Jump to content

    How to write a good AirBnB listing description (plus real life example)

    How to write an airbnb description house

    Sites like AirBnb all allow you to list a vacation property.

    Whether you're pimping out your spare bedroom to budget travelers, or renting an entire estate to corporate events, your AirBnB page is essentially a sales page!

    There's literally just 3 steps to making a great AirBnB description, and it can be boiled down to

    Step 1.) Write a description for each room (or feature) of the property.

    Step 2.) Attract the kind of guests you want.

    Step 3.) Slap all those different sections together.

    That's it!

     

     

    Step 1.) Write a description for each room (or feature) of the property:

    Writing an AirBnB description listing for travel

    Got 3 different bedrooms? Describe each of them:

    Guests want to know deeper descriptions of each room. Imagine a group of friends renting an AirBnB together, and they want to know the sleeping arrangements beforehand.

    Example:

     

    Got an amazing kitchen area? List everything inside it!

    You need to let people know all the things (or LACK of things) included in their rental.

    Example:

    Have something like a pool or hot tub? Make sure to write about that too!

     

     

    Step 2.) Attract the kind of guests you want:

    airbnb honeymoon listing description

    Want to attract quite guests to rent out a small side room?

    Write something like:

    Want to attract corporate events?

    Write something like:

    Want to attract insane bachelor parties?

    Write something like:

    You get the point. Based on how you "position" your rental, you will attract those kinds of clients.

     

     

    Step 3.) Slap all those different sections together!

    airbnb description assembly

    Simply take all the descriptions you made from Section 1 and 2, slap them together, and BAM! You have a nice AirBnB description ready to go 🙂

     

     

    Let's do a real life example:

    This is the Rockin' Y Ranch is a 30 acre ranch just outside Austin, Texas:

    rockin-y-ranch-pics

    Here's some links to the listings on HomeAway, AirBnB, and their personal website:

    HomeAway Listing: Rockin' Y Ranch Oasis Near Downtown Austin

    AirBnB Listing: Rockin' Y Private 30 Acre Ranch

    Website: Rockin' Y Ranch

    Renting out the Rockin Y Ranch has been exceptionally easy for the family who owns it, However in 2017 something changed and reservations went down.

    It was still booked up every weekend, but on weekdays it would sometimes just sit empty.

    We speculate it was caused by a few things:

    • More and more people started renting out their homes in the area, and natural market competition crept up.
    • The lake rose 40+ feet in 2017, giving many lake houses their waterfront back (Austin went through a long drought, and a lot of "lake houses" literally had no lake in front of them anymore.
    • More hotels sprang up in the area, giving people more location options for holding corporate retreats or family reunions.

    So we at Copywriting Course took a glance at the listing for Rockin' Y Ranch, and figured out how we could improve it.

     

    Previous Rockin' Y Ranch Description:

    Here's what the original listing looked like:

    rockin-y-old-homeaway-description.jpg

    For a giant property with tons of different features, attractions, and cool amenities, this listing is NOT really selling it well!

    The Rockin' Y Ranch is an unbelievably cool property, but this descriptions don't do it justice AT ALL!!

    So how can we improve this listing to make it way more awesome, and attract more of the people they want?

    Let's follow our 3-Step process for improving an AirBnB description:

    Step 1.) Write a description for each room (or feature) of the property.

    Step 2.) Attract the kind of guests you want.

    Step 3.) Slap all those different sections together!

     

    Step 1.) Write a description for each room (or feature) of the property.

    Let's tell the customers about all the sweet stuff at the Rockin' Y Ranch. For example, there's an awesome "Party Barn" which is great for large amounts of people to horse around in and have a good time.

    This is one of the coolest parts of the house, yet it was just "casually mentioned" in the original description.

    SO by asking the owners a bunch of questions, I was able to pull out all this awesome information about this cool party barn:

    See how all we did was list out the cool features of The Party Barn?

    Most parties probably don't care about each individual point on there, but they might care about a few. For example, if I was renting the Rockin Y' Ranch for a bachelor party, it would be GREAT to know The Party Barn has a fridge that can hold 200 beverages, has a big TV, and WiFi all around.

    Now let's repeat this process for other parts of the house! I personally think it's especially important to list out the stuff the kitchen has. This is because when you rent an AirBnB for a home-style environment with your friends and family, FOOD is a big part of the experience. And you can't cook up a storm without the proper equipment.

