In the vacation rental market, your listing is your shop window: it’s the first thing a guest sees, and within seconds they decide whether your property fits their needs. A strong description, combined with attractive photos and a complete list of amenities, helps your listing stand out among thousands of options.
Below, you'll discover how to optimize each key element to increase interest, inquiries, and bookings.
Upload high-quality photos that tell a story
Photos are the most influential part of your listing. They convey emotion, set expectations, and help guests imagine their stay. To create real impact:
Make the most of natural light
- Photograph your property during the brightest hours of the day.
- Open curtains, clear clutter, and tidy each room.
Balanced composition
- Combine wide-angle shots (to show spaciousness) with close-ups (to highlight details such as amenities or décor).
- Keep the camera at eye level to avoid distorted perspectives.
A complete visual tour
- Photograph all areas guests can access: bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, balconies, shared spaces, and entrances.
- Tools like Airbnb’s AI photo tour can automatically organize your images by room.
Pro tip: If you want a major quality upgrade, consider hiring a photographer specializing in vacation rentals. Many platforms offer official photography programs.
Add all the amenities your property offers
Guests often filter their search results by amenities, so completing your amenities list increases your visibility and helps attract the right audience.
Remember to add everything
When you first create your listing, you select a few basic amenities, but you can add many more later, almost 150 in total.
Include everything your property offers, from essentials to extras such as:
- Safe box
- Heating
- Coffee machine
- Workspace
- Smart TV
- Board games
- Extra bedding
Most-searched amenities among guests
- WiFi
- Equipped kitchen
- TV or cable
- Air conditioning
- Washer and dryer
- Free parking
- Self check-in
The more amenities you add (always being honest and accurate), the easier it will be for your listing to appear when guests use filters.
Optimize your title and listing description
Your text should communicate what makes your space special and help the guest visualize the experience.
A short, clear, strategic title
- Use 4–7 descriptive words.
- Capitalize only the first word and proper nouns.
- Avoid emojis, symbols, and unnecessary capital letters.
Examples:
- “Modern loft with city views”
- “Cozy cabin with chef’s kitchen”
A warm and engaging description
Write as if you were describing the place to a friend:
- Describe what it feels like to stay there.
- Mention what you love most about the space.
- Provide context about the neighborhood and the atmosphere.
Example approach:
“Imagine waking up to natural light streaming through the windows and enjoying your morning coffee on a balcony overlooking the city. This space is perfect for travelers seeking comfort, design, and a central location.”
A description is not just information, it’s an invitation to imagine the experience.
Airbnb vs Booking.com: who actually writes the description?
One detail trips up a lot of hosts: Airbnb and Booking.com handle your description very differently. Airbnb shows your text exactly as you write it, so the prose above is your main lever. Booking.com does not, it auto-generates the guest-facing description from the structured data you enter in the extranet, and rebuilds it whenever you change a field. On Booking, the lever isn’t prose; it’s keeping your facilities, services, location and policies complete, accurate and up to date.
Booking.com still gives you free-text space the system won’t rewrite: the property and host profile, plus the “About the accommodation” and “About the neighbourhood” fields shown near the foot of the page. That’s where you add character and speak directly to guests without breaking Booking’s rules.
One rule for both platforms: keep the language clear and neutral, avoid idioms and slang. Both auto-translate your text, and plain wording translates faithfully, so an international guest reads an accurate version of what you wrote.
Set clear house rules
House rules don’t scare guests, they attract the right ones and prevent misunderstandings.
Airbnb includes basic rules all guests must follow, but you can also select standard rules and add customized ones..
Standard house rules may include:
- Pets
- Events or gatherings
- Smoking or vaping
- Quiet hours
- Check-in and check-out times
- Maximum number of guests
- Use of the property for photography or commercial filming
Why they matter
- They set expectations from the beginning
- They prevent issues during and after the stay
- They help protect your property
- They align with the platform’s Terms of Service and Anti-Discrimination Policy
If you have additional requirements(such as responsible use of air conditioning or building regulations) you can add them in your listing settings.
Conclusion: The ideal listing blends clarity, emotion, and professionalism
- Impeccable photos that show your property at its best
- A complete list of amenities to improve search visibility and attract the right guest
- Clear, appealing text that conveys the experience of staying there
- Well-defined house rules to set expectations
- Frequent updates, because your listing should evolve as your property evolves
Miguel
Miguel Roig Gimbernat is Partner at ListingOK, specializing in Revenue Management for vacation rentals and short-term rentals. With over 15 years of experience in technology, pricing, and revenue management, he helps property managers and hosts maximize their profitability on Airbnb and Booking.com through real market data and expert supervision. He combines expertise in data, platforms and technology with marketing to transform market intelligence into revenue decisions that boost profitability.
