Places to Stay

Everything that Goes Into Listing an Airbnb, According to Actual Hosts

From hiring professional photographers to picking out the perfect throw pillows, it’s equal parts art and science.
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Courtesy Airbnb

Though it seems like everyone and their Great Aunt Hilda has a listing on Airbnb these days, it takes a surprising amount of legwork to get a rental up and running. There are licenses to secure, rooms to decorate, photos to stage, pricing to research—the list goes on and on. “There isn’t a one-size-fits-all model where solid bookings are guaranteed, especially with the rapid growth in short-term rentals,” say Jamie and Ashley Hewitt, twin sisters who rent out a cozy A-frame cabin in Brook Park, Minnesota. “New hosts see how fast our calendar books up, but it took a lot of fine tuning to get everything just right.”

Whether you're looking for the same kind of success, or just curious what it takes to create the rentals you book, read on as the Hewitts and seven other superhosts from around the world share everything they did to prepare their listings for launch.

Rob Ross' five-bedroom house in Saugerties

Courtesy Airbnb

Make nice with the neighbors

While few Airbnb hosts ask for their neighbors' permission before listing a property on Airbnb, many make an extra effort to keep relations amicable. Superhost Rob Ross, who rents a five-bedroom house in Saugerties and a three-bedroom house in Woodstock, New York, introduced himself to his neighbors and encouraged them to alert him of any issues. “I don’t want parties at my houses anyway, so the neighbors and I are on the same page,” he says. The Hewitt twins didn’t ask for a blessing but gave their neighbors a heads up on their plans to rent out their cabin, noting “It was important for us to mention to them that we wouldn’t tolerate unruly or disturbing guests.”

Scale Mt. Paperwork

Though Airbnb streamlines its setup process, navigating the morass of bureaucratic requirements can be intimidating. Some cities have 30-day rental minimums if a host doesn’t live on-site; others require neighborhood meetings before approving applications. For Francesco Catucci, the superhost behind this stunning Sassi limestone cave dwelling in Matera, Italy, listing his holiday rental involved municipal licensing, registering with the local tourist office and police department, and paying property taxes. For the Hewitts, renting their cabin on Airbnb meant getting a lodging license from the Minnesota Department of Health—a state rule some newbies unwittingly overlook. Ross saved himself the trouble of unpleasant surprises by hiring an accountant to assist with sales and occupancy taxes, and an insurance broker to handle the liability insurance. 

Market to the right audience

Ross made his Saugerties rental attractive to New York City creatives by naming its rooms after famous local artists and stocking it with hotel-grade amenities. Mailu Mwau Wasanga, a Kenyan superhost who listed his Nairobi apartment from 2015 to 2020, mentioned in his listing that he deejayed the occasional club night, drawing party people and students. On the flip side, it’s better to turn away some guests preemptively than to field complaints later. Superhost Paulin Skoglund-Voss does not permit children under 12 in her tiny house in Frogn, Norway because of its lofted sleeping area. She even warns prospective guests that the rental may be unsuitable for elderly travelers or anyone who would have difficulty navigating the loft’s steep ladder. Being clear about these types of things in the listing description saves time and effort (and that listing rating) in the long run.

 Superhost Paulin Skoglund-Voss in her tiny house in Frogn, Norway

Alpha Smoot

Decorate the property

As anyone who has surfed Airbnb can attest, there is no shortage of bland white boxes stuffed with Ikea furniture. For a listing to really pop, it has to offer something special. Superhost Daniel Rusteen, a nomadic CPA with a four-bedroom penthouse in Medellín, Colombia, went all out with his interior design. “It’s an investment,” he says. “Any two homes side-by-side, the one with nicer interior will win 100 percent.”

Ross purchased statement pieces from West Elm to give his Saugerties home some “nice Mid-century character,” then filled in the blanks with utilitarian items from HostGPO, a membership service offering deep discounts on brand-name furnishings suitable for rental units. “The combination is interesting but clean,” says Ross, noting, “You don’t want too much style otherwise people will feel like they’re living in someone else’s home.” Where he really splurged was bedding, purchasing luxury linens from Pom Pom at Home and accent pillows from Hawkins New York. Guests shout these out in the reviews, so the investment pays for itself.

When superhost Renee Adams listed her converted river barn in Essex, Connecticut, on Airbnb just over a year ago, she hired an interior designer who taught her that dimmer switches, rugs, and faux plants “go a really long way in making a space feel comfortable.” The resulting look maintains the barn’s charming rustic vibe while sprinkling in modern elements like a Samsung Frame TV.

Jake Cohen, a firefighter turned superhost with seven Airbnb units in Colorado and Alabama, purchased second-hand furniture when he first started out but found that “sourcing each item, negotiating, picking it up, disassembling, and reassembling took too much time.” Now he buys new items that can be shipped straight to his door. (Even better if they’re pre-assembled.) He’s also learned a thing or two about design—opting for a neutral palette so the rental has the broadest possible appeal. He then punches it up with colorful throw blankets and digital wall art he prints through Canvas On Demand.