    So let's list out everything in the Rockin' Y Ranch kitchen:

     

    Step 3.) Attract the kind of clients you want.

    The Rockin' Y Ranch loves 3 main type of events:

    • Family reunions.
    • Corporate events.
    • Chill bachelor parties.

    Since they want more of these, they need to specifically attract those events by describing previous successful events of the same type.

    For example, since they want to get more corporate events during the weekdays, they can describe WHY the Rockin' Y Ranch is perfect for corporate events, and EXAMPLES of corporate events they've held:

     

     

    Step 3.) Slap all those different sections together.

    So for the Rockin' Y Ranch we've listed out all the amenities, and let people know the ranch is great for family reunions, bachelor parties, and corporate events.....so now let's smash all those individual sections together, and put together a great "Sales Pitch" for the Rockin' Y Ranch!!

    airbnb description assembly

    Here's what the entire listing will read like:

    All we did was take several sections of the house, write descriptions for them individually, and then smash them together in our 3-Step process:

    Step 1.) Write a description for each room (or feature) of the property.

    Step 2.) Attract the kind of guests you want.

    Step 3.) Slap all those different sections together.

     

    Bonus Brownie Points if you put pictures WITH descriptions!

    Want some extra brownie points on your listing? Make images with descriptions on top of them. This instills the descriptions in someone's head quicker than plain copy!

    *NOTE* Some rental sites will not allow text on images. They DEFINITELY don't allow you to put contact info or logos on them.

     

    Here's some examples of descriptive text over images:

    AirBnB Description Images with Text

    AirBnB Description Images with Text

    AirBnB Description Images with Text

     

    Conclusion:

    Writing a great AirBnB description is not about adding fancy words or exaggerating how great your property is. It's all about showcasing all the positive aspects of a home, listing out everything that's included in the hone, and setting their expectations correctly:

    Setting guests expectations correctly is the best way to get 5-Star reviews in the long run:

    If you paint a picture of a fancy AirBnB that's really nice, but then when the guest gets there, it's really crappy....you will eventually develop a very poor rating.

    airbnb expectation

    terrible airbnb reality

    As you can see it's relatively simple to write a great AirBnB listing description using our simple 3-step process:

    Hopefully this simple 3-step process helps some of you AirBnB'ers write better descriptions and provide your guests with more information for a happy trip 🙂

    Sincerely,

    Neville N. Medhora - Copywriter Staying In An AirBnB As I Write This

     

    P.S. Do you have an AirBnb (or other vacation rental) listing? Post a link to it here!

    ....you might get a comment back with some feedback 😉


    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments



    Guest Margaret

    Posted

    Just to follow up Neville, I made some changes as per your recommendations. I still have to take some fresh photos and format the text (there doesn't seem to be any formatting options!)

    These things aside, I've gotten 2 bookings since I made the other changes!

    :D You rock!

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Glad you liked the feedback Amy, hope it helps get some more bookings :)
    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Holy moly, congrats on getting 2 more bookings almost instantly! Glad to be of service :)
    Link to comment
    Guest Peter Counsell

    Posted

    Some great points. My 2 cents towards a t-shirt worthy of a superhost is below. (Please read below...)

    Use reviews from past guests as captions for photos. Woohoo!

    Rather than a pre-Neville description of:

    “This is a queen bed.”

    Comment from an actual guest was:

    “I had the best nights sleep in a long time”

    Check out my listing for more guest/photo captions.

    My favourite guest comment however has been:

    “Though Peter is such a cool host he would look even more awesome in a Kopywriting t-shirt”

    (Okay. I made that up. But I reckon that is what guests are thinking..........well, at least I am.)

    Link to comment
    Guest Evelyn Badia

    Posted

    Ahhh, thank you, Peter - You're using my tip of using your guest's reviews as captions! And believe me, your guests will give you amazing copy. They do good words, they tell you what's matters to them. not what YOU think is important.

    BTW - Neville I would love to connect and have you on my podcast... possible?

    Link to comment
    Guest Amy Spaulding

    Posted

    Hi, Jane,

    What an amazing place you have! I want to come visit...

    I love the pictures you posted. Stunning.

    My suggestions regarding your copy -- make the opening page shorter and sweeter and more welcoming. (Keep the details about rules and amenities for a later page section (maybe under "house rules" or "additional information).

