Interior Design

Why You Need a Signature Airbnb Amenity

The one with pig chewing bubble gum

Sound Familiar?

Pesky Problem

Your Airbnb listing isn’t memorable.

Every episode of the iconic sitcom Friends was titled with the same formula: The One with the… “fill in memorable thing about the episode here”. The One with the List. The One with the Thumb. The One with the Monkey. (Shout out to all the Friends fanatics who just envisioned each of these episodes.)

The joke here, of course, is that this is how folks actually talk about TV episodes. And, whether you know it or not, this is also how potential guests talk about your Airbnb.

When we’re comparing a bunch of different potential Airbnbs, trying to narrow down to the one we will actually book, this is exactly how we talk about the places we’ve flipped through. The one with the hot tub. The one with the goats. The one with the pig chewing bubble gum. (More on that in a minute!)

The most memorable amenity becomes a verbal shorthand for our booking decision. We’re hopping between different listings, comparing amenities and locations. But if a place doesn’t have a memorable signature amenity, it fades into the background. There’s no immediate memory hook, and that listing never gets recalled and reconsidered.

Let's Try This

Bite-Size Solution

Create a signature amenity that hooks potential guests.

A signature amenity is the perfect way to hook potential guests. It’s not a gimmick. It’s an integral part of your Airbnb’s brand. It’s a super unique, memorable amenity that guests will genuinely enjoy. We’ve seen clawfoot bathtubs, arcade games, fainting coaches, farm animals, even a koi pond with a walking bridge over it.

But a signature amenity doesn’t have to be expensive. It just has to be memorable and enjoyable. Which brings us, finally, to the pig.

After more than two years of waiting patiently on our Airbnb wishlist, I finally booked one of the most adorable Airbnbs we’d ever stumbled across: The Girlfriend Getaway. (We’ve got a full featured stay blog post coming soon!) I can remember exactly where I was (sitting in my car, waiting on Jay) when I came across the listing and it’s painfully cute wallpaper of a bubble gum chewing pig. It was so endearing, creative, and memorable. No other Airbnb had a bubble gum pig.

And in that moment, I knew I would eventually visit this place. Sure enough, two full years later, I was standing in front of this life-size pig with my sister smiling ear to ear. I’ve officially visited The one with the pig chewing bubble gum.

5 Minutes

Here's Your First Step

Brainstorm potential signature amenity ideas.

Set a timer for 10 minutes and write down as many potential signature amenities as you can imagine. These should be items that you genuinely want to add to your Airbnb, things you know your ideal Airbnb guest would absolutely adore, and things that fit easily into your price range. (Remember, you don’t need to break the bank here!)

And if you’re reading this thinking, I’ve already got a great signature amenity. Awesome! Make sure that it is featured prominently somewhere in the first three photos of your listing. (It might also make a good cover photo candidate.) We’ve often found fantastic signature amenities hiding in the last few frames.

Remember, potential guests are often just thumbing through the first few photos as they’re scrolling through all the potential Airbnbs in their feed. You want to make sure your signature amenity isn’t buried, but rather sitting right on top, encouraging guests to click off the exploratory feed and into your actual listing.

INSPIRED BY you

This week’s Big Heart Hosting post was inspired by Susie, Nicole, and Samuel, Airbnb Superhosts in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. Just click here to explore the full listing.

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