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Short term rentals in London are very popular among families, growing at the same rate as those that book Airbnb rentals for business use. Families like short term rentals as they are often cheaper than hotels, offer multiple rooms within the price (rather than one family room) and offer more amenities like fully equipped kitchens, laundry facilities and parking, which are essential for a convenient, family friendly stay!
Creating a more family friendly Airbnb is also a great way to maximise your number of bookings and income as a host. Having a family friendly property increases the pool of people that are interested in your listing, combined with the fact that families tend to book longer stays. Both of these factors mean your income per booking is increased, with reduced costs for cleaning per month, which equals more profit!
Here are 5 tips to make your Airbnb more family-friendly:
#1 Be well equipped!
Families have special needs and expectations, so make sure you buy the right items to fulfill them. It is most likely that your guests won’t travel with their baby chair or baby cot, so having these items in your flat would be a huge asset. Compared to other Airbnb guests, families will be more likely to use the kitchen to cook meals instead of going out for dinner, so ensuring your kitchen is fully equipped is a big plus and may well tip the scale in your favour.
Other things to prepare your property for families:
- Invest in mattress covers, to protect your bedding from any little accidents
- Offer free use laundry facilities including powder, fabric softener and a rail for drying
- If you have a parking space, try to make this available for the convenience of your guests.
#2 Safety first
It’s the first thing parents will look at: how safe is your flat for their children? This can cover everything from:
- The location. Is the neighbourhood safe and family-friendly? Make sure to include this in your listing. Highlight any property security features you have installed such as Ring doorbells, intercoms and security alarms
- Safety latches on cupboards, including those containing crockery and cleaning substances such as bleach
- Stair gates installed at both the top and bottom of the stairs
- Removal of sharp objects or wires visible as trip hazards
- Minimal amount of glass furniture and high-worth breakable objects in the property – parents do not want to be scared of their children breaking anything highly valuable!
- Garden gates installed so that the little one cannot wander onto the street.
#3 Create children’s play area
Parents would be delighted to find a playing area with toys already within your flat, making sure all toys are child-safe and clean before the guest arrives. If you don’t have enough space for a proper playing area, invest in some board games, colouring in books and crayons, movies and children’s reading books. You can even subscribe to children TV channels such as Disney, to create a truly five star experience (and an opportunity for a break!) for your guests.
#4 Adapt your welcome pack to become family-friendly!
Leaving a booklet with the best family-friendly activities within your neighbourhood is a huge plus, and will lead to lots of good reviews! Adapt the booklet by providing information such as:
- Local attractions including parks, zoos, farms, cinemas, water parks, swimming pools and tourist destinations.
- Local restaurants covering all types of cuisine so a family can pick what is suitable for them.
- Local transport access or walking routes to top destinations
- Contact numbers for taxis, delivery and takeaway services and perhaps even a number for a recommended babysitter!
- Location details for the nearest hospital and A&E.
#5 Make sure all your efforts appear in your listing!
You need to precise everything on your listing so it can stand out from the crowd! It would be a shame to have the perfect family flat and not being able to attract your target. You can start with your property title, by saying for example “Perfect flat for families!”. Make sure you ticked the Family/Kid friendly box for your listing! And last but not least, take great pictures of your flat to show how perfect it will be for a family. It is important for guests to be able to picture themselves at your rental property.
Do you find that you are too busy to take on the extra stress of preparing your flat for families? Don’t worry, that’s where we at City Relay can step in. We will manage your rental property from start to finish, including marketing, personal check-ins, guest support services, maintenance and cleaning, taking the hassle out of renting for you. Find out how much you could be earning with our free rent estimation tool.
