Welcome to another Ask Me Anything (Ask Us Anything?) episode! Each week we’ll answer your questions on STR, real estate, OTAs, and everything in between.

Katie asks:

My Airbnb’s bedroom is in a loft, accessible only by a ladder; should we get a sleeper sofa as an extra option for guests?

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[00:00:05] You are listening to the Thanks for Visiting Podcast. We believe hosting with heart is at the core of every short-term rental. With Annette's background in business operation--

[00:00:14] And Sarah's extensive hospitality management and interior design experience, we have welcomed thousands of guests from over 30 countries, earning us over $1,000,000 and garnering us thousands of five-star reviews.

[00:00:28] We love sharing creative ways for your listing to stand out, serve your guests and be profitable. Each episode, we will have knowledgeable guests who bring value to the short-term rental industry.

[00:00:39] Or we will share our stories of our own experiences so you can implement actual improvements to your rentals. Whether you're experienced, new, or nervous to start your own short-term rental, we promise you'll feel right at home.

[00:01:03] Hello. Welcome back from the great episode. My name is Sarah Karakaian.

[00:01:06] I am Annette Grant, and together we are--

[00:01:08] Thanks for Visiting.

[00:01:09] This is an AMA episode where you can call in or record your voice on our website.

[00:01:14] Dial into the hotline, the hosting hotline.

[00:01:18] Oh, Annette, do we just brand it?

[00:01:20] We did. Shoot. I got to go buy the domain before someone else does-- the hotline.

[00:01:24] By the time you listen to this, it'll be purchased by us. But the hosting hotline that's good.

[00:01:27] That's really good. This is how ideas happen, everybody. A cup of coffee. Let's go.

[00:01:32] It's Friday. All right. We have a really great question today. What you do is you go to thanksforvisiting.me in the upper right-hand corner is a red button. It says Ask TFV. You can ask a question that's related to short-term rentals, related to business, and we will answer it if we think that all the listeners will take value from it. So here is our question for this week.

[00:01:49] Hi, ladies. My name is Katie. I just wanted to say thank you for your show. I have listened for the last couple of months and have learned so much. I have a question for you regarding pull-out couches or sleeper sofas. We are working on our first short-term rental, getting that set up. It's a super cute little cabin along the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky. It has a master bedroom and the loft that's open to the rest of the house. In the living room, we currently have our old leather sofa that's actually just a few years old and it's in great condition. But we are considering investing in a Queen pull-out sofa and we were thinking we would get one that is high quality because I know sometimes they can be uncomfortable. Hopefully, then we would be able to offer the option to sleep 1 to 2 more people, whether that be children, adults, or even an individual who maybe couldn't use the ladder stairs up to the loft. So I'm wondering your thoughts on if this is actually a good investment, if it would make a difference in bookings, in your opinion, do people like them? Do guests generally use them as a bed if they are available or do people avoid using them assuming that they're old or uncomfortable? So thank you so much.

[00:03:15] Great question, Katie.

[00:03:16] That's a great question. And if you haven't been to the bourbon trail--

[00:03:19] Go.

[00:03:20] We'll share this. You guys know we actually celebrated--

[00:03:23] Justin Ford.

[00:03:24] If you haven't listened to the Justin Ford episodes, please listen to it. His lovely wife, we went on a trip with him and a plethora of his besties, and it was an amazing, amazing trip. So if you haven't been to the bourbon trail, please, it is like chockful history.

[00:03:41] Even if you don't drink, I still recommend it.

[00:03:43] It's beautiful countryside, so much history, tons of things to learn. It was excellent. And then stay with Katie. With that being said, Katie, I think this is an excellent, excellent, excellent investment for you. I'm going to speak for myself. Let's say you didn't have the pullout couch and you had that loft. I don't like to climb ladders. I would have slept on the couch and I know that I would much prefer to have the pullout couch to sleep on. But I know as a guest if my friends would have booked that place and said, hey, because I'm normally the third wheel, Netty, you're going up in the loft, I would say, no, I'm not. I'm just going to sleep on the couch. And I would love if there was a pullout couch there. And I just know Sarah and I, when we went to the bourbon trail, our rooms that we rented, they were in the heart of it all. And we were all staying in a hotel because there was a large group of us. And those were the accommodations that were set up for the party. But it was very-- I mean, I think they were $500 a night and they were just the room. So we know there is demand there, Katie. There are a lot of people coming to the bourbon trail, and I think having that investment will definitely pay off twofold for the enjoyment of the guest that doesn't want to go up the stairs and potentially having more people be able to stay.

