I can’t tell you how many things we’ve learned not to do since starting out as Airbnb and Vrbo hosts. Some are minor. Some are major. All we wish we would have known ahead of time, as they would have saved us time, money, or both.
Wondering how to be an Airbnb Superhost or Vrbo Premier Host? These what-not-to-do as Airbnb and Vrbo host tips will help you make your way faster than most.
1. Don’t choose white towels for your bathroom. We did for our first property, and we spent a lot of money making sure they were super soft and looked high-end. They didn’t last a month. Even though we include makeup removers, gals still took their makeup off with our white washcloths. Guests used the white towels to clean up spills on the floor. And no matter the amount of bleach, we washed them in, the stains such as mascara would just end up as permanent yellow stains on our white towels. Now we do chocolate brown towels in our cabin and gray towels in our historic downtown property.
2. Don’t conveniently leave things out of your property description. Have a road that some guests might not be able to navigate during the winter? We do, too. Have neighbors that are super close by? We do, too. Our best is advice is to reveal everything that may keep guests from choosing your property in your description so they won’t be disappointed when they get there. Doing this has helped us book guests that still want to choose our property even if you might need a four-wheel drive in the winter or need to be quiet after 10pm. It not only helps them when you’re totally honest about the potential faults in your property; it helps you. We have developed template messages around items such as this that we’ll share to subscribers at a later date, but always be completely transparent.
3. Don’t start with a cleaning service. This isn’t a don’t that we know first-hand, other than seeing the shape our first property was in after we purchased it and the cleaners had prepared it for the next guest. Luckily, that guest was still under the previous owner’s Airbnb listing. But we have seen our neighbors who have an Airbnb but live out of town burned by their cleaning service. We’ve seen them come and go in 30 minutes first hand, and we’ve also seen the comments on their listing from these fast cleans.
If you must use a cleaning service for your Airbnb, at least clean the first few times yourself to your highest standards. Take pictures, and then give these to the cleaning service, and have them clean your property to that same level, leaving enough time to inspect it (and potentially fix it) yourself.
What never-do-this recommendations do you have for new Airbnb or Vrbo hosts? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
