How longer stays can benefit your hosting business
Welcoming longer stays can be a sound hosting strategy. You can generate a more predictable income stream, reduce your workload managing turnovers, and host with more flexibility.
Filling your calendar
Longer stays help fill your calendar quickly. Whether they are weekly (at least seven nights) or monthly (at least 28 nights), they reduce the number of gaps between reservations.
Longer stays can also create a more predictable and steady stream of income. When you host a guest for longer than a month, you’re paid in regular installments.
You can encourage longer stays by adding weekly and monthly discounts:
Tap or click the settings icon in your calendar.
Scroll to Discounts in your Pricing tab.
Select Weekly or Monthly. You’ll find a suggested discount based on your listing and demand for similar listings in your area.
Move the slider between 0 and 99% to adjust the discount and track how it changes your average weekly or monthly price.
Select the guest price below to get a price breakdown, including any fees and your earnings.
Tap or click Save to set the discount you want.
Some Hosts seek out guests who are interested in longer stays. They share links to their listings with local companies or universities whose employees or students may be searching for temporary arrangements.
“I’m only interested in [hosting] longer stays,” says Patricia, a Superhost in Austin, Texas. “I hope to be a home to traveling professionals whose assignments are one to three months.”
Reducing your workload
Longer bookings generally mean a lower turnover rate and less work, particularly when it comes to messaging with guests and cleaning your space.
For example, Hosts typically spend less time communicating with one set of guests who stay for a month than with multiple guests who stay just a few nights at a time.
To keep things tidy, some Hosts provide cleaning services and supplies. “I offer free weekly cleaning, with clean linens and a restock of basics, so I can make sure everything is going well,” says Omar, a Superhost in Mexico City, who’s hosted families and remote workers for up to six weeks at a time.
Hosting with flexibility
Longer stays can be a natural fit if you’re away for longer stretches. Maggie, who co-hosts in Northampton, Massachusetts, says her parents’ home used to sit empty when they spent winters in Puerto Rico. “We went from making nothing to using Airbnb and earning $3,500 a month,” she says.
Longer stays can also be favorable in communities that limit short-term rentals. Make sure the minimum and maximum stays you set follow local rules and regulations.
If you’re in an area that allows both shorter and longer bookings, consider adjusting your settings periodically. This can help you make the most of seasonal demand in your area while enticing guests to book any nights or weeks available between your monthly stays.
Information contained in this article may have changed since publication.