How to Furnish like a Superhost

One of the signs of success on Airbnb is making it to Superhost status. That long awaited notification telling you that you’ve become a Superhost is such a sweet, highly anticipated time as a property owner. Believe it or not, there is a correlation between your Airbnb furnishings and your ability to become a Superhost. We’re here to help you ensure that you are furnishing to the highest standards held by Airbnb, for the opportunity to become a Superhost.

First, let’s run through how Superhosts are chosen, and the requirements they must meet in order to earn the designation. From the Airbnb help website; “every quarter, we evaluate your hosting performance over the past 12 months for all listings on your account… If you meet the program requirements by the assessment date, you’ll automatically become a Superhost – no need to apply. To qualify, listing owner with an account in good standing who has met the following criteria:

• Completed at least 10 trips or 3 reservations that total at least 100 nights

• Maintained a 90% response rate or higher

• Maintained a less than 1% cancellation rate, with exceptions made for those that fall under our Extenuating Circumstances policy

• Maintained a 4.8 overall rating (A review counts towards Superhost status when either both the guest and the Host have submitted a review, or the 14-day window for reviews is over, whichever comes first).

While some of these criteria are pure metrics that do not involve the furnishings, the ambiance or the overall design – let’s focus on the first and fourth requirement. In order to be a Superhost, you must have completed at least 10 trips or 3 reservations that total at least 100 nights. In addition, you must maintain a 4.8 overall rating.

With this information in mind, let’s looks at some of the ways to enhance your furnishing and décor to help you achieve Superhost:

1. High Quality Linens and Towels

A guest wants to feel at home, and completely comfortable when they are staying at an Airbnb. Towels that don’t actually work, scratchy linens, and lack of bath linens are major items that guests typically complain about. The inconvenience factor is a major one here. If a guest can’t easily access a towel after getting out of the shower, or a towel to wipe up a spill, you are likely to hear about it. I could go on and on about the necessity for nice linens here, but instead I wrote a whole blog post about it (Coming Soon)!

2. Signs explaining everything

There is nothing worse than walking into a new kitchen and opening every drawer just to find a spatula. Likewise, not being able to find the light switch, or the wifi password, can be just as inconvenient. Guests at short term rentals expect to have everything right at their fingertips, rightfully so. Anything that can lead to frustration or annoyance can lead directly to a bad review. By simply adding signs and labels, you can avoid this frustration and ensure smooth sailing!

Having this information can also be helpful for the Airbnb manager – as they will likely receive less inquiries about the property! Nothing like a late night phone call from a guest asking where to find the wifi password!

3. Comfortable beds

This sounds like a no brainer, but spend the extra money on a higher quality bed! This sneaky detail can be found in multiple reviews, whether people are raving about the bed or ranting about it. If you have a few reviews stating that the beds are not comfortable, you’re less likely to get longer bookings, or any bookings at all.

4. Keurig or single serve coffee maker

Even if you don’t have a large kitchen space for your guests, most will want coffee before they set out on their adventure for the day! Having a single serve coffee maker is a very nice touch for these clients. In addition, we typically have 1-2 K cups or servings of coffee per guest per stay. That way, they can actually use the coffee maker provided.

5. Dedicated work space

This is a new feature on Airbnb for guests. They are able to filter through properties that have designated work spaces – meaning something other than the kitchen island, dining room table, or coffee table. We have started implementing at least one dedicated work space per property, sometimes several if the property is larger. But let’s take this one step further. A monitor with an HDMI hookup can be extremely useful for guests. If they require two screens, they don’t need to load up their car and drive carefully to ensure the safety of their monitor. We believe this is a differentiator in the space, and if you don’t have a dedicated work space you may fall behind.

6. Closet space or a hanging rack

You never know what your guests are traveling for, or the types of outfits they have packed. We believe having a closet space with several hangers per bedroom is a great feature for guests. Closets aren’t available to guests? No problem! A simple garment rack with hangers will work just fine. In fact, it can actually blend into your theme depending on what type of style you’re going for!

7. Steamer/Iron

On the note of clothing, we believe a nice touch can be providing a clothing steamer or an iron. Having one on hand can be beneficial to the guest so they don’t need to go out and buy one themselves.

8. Mirrors galore

Depending on the type of property you are creating, mirrors may not be as important as others. For instance, if you are mainly hosting bachelor parties, work events, family gatherings, then there will not be as many people vying for a mirror. However, if you are expecting to host large groups of women, regardless of the reason for their trip, we recommend having at least one mirror in each room. You can find them extremely cheap at Walmart, Target, Homegoods, At Home, and Amazon. This cuts down on the stress by allowing everyone to have a dedicated “getting ready” station.

While this is not the complete list of important ways to decorate like a Superhost, we hope you find these tips handy! The main key is to create a well thought-out, intentional property that all guests will love.

If you think you want some help decorating and have more questions about Airbnb furnishing services, please check out our blog post on Airbnb Furnishing Services to learn more! We are more than happy to help.