Responding quickly to guest messages is an important part of running a success short-term rental. Your response rate can impact your status as a Superhost (if you have your property on Airbnb) and it can impact how guests review your property.
It is essential to make quick and effective communication a top priority. However, there are some guests who make effective communication difficult. These are the guests that send you messages at all hours asking questions that you have already answered in the listing and/or in your welcome book. Getting a lot of questions from guests requires time from you – to answer those questions – and potentially puts your response rate at risk – if you happen to overlook a question.
The good news is that there are steps you can take to minimize guest messages and make it easier for you to answer the questions you receive. A few of these steps include having a welcome sign, providing a welcome book, setting up scheduled messages, and setting up quick replies. (Here is a video about how to edit an Airbnb sign using Canva – I have lots of welcome sign template options available in my Etsy store.)
Ensuring that your property is well-stocked can also minimize messages from guests. What does a well-stocked Airbnb include? I will go over some of the basics I think should be in every STR plus some of the things we have found many guests request.
Consumable Basics to Include in Your Short-Term Rental for Every Guest
Here’s the question I ask when stocking my properties with the basics – What will guests need to come in, go to bed, and get started in the morning? I imagine a tired family that has been traveling and just wants to get to the place they are going to stay. With that in mind, I put out these basics before each guest:
- Toilet Paper – generally I put out one roll a day per bathroom up to four days – that is the ‘starter pack’ and guests are responsible for getting their own if they need more or have a longer stay.
- Paper Towels – I typically leave a fresh roll on the counter and two more in the pantry.
- Coffee Pods – I usually just fill up the container I have for the pods before each stay. If guests need more beyond that (it’s a large container) they have to get them. Guests do not usually take the extra pods – that hasn’t been an issue for us.
- Ground Coffee – we offer a drip coffee maker as well and provide a small container of ground coffee.
- Coffee Supplies – at our properties we provide sugar packets, Splenda, and individual cups of creamer (the type that doesn’t need to be refrigerated).
- Coffee Filters – I leave out a whole package of filters – it lasts for multiple guests.
- Bottled Water – I try to leave some bottles of water in the pantry. We also have filtered water from the fridge.
- Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash – I stayed at an Airbnb one time and all I wanted when we got there was a hot shower. I wasn’t feeling well and we had been driving for hours. I immediately jumped in the shower and then realized there was no soap, shampoo, or conditioner. We had to run out and get them before I could get the shower I wanted. I like to provide these so guests can get a shower after a long trip.
Extras Guests Often Ask About
Throughout our time hosting, there are some things that guests regularly ask about. Some of these things we provided from the beginning and others we added as guests asked.
- Option for Drip Coffee – some people simply do not want to drink coffee from the pods that come with a pod coffee maker. Guests have asked about this several times so we provide a drip coffee maker and a pod that guests can use to put in ground coffee and make it using the Keurig. People are serious about their coffee – I recommend providing more than one option. The good news is that it does not cost a lot to add a drip coffee maker.
- Step Stool – many modern properties have high ceilings. This means that some cabinets are hard to reach for people who are not very tall. We provide a step stool at the property for people who need to reach something on the top shelves.
- Knife Block – when we first started our property, we had some basic knives. We found that guest would often reach out and ask about a specific type of knife while cooking. Getting a basic but well-stocked knife block solved this problem.
- Slow Cooker – we provide a family-sized slow cooker at our property. It sleeps 8 and often attracts families. We had guests ask about having a slow cooker on a number of occasions.
- Plastic Storage Containers – a set of plastic storage containers that guests can use for leftovers.
- Basic Cleaning Supplies – we started leaving a basic set of cleaning supplies that guests can use when they want to clean up.
- Extra Blankets – we leave an extra set of sheets for each bed as well as a couple extra blankets. Some guests will use everything you leave out so be sure not to leave all of your extras out – you will have lots of laundry to do!
Each property is unique, so there may be some items that guests regularly ask about that I did not mention above. For example, if you have a fireplace they may ask about firewood. Or, if you have a beach house, they may ask about beach chairs. The list above is not comprehensive but it is a great starting point. When you learn what types of things guests ask about, you can provide those things and minimize guest messages. Thinking about these small but important items can ultimately save you time and stress as a host.