How to do a trial run for your Airbnb Vacation Rental to prepare for your first Guests
How to get ready for your first Airbnb Guests. What you should know before you launch your Airbnb Vacation Rental.
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Its such an exciting feeling to have your new Airbnb rental space ready to LAUNCH and go live to start taking bookings, and you’ll want to share it everywhere and show it to everyone.
Your first impression for your initial guest bookings is key to setting your short term rental listing up for success.
Every booking and every review counts towards your ranking and where you show up in the results when potential guests are searching.
You must try not to cancel any early bookings just because you found an “oops” in your pricing or you decided something actually wasn’t ready.
Airbnb, VRBO or your other listing platforms will penalize your listing and host status for cancellations or declined guest bookings.
If you cancel or decline any bookings in the beginning, you’ll start off buried further in the search results and may not have a chance to bounce back and get the critical reviews and booking volume that you need.
What do you need to do before you launch your Airbnb or VRBO Vacation Rental?
Do you have all of the supplies your guests will need?
Have you tested everything?
Have you hired cleaners or are you ready to clean the rental yourself?
Creating the best experience for your guests needs to be your #1 priority when you launch your short term rental
everything needs to be clean and ready, no unfinished projects or worn out furnishings and make sure to clean UNDER everything including couches, beds, scrub baseboards and light fixtures. A brand new airbnb should not have piles of dustbunnies, cobwebs and bug filled light fixtures
check out our room checklists and make sure you are well stocked for guest needs, especially the linens, bathroom toiletries and kitchen basics
Cleanliness means inside and out, first impression for the guest is before they walk in the door, and if it’s in shambles, cobweb covered, or the garbage cans are blocking their way, they may just skip checking in and call customer service to find other accommodations.
Photos need to match the experience. Don’t over-stage the photos with furnishings or items you are not including (with the exception of a little wine on the patio or bbq action). What they see in your photos on your listing should show each room as guests get to enjoy it.
Make sure all appliances are working and easy to use. Try all the buttons switches, light switches and make sure everything is good to go, even if it’s brand new.
Don’t leave out details that may deter guests. If your airbnb is in a terrible looking neighbourhood, or there is a flashing billboard outside the master bedroom, or your house is actually an attached duplex, these kinds of details can be played up in a fun way, but they matter to guests and you need to find a way to show them honestly up front in the listing, otherwise you risk your first reviews being less than stellar, or the guest may try to cancel all together.
Include the driving directions, parking information and Wifi information right in your listing so guests can see it after booking (it’s part of the check in details) and schedule an automatic email with all check in information that goes to guests before their arrival - ours is set to 2 days ahead of time.
Why do you need to do a trial run of your Airbnb?
Our friend actually gave us the trial run idea when they were launching their airbnb and had a friend stay first to test it out.
After a completing a full renovation of this new suite, they didn't realize that their contractor had tiled over the shower floor drain. There was nowhere for the water to go.
That was a shock on the first guest staying there and the shower water pouring out across the frameless shower floor and filling the bathroom. Good thing it was a friend of theirs and catching this allowed them time to do a quick repair before they actually had real guests
Before your first Airbnb guest is booking, give yourself the opportunity to have a friend or family member stay in the rental to give you feedback and catch anything you might have missed.
You can then do any last minute fixes or get extra supplies before you risk having negative reviews from your very first guests.
You also need to have professional looking signage for important items only, and all other details should be in a printed house manual as well as a digital copy that is attached to your listing on VRBO or Airbnb.
With one of my first launches, we didn't have spare toilet paper in the suite so the guests awkwardly had to ask on their 2nd day.
We also didn't have ice available for a guest and I didn't realize our mini fridge didn't have a freezer. We quickly swapped out the fridge for a larger mini fridge that did have a freezer compartment and made sure to keep a small stash of toilet paper and paper towel accessible to guests at all times.
We have now purchased this Ice Machine to try for ourselves and so far, I wish we had thought of this sooner since we have great counter space but a very small fridge & freezer. Other than having a rather noisy fan, it is very convenient.
Once you make any changes and final touches
spend a night in the space yourself,
test everything out, try making a small meal, make some coffee, have a shower, etc.
write down all the notes and how-to’s for using everything so you can put together your house manual and FAQ guests especially for items like operating a fireplace or air conditioning
You could even host a small dinner party for you and a few friends to try everything in detail if you have a larger rental and really give your kitchen a test and see if you’re missing any basic supplies
How to do a trial run before your first Airbnb guest comes to stay.
Your Trial Run needs to test out everything, from appliances to smoke alarms to a good night’s sleep. Everything your guest will experience, you need to try it out and think about it as a guest.
Sleep in the Bed! This is a very important first step.
Is it comfy?
