How To Start An Airbnb For Families

Airbnb’s Family Collection is a classification for properties that are specially catered towards families. You can see a huge rise in bookings if you make it to the collection.

Families also generally book longer stays and keep to themselves or are out and about most of the day. They generally don’t pose a lot of risks to your property. There are many things you have to keep in mind if you want to provide a good experience for the whole family. They are not major and if implemented right can get you in the Family Collection which will be an instant boost in web traffic to your listing. We will go over those in this article.

There are four things you need to worry about:

1. Listing type: This has to be an entire home in the home type category. Families need to have their space for adults and children. You can’t really run a family-oriented Airbnb if you are renting out a private room in your house. This is the first major thing to consider when going for the family demographic.
2. Amenities: The following are absolutely required to join the family collection. We have included sample products from Amazon in each category so you can head start at acquiring them:
   1. Bed Linen: This bed sheet set comes in a set of 4. It is fade, stain, shrink and wrinkle resistant. At a rating of 1800, it is very soft. Thus is both easy to maintain for you and very comfortable for the family. You can read about more bed sheet ideas on our blog here.
   2. Kitchen: The kitchen has to be well-stocked with utensils that a family might need to cook a sizeable meal. You can read more about the essentials on our blog here. Having a microwave, cooking set and properly working stoves is a must.
   3. Pillows: You can get his set of 2 hotel quality pillows. They are hypoallergenic and odor-free. They are perfect for children. It is filled with polyester fiber and the shell is made of 233 thread count 100% cotton. This makes them very comfortable for a good night’s sleep.
   4. Soap: Hand wash and body soap are two important amenities for a hygienic household. The guests are not expected to carry these. Make sure you are well stocked on these basics with plenty for backup.
   5. Cottonelle Toilet Paper: This is one of those no-brainers. Go for at least double-ply toilet paper. Make sure it is not harsh to the touch. This is one amenity where being cheap can ruin the whole Airbnb experience. Keep good quality toilet paper in stock and some in your backup. Trust us – everyone will be happier with nice TP 🙂
   6. Fast Dry Towels: We have already talked about the best towels and washcloths for your Airbnb in our blog here. Get something that is not harsh, is affordable, easy to clean and replace. Try to get something with the appropriate GSM(grams per square meter) for different uses. Bath towels have a higher GSM while hand towels have a lower GSM.
   7. TV: This is a great TV at an affordable cost. It won’t break the bank and is adequate for watching most content online and on disks. Children can be distracted for a while with a TV set and a DVD player. Get something that comes with wall mounts out of the box. You don’t the children touching and scratching your set. Don’t get anything too expensive. It may not get used at all.
   8. WiFi Router: Talk to your internet provider to make sure you are getting a fast enough internet connection. There is a good chance you may be paying for more than is necessary. A 10 Mbit line is enough in our experience for a family’s use. Fast internet is key!
   9. There are also other amenities that will increase the appeal for families. They include baby baths, baby monitors, babysitter recommendations, bathtub, changing table, children’s books, and toys, children’s dinnerware, crib, fireplace guard, game console, high chair, outlet covers, travel crib, room darkening shades, stair gates, table corner guards, window guards, etc. Your guests might filter on these to find the listing with a particular amenity. It is a good idea to check as many boxes as your budget allows.
3. Reviews: You need to maintain a rating of 4.8 overall within the last year with a minimum of 5 reviews with at least 2 5-star reviews from families. So it is kind of a catch 22 situation that you have to host a family before you get into the family collection. It will give you time to slowly budget for and collect enough amenities to qualify for the collection
4. Children and Infant friendly house rules: You have to childproof your home. You can read more about how to go about that from our article here. You should not allow pets, smoking or parties. Meet these requirements in the house rule book and you are good for this point.

Precautions to take:

1. Have a clear cancellation policy. Cancellations can be a major pain point – especially if they happen at the last moment. Having a clear policy will be helpful in resolving any disputes.
2. Be clear about how many people will be coming into the property at check-in time. If guests are traveling with extended family then that is a no-no and they should be appropriately charged for the extra guests.
3. Once you have all the requirements taken care of, you will be automatically added to the family collection. If you have finished the requirements but are still not classified as such, reach out to tech support or management at Airbnb to address your concern. Make sure you are getting the benefits of the services you are providing.
4. Getting into the family collection is nice to have and not a must-have. You can still book families and provide them family-friendly amenities even if you are not included in the collection. The important thing is to take care of your guests and ensure they have a good time. That itself is more valuable than any arbitrary qualification from Airbnb.

Love,
Scooch and Steve