Hey there. Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions about Airbnb. How long have you been doing Airbnb?
Hey thanks for having me. We’ve been doing Airbnb now for 6 years. It’s been really good for us and we’ve enjoyed meeting people from all over. We recently expanded into VRBO and Booking.com as well. We’ve noticed a rise in bookings since listing on those other platforms. But the majority of our bookings come from Airbnb. Sometimes people are loyal to one booking platform or another so I’ll share the links to Booking and VRBO at the end if that is ok?
Sure. No problem. Have you noticed any trends on who books and for what?
Yeah, it’s been crazy. We are near the Airport and the Kentucky Expo Center. So a lot of our guests are coming in for events at the Expo Center and YUM. We see a lot of volleyball teams, farm and machinery show guests, AAU basketball guests, University of Louisville guests coming in for sporting events, Kentucky Derby guests and the Louisville Zoo and Louisville Mega Caverns. We are right near everything so anyone staying here often finds they are within 5 minutes to most attractions. YUM Center is downtown and that is about an 7-8 minute uber ride. Other than that, we are right at the 264/65 split adjacent to the airport. You can be at the airport within 3 minutes. Some Airline pilots stay here occasionally as well when they have layovers.
During the summer we have a lot of parents coming in town to visit their kids at U of L, Bellarmine, Sullivan ( a lot of students from out of town come to Sullivan for further studies) and a host of other schools.
We also have out of town work crews staying here quite often. There may be big jobs in town at the airport or other places and a company will want to book one of the houses out for 3-6 crew members. Booking a house is far cheaper than booking 3 or 4 hotel rooms to accommodate their crew. Plus, they can cook food at the house and save money. Not to mention we have safe parking for people that are pulling a trailer with tools or equipment. Knock on wood, we haven’t had any issues with theft at this point. Safe neighborhood and everyone looks out for everyone around here. Even our guests are looked out for.
We’ve also noticed that having a big driveway with plenty of off street parking has been helpful for guests. We had one guy that came in for Cyclo-cross and parked his trailer and RV in the driveway and worked on his bikes with his crew chief between events. He booked it two years in a row. So, having plenty of parking has been beneficial.
Have you had any wild parties or damage?
Knock on wood….No. We have restrictions on the account that helps to prevent those types of situations. And, honestly, everyone that has stayed has been very respectful and always takes great care of both places. Early on in the process we had a couple of hiccups but those weren’t on the guests. Those were because when we initially started listing we were splitting the house into two listings. But that was resolved after the first issue. Wasn’t anything big. Just a miscommunication.
You mentioned listings, plural. Do you have more than one?
Yes. We have two. Both in the same area. It allows us to keep an eye on both and it also makes in convenient for the cleaning crews. It takes a lot of linens and supplies to keep them both going. So having them near one another makes it easy for coordinating clean up service.
One is a larger home; 5 bedroom 3 bath and the other is a 3 bed 1.5 bath.
I’m looking at your profile now. Looks like everyone has positive things to say about your hosting. It says you are a super host. What does that mean?
Airbnb has an algo that analyzes many variables with your account. There are several that they consider when deciding on super host status. Reviews, how fast you respond to inquiries, cancellations on both sides, how often you are booked, reviews, etc. I don’t have specifics of what determines super host status but those are some of the things I have heard they consider. At this point, across both properties we have nearly 200 reviews so we are doing pretty well I think.
I know Louisville has the Kentucky Derby and that is a big event for the city. Do you stay booked up for that?
Oh yes. We are booked a year in advance sometimes. It’s crazy. Louisville sees about 150K in new visitors for that weekend every year and there aren’t enough houses in the city to accommodate everyone. People stay as far out as Elizabethtown and even further because housing is either booked up or doesn’t meet their budget.
Anything else you want to add?
I think the main thing for us is we want people to know that we are a small business. We aren’t investors that have a property that we are slinging around trying to rent. We live in the neighborhood where we host. So we are good citizens of the community and of the Airbnb ecosystem. We are nearby if anyone has any issues or has questions. Also, we take a hands on/hands off approach. If the guests need help, we help. If they want us to leave them alone, we leave them alone. It is guest specific. Some guests want a more personal touch and want to know what there is to do in the area. Where to grab a good deli sandwich. Cool non-traditional restaurants where the locals eat, etc. So, depending on the guest we just try to accommodate them according to their needs.
Feel free to drop the links to your Airbnb’s below.
Cool thanks for taking the time. Keep spreading the word!
Need A Place To Stay While Visiting Louisville?
These two Airbnb’s are 3 minutes (2.6 miles) to the Kentucky Expo Center, 3 minutes (2.5 miles) to the Louisville Muhammed Ali Airport, 3 minutes to Louisville Mega Caverns, 5 minutes to Louisville Zoo & 10 minutes (7.6 miles) to YUM! Center downtown.
Have a large group and need plenty of off-street parking (8 vehicles)?
Check out this Airbnb 5 bedroom-3 bath
Great Location-5 Bd/3 Ba-Near Expo/UL/Fair/YUM/Zoo
Need something smaller and more budget friendly?
Check out this Airbnb 3 bed 1.5 bath house
Conv Location-Easy Access-3 Bd 1.5 Bth-Sleeps 6-8
Booking .com listing:
3 bed 1.5 bath
VRBO:
