2025 Airbnb Hosting Tips

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Small refreshes for big impact in your vacation rental

As a host, and especially a property owner, if you are operating a vacation rental airbnb or a long term rental, you need to stay on top of the maintenance, and keep things feeling updated, fresh and clean.

Refreshing your vacation rental annually is important to maintain its appeal for guest experience and bookings, and to help keep track of any upcoming major maintenance items that may be needed.

In order to stay competitive and take care of your property as a vacation rental, here are a few things you should refresh and some ideas to give your overall space, and listing photos, a little boost.

Refresh your online listing

If this is not part of your regular hosting habit, you need to add it on for 2025. You should be regularly and it’s the first thing on your to-do list right now.

• Moving photos around in the listing and try different feature and cover images every couple weeks, see which one seems to get more bookings coming in

• Changing rates and evaluating your competitors listings (I keep a saved listings section on my airbnb account)

• Updating listing details for any changes

• Adding fresh photos of local attractions and amenities for the seasons (try to take a couple new scenic photos - without people - on the best days that you visit each year)

• Make sure your template messages and welcome guide are up to date

• Ensure your cleaning fees and taxes are still accurate for the current rates

• Set your holiday rates for all holiday dates on your calendar for this year, especially if you use VRBO

• Get a new photo session or first time professional photos if you have made some changes to your design or space

CHECK VRBO and AIRBNB for hosting updates and automatic discounts that were recently added by the platform.

Near the end of 2024 VRBO introduced an automatic long stay discount for weekly and monthly stays, there was just one notice via email to hosts only, and they made made it as an opt-out otherwise you will automatically have this applied to your listing. And then they made it very hard to find within the listing to turn off this dicsount.

Airbnb made some changes to their cancellation options available to hosts and also automatically changed most listings.

Unless you took action to adjust settings, you should check your rates, minimum stays, discounts and cancellation options for your 2025 calendar on VRBO, Airbnb and any other listing services that you use.

Maintain a Fresh and Inviting Appearance

• Clean Up the Wear and Tear: Even with careful guests, furniture, décor, and fixtures experience natural wear over time. Your slow season is time to block out some dates for possible paint retouching and household repairs. Check all the touch-items that might need adjusting like loose cabinets or towel hooks, moldy shower silicone etc.

• Book a Deep Clean

  This should be a regular twice annual occurrence at the least if you are occupied throughout much of the year. A deep clean includes appliances, cabinet clean outs, light fixtures, all windows and blinds, etc and you’ll want to book carpet cleaning too if applicable.

• Fresh Linens: Many of your towels and sheets will need annual replacements if they start looking worn, stained or scratchy. Always keep up with fresh linens and bedding, pillow replacements.

  Here’s our top bedroom items for your Airbnb

Reevaluate Décor

Simple additions like new artwork, throw pillows and blankets, or rugs and a fresh coffee center or featured amenities can make a great update for some new photos and more enjoyable for your guests.

• Add some green - plants, even fake ones, help bring a little life into spaces and break up all the neutrals that are trendy in decor
  

• Create a new feature - think an instagramable wall, a stylish coffee space, perhaps some new lounge furniture outdoors. It doesn’t have to cost much at all or you can go all out if you’re ready to enhance it for guests, and for your own use

• Adding a new feature every year or two helps to give your returning guests something new to enjoy, and gives you something new to share on your listing.

• Upgrade your amenities. Check out what your closest competition is offering and their reviews, if guests regularly mention something that stands out, it might be time to do something similar for your space if it’s an option.

• If it has been a few years, you may need to consider updates to bigger items like mattresses or coffee tables, things that incur more wear and tear from guest use

• Throw blankets and pillows do need a regular refresh if they get stained, pilled or worn. These comfort items in your indoor/outdoor living spaces are one of the most touched items by guests so you would need to update them more often.
  
  
  

Optimize Functionality

• Tech Upgrades: Smart locks, better Wi-Fi, or improved entertainment systems keep your property competitive with other rentals.

  
  
  

• Energy Efficiency: This is best for a bigger scale update but still good to keep in mind. Upgrading to energy-efficient appliances, wirelessly controlled thermostats like Nest or Mysa, saves on utilities costs and appeals to eco-conscious guests.

  
  
  

• Add Emergency Light Bulbs: If you experience regular power outages I would read this post, but for just the basics you can get light bulbs with built in battery back up so they will stay on in the event of a power outage.

Check Your Insurance and Licencing

• Local regulations or safety codes may change. Refreshing the property allows you to stay compliant and avoid potential fines or legal issues.

• Be sure that your insurance is up to date to cover any liability, potential guest damage or other issues.

• You cannot count on airbnb to cover you or even provide a guest’s info in the event of a major insurance issue.

As a host, if you pay attention to regular maintenance items, and do just a few small refreshes each year, it will make all the difference for your guests’ experience.

Replace anything that looks tired and worn as soon as possible to help maintain the quality and value ratings from your guests. Be sure to have your cleaners regularly check on things for you if you are not locally on hand to check in on your space for yourself.

Wishing you another successful year ahead for your vacation rental hosting.

If this post helped you, please PIN it or share it! For more hosting tips please follow the links to other blog posts and helpful info.