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Airbnb Tips for New Hosts: 5 Things Guests Expect in 2026 · Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights

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  Most hosts think they know what guests want.
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  Nice photos, good location, competitive pricing.
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  But in 2026, guest expectations have moved on.
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  And if you're not keeping up, you're quietly losing bookings.
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  In this episode of Host Planet Bite Size, powered by Host
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  Fully, I'm joined by Joseph Cox. He's going to break down 5
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  things guests actually expect now based on real data and real
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  behaviour. Let's get straight into it.
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  Joseph. Thank you for joining us on host
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  Planet Bite Size. You're going to share 5 things
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  that guests actually care about in 2026.
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  So take it away with the first thing.
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  Sounds great. Thanks James.
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  Great to be back. Yeah.
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  So my 5 things now people might be a manar about these, but
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  yeah, one of the main ones I think is is basically overall
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  smart technology. So things like automation with,
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  with smart locks, with fast Wi-Fi, climate control
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  guidebooks, all these things. Yeah, just just smart tech
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  basically and, and just a way of automating guests don't want to
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  have to faff around these days, try to find a key or get get
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  lost to directions of the property or you name it.
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  So yeah, just just being able to have that streamlined flow
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  really well and then they can check in check out at ease
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  without having to worry about any any any problems down the
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  line with the booking. So that that's that's one key
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  player I think guests really are looking for these days.
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  Second one I would say is no hidden fees.
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  So as you know, like you know, fees with channels and bookings
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  and the guests can use to I think, I think it's changed and
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  improved a lot, but guests did used to get a lot of a full
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  breakdown of so many fees and add-ons and they were really
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  wondering what what these are. So yeah, just having a full
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  transparent breakdown of fees and costs involved with a
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  booking early on, I'd say, you know, can create a bit of
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  friction whenever a guest gets right to the end with checkout
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  and then they find there's another 10% fee or something
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  like this on something or other. So yeah, just really transparent
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  with with the fees with bookings.
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  And my third sort of take on what guests would like is local
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  authenticity. And guests tend to be moving
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  away from like just generic bookings and day sort of sort of
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  usual trips and looking for a bit more niche with their stays.
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  So things like just providing experiences or items within the
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  property that would sort of work around the local area provides
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  just a lot more sort of value to the guests.
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  So if it's say somewhere near where in the UK, like cheddar,
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  just provide some local cheese. Or if you're in, I'm trying to
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  think of something in Leeds, but you know what I mean?
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  So they'll have lots of all sorts of like local things that
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  really suit to that property. So they'll go home and just be
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  like, yeah, had the full experience and it was awesome,
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  that sort of thing. So definitely, yeah, local
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  authenticity and then sort of quiet travel.
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  And the fourth I would say is like Wellness activities.
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  So yeah, it's guests. I tend to see that that they're
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  sort of driven by experiences where, yeah, just just full
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  chill and just having a really good, really good relaxing time.
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  So things like yoga experiences or blackout curtains even, or
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  water filtration or really good top quality mattresses, things
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  like this that, you know, feel like guests are really looking
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  for during their stay. And then fifth one, yeah, just
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  truth in advertising. So just everything matches what
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  they're going to actually experience when they get to the
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  front door. So things like just photos
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  matching what the actual rooms will be like.
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  And within a world of AI and a lot of fake things going on on
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  social media, guests just want to have just full transparent
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  sort of advertising when it comes to images and things.
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  Like I noticed a big one when I travel a lot.
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  And one of the big ones I always find tricky is getting there and
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  wanting to work. But the Wi-Fi speed is not the
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  number that you were hoping to get when you were and something
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  you were told differently. So, yeah, just having an
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  accurate Wi-Fi speed, yeah, if there was a workplace within the
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  property, there is an actual desk and table and you're not
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  sitting on the floor in the corner or something like that.
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  So, yeah, just everything just being really transparent with
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  advertising, making sure it's exactly what the guests are
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  going to get. And that's only going to bring,
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  you know, good reviews in the long run.
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  So yeah, they're, they're my 55 takes on that, what guests are
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  wanting. 5 tips fantastic Quick pause.
• 5:09
  Then this episode is powered by House Fully.
• 5:11
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• 5:14
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  guidebooks that elevate the guest experience.
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  demo with Frank Bosey, who's a big friend of our show.
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  All right, back to it, Joseph. Yeah, I love those 5 tips.
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  Fantastic. And the first one, smart locks,
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  something I've mentioned quite a few times because it's something
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  we added to our properties in the last year or so and bit of a
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  game changer. I've got to be honest, not only
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  is it better for safety and security, but I find the guests
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  prefer it as well. It gives them a lot more
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  flexibility, especially if it's a group of people and they're
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  not relying on one or two keys and sharing them and who's got
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  the key and all this kind of thing.
