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Free Online ConsultationWhen listing a vacation rental on OTAs, you’ll find far more input fields than you might expect, making it easy to overlook items during the process. Major OTAs like Airbnb and Booking.com feature anywhere from dozens to over a hundred input fields, and since several of these are optional, listings frequently go live with them left blank. However, it’s not widely known that these gaps in your listing information can directly hurt your search ranking and booking rate.
In fact, data shows that listings with nearly 100% of their information filled in can receive up to 40% more impressions compared to listings that are only about 70% complete. In other words, just a handful of missing fields can translate into a difference of tens of thousands of yen in monthly revenue.
This article covers specific fields that are commonly overlooked when listing a vacation rental on OTAs, along with practical solutions for each. Whether you’re preparing a new listing or already operating a property with disappointing booking numbers, this guide offers useful insights.
Why Overlooked Fields Are So Common in OTA Listings
OTA management dashboards are divided into multiple sections—basic information, amenities, pricing, policies, and more—with Airbnb featuring around 80 input fields and Booking.com exceeding 100. Required fields like property name, address, and nightly rate can’t be missed since the listing won’t publish without them. The real issue lies with “optional” fields. Because a listing can still go live without these being filled in, it’s extremely common for hosts to postpone them and simply forget.
What’s more, OTA platforms are updated frequently, and new input fields are added over time. For example, Airbnb has recently added fields such as “self-check-in instructions” and “noise policy.” Existing hosts often remain unaware that these new fields exist and continue operating without ever filling them in. It’s important to build a habit of periodically reviewing your management dashboard, not just at the time of initial listing.
Detailed Information About Check-in and Check-out
Check-in Time Window
Many hosts set their check-in time as a single fixed point, such as “3:00 PM,” but most OTAs allow you to set a check-in “window” instead. For example, offering a range like “3:00 PM to 10:00 PM” communicates that you can accommodate guests arriving in the evening or at night, reducing missed bookings. Since Airbnb’s search filters include check-in time conditions, a narrow window can cause your listing to be excluded from certain search results.
Self-Check-in Instructions
Even hosts who have installed smart locks or key boxes sometimes forget to enable the “self-check-in supported” flag on the OTA platform. On Airbnb, self-check-in is used as a search filter condition, so simply enabling this setting can boost your search visibility. There’s also a detailed instructions text box available—make use of it with specifics like “Enter the 4-digit code into the key box located to the right of the front door.” Having this information on hand reduces guest inquiries and lowers your response workload.
Check-out Instructions
Many hosts set a check-out time but neglect to provide specific departure instructions, such as “how to sort trash,” “where to place used towels,” or “requests to turn off the air conditioning and lights.” Airbnb provides a field that allows several hundred characters for check-out instructions. Filling this in reduces the burden on cleaning staff while preventing guest confusion. Listings with clear departure instructions tend to receive reviews praising how “easy to understand” they were, which has a positive knock-on effect on your average review score.
Individual Amenity and Facility Checkboxes
Kitchen Facility Details
It’s extremely common to see listings registered simply as “kitchen available” without checking off the individual items within it. OTAs provide over 10 subcategories, such as “microwave,” “refrigerator,” “dishwasher,” “stove type (induction/gas),” “cookware,” and “dishware.” Guests planning long stays strongly tend to filter their search based on kitchen facilities, and Booking.com even offers a “well-equipped kitchen” filter. Failing to check off even a single item like “microwave” could cost you a long-term booking of a week or more.
Bathroom Facilities and Consumables
Shampoo, conditioner, body soap, a hair dryer, and bath towels are all points guests weigh heavily when choosing accommodation. Inbound guests in particular prefer to avoid the hassle of purchasing these items during their trip, making the presence of amenities a deciding factor in bookings. According to Airbnb data, the “hair dryer available” filter ranks among the most frequently used search conditions. If you actually have these items but haven’t checked them off on the OTA platform, you’re needlessly reducing your own visibility in search results.
