Un-snoozing after a year of covid

As the title says, I am unsnoozing after shutting down for Covid; I’m thinking June. However, in the last year I have done many improvements etc, which means updating the listing. I have worked my way through the listing info, updating where needed, but now I have the task of putting in new photos etc.

I noticed that on my phone, the ‘captions’ are buried; I never noticed before (basically sat looking at my Macbook 24/7). What are everyone’s thoughts on captions - do people look at them?

Also photo placement (order of photos) - the general consensus here was to not be too detailed, but I have added (for example) bidets and handsfree soap dispensers; too detailed to include? And finally, I decided to ignore all mention of ;safety’ ‘cleanliness’, etc. Good idea?

As a guest, I like informational captions. Something like “Second bedroom with full bed” really helps me visual the layout and see if it suits.

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Good for you for reopening soon.

About pictures—you can ask 100 people about pics & you will get 100 answers.

Load up your pics with how many & any subject you wish. The pics are easy to move around & easy to delete.

Try it for a while & start deleting if/when you decide what are meaningful pictures

My friend who is my neighbor & competition put close up pics of her hydrangeas in bloom, decorative kitchen backsplash, kitchen countertops, fireplace decorations & more. Works for her.

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I think photo captions are good. They help clarify things for guests who aren’t thorough readers and they certainly can’t hurt.

A photo of the bidet and soap dispensers seems fine- what I really dislike is when hosts post close-up photos of some dried flower arrangement, and decorative items. Guests don’t book because of the knicknacks.

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I agree that safety and cleanliness should not be belabored in your description. However, in this day and age it might be good to mention that you follow all local COVID guidelines and Airbnb cleaning protocols if you do. I am going away this week and a host asked if I could tell her what I was doing to keep myself safe during COVID. I thought it was a gentle way to ask if I was vaccinated or had any special concerns.

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I know we have no way to require or verify it but I’d be fine with Airbnb giving us a check box related to vaccination as a way to promote the idea. I’m going to put in my listing and profile that I’m vaccinated.

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Also could be just to guage your general attitude towards virus protections. Like whether you are conscientious about masking and distancing, or whether you’re one of those people who think it’s all overblown and refuse to comply with directives.

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I’ve been closed too, and will have to rewrite as well. I’ve been putting it off because things are changing so rapidly. I’m waiting to reopen until health regs and commonsense permit safely and comfortably bringing guests into my home. I’ve always sanitized everything between guests, as that is what I would want to find in a short term rental. I want guests to be comfortable and feel safe as well, so I am going to include something about commonsense health precautions, in addition to my normal cleanliness standards. We are vaccinated, and proud of it; would hope that our guests would be as well. It would seem that with a home share it would not be out of the question to ask, but that will be figured out by a Higher Power soon, I expect. The vaccine pass issue is still sorting itself out, and I am eager to see what happens. I’ll have to redo some photos to show a much more bare bones place, after putting the fancy bed covers/pillows and extra amenities in storage. I think descriptions are important for all photos. We have seasonal photos and change the order every few months as appropriate. I like a little detail in the captions, as a prospective guest, I’d want that.

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