An Airbnb Host Checklist to Elevate Your Guest Experience

An Airbnb host checklist is a great way of managing daily operations and increasing productivity. You might wonder, though, how a checklist can improve the efficiency of your vacation rental business? 

An Airbnb host checklist reduces the likelihood of missing out on vital steps and helps avoid mistakes. It enables you to focus on business-scaling activities. To help you through every stage of the hosting process, we’ve created a complete checklist for short-term rental hosts. 

Before You Start Hosting

1. Obtaining legal permissions and insurance

Before you start hosting, you need to make sure you have the legal certification to rent out a short-term rental property. Here’s what you need to do to be on the safe side:

• Check the Airbnb legal regulations in your city and find out if there are any restrictions.
• Research zoning regulations and guidelines of the area in which you want to operate.
• Work with a business attorney to help with establishing your business.
• Consult a tax advisor to assist you in identifying any taxes and fees you will need to pay.
• Register your business and make sure you’re certified to host short-term rental stays.
• Buy necessary vacation rental insurance to safeguard your business assets.
• Protect your rental against any misuse or damage with a rental agreement.

To learn more about Airbnb rules and regulations, as well as suggestions for safeguarding, check out these handy articles:

Airbnb Rules: 6-Step Checklist to Stay Within the Law
Airbnb Taxes: 7 Essentials Hosts Need to Know
Airbnb Tax Return: What Airbnb Hosts Need to Know
Why You Need Vacation Rental Insurance and How to Choose One
Top 5 Safeguarding Tips for Your Vacation Rental Business
15 Things to Include in a Short-term Rental Agreement

2. Listing your vacation rental

The next step in your pre-hosting checklist is creating a listing on Airbnb if you don’t have one yet. The process of setting up your property on Airbnb takes time, so apply a bit of thought and creativity into crafting it. You want your listing to be a true reflection of your rental, and it should look as professional as possible. Your Airbnb host checklist for listings should include:

• Taking professional photos of your property or hiring a photographer to take photos. Make sure your photos highlight your rental’s key features and amenities.
• Composing a detailed property description for your rental listing. List your property’s unique features, but avoid overhyping and inflating expectations.
• Giving your listing a creative and catchy Airbnb title that summarizes what your rental offers to guests.
• Creating a host profile with a description of yourself and include a profile picture.

For more inspiration on creating an ideal listing, check out our useful guides below:

Airbnb Photo: 7 Not-So-Obvious Tips for Taking Property Pictures
Airbnb Titles: Proven Formulas That Attract 5x More Bookings
How to Write an Outstanding Airbnb Profile [Examples Included]
The Pro Hosts Guide to Optimizing Your Airbnb Listings [9 Practical Checklists]
7 Steps to Listing Your Airbnb Properties Like a Pro
10 Unique Tips to Ranking Among Airbnb’s Best Listings

3. Automating your tasks

As mentioned earlier, there are many repetitive tasks that appear on every Airbnb host checklist. As your business grows, you might find it challenging to pay due attention to all of them. This may result in decreased productivity of your business and affect your revenue. 

Luckily, there is an array of automation tools to come to your rescue. One such tool is vacation rental software. Using vacation rental software, like iGMS, allows you to run your business on autopilot. These are the tasks you can streamline:

• Guest communication with our unified inbox and automated messaging functionality for both guests from direct bookings and those who booked through the OTAs.
• Creating guest reviews using templates and automating review send-outs.
• Cleaning and team coordination with task assignments and triggered notifications.
• Managing and overseeing listings on different platforms while avoiding double bookings using the channel manager.
• Tracking business growth and recording payouts with advanced financial reporting tools.

As you can see, automation via iGMS will help break the cycle of endless, repetitive jobs taking up most of your time. You can use this additional time to focus on expanding your business while your guests still receive stellar service.

Learn how vacation rental management software and a touch of automation can reinforce your business in our informative guides:

New e-book: How to Choose Airbnb software for Your Business
Airbnb Management Software: Why Use it and How to Choose One
Vacation Rental Management: 8 Step Guide to Business Automation
Airbnb Automation: 6 Ways to Put Your Business on Autopilot

Before Your Guests Check-in

1. Establishing perfect communication with guests

Guest communication should be high, if not at the top, of your Airbnb host checklist. Prompt and professional replies to your Airbnb guests will create a favorable impression of you as a host. You should curate guest messages that pertain to every stage of the booking process:

• Before check-in
• On check-in day
• After check-in
• Before check-out
• On checkout day
• After checkout
• Upon inquiry
• Upon confirmed reservation
• Upon cancelation
• Upon reservation alteration

To stay on top of your messaging, use vacation rental software with automated communication functionality. For example, iGMS offers template creation and automation, saving you time on guest communication.

To sharpen and refine your guest communication strategy, take a look at the resources below:

Airbnb Communication Strategy: 7 Rules for Glowing Reviews
The Art of Airbnb Messaging: 8 Proven Ways to Enhance the Guest Experience

2. Cleaning your property

Regular cleanings of your rental are important to ensure good hygiene, which can impact a guest’s experience. An untidy rental can put guests off, resulting in canceled bookings and negative reviews.

To ensure that cleanings are thorough, hosts should refer to an Airbnb host checklist dedicated to cleaning tasks:

• Dust and vacuum all rugs, carpets, shelves, and furniture
• Mop and wipe down all floors, counters, and surfaces in every room
• Sanitize and disinfect all surfaces after they have been cleaned
• Wash all towels and linen
• Check that every room is clean and disinfected.

