The description section of your Airbnb listing is a great place to share more information with guests, highlight some key features of your vacation rental property, and appeal directly to your target market. This includes stating who the property isn’t for, as well as who it is suitable for!
Read on to find out what to include in your Airbnb description, how to make the most of the character limit, and many great examples.
How Do I Write an Airbnb Description?
When you are writing an Airbnb description, you need to include the unique selling points of your short-term rental property, the story behind it, your knowledge of the local area, answers to frequently asked questions, and a compelling call to action. Make sure the description is grammatically correct, scans well, and is honest and authentic.
Need help writing your Airbnb listing description? Check out my Airbnb copywriting service and my Airbnb listing hacks e-book.
How to Write an Airbnb Property Description
When you’re writing your Airbnb property description, make sure you include your property’s unique selling points (USPs), the story of the vacation rental property and your brand, and plenty of information about the local area. Guests appreciate honesty, so be clear about the shortfalls of your property as well as all the advantages, and make the description easy to scan so that guests can pick out the key details, even if they don’t want to read the description in full.
Unique Selling Points
Why should a guest pick your short-term rental property over another one? You’ll need to emphasize early on in your description the unique parts of your property. Whether this is a hot tub, parking, its beachfront location, a working-from-home set-up, or something else, make sure you have all the best features of your rental property written out in the first couple of sentences to grab the attention of your guests.
In the example above, the host has highlighted the unique feature of the glass bedroom, allowing guests to experience the exceptional views of Iceland, the night sky, and even the Northern Lights.
Story-Telling
If there’s a special story behind your property, tell your guests about it! Maybe you lovingly restored an old farmhouse to its former glory, or started your luxury glamping business after a career change? Maybe you recognized a gap in the market that needed filling, or wanted to create a luxury experience for a good price?
Let your guests know the inspiration for the design of the vacation rental property, and the choices you made to develop it in the way that you did.
In the example above, the Airbnb host explains why they design property in the way they do, and what features are important to them when building a property.
Local Expertise
When writing your Airbnb description, think about what amenities and features of the location would be important to you. Make the short-term rental property feel like an experience, with recommendations of pubs and restaurants, shopping, or activities to do with children.
Target your local knowledge towards your target market, and highlight the aspects of the local area that make it such a great place to stay in. Include the names of recommended restaurants and attractions that you think they would enjoy, or even create your own unique Airbnb experience to give guests something to rave about in their reviews!
Need help writing your Airbnb experience copy? Take a look at my Airbnb experiences copywriting service.
Honesty
Make sure that you are always honest about the features of your property in your Airbnb listing description. It is just as important, to be honest about the downsides as it is the upsides, as this set the expectations of your guests and makes sure that they only book it if the property is right for them.
If you over-sell the rental property by saying something like:
“Fantastic private pool for you and your family to enjoy in peace!”
…but in reality, the pool is small and is shared by ten other properties on the street, then you run the risk of getting negative reviews because the property won’t meet the expectations of your guests.
Instead, try:
“Access to a delightful community pool for all the family to enjoy!”
Scan-ability
Lastly, make sure your description reads well, with no spelling or grammar errors, and is easy to scan. Most people will make a split decision when looking at a short-term rental property listing, and so they need to be able to quickly pull out the information that they need from a description.
In the example above, the Airbnb host has written the key points in a list to make it easy to read. Imagine what you would be looking for if you were a guest and highlight these key features.
In this example, the Airbnb host has included some great information but it is very difficult to digest because it isn’t broken up into bullet points, or even paragraphs. There are some important details here that might be missed, for example, the property isn’t suitable for those with mobility issues, and you need to message the host directly if you plan on staying there with children.
Learn how to increase your booking rates
The Best Airbnb Rental Property Descriptions
The best Airbnb property descriptions tell a story, paint a picture, and give the reader everything they need to know about the property.
Example One: Story-Telling
The example below paints a picture of a famous property, telling the story of how it came to be and what guests can expect when they stay there. Words like ‘exclusive’, ‘meticulous’, ‘organic architecture, ‘handcrafted’, and ‘masterpiece’ give the reader a sense of the beauty and scale of the property, which is echoed in the incredible photos.
