Details matter when it comes to running a successful Airbnb, VRBO, or vacation rental. Nowhere is this more true than the bathroom.
We have intimate relationships with our bathrooms. If guests feel comfortable and welcome in the bathroom — if they can do all their bathroom “business” quickly and seamlessly — chances are they will feel at home in your Airbnb.
A thoughtfully appointed bathroom can easily make the difference between a glowing testimonial and a lukewarm testimonial. Glowing testimonials are the path to premium positioning. Premium positioning attracts premium guests, which leads to increased prices and increased profitability!
Premium guests expect amenities. Fortunately, tricking out your bathroom with extras is very affordable. Going the extra mile in the bathroom is one of the highest-margin investments you can make in your Airbnb.
Here are ten essentials to improve your Airbnb bathroom:
1. Single-Use Toothbrushes and Toothpaste
It’s nearly impossible to travel with a favorite toothbrush and tube of toothpaste. Travelers must either buy a folding toothbrush and travel tube or find a drugstore at their destination.
Save them the hassle by providing individually wrapped, single-use toothbrushes and tiny tubes of toothpaste. It’s a sanitary option to fulfill a basic need — no one likes to have a sour mouth after a long day of traveling.
A disposable toothbrush can be discarded after use with no remorse, and many guests will use the entire single-use tube of toothpaste. Others will not use the kit at all. That’s fine — it’s ready for the next guest!
2. Single-Use Mouthwash
Single mouthwash packets are an especially nice touch. Travel mouthwash packets are inexpensive, sanitary, and provide the user with some extra wintery zing in their breath.
Air travelers will especially appreciate the single mouthwash packets. Many of them are limited to quart-sized zip-seal bags full of 3-ounce toiletry bottles. Which beloved toiletries can they live without for a few days?
Travel mouthwash rarely makes the cut. When your guests arrive, mouthwash at the local convenience store will probably be overpriced and sold by the quart — way more than they need. Single mouthwash packets solve this problem.
3. Individually-Wrapped Soap
Nothing pegs an Airbnb as “low-end” like a half-used, scummy, hair-encrusted bar of soap in the shower or on the soap dish. There’s a reason hotels offer this amenity — it’s sanitary, attractive, a touch of class at the end of a long travel day.
Individually wrapped bars of soap are affordable to buy in bulk. Including a wrapped bar or two on the sink or in the shower whenever you prepare your Airbnb for a guest will make a big impression. Many hosts don’t even bother, so yours will stand out.
4. Travel-Sized Bath Kit
Many Airbnb hosts use wall dispensers to supply guests with bath essentials like shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. In the post-COVID era, this doesn’t cut it. High-end Airbnb guests want their products to have never seen the light of day, never known the touch of human hands.
Again, hotels lead the way. Travel-sized bath kits are the way to go. Airbnb hosts usually don’t scrimp on this amenity because it is expensive. Compared to the income potential, it really isn’t. Travel-sized bath kits are inexpensive when you buy them in bulk. You can even find them with little extras like lotion or a disposable shower cap.
5. Plug-In Air Freshener
There’s no getting around it — bathroom business can be smelly business. If you go the extra mile to make sure that the bathroom smells pleasant and stays that way, it will make a big impression.
You can include an air-freshener spray, but not everyone wants to put their hands all over a spray bottle that every guest before them has touched. Instead, pick a powerful plug-in oil diffuser. Test different oils to find a winning scent that masks odors.
Change the oil cartridge between every stay, as often as needed. This amenity wins when the guest doesn’t even have to think twice about it — they know they will come home to a fresh bathroom every day of their stay.
6. Wastebasket
Many hosts underestimate the usefulness of a small wastebasket in the bathroom, but when it is missing, guests notice. A wastebasket is an inexpensive long-term fix to make your Airbnb bathroom more usable and pleasant.
Also, invest in a bulk order of small trash bags. That way, your guests can easily “take out the trash” if they discard something in the wastebasket that they would rather get out of their life quickly.
7. Hair Dryer
A hair dryer is one of those things that never fits easily into a suitcase, regardless of the size of the bag. In the history of hair dryers, no one has ever packed one and not missed the luggage space.
But many elite travelers depend on a hairdryer to look their best. Help them out by supplying a small hair dryer in the bathroom. Sit back, and watch the glowing reviews roll in. Make sure to pick a hair dryer that won’t overload your breaker box, though. Guests will be annoyed if they have to reset the circuit breaker while their hair is still wet.
8. Clothes Drying Rack
Upmarket guests may want to bring their finery on the road. Many of their best garments might not be dryer-safe. Providing a small, inexpensive folding or wall-mounted clothes drying rack will make their stay.
9. Iron and Small Ironing Board
Classy guests also wage war against their suitcases and the propensity of their clothes to become wrinkled inside luggage. Imagine their relief when they realize you have anticipated this burden and thoughtfully supplied them with a small iron and ironing board. They will recognize that you respect their desire to look their best — you are the host that has their back.
10. Shelves and Drawers
One of the biggest frustrations of life on the road is never being able to spread out. This is particularly true if the chosen Airbnb has an economically arranged bathroom. It has all the necessities — toilet, sink, shower — but nowhere to place toiletries for easy access.
Give guests a place to set their toothbrush, perfume, hand lotion, razor, and other essentials. Install small shelves or invest in portable drawers. It will make your Airbnb bathroom a hundred times more user-friendly.
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Upgrading your Airbnb bathroom amenities is an easy and affordable way to significantly impact your guests’ experience. Ready to get started? Reach out to us for affordable single-use bathroom solutions that will wow your guests!