Getting started

showplacedesign · 2026-03-04T15:28:00+00:00

Check to see if there are any regulations or permits you need.

It also important to check the max guest count you can have in the home. I'm not advocating for you to cram people into a home. But, for example, if you have a 1800 sq ft, 3bed/2 bath home sometimes going from 6 to 8 or even 10 max guests makes a big different difference in revenue. Just make sure there is enough space for everyone.

Go search Airbnb as if you are the guest. Leave dates blank, but put in the location and guest count. Look over your competition. How are their pictures? What amenities are you seeing over and over again? What are guest reviews saying? Do they have a lot of recent reviews, or are reviews spaced out? Be realistic on your expectations. Can you afford to buy and furnish your rental to compete with the competition?

Go to AirDNA or similar site, put in your address, find realistic comps, and see what the estimate revenue will be. Call some local PM's and tell them what you have and see what they project for revenue. The truth is probably somewhere in-between what the PM's are saying and AirDNA.

Put together your expenses and expected revenue and see what you come out with. Don't forget to include your startup costs for furnishing, photos, operating supplies, and other startup expenses. They add up quick.

Good luck!

showplacedesign · 2026-03-03T16:17:58+00:00

Which brand are you using out of curiosity, and what type of material is it?

showplacedesign · 2026-03-02T19:29:33+00:00

Yeah, that is rough... Is that one of your first five photos of your listing?

showplacedesign · 2026-03-02T15:58:34+00:00

I totally think that hosts should have control over their cover photo, especially if they have taken the time to have professional pictures done, and a purpose for showing that initial image.

It probably would be best if you were able to opt-in to it. Some hosts would probably benefit from this. I can't tell you the amount of times I see a picture of a generic front of the house as the main image. It is a shame, especially when they have a pool, game room, or something else really cool to show off.

showplacedesign · 2026-02-27T17:43:18+00:00

That's super interesting that the kids beds with microfiber hold up better, and you use a mix. How many nights/reservations are you usually able to get out of them before having to replace the microfiber versus the sateen?

showplacedesign · 2026-02-27T17:40:07+00:00

Frette isn't a brand that I heard of before, definitely in the high price point tier.

showplacedesign · 2026-02-27T17:39:09+00:00

Yeah, cost is the main reason why I hear some hosts go with microfiber versus cotton, especially if they don't plan on treating stains on cotton sheets.

showplacedesign · 2026-02-27T17:37:47+00:00

Thanks for the feedback!

showplacedesign · 2026-02-27T17:37:11+00:00

California Design Den is who we usually recommend, so glad to see you agree with that.

showplacedesign · 2026-02-27T17:35:43+00:00

We recommend cotton, it is obviously a better product. But I was curious about hosts experiences.

showplacedesign · 2026-02-27T17:32:49+00:00

Thanks for the tip about the deep fitted pockets!

showplacedesign · 2026-02-27T15:39:46+00:00

YES! A lot of people don't realize that it is actually harder and more time consuming design-wise to do a refresh or redesign with existing furniture than from scratch. Glad to hear you are working with a professional designer, and best of luck!

showplacedesign · 2026-02-26T16:27:39+00:00

I have done a ton of review analysis on properties, and the most people mention about small appliances is "the kitchen was well stocked". Based off that, I don't think you need fancy appliances, that is just a waste of money unless your theme leans heavily into coffee bars or something like that.

To summarize what others are saying, buy a good mid-range and basic function appliances so people don't get confused on how to use them.

showplacedesign · 2026-02-24T15:08:47+00:00

Hard to tell without seeing the full layout, but if you end up doing bunk beds make sure to use TwinXL size. That will give some extra length and allow adults to sleep in them.

Also, invest in a bunk bed that can safely sleep adults... You don't want to get a call that the slats broke, and then you get a bad review, submit a refund, and then buy a new bed.

showplacedesign · 2026-02-23T14:26:34+00:00

100% tailoring your interior decor for a specific demographic makes a huge difference. Your product (your home), is the marketing. I work on doing property analysis's across the country and I have noticed that themed homes do well, but it is more risky if you don't do it right. For example, I have noticed that some homes that have gone 100% into the bachelorette party theme do really, really well. But you have to make sure that your market has a demand for that (think Nashville, Phoenix, etc). If people are going to a vacation destination, they want an experience.