Are the linens and pillows comfortable, is the room too hot or cold? Do you need blackout blinds? Do you need to change anything up for furniture placement? Does the waterproof mattress protector make weird vinyl noises? Check out our list of full amenities needed for your Bedroom here
Give everything a test run in the kitchen use the blender, use the coffee machine, all the appliances, check the water dispenser, make sure nothing makes burning smells if you forgot to take off plastic or clean out crumbs, be very detailed, open everything, use everything
check the Wi-Fi connection is working and that the password is printed out clearly and included in your check-in instructions.
Check the TV, cable and make sure you know how to use it. If it requires odd steps, write a how-to in your guest guide
Test the gas fireplace, jetted tub, air conditioning and all mechanical items and take notes on how to use each item for your guests
Check the BBQ and make sure there is gas/propane/charcoal and tools to use it as well as tinfoil, outdoor dishes or trays
Open and close all of the blinds
Test every light and make sure they are not burnt out
Use the kitchen in full! Do you have a can opener, a full set of dinnerware and dishes, a dish rack? Here’s our essentials list for your kitchen
Check your stock of cleaning supplies and guest amenities, did you put out a couple rolls of Toilet Paper and paper towel? Where are the extra supplies stored, does it need a lock? Including cleaning supplies in your suite such as a vacuum broom dish soap by having those available your guests are more likely to take better care of your space and leave it spic and span when they leave
Make sure overall that your guests aren't going to be asking you questions or for extra things that could have been covered before they arrived
What safety and maintenance supplies do you have handy, did you test the smoke alarm, have you added a fire extinguisher and first aid kit? CLICK HERE for my list of important safety items and maintenance considerations such as No Smoking signs
Do you have a guest book made with safety info, user info and emergency contact info? You can also include these in your welcome message to guests
Make sure you have two of everything for all bed linens and mattress cover - See our Bedroom Essentials List here
IMPORTANT NOTE - your Trial Run is also your CLEANING TRIAL RUN.
After you or your friends use the suite, get your supplies ready.
Set aside a couple hour to do a full top to bottom check-out clean that will happen after each departure. Ensure that you have your own cleaning supplies, but that you also have a few essentials in the unit for guests to use to clean up as they go.
This will give you an hours estimate for the appropriate time it takes to clean, and allow you to set your cleaning fee appropriately to cover the cleaner’s time and any supplies or laundry service costs as well.
Buy in bulk from refilleries, costco, amazon etc so you have enough supplies on hand for months for dishwasher pods, cleaners and essentials.
Even after you check through the list and do a trial run, you still may encounter some surprises and little challenges with your first guests.
Here’s a few more things we learned after our first launch of a brand new Short Term Rental suite on Airbnb
Our very first guess spilled a whole lot of something on the duvet (water i think) and we didn't have a backup duvet.
We had a guest checking in later that same day so we had to scramble to finish the cleaning and still get to the store in time to buy a second duvet and duvet cover while the first one was being cleaned.
You should always have a spare duvet & cover or quilt on hand that is clean and ready to go, as well as two spare sets of sheets per bed (one on the bed, one is in the laundry, one is spare on hand in a closet in case guests have issues with the sheets on arrival). I also recommend pillow covers and mattress protectors.
Ensure that you have a garbage can in your bathrooms and your kitchen/living room spaces. If you don't have a garbage can in your bathroom you're more likely to have issues where things go down the toilet, such as wipes, condoms or feminine products, and could easily clog your pipes (or worse if you have septic).
Don't use cleaning supplies that have too strong of a smell. No one wants to walk into your space and be hit with a big pine or lemon Lysol spray that smells like you just cleaned up try to pick stuff that's natural neutral and disinfecting and also be cautious of anything that smells strongly with your laundry soap and and dryer sheets because those can be allergy problems for your guests try to pick neutral unscented laundry products.
Set yourself up as a business from day one. Claim your income and register for the applicable taxes, state or provincial lodging tax, etc. Airbnb and VRBO also reports to the government on your behalf in some cases so make sure that you're doing it the right way from the beginning and tracking all of your expenses for write offs as well as your revenues.
It’s easiest to start using a business tracker like quickbooks when you are just getting started. It also helps you to file receipts (keep all receipts for furniture and household items) and details in case you ever need to make an insurance claim with Airbnb Cover or your insurance.
Before you start bringing an income track all of those expenses that you purchased for the suite all your linens your cleaning supplies your ongoing expenses. We expense the creamer, the coffee, the eggs that we give to our guests , the mileage going to the store to get supplies.
Think about all those little things every time you're buying Keurig pods every time you're restocking or cleaning stuff all of those should be recorded as expenses. I'm not very good at the accounting myself but this is just a heads up to if you start early and get into the habit of snapping those receipts, it makes it super easy at the end of the year for tax time.
Take the time to communicate with your guests before, during and after their stay to request feedback and take things into consideration. There is always room for improvement, though you will find that some guests have unrealistic expectations, most people are willing to share their positive experiences and simple critiques.
Are you Launching your Vacation Rental in the Off Season or slower season for your area? Click here for our tips on how to market your Airbnb for fall & winter.
I hope this information helped you with your Short Term Vacation Rental Plans. If this content helped you, please share this post + subscribe for our future content