[00:04:51] And I love Katie's angle of if someone doesn't want to or is unable to climb up the stairs to the loft bed, that's hospitality, offering them another option with the pullout sofa. I will tell listeners this, and if you have a different experience, you can always write hi@thanksforvisiting.me. We love content that is generated by the listeners, but I have a fourplex and I had two of the one-bedroom units that had sleeper sofas and two that didn't. They all provide the other amenities and I would charge extra if people wanted to bring two more people to sleep in the sleeper sofa. I did not make $1 extra from the units that had the sleeper sofa. So I think it's less of a revenue generator and more of a hospitality component of maybe two friends are coming. And I can know Annette and I, sometimes we're like, It'd be nice to have two spare beds when we're traveling.

[00:05:37] Yeah, because Sarah snores and is loud and thrashes about just--

[00:05:42] Wow, just airing my dirty laundry. I think it's more hospitality than anything else. And here's my ideas for Katie. If that leather sofa is still nice, either put it in your next short-term rental or you could sell it on the Facebook marketplace. I'm currently shopping for a leather sofa, so. And that could offset the cost of your sleeper sofa. And also make sure, Katie, and anyone listening considering sleeper sofas, that you really add this to your checklist during the turnover process. I always check it because there are all those wonderful guests who think they're being wonderful and they'll fold up the sofa and unless you have it on your checklist to check to make sure it doesn't have some cookie crumbs in there--

[00:06:15] Or their socks that they left behind.

[00:06:17] Right. And then we have a kit of bedding also that we always check. So if someone does choose to use the sleeper sofa, that bedding also the guest didn't fold it back up and put it back in there so it's fresh each and every time. So just make sure your operations side of the sleeper sofa is styled.

[00:06:32] Let's circle back to that because, Sarah, you've done a really great job of creating that sleeper sofa kit, if you will. Like Sarah said, it's separate container with not just the fitted sheet and the flat sheet. It's the other blanket that goes on there, the pillows. That way, they're not pulling from random places. And it's not like they're going into your linen closet and trying to piece together. So if you can create that basket or that kit, if you will, and put it in some sort of like plastic where and label it so they know this is specifically for that bag, that's also a really great way to help them with that.

[00:07:03] Yeah, I'll tell you, I'll even stay at hotels, nice hotels. And if you go in the closet, it's in there and it's not in anything. I don't know.

[00:07:11] You get grossed out.

[00:07:11] I do. I don't know why, but I just--

[00:07:14] You're right because you don't know where to touch it last night.

[00:07:16] Yeah. So I feel that if it's in like a container or in like a plastic bag or even a fabric bag, that, okay, the hotel checked it. This is fresh for me. So I never use that stuff in the closet if it's not.

[00:07:28] But, Katie, we say invest. I think it's a great thing to invest in. And then that way, if anything ever goes on with the ladder or you're upstairs or maybe, who knows? I don't know if you've stayed there in the summer, it might get really hot up there. I don't know what your ventilation is, so having that extra space for someone we think is an excellent idea. So go swipe your card today.

[00:07:47] Yeah. But, Katie, when you do shop for that sleeper sofa and everyone out there, there are sofas that no longer have that bar that runs in the middle of the bed. It's more of like this, like the really tight-knit fabric canopy and then those gel mattresses that are thin. But when you lay on it, it just feels like a real bed. So, yes, Katie, invest in something comfy because you don't want a review that calls you out for anything other than that.

[00:08:10] But we are so excited for you. Send us the link because we need to take Sarah's husband back to the bourbon trail. He's got some stamps. He still needs to get in his passport there. And thanks for calling into the hosting hotline. So excited.

[00:08:22] You got to hear first. With that, I am Sarah Karakaian.

[00:08:25] I have Annette Grant and together we are--

[00:08:27] Thanks for Visiting.