While some hosts may store sentimental objects when renting out their personal abode, many have faith in their guests. In five years of listing his apartment, Wasanga never had an issue. He decorated the place to suit his personality and poured any profits he made on Airbnb back into the property: a “reinvestment in my own comfort that spread to the guests,” he shares.

Renee Adams' converted river barn in Essex, Connecticut

Courtesy Airbnb

Make yourself at home—literally

The best way for a new host to anticipate a guest’s needs is to put themselves in their shoes. “I decided that my tiny house should offer the same as a good hotel room, with a little extra,” says Skoglund-Voss, who spent several nights in her rental before posting it online. That way, she says, “you will experience it like a guest and learn what is necessary to feel comfortable.”

Describe the property and all of its quirks

Rusteen uses bullet points to make his listings more skimmable and tinkers with teasing different amenities in his listing title, particularly in periods of low occupancy. Other hosts change their titles seasonally. The one thing they all seem to agree on is thoroughly and accurately portraying your space from the get-go. Adams’ river barn, for example, sits beside a busy road. “Instead of hiding this fact,” she says, “I call attention to it to set expectations and avoid a negative review.”

Invest in professional photography

“My first pictures were taken with my phone and really terrible,” admits Wasanga, whose Nairobi apartment went nine months with nary a booking. He almost quit Airbnb until he figured out what the problem was: sub-par imagery. He asked a professional photographer friend to shoot his listing in a more flattering light and that did the trick. Ross hired a professional photographer right from the start. “It makes the listing look so much more polished and elevated, and speeds up the booking rate,” he says. “People are willing to pay more for a property that has clearly been invested in. If you spend $200 to $500 on a photo shoot, you might be able to charge another $20 to $100 per night, so it pays for itself in no time.” In fact, every time Ross changes his furniture or upgrades the house, he brings the photographer back for a reshoot. He’s even paid to document it in multiple seasons. Images are “the lifeblood of a listing,” adds Cohen. “Having incredible photos paints the picture of the property better than a description ever could.”

Set a price that responds to seasonal travel trends

Like hotels, there are high seasons, low seasons, and shoulder seasons, so rental pricing varies based on demand. “At first it was a giant guessing game, but eventually I found my sweet spot,” says Adams, whose friend—a hotel professional—advised her to track anything (weather and local events, for example) that could drive costs higher or lower. While Airbnb provides algorithmic tools to help hosts figure out what to charge, Ross and Cohen both supplemented this with research from PriceLabs and AirDNA, two popular platforms for short-term rental analytics.

Nail down a cleaning plan

Hosts have no idea how much upkeep it takes to run an Airbnb until they’re scrubbing toilets and changing sheets in between each reservation. “I don’t think any host can wrap their head around it until they are stuck doing the work,” says Adams, who handled every turnover herself when she first launched. Now she has an excellent housekeeping team in place. Plus, every time a guest mentions the word “clean” in a review, the team receives a $50 bonus.

Treat the listing like a brand

With 5.6 million active listings, it’s not enough to simply post a property on Airbnb and wait for the bookings to roll in. You have to actively sell it. Adams, a former marketer and digital salesperson, launched a website, Instagram handle (@riverbarnct), and Facebook page for her river barn right out the gate. The workload became so demanding, Adams hired a social media manager to help her keep up. Together they started a hashtag campaign, #riverbarnreads, and plan to launch a quarterly newsletter.

In addition to setting up a website and Instagram (@stayglasco), Ross also hired a creative agency to handle his home’s PR, manage its social media content and influencer relationships, and set and maintain a brand ethos. Even hosts who were once reluctant to get on social media are coming around. Tourism in Italy all but evaporated during the pandemic and competition for bookings is fierce now that the country has reopened. To give his cave an edge, Catucci launched an Instagram page (@leterrazzeholidayhome). It has just 18 photos, but keep in mind: That’s 18 more than his competitors.

Go above and beyond when it comes to details

Sometimes it’s the little things—a well-stocked record cabinet, s’mores kit for the fire pit, or frosty tallboys in the fridge—that a guest remembers most and helps a listing stand out in a saturated market. Rusteen provides “the softest toilet paper I can find,” plus fine hand soaps and Bluetooth speakers. Adams takes pride in curating the brands she presents to her guests: organic hair and body products by Meraki, local coffee from Deep River Roasters, and reed diffusers by P.F. Candle Company. And Ross stocks his Saugerties home with as many Hudson Valley-made products as he can. “Having grown up in Woodstock, I want to support the local economy,” he says. “Plus it’s a great way to elevate the guest experience and give them a little taste of the area.”