimini I leave my card with the marinas and fishing clubs and that has worked out fairly well. I know that summer drops off so we have to lower our prices or do a lot of marketing or using other sites to bring in traffic.
Haha, it seems as though the three of us could make up a fabulous package for guests. They could stay three nights in Fort Lauderdale with me, three with @Carmen and three nights with @KeyCaptain who I presume is in the Keys - a perfect South Florida/Airbnb road trip 
Actually I’m in sunny Delray Beach and one more listing in the works in Boca Raton. To my knowledge the season starts slowing down around May through October. Heres a chart that shows demand throughout the year in Miami; which can give you an idea for Ft. Lauderdale
It’s good to see that although it drops in the summer months, it doesn’t flat-line.
I’m on the Gulf Coast (Fort Myers). We are Poolside Cabana With Gourmet Flair. I’m a Personal Chef, and our rate includes pool privileges and gourmet breakfasts by yours truly.
My partner Sally and I started in mid-December, and expect bookings to drop off. We were booked a few days in December, nearly all of January, every day in February and now March. And have NO bookings for April; just a couple of inquires that ended up not booking. We expect things to be slack in summer, unless you all are going to come over and visit the Left Coast!
Did I hear right that AirBnB offers insurance? We’re exploring all sorts of options on that front right now.
Have only had one mediocre review – the guest mentioned things in a negative way, that apparently only she saw. And she did it in the Public review not the Private!. I wish there was a way we could see guest reviews before we write ours.
Hi @KenH - your place sounds fantastic, especially the gourmet breakfasts. We started with Airbnb in December too, although we’ve rented the apartment for several years.
I’m so pleased that I found this forum which has so much wonderful advice from experienced AirBnB hosts.
I thought we were going to get “skunked” for April bookings. Then Saturday we got two booking for April, each for about a week, that fills up the middle of the month nicely. One couple is coming to celebrate His birthday; the other is coming to search for the right condo to buy. The only ‘bad’ thing is the birthday folks are from Minneapolis, and their flight doesn’t get in until 10:45. I have to stay up to meet and greet them because of where we have them park, and how they get back to the private entrance to the Cabana.
Kenh we like traveling to fort myers maybe when I have an off weekend I might look you up.
So far April is almost all book for me and parts of May. Slow are June and July but I expected te mean season here to be like that.
I already went through summer and it was very slow. I made 5 times less than during February or March. But then i dropped my price to 52$ a day, and it started moving a bit. I have a private room with private bath in Hollywood, close to airport and beach, perfect location.
Unless you drop prices significantly don expect any bookings, or very little. I can see an increase in rentals offered. Last March during this week i was booked back to back, but not this year. I can see international tourizm also dropped. l aready lowered my price to lower than it was last year and still have very few bookings. I have 55 excelent reviews, so i can only explained reduction in bookings by so many new listings.
Yana do you think the new feature of folks saving your listing on wish lists help you move up?
I dont know, Carmen, but i think when its slow, its slow.I play with my prices a lot. I dont know how people dont adjust their prices to what market is. Hotels do it for a reason. I am doing very well overall, lets see how this summer goes with all these reviews i have so far. Last summer during August, i hardly hosted anyone. ANd September was some ocassional guest for 10 days, and i made 500$ for the whole month.
Hello Fellow South Floridians Hosts,
I have hosted in Miami for less than one year and I’m happy with the experience. I haven’t noticed any particular periods when demand drops as people come to Miami for various reasons that are not affected by seasonality.
Good to meet you @MissMiami - I imagine that you have lots of competition in Miami? Here in Fort Lauderdale there are ten AirBnB offerings on our very short street!
From what I’ve come to learn is Airbnb moves up listings based on Quality of the listing and Ease of booking.
Look through this article, it breaks down how you can move up in the search results
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/39/how-are-search-results-determined
Jaquo, what competition? I’m just kidding; sure, there’s a lot of competition but I don’t focus on them. I check them out just to get an idea, make sure my per night rate is a bit lower, and then go the extra mile to please my guests.
thank you for sharing the article, valuable information!
Wouldn’t it make sense to lower your prices, get more bookings, get good reviews, and then increase your price once you are well established as a host?
I am a well established host, lol. I have been hosting over a year as you can figure and had over 150 guests and 60 excelent reviews. I do drop my prices according to demand, as i mentioned. I am really surprised to hear that you dont notice seasonal changes here in South Florida. It is as obvious as huricane season or spring break when it gets insanely busy. Hotels are empty during low season and it reflects in their incredibly low prices.
It does not matter how much we drop our prices, unless you drop them to a ridiculous point that it makes no sense to even rent out anything, if there is no demand then there is no demand.
