As the number of hosts increases month on month, more properties are available now than ever before. Luckily, there are so many different traveler budgets for rentals and so many different type of holiday lets available to meet different expectations that you should have no issue getting bookings. Here’s my top tips for finding ways to Increase your nightly rental price.
Despite this, you may want to try and offer simple extra things to match other listings which can help set you apart or keep you competitive with what else is available locally. In order to be a successful host and make it worth your while, there are simple things you can do to help boost profits from renting.
Increase guest capacity
A simple way to boost your nightly price or appeal of your property is increase the number of guests you can accommodate.
Whilst the easiest way to do it is to purchase a sofa-bed for a living room, or to make use of an office room or spare space, you don’t even have to pay out for something like this.
Your first thought would probably be a blow-up air mattress. These are really easy to put away and set up quite quickly and are really budget friendly. There are even different types to suit different budgets.
Instead if you have a little extra budget or feel that you would have enough demand for extra bed space, I would recommend a memory foam mattress topper. These are sturdy enough to be used as stand alone mattresses on a living room floor. They can be rolled up or stowed away easily and allow you to make up a quick extra bed space or allow guests to to help accommodate additional numbers.
Offer guests access to streaming services.
I see many listings offering Smart TV’s with access to Netflix to allow you to log into your own account. While this is perfectly fine, Netflix has a budget monthly subscription of under £10 in the UK. Offering this to guests at the property is a cheap draw point to save a guest from having to log into their own. It also means that if you don’t want to offer terrestrial television, you still have some form of television to offer to guests.
I’d be wary of providing things like plug-in Amazon Fire Sticks as these can be stolen.
Access to a coffee machine or providing tea and coffee supplies.
You can purchase cheap coffee pod machines with various instant coffee pods for guests to use. These taste so much nicer than sachet of jar coffees and the choices for types of coffee drinks rivals that of a coffee shop. Not only are the drink options great but a coffee machine and coffee pod storage keeps the kitchen area clutter free and makes for a nice kitchen display.
Check your current ‘Value’ Rating.
It’s safe to say, if your value rating from your guests is averaging at 5 stars, it might be worth increasing your price ever so slightly. I’d recommend if your average rating for this is over 4.8* stars, go ahead and increase your nightly base rate by anywhere from £5-£10.
If you work on Airbnb’s price adjuster, set your top end nightly fee by the same amount.
Review the Competition
Check to see what other local rentals are charging and see where you fall in the pricing. If a property offering less than you is charging more and is still getting reviews and bookings, consider increasing your price a fraction in line with them.
Reduce Clutter
I’ve mentioned this across the site several times and I can’t stress how much of a difference this makes to a guests stay and their overall experience. Less clutter means you can get your short-term rental cleaner as there will be less surface area to collect dust. Less clutter also opens up the space and gives a more minimalist setting which is more attractive to a wider audience.
Not only this, but you’ll find your cleaning time will speed up, further reducing the time you spend cleaning and effectively increasing your hourly pay slightly.
Reduce guest chores
I’m against asking guests to carry out lots of chores. Unless they are absolutely necessary, cut them out and just increase the price a fraction to make up for it.
Offer better Amenities.
For most of us, it’s not possible to suddenly add a pool or hot tub for really big wow factor points so making use of the space you have is important. If you have a balcony, even if it’s small, making a feature of it with some simple solar lights and small chairs can make the world of difference to a space that otherwise wouldn’t be highlighted or be able to be used.
Redress the bed
Opting for more premium bed linens or pillows can make the world of difference. Egyptian cotton premium hotel quality linens make for a more luxurious sleep and plump hypoallergenic pillows will mean your guests will have a better night sleep and better reviews. Styling the bed with new bed linen and better pillows will allow you to retake photos of the bed – the focus and most attractive part of staying elsewhere.
Even if you can offer guests things like Netflix access or use of a coffee machine, these can act as attractive decider points for a guest looking to book and anything you can draw attention to as a feature can set you apart from the other listings you’ll be competing with.