Tips from an experienced host on Airbnb to get started hosting

Key overview: How to get started as a host on Airbnb

• Stay in your property before you host it so you can think like a guest. Make note of what you go to grab but don’t have.
• Have a great cleaner and lockable storage with three sets of quality bed linen.
• Add extra touches that guests will appreciate, like ear plugs, eye masks and hooks to hang handbags, keys and towels.
• Create a beautifully presented and thorough welcome guide for guests that includes information on what the locals love, how to use amenities in the house and Wi-Fi details.
• Aim to under promise and over deliver for your guests.

This pretty listing is a two-bed apartment in Queensland on the Sunshine Coast and was the starting point for Airbnb Superhost Ambassador Bree’s hosting journey. Bree initially hadn’t considered becoming a host on Airbnb. “I had never stayed in one, I didn’t know anybody who had hosted,” she says. “I said I’d give it six months. So I threw everything that I had into it and I absolutely fell in love with it!” After years of hosting, Bree is now a Superhost Ambassador and shares personal tips and guidance based on her own hosting experience to help prospective Hosts get started. The benefits of hosting on Airbnb have included helping to support the mortgage and contributing to ongoing home improvements**. “It’s been very successful,” says Bree.

How Bree got started as a host

This two-bedroom apartment – the first Airbnb listing Bree tackled – wasn’t always so beachy chic. Bree bought the property along with its neighbouring twin in 2017, in ‘awful condition’, before carrying out a lot of the work herself. “I became very familiar with the Bunnings process,” says Bree. “We bought everything there. I knew the aisles so well that I joked that once I’d finished hosting on Airbnb, I would make an excellent Bunnings employee!”

How to be a great Airbnb Superhost

• Think like a guest. The process had Bree working from a guest’s perspective. “I was thinking about how people would actually use the space,” she says. “Where would they put their suitcases, what would they use in the kitchen, was the lighting good?”
• Have a smooth routine between guests. Bree helps guide other hosts in the finer points of preparing a space for listing. She has developed a well-honed routine that includes a 10am check-out and 2pm check-in, a cleaner for most same-day turnarounds and thoroughly organised lockable storage. “I have three sets of linen for all the beds – one set on the bed, one in the wash and an extra set in case we have a week of rain and can’t get the stuff dry,” she explains.

Bree says while you don’t have to have the most incredible place to be a host, little touches matter. “In so many of my reviews, guests have written, ‘Bree has thought of everything’ – like ear plugs and an eye mask for Friday or Saturday night, if you know there’s an event in town. I love little luxurious body washes and shampoos. I think you can really pick and choose where you save money and where you go a little bit all-out, and have a point of difference from everybody else. I am a sucker for quality linen!”

Bree’s top Superhost tips

• Stay in your property before you host it. “Spend a night, a weekend, cook some instant noodles!” says Bree. “Do whatever you want to do, but just make a little list of the stuff that you went to grab that you don’t have.”
• Think like a guest. “When I travel, I really want to eat where the locals eat, so I think providing that kind of information is great.”
• Include a thorough welcome guide. “I love a hard-copy welcome book with some beautiful photos and all the information that you could need. Wi-fi details, recommendations for restaurants, how to use the oven... If you are receiving the same message from guests over and over again, then that is something you definitely need to put in a welcome book and have available for them.”
• Be responsive. “Good communication is really important; being as transparent as possible, and under-promising and over-delivering,” says Bree.

Curious about how to start hosting on Airbnb, or want to chat to a Superhost Ambassador?

To help you get started, head to airbnb.com.au/host.

Looking for Airbnb listing inspiration?

Check out our article on Airbnb hosting tips to make your first listing feel premium.

Photo credit: The Design Villa/Louise Roche.

**The information in this article is general in nature and for illustrative purposes only. Individual experiences vary. Earnings are not guaranteed and will depend on factors, including availability, price and the demand in your area. Your ability to host may also be subject to local laws. You should look at your own financial position, and seek professional advice before making any financial decisions.

Please note: Any plumbing or electrical works must be done by a licensed contractor.