Help & FAQs for owners
Property Descriptions
Why is it so important to get my description right?
In short, a great description will get you more bookings. Here's why:
- The more questions you can answer in the description, the more likely it is that a guest will book instantly online.
- If prospective guests call us to ask questions about properties, we can answer them immediately if the information is available to us in the description.
- This is one of the few opportunities to really sell a property. Imagine it as if you had just 2 minutes to convince someone to book.
- DON'T MISLEAD! It's vitally important that the description does not mislead guests. This will only lead to people being disappointed. We're very happy to market a range of accommodation, including budget holiday accommodation, providing it is described correctly.
What should my description contain?
Description introduction:
The first paragraph is a good chance to provide an overview of your property and the location. People spend a very short amount of time deciding if your property is right so it is important to include the key selling points here.
Remainder of description:
This is where you can go into a greater level of detail. Once someone has decided that your property might be right for them, they'll have a number of questions. If you don't answer them they'll book with someone else (or call us and delay the booking process by potentially having to wait for answers to questions).
Make sure you include information on the following in the description:
The local area: Many visitors will not know the names of streets or areas. So go into detail about what's on their doorstep (types of bars, restaurants, local shops, etc.). Include information about transport to the main locations in the city, and walking distances/times.
Accessibility: You can also include details of the floor the property is located on, the kind of building it's in, whether there's a lift, etc. This information can be included in the 'Accessibility' section of the listing as well.
Rooms in the property: It's not enough to say 3 bedrooms, one living room and a kitchen. People will want to know about the size/layout of each room (a floor plan can really help here), what facilities the kitchen has (microwave, full crockery, breakfast bar, kitchen table seating 6, etc.), what furniture each room contains (eg how many people can the sofa seat?).
Bed set-up: Include information about whether beds can be set up as doubles/twins (e.g. zip and link beds offer flexibility). You should also talk here about any options for extra people (e.g. sofa beds, etc.) and whether there are any additional charges for this.
Please remember that this is a great chance to really SELL. A 'fully-equipped kitchen with dining facilities' sounds a lot better than just a kitchen.
Photos:
High-quality, clear and bright photography is incredibly important on a property listing. We recommend using interior and exterior shots, as well as writing a description on each photo of what is shown.
We also recommend including a floor plan here as many guests like to know the layout of a property before they book.
If you would like new, professional photography of your apartment, please email us at
Parking (under Location):
We've given this its own dedicated field which shows how many people ask about parking. Simply ticking 'parking available' is not enough. Potential guests will want to know where they can park, how much it will cost/if it's free if the parking is undercroft, etc.
Arrival/Departure:
One of the biggest questions we get asked (and, as such, barriers to booking) is about the arrival/departure procedure. Be sure to include details of when people can arrive and when they can leave. Details should also be given of the key handover process (will someone meet them, is the key located in a safe, etc.). If you offer a baggage drop facility you should mention this here.
Haven't I already entered all my facilities and nearby recreations?
You can enter this information using the checklists on your Bookster listing. It's a really good idea to do this as:
- It offers people the chance to find your property when using the search filters on the website.
- It gives key information at a glance.
Want help writing your description?
We're happy to get involved and assist in writing your description. We see a lot of descriptions (good and bad) so we're in a good position to work with you to improve your description.
If your property is to be managed directly by Reserve Apartments, our dedicated admin team will write a description for you and send a link to the listing once this has been created.
Visit our Help for Owners section to find out a range of useful info for property owners or head to our homepage to see how we can work with you.
