Airbnb Welcome Basket: Ideas to Wow Your Guests | Hospitable.com (2024)

Looking for budget-friendly ideas to impress your Airbnb guests and make them feel special? Consider offering them a surprise Airbnb welcome basket full of goodies. It’s a simple way to give your guests something memorable and make them feel welcome and cared for when they walk through the door.

Arriving in an unfamiliar place can be stressful, and a well-thought-out welcome pack will help your guests feel at home and translate into very positive reviews and recommendations. Then, other guests will be more likely to book your home or apartment.

Tips for Organizing the Perfect Airbnb Welcome Basket

Providing your guests with a surprise welcome basket is one of the easiest ways to make a lasting impression and give them something to rave about in their reviews, which will help attract new guests.

First things first, you need to come up with a budget you are willing to spend for each check-in. This will vary based on your vacation rental property, and you should keep yourpricing strategyin mind.

The investment in welcome gifts for Airbnb guests doesn’t need to be high. You can keep the vacation rental welcome basket between 5-10% of our total Airbnb nightly cost. It’s more about making an emotional connection than spending much money. So, with a bit of creativity, you can put together something remarkable for a relatively small cost.

To keep costs low, you can easily make bulk purchases of some items from a discount store. But if you charge anything over $250/night, consider more luxury to match the style of your property. Frequently, guests won’t use everything in your welcome basket, so yourcleaning teamwill replace the missing items.

You’ll never forget to assign this task to your team if you use short-term rental software like Hospitable. You just set rules, and the system will automatically notify your team about new tasks.

And you should be creative with the presentation. Your welcome pack doesn’t have to be a basket specifically. It can be a souvenir bag, wooden box, nicely decorated tray, table display, or whatever makes sense for your rental property and goes better with thehome décor.

Whatever style you choose, you should ensure that all your items fit nicely inside the container. Make sure they are not stuffed or overflowing. You may also decorate the basket to go with yourrental’s themeand personalize it with a handwrittenwelcome letterto make your guests feel special from the moment they arrive. It’s essential to put your welcome basket on a surface where it can be immediately noticed, for example, a kitchen counter or a table.

What to Include in Airbnb Welcome Basket

Every short-term rental property is unique, and the welcome basket should reflect the guest’s needs, the space’s ambiance, and the host’s hospitality.

So, what goes into a perfect Airbnb welcome package? It all depends on the time you want to dedicate and your budget. No two properties are the same, so there is no one-size-fits-all answer to welcome packs.

Still, we believe that the recipe for the perfect welcome basket, no matter how small or large, should combine practical and emotional items. There are three key ingredients that any effective gift basket should include:

• Thenecessities—the essential things that your guests will need to make their stay comfortable and have a relaxing vacation;
• A special something—the little extras that show that you’ve been listening to your guests whilemessagingthem and that you care about their experience;
• Awelcome bookthat includes everything your guests may want to know about your home, the area, transport, places of interest, and restaurants where they can enjoy the local cuisine.

When putting together your welcome package, you should put yourself in the mind of your guests and think about what they may want. Your guests will be very grateful for anything you do, which makes their trip easier. And if you want to impress travelers even more, you can include some luxury treats that can help make their experience unforgettable.

Airbnb Welcome Basket Ideas

Although a welcome basket isn’t one of the necessary items on ahosting checklist, it’s a thoughtful touch that guests will surely appreciate. So, let’s look at the best items you can include in your next welcome basket.

Self-care/ toiletry items

As a host, you must stock your Airbnb with essentials like towels, soap, toilet paper, and linens, but you may take it one step further. Consider leaving your guests practical items that meet their unexpected needs and make them feel at ease in your home. It’s a good idea to have

• extra toothbrushes,
• toothpaste,
• sanitary pads,
• personal-sized shampoos and conditioners,
• body lotion,
• and othertoiletrieson hand.

You may also offer something extra like face masks, bath bombs, bath salts, shower steamers with essential oils, or scented candles to encourage your guests to relax.

Snacks and beverages

After a long day of travel, your guests may be thirsty and craving something to eat. They’ll appreciate it if you include some bottles of water, a selection of tea or coffee, or even hot cocoa they might want to drink and relax with during their vacation mornings. You may also provide a variety of healthy and delicious snacks in the basket, such as crackers, cookies, mints, chocolate, and granola bars.

If you add simple, instant oatmeal, fruits, bags of chips, bagels, or baked goods, you can qualify for breakfast certification on Airbnb by adding “breakfast included” to your listing. Guests who are looking to save a few bucks will appreciate it if they have a light meal covered during their visit.

The extra-extravagance basket

To spoil your guests, include extra “wow-factor” goodies in your Airbnb welcome basket. The items to include maydepend on the season, the location of your property, and the type of guests you host. They can be just some simple, non-functional extras for guests to enjoy after arrival or premium gifts. You can include luxury items like a DIY co*cktail kit, high-end wine or champagne, chocolate-covered nuts, and a cheese or charcuterie board.

Holiday-specific gifts

You may have guests who’ll book your property for a certain holiday. Leave something special to help them celebrate. For example, you can bake a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving travelers, offer spooky treats for Halloween, and include some candy canes over Christmas. A good idea is to add a bottle of champagne for New Year’s and heart-shaped chocolates for Valentine’s Day.

Special occasion celebration

Some of your guests may book your vacation rental to celebrate a specific event, such as a birthday or anniversary, or choose your listing to spend a honeymoon. Then you may provide a cake and balloons for a birthday or a bottle of wine, champagne, or sparkling cider for a celebration. Fresh-cut flowers are an easy way to add a bit of romance to weddings, honeymoons, and anniversaries and elevate the look of your place.

Souvenirs

You may also include local souvenirs as welcome basket gifts, such as fridge magnets, postcards, tourism maps, key chains, or bookmarks that represent your local area. These small memorabilia will help your guests remember their stay. You can even treat your guests to a travel book or magazine about your local city.

Comfort items

When people go traveling, they may miss the comforts of home. That’s why it can be a lovely gesture to provide such things as bathrobes, slippers, a soft throw rug for the couch, or a heated blanket for the bed if your property is in an area with cold winters. This way, you can make your guests’ stay more enjoyable.

Chocolates and coffee basket

Fill your welcome basket with premium chocolates and pair them with gourmet coffee to invite your guests to relax and indulge during their vacation. It’s a classic combination that appeals to many people. You may also include some cute coffee mugs that will be lasting memorabilia for your guests, and they can also use them while staying in your rental.

We hope our Airbnb welcome basket ideas will help you improve yourguest experience. However, you should remember that the key to making your guests happy is effective communication.

It can be rather time-consuming, but with Hospitable, you can automate your conversations with guests and save much time. Our system will also help you manage your team, synchronize your calendar across platforms to avoid double bookings, and request guest reviews.

Final Thought

Your job as an Airbnb host is to provide your guests with a service with an exceptional experience. It may seem like a small gesture, but the Airbnb welcome basket is your chance to make an important first impression and enhance the guest experience, making their stay more enjoyable. It will show your guests that you are ready to go above and beyond to make them happy.

Creating a welcome basket requires minimal effort but helps your guests feel welcome and appreciated. This way, you increase your chances ofgetting 5-star reviewsand being referred to their friends and family.