One way to make your short-term rental stand out from the crowd on Airbnb is to earn the platform’s Guest Favorite badge. Earning this badge shows guests that your property is among the best of the more than eight million homes on Airbnb. This blog post will break down what exactly the Guest Favorite badge is and why you want to be sure to earn it this year.
Host Tools provides an automated, unified calendar for short-term rental hosts, allowing you to seamlessly list on all major channels. Start your free trial today!
What is the Guest Favorite badge?
When you earn the Guest Favorite badge, you’ve signified that your property consistently delivers a 5-star experience. It’s largely earned by continually receiving positive reviews. In fact, travelers can even filter their search criteria by “Guest Favorite” when looking for a home to stay. This badge, plus the Superhost badge, helps boost your listing to the top of Airbnb’s search results.
Why does it matter?
Standing out in a crowded marketplace like Airbnb can be challenging. The Guest Favorite badge not only sets your listing apart but also increases its credibility. When guests see this badge, they know your property is tried and tested by previous travelers, making them more inclined to book.
Higher confidence in your listing can lead to higher occupancy rates and even allow you to charge premium rates compared to competitors without the badge. Not only does it boost your visibility, but having this badge can also foster loyalty from repeat guests who trust your ability to deliver exceptional stays every time.
Plus, you’ll rank higher in guests’ search results. Some guests even specifically search for the guest favorite badge in search results.
How to earn the Guest Favorite badge
As with any reward, it takes dedication and commitment to earn it. Below are a few actionable steps you can take to earn the Guest Favorite badge.
Consistently earn 5-stars
Reviews are the lifeblood of the short-term rental industry. While cleanings and thoughtful touches are a part of this, excellent communication goes a long way in earning reviews. Invest in Host Tools so that you can automate personalized messaging to your guests from the moment they book through check-out. Remember, you must earn an average of 4.9-star reviews to be considered for the Guest Favorite badge.
Deliver an exceptional experience
It’s the little thing. The details. Think welcome gifts, a guidebook curated by you, and quick and thoughtful replies. With Host Tools, you can set up automatic reminders or updates to your guests about things to do in the area, a welcome message, and a reminder of the check-out instructions.
Be as accurate as possible
What you see is what you get. Or that’s how it should be. Take great photos of your property for your listing, and be sure that they accurately represent what your home looks like. If you do a major renovation or change a focal point of a room, update the listing photos.
Respond to reviews (even the bad ones)
Always take the time to respond and thank a guest for their review. If you get a less-than-stellar review, still respond to it. This shows other guests looking to book your home that you value what a guest says and have resolved the issue.
Be quick to respond
Always respond as soon as possible. A guest does not want to be waiting around to hear from you when they have a question or an issue they need to be resolved. Not hearing from the host can begin to stir the pot and make a guest very frustrated. Be sure to check out our AI auto-reply feature that can automatically respond to guest messages regarding booking confirmations, inquiries, and requests.
Don’t cancel bookings
To earn and maintain the Guest Favorite badge, hosts must keep their cancellation rate at an average of no more than 1%. Additionally, you need to keep the Airbnb customer service involvement rate below 1%.
Bonus tip from Host Tools
Earning and maintaining the Guest Favorite badge may feel a little overwhelming. Don’t fret! Host Tools can save you up to 80% of your time and still help you earn this coveted badge. Take a look at our suite of automation features below:
- Guest messaging: Save time while maintaining top-notch host communication with guests before, during, and after their stay.
- Pricing: Host Tools helps you set and keep your prices competitively.
- Schedule cleanings: You’ll never miss a cleaning with automated reminders sent to your cleaning crew about new check-ins and check-outs.
- Say goodbye to double bookings: Host Tools syncs your calendar across all booking calendars (Think Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and more) so that you’ll never have an incident of the dreaded double booking.
Final thoughts
As you can see, the Guest Favorite badge is an important element of hosting. When you create a top-tier experience for guests and are rewarded with this badge, you’ll find more and more guests taking a look at your property and ultimately booking stays. Pair this with the helpful features of Host Tools, and you’ll be set up for success!
Host Tools provides an automated, unified calendar for short-term rental hosts, allowing you to seamlessly list on all major channels. Start your free trial today!
