5 Must-Have Amenities That Can Drive Guest Bookings

Hey, what’s up guys, in today’s video we’re going to be talking about five must have amenities that can drive bookings for your short term rental property and make you more money give you a great return on the investment you’re going to put into adding these amenities to your property.

Now, before diving into this and giving you some my recommendations for some different amenities that drive a lot of additional bookings. I do want to start and preface this video by saying that this is not a one size fits all question, what amenities do I add to my short term rental property, the reality is you’re going to want to add very different amenities for your property. Depending on what type of guests you have coming to your property, a business traveler is going to generally want much different amenities in their property, then a family that’s traveling on vacation, or people that are coming in from another country. And so you just want to be mindful of the ideal guest avatar that staying at your property, and try to think about what amenities are gonna be the most useful to them. With that being said, here are a few ideas that I think are really, really great ideas that are great amenities to have. And this is coming from my experience as a host, but also my experience as a guest some things that I look for, and that I know other guests tend to look for that are really important. And for each one of these amenities, I’m going to recommend, I’m also going to give you some additional context on when it’s super valuable and when it’s maybe not so valuable to add these amenities. And let’s start with the first one, which has a very obvious time when it’s available when it does make sense when it doesn’t make sense. And that’s going to be a movie theater. Now I know that you might be thinking, James, this is like a 3040 $50,000 amenity to add, that’s not really realistic to add that into my property. And sure, you could go and spend 3040 $50,000, or more adding a movie theater in your property. But you could also do it for just a few 100 or $1,000. If you do it the right way. For example, some of my properties that I have there cater towards families and larger groups of people, groups of friends. And especially during the wintertime, people tend to cozy up inside we’ve got a fireplace, we’ve got a sauna, we’ve got a hot tub, there’s some hiking that people want to do. But at the end of a cold day out in the winter, what do you want to do you want to cuddle up next to someone and just watch a movie. And so being able to do that on a nice big movie theater screen with some nice big surround sound. That’s a really nice amenity to have at the end of that day. And that’s going to cause people to get booked with you as opposed to booking with your neighbor that maybe doesn’t have that amenity. Now, I’ve seen firsthand the increase in bookings that we’ve gotten from adding that amenity to our properties. And I can tell you it’s well well worth it. Because we did it for relatively little investment, we already had a basement section that we were going to turn into a living room type area. And so we just basically on our couch, and we made sure that there’s a sectional couch with lots of seating for people where they can comfortably spread out and lie down. And that’s really nice. And then the other things that we did is add some extra chairs so that everyone that staying there at the property can all get together in the same area, what I find a lot of people do is they’ll have a living room that only has seating for four or five people when their property accommodates 10. I don’t like doing that I like to have enough seating for everyone in the living area. So we did that. And then the other thing we did was add a sound bar for some surround sound some good good speaker quality right now, don’t cheap out here, don’t just get some crappy little speaker get a nice soundbar or even a surround sound system, it’s going to cost you a few $100. But you’re going to be able to get much better movie theater type audio, that’s good, plenty good enough. Remember, it’s probably not a huge massive room that you’ve got. So you don’t need the craziest speaker setup ever. But having a nice sound bar, something like that is going to really just enhance the movie viewing experience. And then the really only other thing that you need is a nice big white wall and a projector and you can get these projectors now for a few $100 You can get them usually used for a couple $100 or splurge on a new one from amazon for anywhere from three to $600. And that way again, get one that’s nice and easy to connect to and use, you’ll probably want to get like an HDMI cord so that people can connect with HDMI, get one ideally they can connect to wirelessly via something like AirPlay or Chromecast and like that as well, that just makes a bonus so that people can easily connect to it, you’ll put a little instruction book there on how to connect and connect to the speaker and everything to play your your movies, and then bada boom, you’re done. That’s all it really takes. You don’t even have to have something for them to actually play things on. Like you just have the projector and then as long as you have a good internet connection, anyone nowadays can just stream their movies or TV shows or whatever they want to watch. And it’s a really, really great setup. So I love doing that in our properties. I think it’s really, really well worth it on any kind of property that is catering to families or larger groups, friends, that kind of thing. And obviously on a business travel listing, it’s probably not going to be as ideal. But if you’re catering even to couples, that would still be a really really great cool amenity to have. You can even do it in the bedroom if you’re limited for space so that people can cozy up in bed and watch a movie in there. So that’s one amenity that I think is a really great one to add. And you can see that in some instances, it’s definitely better to add in more useful more valuable than