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  It, it really does make it simple.
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  And also with the timings on the smart locks, you can put, you
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  know it's going to be available. It will work.
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  The code will work at this time, 3:00 PM and it's going to stop
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  working when you check out at 11 AM.
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  So I think really, really useful.
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  And I'd encourage anybody, umm, if you're running short term
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  rentals, have a look at your smart locks.
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  And I just, you mentioned the digital guidebooks as well.
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  And we know that housefully has great digital guidebooks.
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  So just give us the lowdown on these.
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  Why? They're worth looking at if
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  you're hosting or a property manager.
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  Yeah. So as a property manager,
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  property manager I speak to tend to never sleep.
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  They've never got time to just have rest.
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  So guidebooks, they're designed to enhance guest experience and
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  service. You can offload all the
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  information in there, whether it's repetitive questions that
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  you're getting from guests or just any useful information
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  about the local area that will just provide extra value to the
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  state. So you it's a unique link you
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  just send out to the guest in an automated or manual message and
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  then they will get everything about their state and that you
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  can upsell. There's AI itinerary planning,
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  there's all sorts in there. And going back to the smart
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  logs, the host free devices, you can you can link that with the
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  guidebook so it shows the pin code in there.
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  You can send out messages with the platform and it's all
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  intertwined, not quite well together.
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  So yeah, they're great fun. You can really just get really
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  personal with them and Commission based through via
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  tour links and all sorts. So yeah, yeah, they're good fun.
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  Very much so. And yeah, the no hidden fees,
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  that's a big one, of course. I mean, you don't see that many
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  people charging a cleaning fee anymore because that was always
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  the biggest book bearer of a lot of guests, wasn't it?
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  They get all the way and think I'm getting a really good deal.
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  I'm getting a really good deal. Oh, there's a $200 cleaning fee.
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  OK, It's not as good as I thought.
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  Yeah, yeah, there's too many clicks for the guests.
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  And it was like, no, no, this, this isn't going to be
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  worthwhile. So yeah, I get a notice.
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  Property managed. Just, you know, mark up the
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  night you raise. Keep it really simple and sweet.
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  Show the price to begin with so guests don't backtrack on stays
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  and things. And yeah, it's it's it's nice to
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  see. Yeah, I think it's, it's still
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  happening where there's a breakdown of fees later on, but
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  it's less so now. So it's definitely, definitely
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  more transparent. And another one as well that you
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  were saying the the truth in advertising, especially if
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  you're a digital nomad, you know, you and I, we both travel
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  quite a bit and we're always reliant on excellent Wi-Fi.
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  And I think if you do have excellent Wi-Fi in your
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  property, put that in your listing, even like consider a
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  screen grab from fast.com showing 300 megabits Wi-Fi or
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  something like that. Because there'll be a lot of
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  people thinking I need great Wi-Fi because I'm going to would
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  be working. And, you know, if they see that
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  you've got a better chance of getting booked, I think, yeah.
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  Definitely, yeah. It's absolute game changer if
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  you need to work. The amount of times I've had to
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  struggle with but poor Wi-Fi and it just going up and down.
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  fast.com is great for checking it.
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  The amount of times I've had to ask for a screenshot of that of
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  that speed is insane. So, yeah, I think ABNB used to
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  have a a tab which showed like the Wi-Fi speed on there or it
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  said fast Wi-Fi, but you don't really see that.
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  So as property manager, if you can label that on your property,
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  you will get a lot more bookings.
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  So definitely recommend, yeah. Definitely.
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  OK then Joseph, before you go, just give us the low down on
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  house fully and where people can find out more information.
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  Yeah, yeah. Check out hostfly.com on there
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  we we have the property management software all in one
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  system to manage bookings, help increase bookings there work,
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  automate workflow, give you an all in one space to do
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  everything. As we were talking about before
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  they hostly also does the Hostly guide books to enhance guest
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  experience. We have host free devices and
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  soon to be we'll have we'll have hostfully damage and we're
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  wavering at deposits. I need to check I need to change
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  that bit. Yeah, it's obviously damage and
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  protection. So yeah, that's a new product
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  coming out very, very soon. Yeah, just go on hostfly.com and
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  you speak to Frank or myself, Joseph osby.com or Frank
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  osby.com, always happy to help. Fantastic.
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  We'll put all those details and your e-mail addresses in the
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  show notes. Joseph, it's been a pleasure as
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  ever. Thanks for joining us on host
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  Planet Bite Size. Thanks James.
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  Great to be back. All right, over to you.
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  What's the one thing your guests comment on the most?
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  Is it cleanliness, communication, or amenities?
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  Drop it in the comments. We'd love to hear if you found
• 10:41
  this useful. Hit like, subscribe and share it
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• 10:48
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• 10:51
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