    Here is a suggested edit:

    "Enjoy a peaceful and relaxing stay in St. Ives in your own private wing of our house. Your spacious, sunny, and tranquil private room overlooks a charming garden with your own private bath and a separate entrance. Your private hallway opens into a lounge room which you are most welcome to use. There is a basic kitchenette nearby that you are welcome to use.

    Our street is quiet and very safe with lots of free parking day and night. Shops, cafes, hiking, lovely beaches, and Macquarie University, are all within walking distance of our home. We look forward to your visit. Our friends and family who have stayed over the years never want to leave! We hope you feel the same way too.

    We have a sweet, friendly, quiet fluffy moodle dog who sleeps most of the day in a seperate part of the house. If you would like to meet him while you are here, please let us know and we will organise it for you. He would love to meet you.

    ##

    Put all the details about rules and utilitarian amenities in a House Rules section.

    Link to comment
    Guest Neville

    Posted

    Hey Dorothy, looks like you have an awesome rental there!

    Like other people in this thread, I think you could drastically improve your listing with a few things:

    1.) Get some professional photos taken. Your space looks awesome, but you need to showcase that "awesome" with some awesome pics :)

    2.) Break up the listing into different sections such as: "Living Room", "Master Bedroom", "Guest Bedroom".

    3.) List all the amenities and features of each room, such as:

    Master Bedroom:

    The master bedroom is the perfect room with all the comforts of home, and a view that will take your breath away!

    -- Has a king sized bed with warm duvet.

    -- Has 2 large windows to see the water.

    -- Can watch the festival right out of your room!

    -- Has it's own private bathroom with all the soaps/lotions/washes you will need.

    -- Has many towels.

    -- Has a hair dryer in the bathroom.

    -- Large walk-in closet with plenty of storage space and hangars.

    Now do a similar thing for the other rooms. It helps the visitor understand exactly what they're getting so they can better plan their trip :)

    Link to comment
    Guest Avery Birch

    Posted

    Here are the different listings that I have up on Airbnb :)

    Would love to hear you tear the kopywriting apart <3

     

    https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/21068556?s=51

    https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/20697506?s=51

    (professional photos coming this week)

    https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/21763726?s=51

    (undergoing renovations in 2 weeks to make this mid level quality... was the first property and needs a significant overhaul)

    https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/21405283?s=51

    Link to comment
    Guest Mary McD

    Posted

    I'd love to do this, but unfortunately my airbnb website would now read something like:

    "Great view of the stars since Harvey blew off my roof!"

    and

    "no need to worry about getting sand or water on the furniture - it's already got plenty of both!"

    so I'll wait until after the rebuild to rework the listing....

    Link to comment
    Guest Cathy Cousins

    Posted

    So, I've just signed up to Kopywriting Kourse (and when I say 'just', I mean weeks ago) and I was looking through my emails to find my emails. As usual I got distracted and found this EDM. I am writing from Bali as our Sydney home is up for holiday rental (Australia summer is now!).

    After reading your post I am now convinced our listing is sh*t, non?

    https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/20572616?location=avalon%20beach%20nsw&check_in=2017-10-13&check_out=2017-10-20&s=bivtZfWi

    Link to comment
    Guest How to maximize the experience of your guests vacation cycle

    Posted

    […] property descriptions should be thorough and not leave any questions or confusion. Include new technology like Alexa, […]
    Link to comment

    Hey Bela,

    just a few points.. Please hire a professional photographer if YOu can afford one..

    Your pictures are too dark.

    Take Pics from around chest/weist height.

    Take pics when the sun is shining (if possible)

    Use at least 20pics from all the different angles.

    Unplug the cables on the floor, get them around the closet.

    Don't get Yourself in the mirror :)

    Put a few pics of the surrounding area so people know the neighbourhood

    Hope this helps...

    Link to comment

    Hello, the best article i read regarding Airbnb hosting, i started changing title and playing around with it. The original Title was "Party Villa with indoor pool in the city center" and I was doing well. Since the i did not have 1 enquire in two months:( Can you help with advice https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/14685121

    Link to comment

    By the way , at the moment is

    BACHELOR PARTY Villa ~ HOT indoor pool 5✰ Belgrade

    Link to comment



    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now

    • Join 55,000+ people getting our newsletter

      nev-and-logo-going-into-email (3).gif

      - Get notified of new posts -
      - Get weekly S.W.I.P.E.S. Email -
      - Get a free masterclass in copy -
      - People love our emails, see testimonials -

    ×
    ×
    • Create New...
    Guest