Interior Design

Is your Airbnb missing this safety essential?

Plus a complete safety checklist

Sound Familiar?

Pesky Problem

A carbon monoxide detector feels optional.

Compared to the highly regulated world of hotels, Airbnb safety precautions can feel like the wild west. Each host makes their own judgment calls about what they consider necessary, and a shocking number of hosts have concluded that carbon monoxide detectors are optional. In fact, when we lived in Airbnbs full time, we traveled with a portable, battery operated CO monitor because so many hosts were missing this essential item.

Let's Try This

Bite-Size Solution

Install carbon monoxide detectors in all bedrooms.

In our book, a carbon monoxide detector is not optional. It’s just as important as a smoke alarm or fire extinguisher. So every place a guest might sleep should have both a smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector. There are plenty of two-in-one options. Other carbon monoxide detectors plug directly into the wall outlets so battery rotations become a thing of the past.

We’d also recommend placing a detector near your main amenities running on gas, like stoves, ovens, water heaters, or fireplaces. (Believe it or not, the only carbon monoxide reading we’ve actually seen a detector pick up was during our last Airbnb stay. The fireplace was the culprit.)

5 Minutes

Here's Your First Step

Update your space and then immediately update your listing.

As soon as you’ve got this essential safety item in place, update your online Airbnb listing to reflect the addition. When you don’t have this amenity, guests see the carbon monoxide detector listed and crossed out under the “What this place offers” section. For us, that’s an immediate red flag.

And on the off chance you are truly a property with no gas lines at all, we’d still recommend installing at least one carbon monoxide detector in your space. Why? So that you can check that amenity off in the Airbnb app and nix that red flag. Guests skim amenity lists. They don’t take the time to understand that your home is all electric. So as silly as that might sound, adding a CO monitor is the simplest way to signal to your guests that you aren’t skimping on safety, even if this piece of the puzzle is actually unnecessary for your home.

P.S. Looking for a complete safety checklist? We’ve got just the thing! If you’re looking for our complete Safety Checklist, head on over to Big Heart Hostings’s shop. You can snag just the Safety Checklist extracted from our full Checklist Collection. It breaks down basic safety precautions, emergency preparedness, and guest accessibility in an easy-to-follow, 10 page guide.

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The Ultimate Airbnb Checklist Collection

The number one question we hear from hosts is “What am I forgetting to put in my Airbnb?” This collection is the definitive answer to that question. In our signature product, we go room-by-room, step-by-step until your Airbnb is perfectly appointed and ready to impress. Bye-bye blindspots and hello happy guests!

free checklist!

Even the best hosts can forget a thing or two

Luckily all 15 of these common mistakes are super easy to fix. Grab your copy of the checklist below and dive on in!

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