others. Now Another amenity that I think is really, really underrated is a king size bed, I can’t tell you the number of places that I’ve looked at that just don’t have king sized beds, when I really, really want it. And I will say that on larger properties where they’re more catering to large groups of people, people are generally more willing to sacrifice and forego the king sized bed. But I’ll tell you right away, if I’m booking for just myself and my partner, I’m going to look for a place that has a king sized bed, I’m going to prioritize that. I know a lot of other guests do that as well. It’s just really nice to be sleeping in a bed like the one that you’re used to meeting them. Nice big bed. And so that is going to be just getting a lot more bookings. I think personally, again, I haven’t tested this extensively, but I do think it’d be more valuable amenity to have for a one bedroom or studio type listing where you’re more attracting couples and they can be a bit more discerning for the larger properties, it’s probably not going to be as much of a deal breaker compared to some of your other amenities, it might be a nice to have, but not necessarily a must in the same way. So that’s domain number two that I think is worth looking into another one that I think is really, really valuable. And probably the highest bang for buck on this entire list is going to be guys just want to take a quick break here to say that for those of you watching, who want to build cashflow, and long term wealth by purchasing Airbnb ease and short term rental properties, there’s a link in the description right down below for a free training that will walk you through my exact strategy for investing successfully in Airbnb ease. Now, if you’re not ready to actually buy properties, and you want to get started managing other people’s properties on Airbnb the same way I got started and build a full time income managing other people’s properties. There’s actually another free training linked in the description down below as well, that will be a really great fit for you. So whether you want to invest in short term rental properties, and actually build amazing cashflow, and long term wealth by acquiring the assets, buying the properties themselves, or you’re looking to earn a full time income managing other people’s properties on Airbnb, we’ve got some awesome trainings that are linked in the description down below, that’ll definitely help you out. When you sign up for the trainings, we’re also going to send you a few other tools and resources completely for free just to help you get started. Again, the links to sign up are in the description down below. And both trainings and all the tools are completely free. So make sure to register for the trainings, links in the description down below. Another one that I think is really, really valuable. And probably the highest bang for buck on this entire list is going to be games now that can be board games, or it can also be yard games. And again, that just depends on the setup on the property on the type of guests the upcoming there. But I’ve yet to find something that is less expensive, but more valuable to have your property and games. Because anytime that you have a couple of games, be a yard games or board games that you have at your property that you can take good photos of it just tells the guests that are potentially going to book with you that you actually thought this through that you actually added some amenities and there’s going to be something for them to do. Now, as far as what games I personally like to go with some of the big hits like the most popular ones right now. I don’t love going back to the classics like Scrabble or monopoly, especially not monopoly because no one plays it, no one actually plays it. And I’m speaking now as a monopoly lover, someone that can never find someone to play Monopoly with me. But I digress. The ones that I really like are things like Settlers of Catan. I also like to add things like Exploding Kittens, or what’s that other one Cards Against Humanity, that’s another good one. And then to get people having fun, if they can create memories and have a good time in your space, that’s always going to be a bonus. And these games cost like anywhere from 20 to maybe 80 or $100 for the game to get it and set it up there. So it’s just so so well worth in my experience, even a couple of decks of cards is it just a must have in my opinion at just about any listing. So that’s the third of many that I recommend adding. And I’m skipping over a lot of the absolute must haves, like for example a coffee maker, if you don’t have a coffee maker, go get a coffee maker, but this video is more so to think about different amenities you can add they’re really going to enhance the guests day that are just bare minimum, but that are going to cause people to book with you more often to pay a higher and have the right to choose you over your competitors. Now the fourth amenity that I think is just a really, really great one to add that consistently drives, bookings, especially in the winter months is going to be a hot tub. And you can also have a sauna. But the thing I like about hot tubs is that as of right now, they’re actually searchable on Airbnb, whereas Saunas are not you can filter for for places that specifically do have hot tubs and filter out places without them. You can’t right now do that with saunas in the same way that you can. So if it’s between one or the other, I like hot tubs better just for that one reason. Hot tubs are really great for any listings that are again more catered towards larger groups or even couples but they’re in a more rural setting mount type setting, anywhere that you have a bit of a lull in the winter time. They can be really really great for stimulating more bookings. So we’ve got properties in cottage country where summer time, that’s when we’re making hay. That’s when things are really going well. And so in the wintertime, they’re less booked less busy. And so having a hot tub and or a sauna is a great way to attract people to your