What are the sections of an Airbnb description?
The Airbnb platform now provides four sections to help describe your listing. The sections of the Airbnb description are as follows:
- Description: this is where to expand on the listing name. Include the unique selling propositions that will entice guests to book with you
- The space: here hosts describe the listing in greater detail. This can include room-by-room descriptions, details about amenities, check-in/check-out details, house rules and extra charges and fees.
- Guest access: this is where to include details on what the guest will have access to during their stay and how they will access the property in general. It can include details about parking.
- Other things to note: this is a catchall section. Anything else the guest needs to know about during their stay goes here.
Introduction to the analysis
For this analysis, I’ll conduct text mining on ~12k listings I scraped from a few cities chosen at a random. Namely Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Miami and Colorado Springs. We’ll explore how often hosts are using the sections above, how long descriptions are, and what they are including in them.
I pre-processed the text extensively to generate relevant insights. One step of note was to replace single words with multi-word terms where it made sense to do so. The entire code used for this analysis can be found on the github repo for this project.
Which Airbnb description sections are hosts using?
To uncover which sections Airbnb hosts are using, we’ll present the number of listings with these sections filled out as a percentage of all listings. This chart appears below.
Unsurprisingly, almost every listing has description filled out. The space is filled out the second most often, followed by guest access and finally other things to note. As we’ll see later many hosts are likely using the space section as spillover when they hit the maximum characters allowed for the description section. Hosts fill out the guest access and other things to note sections more deliberately.
How long are Airbnb descriptions?
Hosts are limited to 500 characters for the description section but are free to go beyond that for the other sections. First, we’ll have a look at the distribution of length of just the description section. In other words, how many characters of the 500 are hosts using?
Here we can see hosts are bumping up against the limit of this section with 60% of hosts using more than 400 characters.
Can Airbnb descriptions be longer than 500 characters?
Airbnb hosts can use the other sections provided if they want to exceed 500 characters. The chart below shows how many characters each section is on average when used.
When we look at the average length of the other sections, we see that the space has by far the most characters used, followed by other things to note and finally guest access. This gives us an indication that hosts use the space section as spillover when the description exceeds the 500 character limit.
What to include in the Airbnb description?
To answer what hosts include in the Airbnb description, we can use a network visualization. In the graph below, each dot represents a word. The size of the dot represents how often that word appears across all descriptions. Lines represent relationships between terms with thicker lines indicating they appear more often together. From this we can parse out common features of the description. Numbers in the graph are defined below.
How do I write an Airbnb description?
- Location: where is the listings located? Especially in relation to landmarks like downtown, the beach, airport, etc.
- Proximity to attractions: guests want to know what is close to the listing. Call out features like restaurants, bars, etc. and describe how close they are (walking distance, etc.)
- Features of the listing: number of bathrooms, bedrooms, how many guests can it accommodate, etc.
- Amenities offered: while there is a specific section for amenities, hosts can use the description section to highlight amenities.
- Target audience: hosts can also use the description to talk to specific target audiences like business travelers, couples, etc.
- Check-in/check-out details: specify anything the guest should know about the process for example times and whether it is a self-check in.
Examples of best Airbnb descriptions
The following examples each contain features of a well written Airbnb description. As a host you shouldn’t feel compelled to include every feature identified in this analysis. Only include what is relevant to your listing and target audience.
Example #1
“Enjoy your stay at our bright one-bedroom loft! Our loft is centrally located to many restaurants, shopping, and nightlife. Wonderful location to spend time with family, friends, or business. Amenities include Free Parking, High-Speed WiFi, Fully equipped kitchen- Washer and dryer. Self check-in anytime after 3pm”.
Example #2
“Come stay at our private, quiet and simple home is located in the heart downtown. This spacious duplex is perfect for a group of traveling friends or a family looking for a peaceful stay. It includes 2 beds, living room (sofa bed), 1 bath, and 1 full-size family kitchen. There is plenty to do within walking distance including bars and restaurants or relax at home and watch Netflix or Hulu on the Smart TV.”
Example #3
“My modern 2-bedroom house has everything you need for your trip. It is 5 minutes away from the international airport. The unit comes 2 bedroom/2 bathroom and a sofa bed. Including Netflix, self check-in, and plenty of parking. Our Airbnb is within driving distance to several popular restaurants, cafes, and beaches. An ideal base to explore the city!”
What to put in other sections of the Airbnb description
The same approach used above will be used for the subsequent sections. First, we’ll look at the space section. As established earlier, this section is likely used as spillover from the limited space in the description section. Whether it is a continuation of the description itself, or hosts choosing not to use the other sections, the space is where all the details of the listing are often found. We can again parse out common features of what hosts use this section for.
What to put in the space section of the Airbnb description
- Room details: this can include things like the size of the beds in bedrooms or number of chairs in the dining room. It can also include more detail on amenities included in each room, for example appliances in the kitchen.
- Check-in/check-out process: additional detail around the check-in and check-out process. Include things such as late check-out policy and providing identification or signing an agreement at check-in. This can also be included in the main description section.
- Rules on pets: Pets have become a hot button issue for hosts. Many include their policy and stance on guests bringing pets here.
- Additional house rules: as with amenities, there is another section dedicated to house rules but many hosts use the description to emphasize them.
- Additional charges and fees: for example, fees the host intends to impose for smoking or extra guests can be placed here.
What to put in the guest access section of the Airbnb description
Because hosts don’t use this section as often, and many hosts included all the details of their listing in the space section, hosts use the guest access section far more deliberately.
How a host uses this section will depend on their type of listing. Some examples of how to use this section are as follows:
- For shared spaces, it can include access to common areas, the kitchen, etc.
- Apartment buildings and condo can include access to building amenities such as gyms and pools
- For all types of units include instructions on parking
- Any other features unique to your listing such as equipment.
What to include in the other things to note section of the description
Finally there is the least often used section of the description. Hosts who haven’t specified details about the check-in/check-out process, additional rules or charges/fees elsewhere often include them here.
Takeaways
- Text mining reveals key features of a well written Airbnb description including the location, proximity to attractions, features of the listing, amenities offered and target audience.
- Greater detail of the listing is often found in the space section.
- Other hosts use the guest access and other things to note sections more deliberately
