Five Hosting Tips to be an Airbnb Superhost

Becoming an Airbnb Superhost isn’t easy, which is why we’ve written five hosting tips that can help you increase your review ratings and chances to become an Airbnb Superhost. With Superhost evaluations happening only every three months, Airbnb hosts will want to be as prepared as possible when evaluation time comes around at the start of the quarter. 

If you’re not aware of what it takes to earn Superhost status, check out our blog post on Airbnb’s requirements to become a Superhost.

1. Have high quality listing photos

While Airbnb doesn’t specify any requirements about a host’s listing or listing photos, it’s a well known fact that having high quality photos for your listing will help net you more bookings. Along with this, lots of good photos of your home and it’s rooms properly set guests’ expectations for their stay, helping you avoid surprise bad reviews. If you want to find out how to take better listing photos, we’ve written an article with tips on how to take better listing photos for your Airbnb.

2. Communicate effectively with your guests

Proper communication with guests is one of the easiest ways that a host can prevent a low review score early on during a guest’s stay. It goes without saying that you should always respond to your guests (especially so that you meet the Superhost requirement of having a minimum response rate of 90%), however it’s just as important to respond in a timely manner in order to show your guest that you’re actively trying to help resolve any problems or concerns. Sending an early message after check-in can help coax unsure guests into bringing up any issues that they might not have mentioned, letting you resolve things early and earn a better review score.

3. Impress guests by automating your home

Automating your home is a great way to impress your guests and offer a smoother experience for their check-in and their stay. Simple things like making a guest guidebook that explains your home’s various amenities or using Keycafe’s key exchange services to allow self check-in at any time of day go a long way to reducing friction and ensuring guests enjoy their stay. We’ve written an article that gives you three simple steps to start automating your home for Airbnb hosting.

4. Cancel reservations only if you have to

Perhaps one of the hardest requirements for hosts is that they must maintain a 1% cancellation rate or lower. This means that if you cancel even just one reservation that doesn’t fall under Airbnb’s extenuating circumstances, you’ll need to host at least another 99 stays before you’re eligible for Superhost status again. Try to work with a co-host in order to always respect reservations, and make sure you have a clear understanding of Airbnb’s cancellation policies and penalties for hosts, including the extenuating circumstances for cancellations.

5. Make sure your guests leave reviews

At the end of every Airbnb stay hosts often find themselves unsure about how to make sure their happy guests leave a positive review. Since many guests often forget to leave reviews, it can be difficult for hosts to reach the 4.8 minimum overall rating to become a Superhost. For hosts looking for ways to receive more reviews from their guests, we’ve written a guide about whether hosts should ask guests for a review.