There are thousands upon thousands of listings on Airbnb, offering cozy accommodation to locals and travelers across the globe. While many of these listings are highly rated by guests, only a few have become Airbnb Superhosts. This a title that allows them to attract exponentially more bookings—and as a result, an increase in revenue. The best way to get there fast… stand out Airbnb hospitality.
Superhosts are Airbnb hosts who have officially been recognized by the platform for providing excellent hospitality to their visitors. The title of Superhost also comes with a number of benefits. These include improved visibility on the Airbnb platform and higher search rankings for your listed accommodation.
If you have a listing on Airbnb and aim to become a Superhost, there are a few steps that you can take to improve your chances of getting recognized. In this article, we’ll explore everything you need to do to master the art of exceptional Airbnb hospitality! This is sure to maximiuze your booking rate.
10 Steps to Mastering Airbnb Hospitality
Becoming an Airbnb Superhost can benefit your income stream in a number of key ways This includes boosting your search visibility on Airbnb and attracting more interest from potential guests. Follow these ten simple steps to reach Superhost status and offer excellent hospitality.
1. Offer Neat, Clean, Comfortable Accommodation
No matter where your guests are from, they will always expect a clean, organized, and comfortable Airbnb stay when they book with you. Untidy Airbnbs that haven’t been cleaned or organized before guests arrive often attract negative reviews. This can hurt your ability to secure bookings in the future.
Keep your Airbnb clean, tidy, and properly maintained, and be sure to clean all the spaces your guests will use regularly. This includes:
- Cleaning the insides of cooking appliances like stoves, ovens and microwaves
- Washing all bedding thoroughly after each use.
- Ensuring that toilets, bathrooms and showers are spotless and well stocked with necessities
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If you don’t have the time to clean your accommodation properly yourself, a cleaning company is a great alternative as it frees up your time and ensures the job is done well. Remember to focus on the finer details too. Simple touches like providing quality bedding, fresh linen and towels, extra scatter cushions and pillows, and extra blankets will help to ensure that your guests leave you eager to return.
2. Optimize Communications with Guests
Proper communication is one of the most important factors in being an Airbnb Superhost. Take care to respond to inquiries from potential guests as soon as possible. Always communicate your responses clearly to ensure that there’s no room for confusion. Supply your guests with all the information they may need for an enjoyable stay, including check in times and instructions, rules, operation instructions for appliances, and local attractions they might enjoy exploring.
Many hosts choose to have a physical booklet containing this information in their Airbnbs. This ensures that guests can access all the tips they need at their leisure. Alternatively, you could create a digital PDF version of the essential information and send it to guests via email, WhatsApp, or any other platform of your choice.
3. Remain Flexible
Your guests have complex lives and itineraries, and travel plans can change quickly and without warning. Traffic jams can cause delays, flights and bus rides can get delayed, and other situations could arise that require you to adjust your schedule for your guests.
Remain accommodating wherever possible. Stay flexible when it comes to check-in times and check-out times to keep your guests satisfied and ensure that their needs are met. Bear in mind that this should be within reason. If your guests arrive at 2am without notifying you of any delays, you have every right to set your own boundaries as a property owner!
4. Build Trust with Your Airbnb Guests
Airbnb works on a system of trust, at least to a degree. You are trusting strangers to respect your Airbnb space and to keep it in good working order during their stays. They’re trusting you to deliver a neat, clean and safe experience. Both parties are placing their trust in each other. This trust needs nurturing from both sides to deliver a world-class hospitality experience.
You can build trust with your guests by showing them that you do trust them to use your property respectfully. Approach your guests with respect and empathy, and take their privacy into consideration at all times. This could look like messaging your guests to let them know before you drop in. Or not contacting them late at night or during family times unless absolutely necessary.
Additionally, you can help to foster trust with your guests by not leaving them with long-winded lists of what they shouldn’t do during their stays. You can, of course, set out some basic rules about how to treat the property. But remember to balance these rules out with fun and interesting activities to do at the Airbnb and in the surrounding area. Your guests are here to relax and have fun, after all!
5. Consider Individual Needs
If you truly want to achieve Superhost status, a personalized approach to hosting could help you to reach your goal. You can adapt your hosting style according to each group of guests and their preferences and needs. This can lead to some impressive reviews and guests who are always happy to return.
For instance, you could remove nuts or heavily scented products like candles and room sprays from your Airbnb for guests who suffer from allergies, or leave seasonal treats for your guests during holidays like Easter or Christmas (but be mindful of their personal beliefs and cultures!).
If your guests are vegetarian, vegan or only eat Halal foods, take this into account while shopping for personal touches and treats to add to their rooms.
Additionally, approach your guests only when it’s necessary and overtly welcomed to ensure that you don’t encroach on their personal boundaries. Chances are that they’ve booked your Airbnb to enjoy a vacation or trip and relax. So, keep unnecessary communication to a minimum unless it has been expressly permitted or invited.
6. Stay Transparent with Guests
Part of providing an exceptional stay for your Airbnb guests is passing along any information they may need to navigate your area successfully. Ideally, this should be done before they arrive so that they are already well prepared and well informed ahead of time.
