7 rules every first-time Airbnb host should follow

Getty Images

When Inez Valk put a clawfoot tub in the upstairs bedroom of her Delaware country house, she didn’t anticipate that guests would get carried away "by the romance of their surroundings," as she delicately puts it, overflowing the tub so bathwater seeped through the floorboards.

"We urgently — but gingerly — knocked on the door and were greeted by flushed, sheepish guests," she recalls. "Then we called a plumber."

Being a successful Airbnb host isn't just about landing a booking; it's about what happens after the guests arrive. You wouldn't know that from looking at Airbnb's website, however. For all its splashy photos and big, useful maps, Airbnb focuses more on the nuts and bolts of hosting — regulations, insurance and safety — rather than offering helpful tips for choosing bed linens, schmoozing with guests and, for better or worse, setting the mood.

Related: How to be the Perfect Airbnb Guest

"People who have chosen to go this route are not just looking for a well-appointed hotel room," Valk says. "They are looking to engage their imaginations." (Which may mean finding imaginative uses for a beautiful clawfoot tub.)

First-time Airbnb hosts need to think beyond nailing the practical bullet points — "the requisite number of glasses, blackout curtains and packaged bathroom products," according to Valk — and consider why travelers are paying to live in a stranger’s house in the first place.

Natascha Folens, an interior designer in Washington, D.C., who specializes in Airbnb rentals and runs two of her own in Middleburg, Virginia, and Ibiza, Spain, echoes this sentiment. "If you search in D.C., you get over 1,000 properties," she says. "So how do you stand out?"

We asked Valk, Folens and interior designer Michelle Prentice, who rents a historic cottage in Beaufort, South Carolina, for some pointers on doing just that. For more on the culture of home-sharing, read our feature on the Airbnb Open.  

Engage your guests.

People choose Airbnb for the homey experience, says Valk, who turned an abandoned Italianate house in Bloomfield, Delaware, into Table On Ten. Guests yearn to engage with hosts, even if that means having "a first cup of coffee together while we’re still setting up," she says. It's all part of the charm and fosters a sense of belonging.  

Be a good concierge.

You don’t have to be a four-star tour guide, but it helps to point guests in the right direction when they have questions. "We always tell guests about activities like the state park that’s nearby, which everyone loves," says Prentice, who is also a Superhost. She recommends greeting every guest when they first arrive since "people really want to make the most of their time."

Think about the little things.

"We try to furnish our house with things we would want if we were to come into the space," says Prentice, who admits she has high expectations. "I like to drink out of nice glasses, so we provide good quality wine glasses and make sure there are decent knives in the kitchen drawer."