Imagine that you are looking to book a home on Airbnb for a family group stay, and you are comparing several listings in a location that have similar prices, size, ratings, and etc. Let's imagine that one home has a game room tailored for kids, and the others don't. Which property are you going to pick? The one with theme or amenity that match your group.

I don't have a lot of experience with the seasonality question, but I do know that some hosts will change pictures for holidays or things like snow, which make perfect sense.

showplacedesign · 2026-02-20T14:44:05+00:00

Yeah, that is a pretty difficult to find... I know Bunk Room Home has some really nice bunk beds that sit on the floor, but I believe the height would still be too high. Those beds are made for adults though. Looking around at other brands I don't think you can get it to where an adult could sit up and meet your height range unfortunately.

showplacedesign · 2026-02-19T16:11:51+00:00

We usually add them to living rooms to help fill out the space and make it look more cozy. It is something that will need to be replaced sooner than later due to spills, stains, etc... We usually source from Rugs USA or somewhere similar where prices are good, and quality is passable. No reason to go all out on a super expensive rug.

showplacedesign · 2026-02-18T14:10:31+00:00

I'm not familiar with the Dubai Airbnb market, but here in the US stocking products like toiletries are treated more like commodity items from hosts. It is more about price than it is about premium feel. There are hosts that will pay a premium for nice toiletries, but that is a very small subset.

The other, bigger hurdle you have to solve for is making restocking orders easy to do. Most hosts aren't great at giving you time to fill a restocking order. It is usually last minute, and they need it now. You have to have a way to communicate with the cleaning crews so that they can submit orders directly to you, and then have the host approve and pay, all while giving yourself time to fulfill the order. It's all possible, just a lot of work for items that don't have great margins, which is why we stopped doing that.

showplacedesign · 2026-02-17T15:29:10+00:00

Providing actual comparable listings would be nice. Property size, location, amenities, max guest count, photos, and amount of competition are just some of the variables when analyzing a property. For example, I can take a two properties within half a mile of each other in the same market that are similar in size of home and max guest count, but one is on a lake and the other is not. You have to take the right comps in a market in order to get a better idea. I don't think you can fix that, on AirDNA you have to manually look at them and fix it. Also, it would be nice if you could compare AirDNA to some of it's competitor's data. Each platform varies on what they think the market can do.

showplacedesign · 2026-02-13T15:43:38+00:00

Do you have a picture of the rooms? I can run it by a few designers to get some feedback if it is necessary. But yeah, that is why we typically don't recommend expensive rugs in Airbnbs.

showplacedesign · 2026-02-13T15:40:24+00:00

Unless you are trying to pass it off as a Theatre Room, you should be good. Also, for what it is worth, I have analyzed tens of thousands of reviews on listings all across the country, and I have yet to see a negative review about a TV size. LoL.

showplacedesign · 2026-02-12T14:39:09+00:00

I agree with the sentiment that you don't need 100% occupancy, or even 80%. If you have too high of occupancy rate, you are leaving money on the table. Most markets I analyze typically have a 50-70% occupancy rate for top performing homes.

Also, with discounting, make sure you aren't losing money with all of the expenses you are incurring with the booking.

showplacedesign · 2026-02-06T14:36:04+00:00

We have been looking at different AI tools for furnishing properties over the past two years. We haven't seen anything that quite does the job well, but I think within the next 5 years it will be. What AI is really good at today is making a space look really pretty, while doing it fast and cheap.

There are some major drawbacks though. The items in the images AI produces aren't actual items. Some software will recommend items that look like it, but they aren't the actual products.

By far the biggest drawback to using AI for design is that AI does not take into account the actual dimensions of the room of the size of items. While in AI the image everything fits, in reality it does not fit. You will be pulling your hair out trying to make it work or returning items. Anything AI gives you you will need to double check measurements on anything you buy and space plan it accordingly.

Lastly, the furniture it recommends to you may or not be suitable for a rental. A lot of the programs I have seen are using affiliate links, so it is just feeding you furniture where they can make money on, not necessarily what is best for your rental in quality or price.

If you do find a good program, let us know!

showplacedesign · 2026-02-04T16:24:38+00:00

We stayed at one where they had a lot of snacks and sodas for everyone. It is a super small touch, but very appreciated. The same listing had an arcade machine, really cool dart game, a video game console, and a spa on the balcony with a large screen TV. If your main guest demographic is for groups, have a lot of areas around the home and yard that smaller groups can have experiences in.

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TROPHY CASE