This is not a complete checklist, and more steps can be added based on the type of property that you manage. A cleaning checklist is especially crucial for hosts that outsource cleanings. iGMS can simplify this process by allowing hosts to create a cleaning checklist that they can share with their cleaning teams. 

To make your vacation rental cleaning less of a chore, read these handy articles:

Vacation Rental Cleaning Checklist [Free Template]
5 Cleaning Tasks You Should be Subcontracting Out
How to Find an Airbnb Cleaning Service
Airbnb Cleaning: How to Optimize to Save Money and Time
Vacation Rental Cleaning: Ins and Outs to Know About
Airbnb Cleaning Fee: 5 Frequently Asked Questions Answered

3. Stocking with essentials/amenities

Your vacation rental needs to offer a full range of Airbnb supplies in order for your guests to enjoy their stay. Guests should not need to worry about bringing their own supplies. If your rental is missing amenities, such as kitchen essentials, bathroom supplies, or even a high-quality mattress for a good night’s rest, guests may get frustrated. If guests feel they are not receiving adequate amenities, they may complain or leave a negative review. 

To make sure you don’t forget to include any important items in your rental, explore these Airbnb host checklists for amenities:

Airbnb Supplies: A Complete Checklist for Hosts
Top 10 Airbnb Kitchen Essentials to Stock for Your Guests
9 Airbnb Bathroom Essentials: A Cheat Sheet for Airbnb Hosts
The Must-Have Vacation Rental Inventory Checklist Every Host Needs [ + Free Template]

4. Preparing a welcome pack

Before your guests arrive, you should prepare a comprehensive welcome pack to help them feel welcomed into your rental. A welcome pack will delight your guests and make their stay more memorable. For a thoughtful arrival pack that will help guests have a great stay with you, follow this Airbnb host checklist:

• Draft a welcome letter that will make guests feel personally invited by you into your rental.
• Create a welcome book that provides information like the Wi-Fi password, your cellphone number, and email address, as well as necessary instructions for how to set the alarm or use the oven.
• Prepare a list of house rules that explain the dos and don’ts at your property.
• Leave a welcome gift for an extra special touch that will make guests more likely to leave a great review.

Learn to prepare professional welcome packs for your guests by reviewing the resources below:

How to Write a Vacation Rental Welcome Letter
Airbnb Welcome Book: How to Create a Comprehensive Guide
Airbnb House Rules: Best Practices and Examples for Hosts [Free Template]

5. Ensuring a smooth check-in process

As a host, you should ensure that your guests have a smooth check-in process. If checking-in becomes confusing or frustrating, then guests may be put off. They may even cancel and leave before accessing your rental. Follow a few key steps to ensure a smooth and seamless check-in process for your guests:

• Install an Airbnb lockbox or a smart lock for providing a self-check-in option.
• Edit and change your lockbox or smart lock’s passcode before your next guests arrive to check-in.
• Share clear and concise check-in instructions with your guests so they can access your rental.

After Your Guests Check out

1. Checking the condition of your property

Once your guests have checked out of your property, you should do an inspection to ensure no amenities are missing or damaged. It’s a good idea to also use an Airbnb host checklist for this, and create an amenity checklist for each room to account for every item. 

2. Replenishing supplies and making small repairs

Once you have conducted an inspection of your property, you need to take action to ensure your rental is ready to welcome your next guests.

Arrange for any repairs to be made if necessary. Follow an Airbnb inventory checklist to replenish any items, such as Airbnb toiletries or kitchen essentials, that are running low. You want to ensure that your rental offers a consistent standard of excellence and that guests’ experiences staying with you don’t vary. 

3. Sending a thank-you message and reviewing your guests

After your guests check out, make sure to send them a thank-you message. This is an important step and it should not be left off of your Airbnb host checklist.

• Mention that it has been a pleasure to host such amazing guests, and they are welcome back anytime. 
• Message your guests and request that they write a review of their stay, as people are more likely to leave reviews when asked to do so.
• Create a review for your guests to encourage them to leave you a positive review in return.
• Offering a small discount can be a great way to make your guest return and stay in your property again.
  

To learn more about Airbnb reviews and their role in improving your rating on Airbnb, explore the following resources:

Bad Airbnb Reviews: How to Turn them into Your Weapon
Generating Vacation Rental Reviews with post-departure Emails

4. Marketing your property

It’s essential to use a sound Airbnb host checklist when it comes to marketing your vacation rental. A solid marketing strategy can support ongoing bookings and attract new clients. 

• Create listings on several short-term rental platforms to increase your chances for getting reservations.
• Create business pages on social media platforms to market your rental online.
• Build your own business website to receive direct bookings.
• Partner with local businesses to expand your market reach. Offer experiences for your guests that will help your rental stand out.

For a complete outline on how to market your short-term rentals online, check out our authoritative guide:

To get more marketing insights, explore our collection of helpful articles below:

Airbnb Marketing Strategy: Top 6 Techniques to Crush Your Competitors
Airbnb SEO: 10 Proven Tips to Boost Your Ranking
How to Use Pinterest to Promote Your Listing
8 Not-So-Obvious Ways to Promote Your Airbnb Listing
How to Promote Your Airbnb Instagram Account
How to Create an Airbnb Video to Market Your Property

Conclusion

A short-term rental business requires a lot of multitasking and constant concentration on various activities and operations. Keeping this Airbnb host checklist at hand will help you become more organized and make sure that no important steps have been missed. A profound Airbnb host checklist can make a difference for your business by enhancing productivity and improving the quality of service that you provide to your guests.