Warn them about events that could affect their stays, such as nearby roadworks or construction projects. Do whatever you can to prepare proactively for common problems like severe weather, the business of peak tourist seasons, and other factors unique to your Airbnb and surrounding area. Offer your guests solutions to these challenges and be willing to take their suggestions on board to improve their stays too. Feedback is important and can give you valuable tips for improving your guest’s experience.
7. Perform Proactive Maintenance
There are few things more frustrating for Airbnb guests than arriving at a stay to find that the fridge is broken, that the microwave no longer works, or that the water pressure is too low. Some of these challenges are unavoidable, as things do break or need maintenance from time to time. However, you can minimize the risk of these issues impacting your guests by performing proactive maintenance on your Airbnb unit.
After each group of guests has checked out, take the time to inspect your Airbnb and make note of anything in it that needs readjusting, repairing, or replacing. This should ideally be addressed before your next group of guests moves in!
If any appliances or amenities become damaged or broken during a guest’s stay, step in to fix them, regardless of how the damage came about. You should also offer your assistance if guests experience any other issues, such as stiff locks, low water pressure, or appliances that can be tricky to operate.
You may encounter some issues with pest infestations in your Airbnb, just as you would in any other residential or leased property. Rats, cockroaches and fish moths can all become troublesome for your guests and cause damage not only to their personal belongings, but to your property too.
Problems like water leaks and black mold can also render your Airbnb unsafe and unusable if they’re allowed to take hold. If you do notice any signs of a pest or mold infestation, it’s recommended that you stop taking guest bookings and have a professional pest and mold management service take care of the problem. This will help you to maintain a clean and sanitary space that you can welcome guests into with confidence.
8. Include A Few Personal Touches
Guests love seeing a few personal touches in their Airbnb’s. Even the simplest of gestures can go a long way in making them feel at home and creating a memorable stay for them. There are many ways to include personal touches in your Airbnb space, from leaving small welcome notes or gift baskets for your guests, offering coupons to local restaurants, or providing tourist maps and guidebooks to help them make the most of their local explorations.
If you live in a region known for any specific foods, drinks, or resources, you can weave these into your Airbnb decor and special touches to create a theme aligned with your area. Say, for example, you have an Airbnb property located close to a few world-renowned wineries. In this case, you could leave your guests with a few pamphlets from the wineries in the area and a couple of wine samples (or a full bottle if you’re feeling generous) to give them a true taste of local life.
If your accommodation is family-friendly, remember to include something child-friendly for younger family members in your personal touches. Candies, chocolates, and toys are always much appreciated!
9. Anticipate Your Guests’ Needs
Anticipating your guests’ needs and preparing to meet them in advance can help you to become a Superhost in no time. You can also personalize this approach according to specific guest demographics that you host or your location.
For instance, if you host many international travelers in your Airbnb, you may find that they arrive without bathroom essentials like shower soap, body wash, shampoo and conditioner. Or, if you primarily host guests with young children, providing a few toys and educational activities could help to keep the children busy and happy while giving the adults some time to relax.
If you’re in a colder region, some plush blankets, large soup or hot chocolate mugs, or beanbag warmers are an excellent option, and they can make guests feel more welcome and cozy. If you’re in a warmer location or near the beach, small touches like buckets and spades, a sun umbrella, or an ice-machine or soda maker all add that feeling of a home-away-from-home.
Offering small, high-quality essentials like these will help to meet your guests’ needs and ensure that they don’t need to rush out to the store as soon as they have settled in. If your guests express any dietary preferences or specific needs, you can also tailor your Airbnb experience to meet their expectations and leave them with a great impression of your hosting skills.
10. Encourage Guests to Leave Reviews
Once you’ve created the perfect space for your Airbnb guests, you need them to come and stay, have a fantastic experience, and then leave a great review on your Airbnb host profile!
The more positive reviews you receive from your Airbnb guests, the more likely you are to get tagged as a Superhost on the platform. Make sure that the service you provide is consistently excellent, and encourage your guests to leave positive reviews if they enjoyed their stays.
Of course, it’s natural to receive negative reviews from time to time. Even the best Airbnb Superhosts get the occasional bad review. But these reviews can also be an important tool to improve your standing as a host. Remain open to negative experiences and input, and seek out more information about why your guests feel the way they do. If they provide any feedback, be sure to incorporate it into your Airbnb hosting strategy to improve the experiences you offer to future guests.
If you do encounter any unsatisfied guests, you could improve your Airbnb’s standing in their eyes by offering them future discounts and special offers to encourage them to give you another chance. Be sure to inform them of any measures you’ve taken to address their specific grievances and thank them sincerely for their input.
Attain Superhost Status With Ease
When you offer your Airbnb guests an exceptional experience, they may return the favor by leaving great reviews that eventually lead Airbnb to tag you as a Superhost. Use the tips mentioned above to perfect the art of Airbnb hospitality and keep your guests coming back for more!
Hey, I’m Melissa… As an Airbnb Superhost and someone who is passionate about investing in real estate, I created Beach Life Bliss to share my experiences and help short term rental operators. I have been a landlord for over 10 years and started my first Airbnb property in 2019.
Creating a space with amenities that guests love, beautifully designed rooms, and providing exceptional hospitality will make your Airbnb business thrive.
I hope that all of my Airbnb hosting resources are helpful as you navigate the challenges and rewards of being an Airbnb host!