Example Two: Unique Selling Points
In the example below, the host has painted a picture with words while highlighting the most unique features of the rental property such as the ‘glamorous, lengthy balcony’, ‘a marriage of veined-stone and glass’, and a ‘fully-outfitted kitchen’.
To improve the description, they should break up the long paragraph into smaller paragraphs or bullet points to make it more digestible to the reader.
Example Three: Honesty
In the example below, the Airbnb host is just as honest about who the property isn’t suitable for. They clearly indicate that the guests need to bring their own car charging leads and that the property is not suitable for those who cannot climb a large number of stairs. They have also said that the bedrooms are small, which one would expect from a converted water tower.
Example Four: Scan-ability
In the example below, the description is well set out, with clear paragraphs and separations between local information and travel information.
Read more Airbnb listing description tips.
What is the Airbnb Description Character Limit?
The description character limit for the summary section is 500 characters, which will be somewhere between 70 and 120 words. However, only the first two paragraphs of the Airbnb listing description are shown before the reader has to click ‘Show more’. This means that you need to get the most important points across in these first two characters.
Read on to find out how to make the most of the description character limit, and check out my other free resources on writing Airbnb descriptions for more information and examples.
Making the Most of Your Airbnb Description
Character Limit
In order to make the most of your description character limit, including frequently asked questions (FAQs) and answers, and a call to action. Don’t include your personal contact information, or repeat amenities that are highlighted elsewhere in the description.
Include an ‘FAQs’ section
If you often receive the same question from guests who are looking to book your property, then your description either doesn’t include this relevant information, or it isn’t obvious to guests who scan it quickly.
In the example above, the Airbnb host has answered common questions like:
- ‘What size are the bedrooms?’
- ‘Is there a kitchen in the property?’
- ‘How many people can the property accommodate?’
- ‘Is there a fireplace?’
This means that the host is unlikely to receive messages asking these questions, which saves them time when responding to potential guests and ensures a higher conversion rate for bookings.
To go one step further, Airbnb hosts can include some frequently asked questions in a guidebook or manual for the guests to take a look at when they make a booking. You can even email a copy to guests in advance of their stay, and have a printed copy for them to refer to while they are there.
Read about what to include in your Airbnb house manual.
In the example above, the host has taken the time to set out the questions and answers in a way that makes it very easy to scan quickly, spot a question that is relevant to you, and read the answer.
Don’t Include Personal Contact Details
Airbnb will likely block out your personal contact details, such as your phone number or email address, in the listing description, because they want guests to contact you on their platform. This means that including this information is a waste of the character limit, so you should avoid it.
Guests can contact you in the ‘interaction with guests’ section of the website or app. The best way to communicate with guests is directly on the Airbnb app, as this means it will be easy to resolve issues if any come up.
Read more about the four easy ways to improve your Airbnb description.
Don’t Repeat Amenities Unnecessarily
Guests will be able to filter by amenities and location, and information about the number of bedrooms, beds, and bathrooms is displayed above the description. This means that you don’t need to repeat this information in the description unless it makes your property especially unique. Repeating these details wastes precious characters!
Add a Call to Action (CTA)
Tell your guests what to do in your description and in particular in the summary paragraph, and create a sense of urgency. Include a sentence like:
- ‘Book now as we’re filling up fast this summer!’
- ‘Drop me a message if you want to know more about the local area before booking.’
- ‘Reserve now to avoid disappointment!’
This is important to ensure that you convert more readers into bookings!
Read more about how to get more bookings on Airbnb here.
Conclusion
In summary, your Airbnb description needs to highlight the unique features of your property, and relay information about the amenities and location in an honest and descriptive way. The description needs to include a call to action, answers to frequently asked questions, and information on local attractions. The description must be easy to scan, with bullet points and paragraphs, and must be grammatically correct.
If you want a helping handcrafting the perfect Airbnb description for your property, get in touch for more information about my Airbnb copywriting and vacation rental copywriting services.