place to come and do kind of a staycation for any kind of a winter centric destination. It’s also super valuable people are coming primarily in the winter, adding an amenity that is specifically very valuable in the winter and most used in the winter is going to choose is going to cause them to choose your listing over others, and to be willing to pay a higher nightly rate for that property. Again, I can speak from experience, I’ve gone for ski holidays, things like that, where I expressly looked out for properties that only had a sauna and a hot tub. And I only selected those properties and looked just filter on those to find those. So I was only going to look those ones. And I’m willing to pay more for it, it’s totally okay, especially when I’m dealing with a large group of people, because just such a great thing to be able to do to all get together outside of hanging out in the hot tub. I think that’s just an absolute must have, if you have a listing where it is well suited, admittedly, it is more expensive, there is not only going to be your upfront cost of several $1,000. But there’s also going to be upkeep cost on the unit. So you have to factor that in. But in my experience, the return on that investment is going to make it very, very well worth your while. So those are my top four. The fifth one I’m going to add to round out this list is I personally think it’s a really, really great amenity to add is, if you can do it any kind of a unique structure or unique place to stay at the property. Again, this is gonna be more catered towards a more vacation style listing. But being able to add something like a geodesic dome, or a year or something like that, it’s really, really nice for two reasons. One, I found that it drives more bookings, because being able to stay in that unique place is really, really cool. But it also increases the occupancy of your property. And so anytime that you can do both of those things, that’s super, super valuable. I do want to make sure that you’re mindful though, if you’re adding this of the fact that you still then have additional people that need to have bathrooms that they can go into and living spaces they can just comfortably be in. So if it means that you’re cramming more people into staying in your place, then you reasonably uncomfortably can accommodate, you don’t want to do it. But if you have a place that has a lot of living space and bathrooms, but doesn’t have as many bedrooms and as big of bedrooms, then it can be a really great way to add additional accommodation capacity to your property and add this cool, unique factor. So that’s something that I think is a really great amenity, admittedly, it’s not the best for all properties, it’s not always possible, you have to have the right type of land for that as well. And it is on the more expensive side generally costing around $15,000 or more to send something like that up. So I know it’s not as accessible. So just as a kind of constellation, I’m going to add in a few things that I think are kind of constellation amenities that I think are really, really great to add for just about any property. And this comes from staying at multiple properties where this hasn’t been included. And it’s just always a missing. So one blazing fast Internet have the fastest internet you can possibly get into place. No questions asked, even if it costs more, just go ahead and get it with the sole exception, maybe like Starlink, where it’s really expensive. Right now, maybe you don’t want to go that far with it. But in most cases, counting faster is always going to be worth your while. You also want to have an easy seamless, in person check in meaning that they can they can check it in person without having to meet anyone there, they can just self check in. Anytime I book a place that has a you have to meet someone there the property check in so much less convenient, especially if you find that people are generally traveling in from a long ways away whether it’s a long drive or a flight that they’re coming in from, it’s just so much less convenient for them to have to meet someone in person and arrange schedules, things like that. The other thing is just make sure that you have as much living space for the number of people that you can accommodate as you actually need. I see again, too many people that cram a whole bunch of bunk beds and can sleep like 20 people in their place. But they only have the living space and the dining space for maybe five. And so that’s obviously a pretty poor guest experience, you’re not going to have happy guests there. So you don’t want to do that anymore. rural properties adding a fire pit is another great way to have some additional outdoor space where people can kind of gather around the fire and it’s pretty well free to do. So those are a couple of things that I think are really really great to add to properties and five of the main amenities that I think are just really great to kind of get your creative juices flowing get you thinking about different amenities that you could potentially add that would enhance your guests day and give you more book nights and a higher Nivea rate. If you have other ideas or suggestions or things things that you think I totally missed out on this list let me know in the comment section down below. If you liked this video if it was valuable if it was helpful to you in any way, shape or form. Please just let me know by hitting the like button below this video. It does help out massively more than you could ever know with me growing this channel and getting these videos in front of more people and helping more people on their Airbnb investing and management journeys. So please just take half a second and hit that like button it really does mean a lot to me. And last but not least, I will ask that like I do in every video. If you’re not yet subscribed here, make sure you hit the subscribe button as well stay up to date with the two new videos we post every single week on this channel. With all that being said, thank you so much for watching, and I’ll see you in the next video.