Many people dream of becoming Airbnb hosts but don’t know where to start. In fact, countless homes across India have spare rooms, guest houses, or even just cozy couches that sit unused—essentially hidden goldmines! Imagine earning from that unused space while also welcoming new people, cultures, and experiences into your life. After all, Indians are naturally good at hospitality and this philosophy is immortalized in the idiom “Atithi Devo Bhavo” (Guest is God.) Except, with Airbnb, that God comes bearing cash!
As someone who regularly lists my home when I travel, I’d say I’m a fairly seasoned Airbnb host. I’ve even held the coveted “Superhost” title, although I lost it after a while simply because I couldn’t keep up with the volume of requests. I was renting out just a couple of rooms for a minimum of a month each, but I’d receive nearly five inquiries per day! So yes, the demand is real—and so is the potential.
The good news? You don’t need to be a hotelier, real estate moghul, or an interior designer to succeed. With the right mindset, a little effort into organizing and styling your home, and a genuine openness to hosting, anyone can get started.
Here’s a step by step guide on becoming an Airbnb host in India.
1. Identify the space you want to Airbnb and a unique aspect of it
It could be a whole house, a spare room or even a niche like a terrace, patio or a garage. While it needs to be liveable — Airbnb really likes unique stays. So think of what’s that unique aspect about your house? My house comes with a terrace while the other listing faces a lake. You think you could throw in maybe a dinner? Or maybe your house is located in a central area or has stunning views of nature. Always scope out your USP (Unique Selling Point) for the house. Airbnb is increasingly pushing up listings that offer a unique experience, so make sure to work on finding your Shangrila.
2. Open an account on Airbnb and complete all the verification steps
The first step of course is to first sign up to be a host on Airbnb! Duh. It’s really important that you give the right address at the time of opening your Airbnb account as it’s very difficult to have it changed later. Airbnb has tons of resources on getting started and other details you need to keep in mind when signing up to a host. Spend some time on going through those. Well, I’ve got you covered on the rest!
3. Price the accommodation fairly: You need to price your Airbnb listing according to the following factors:
Airbnb has set a minimum tariff of $10 or Rs. 850~ per listing/per night in India. So by default, most Airbnb listings in India are priced over this. If you feel that’s too high to start with, you can always offer a discount on top of the listed price. Remember that Airbnb prices cuts a near 20% commission on your listed price and charges the guest nearly 20% more too. So a listing at $10 will cost your guest about $12 while it’ll give you about $8 in hand.
Factors that determine Airbnb pricing
- Location: Airbnb’s in a high-traffic locations obviously command a better price than ones located remotely or off the main roads.
- Size: Your property size will determine the Airbnb rate. A one room studio will be different from a 1BHK and so on and even a 500sqft 1BHK should be lower than a 1000sqft one.
- Amenities: The amenities such as AC, washing machine, Kitchen, parking, furniture and furnishing etc all can be factored in when pricing your Airbnb.
- Demand: If you receive a lot of requests, you can afford to price your property higher and vice versa.
- Season: Obviously, most places are season-dependent. A tropical beach house would tend to see more bookings in the winters while a hill-station property would be in demand during the summer.
- Value of the property: You should also factor in the overall value of the property to recoup its rental value accordingly.
- Your motivation for being an Airbnb host And last but not the least, the price should also be based on how much you want to earn. If your motive is pure business, you can price it however you want based on the above factors and based on the market, you’ll get those rates or not. However, if profit is just one of your motivations for being an Airbnb host, socializing etc. is another, then you can afford to price it lower.
4. Prepare the room to be Airbnb-ed
Having a spare room or house and listing it on Airbnb isn’t enough. It also needs to be a property which meets the needs of its intended user. Here’s how to make sure your Airbnb listing is guest ready.
1. Well-painted and damage-free space
First of all, the walls should be well-painted space free from mould, leaks and damages.
2. Clean and Hygienic
Secondly and perhaps most importantly, it should be extremely clean. Most guests place cleanliness at the top of their search criteria. Here’s a great cheatsheet on deep cleaning your house in 2 hours or less. If you can’t do it yourself, use professional services such as Urban Company to get the space deep cleaned for the first time and then subsequently before each check-in.
3. Have basic amenities
It should of course have the basic amenities like:
- A comfortable and clean bed, with clean sheets, full pillows and a comfortable blanket or duvet.
- A usable and ideally private bathroom
- A space to store clothes or keep the luggage
- Drinking water supply
- Dressing mirror
- Working desk and chair
Other than the basics, any other stuff you add is good to have and will add to the saleability of the place. You can add a natural element by introducing plants, fresh flowers and other decorative elements to the space. You can even throw in a free breakfast or another meal to make it even more comfortable for the guest.
5. Upload good but latest photos of the space
The most important criteria for most guests in their search for a good Airbnb is the photos. They should inspire a vibe and not just showcase the space barely. At the same time, the photos should be honest and latest so as to keep the expectations real. Try to include all the angles of the space including the bathroom, the study area, the approach to the house and an exterior view of the house. Unlike traditional hotels, where guests can just walk in and book the place after determining its suitability, Airbnb guests only rely on the description, the photos and the reviews to make their decision. So make sure to provide all of it.
6. Write a good description and details of the place
The description doesn’t have to be flowery or overly ‘selly’. It should be descriptive, honest and elaborate. Airbnb has multiple spaces to define the place. There’s a short summary, a “more”, and other sections like “guest access”, “the locality” and more. Fill it all to paint a real picture of the space. If you’re lost for words, leverage ChatGPT and other AI programs to help write a description. A good formula to write an Airbnb description is to write whether the space is private or shared, does it have views, who else lives in the apartment, and its location. (as Airbnb doesn’t show the exact location when a user searches.)
6. Promote the listing to get a headstart and give a promotional discount
Airbnb is a competitive space and there’s likely hundreds of hosts in your area of business. If you’re new to the platform, your listing can get buried at the last few pages and noone may ever find it. So initially you may want to promote the space in a few groups or targeted forums or in response to a specific query about accommodation which your listing satisfies. Offer a 20-25% introductory discount to incentivise users to trust a brand new listing. (After all it’s a risk for them!)
You get a rating only after 3 reviews, so make sure at least your first 3 reviews are good ones! But don’t try to game the system by getting paid or fake reviews as the Airbnb system is sophisticated enough to identify them and remove them.
7. Respond to every booking enquiry
Before booking requests, you’re likely to get many enquiries about the property. These could be about the location, other details about the space or simply asking you to connect. It’s prohibited to talk to guests outside of the Airbnb platform and you could be penalized for it. So make sure to respond to all enquiries to keep up your response rate high and keep all communication within Airbnb.
For better or worse, Airbnb has revolutionized the hospitality game like few other startups have. No longer can only proper established hotels and guesthouses earn from hosting travelers and locals (much to their protest), but anyone with a room to spare can be an Airbnb host and earn a serious side or even main income.
