Your first 30 stays as a new host

Why the first 30 stays matter

Early on, every stay counts for more. Airbnb's guide for new hosts says your overall rating appears on your listing "after you receive three reviews" and may affect how it ranks in search (resource 32). With only a handful of reviews, one bad stay is a large share of the total.

Guest Favourites has a threshold too. Airbnb lists "At least 5 reviews from guests in the past 4 years", including at least one in the past 2 years, among the requirements (resource 642). Reaching the review count doesn't earn the badge on its own, but it is the point where your ratings start to matter for it.

The first 30 stays are also when you learn how your home really works with guests in it. Which instructions get misread, which supplies run out, which small things break. This guide is the routine I'd follow for that stretch.

Before you list

Get the essentials in. Airbnb's essentials list covers "Toilet paper", "Soap (for hands and body)", "One towel per guest", "One pillow per guest" and "Linen for each guest bed" (help 2343). If you tick the essentials option, those items must be there.

Walk every room with a list. For each room, check that everything works: lights, sockets, locks, windows, taps, the shower, heating and air conditioning, appliances, the Wi-Fi in every room. Note anything a guest would need explained.

Photograph the home as it is. Your photos set what guests expect. Take them once the home is finished and dressed, not before.

Stay a night yourself. This is the one step I'd never skip. Sleep in the home as a guest would, using only what a guest gets. You'll find the things a walk-round misses: a bedroom that is too bright at dawn, a shower that runs cold too soon, a noisy fridge, a missing bottle opener, a check-in step that only makes sense if you already know the building. Fix what you find before your first guest.

Before the first booking

Messages. Write your key messages now, so you are not writing them in a rush: a booking confirmation, check-in instructions, a mid-stay check, and a checkout message. Airbnb's guide suggests you "set up scheduled messages" for important moments such as check-in (resource 32).

Check-in. The same guide says to add "step-by-step check-in instructions" to your listing. Write them as if the guest has never seen your street. Test any codes and lockboxes yourself.

House rules. Put the rules that matter in your listing, so guests see them before they book. Keep them short and specific.

Cleaner. Agree the price, the timing and what a clean includes. Do the first clean together if you can. Make sure they have a written checklist.

Emergency plan. Decide what happens if something goes wrong when you can't get there: a leak, a lockout, a power cut. Have a backup person with a key, a plumber and an electrician you can call, and know where the water stopcock and fuse box are. Put the essential numbers in your house manual.

Pricing checks. Before your calendar opens, check your nightly price, cleaning fee, minimum nights and discounts. Search for your own dates as a guest and compare the total price with similar homes. Airbnb's hosting checklist covers setting your price per night and your trip minimums and maximums (help 1189). The same page suggests you "Give yourself enough preparation time between reservations", which matters most when you're still learning how long a turnover takes.

Search. Don't panic if your listing isn't visible straight away. Airbnb's search page says new listings "usually show up in search results within 24 hours", but in some cases may take longer (help 39).

Every turnover

Airbnb's guide to preparing your space says to "Create a turnover checklist" and follow the same routine before every check-in (resource 656). A good turnover covers:

1. Photos of the home as the guest left it, before cleaning starts.
2. The clean, room by room.
3. A restock of consumables.
4. Anything broken or missing, noted with a photo.
5. Finished photos from the same spots.
6. A lock-up check: doors, windows, heating or air conditioning, lights, keys or codes.

Keep the checklist to one page so it actually gets used. The free turnover checklist builds a printable one from your rooms and amenities, with a fixed photo list.

After every guest

Four quick things, every time. A simple log, on paper or in a spreadsheet, makes the checkpoints later much easier.

For damage, timing matters. Airbnb's host damage protection page says to file a request "Within 14 days of the responsible guest's checkout", with "photos or videos" and estimates or receipts (help 279). Airbnb reviews each request, so nothing is certain, but you can't file at all once the window has passed.

Reply to every review, calmly and briefly. Never offer anything in return for a review, and never ask a guest to change one.

Checkpoint: 5 stays

Look for patterns. Five stays is not much data, but it is enough to spot a repeat. Read your log and your messages from start to finish. If two or three guests asked the same question, the answer is missing from your listing or your check-in instructions. If two or three mentioned the same small problem, it is not bad luck.

Fix the repeats now. Small fixes this early protect the reviews that count most.

Checkpoint: 10 stays

Update the listing. By now you know your home with guests in it. Go back to your listing and make it match the stay:

• Add answers to the questions guests kept asking.
• Correct anything guests found different from the description.
• Reshoot any photos that don't show the home as it is now.
• Update your house manual and check-in steps with what you've learned.

If your early reviews mention something you've since fixed, the description is a good place to say so plainly.

Checkpoint: 20 stays

Review your expenses. Twenty stays gives you real numbers. Add up what you've actually spent: cleaning, laundry, consumables, repairs, utilities and fees. Compare it with what you thought it would cost.

Work out your consumable cost per stay, your cleaning cost per stay, and your take-home per booked night after fees. Then check your price still covers your costs at the occupancy you are actually getting. This is also a good moment to set par levels for your supplies, now that you know what a stay uses.

Checkpoint: 30 stays

Do a full property audit. Thirty stays of wear shows. Walk every room as if you were a new guest, with a notebook:

• Linen and towels: thin, stained or mismatched?
• Furniture: wobbly chairs, marked tables, saggy sofa cushions?
• Kitchen: missing utensils, chipped plates, a tired frying pan?
• Bathroom: grout, sealant, shower pressure, extractor fan?
• Safety: alarms tested, first aid kit stocked, fire blanket in place where you have one?
• Listing: do the photos, description and amenities still match what you see?

Then read every review so far, start to finish, and look at your category ratings. Your weakest category is where to put effort next, and the guide on Guest Favourites and your weakest category shows how to find it.

Keep the routine going

After 30 stays, the routine doesn't stop. The checks just get quicker.