Parking and Bicycle Parking Information
Even when on-site parking is available, it’s common for hosts to leave out details like “free or paid,” “limits on the number of spaces,” “vehicle size restrictions,” or “whether advance reservation is required.” Booking.com includes parking availability as a search filter, and since guests at rural vacation rentals often assume they’ll need a car, leaving this field blank can be a critical mistake. Even if parking isn’t available on-site, providing alternative information such as “coin parking nearby (3-minute walk, up to ¥800/day)” can ease guest concerns and reduce the burden of handling inquiries.
Overlooked Pricing and Discount Settings
Weekly and Monthly Discount Settings
Many hosts set a nightly rate but never configure discounts for extended stays. Airbnb allows you to set separate discount rates for “weekly” (7+ nights) and “monthly” (28+ nights) stays, and Booking.com also offers long-stay discount settings. For example, on a property priced at ¥8,000 per night with a 10% weekly discount, 7 nights would cost ¥50,400 instead of ¥56,000. Guests considering an extended stay often search using discount filters, so without this setting, your property may not even appear as a candidate. Since cleaning frequency also decreases with longer stays, boosting your effective profit margin, there’s really no reason not to set this up.
Extra Guest Fee Settings
Even when a maximum occupancy is set, hosts often overlook configuring an extra guest fee. For example, you might set a base rate for up to 2 guests, with an additional ¥2,000 charged per guest beyond that. On Airbnb, without this setting, the price stays the same regardless of how many guests actually stay. If a property accommodating 4 guests charges the same whether 1 or 4 people stay, your profit margin gets squeezed once you factor in utility costs and amenity consumption. On the other hand, if the extra fee is set too high, bookings from larger groups will decline—so a range of ¥1,500 to ¥3,000 per additional guest tends to offer a good balance.
Cleaning Fee Settings
Some hosts fold the cleaning fee into the nightly rate rather than listing it separately. Separating out the cleaning fee lowers the displayed nightly price, giving your listing a competitive edge in search results. For example, showing “¥7,000/night + ¥3,000 cleaning fee” tends to boost click-through rates more than showing a flat “¥10,000/night (cleaning fee included),” since the eye-catching “¥7,000” is what appears in the results. That said, in some regions Airbnb switches to displaying the total price, so be sure to check how this appears to guests in your target market before finalizing this setting.
Unconfigured House Rules and Policies
Noise and Party Rules
Noise is the leading cause of neighbor disputes, yet some listings fail to state clear rules about it on the OTA platform. Airbnb offers a “no parties” setting, and simply enabling it can deter problem guests from booking in the first place. Adding specific guidelines like “Please refrain from loud conversation indoors after 10:00 PM” or “Please keep music at a volume considerate of neighboring units” also helps ensure any disputes that do arise can be mediated smoothly through the OTA.
Smoking Policy Details
Beyond a simple “non-smoking” or “smoking allowed” flag, OTAs provide fields where you can specify how e-cigarettes are handled and whether smoking is permitted on balconies or in outdoor areas. Inbound guests in particular are disproportionately likely to use e-cigarettes regularly, so clearly stating conditions like “no smoking indoors, smoking permitted on the balcony” can help you capture bookings from smoking guests as well. Noting a penalty for violating smoking rules (e.g., a ¥30,000 cleaning charge) also serves as a deterrent.
Pet Policy and Conditions
Even if pets aren’t allowed, failing to explicitly set your listing to “no pets” on the OTA platform can result in bookings that include pets anyway. Conversely, if pets are allowed, spelling out specific conditions—such as “small dogs only (under 10kg),” “maximum of 2 pets,” or “additional fee of ¥3,000 per pet”—helps prevent unexpected trouble. Pet-friendly listings are relatively rare on OTA platforms, giving you an edge in filtered searches, so it’s worth actively enabling this setting whenever feasible.
Commonly Overlooked Points in Photos and Descriptions
Photo Captions and Category Tagging
Even listings with 20 or more uploaded photos often fail to include captions for each one. Airbnb allows you to assign each photo a category, such as “living room,” “bedroom 1,” or “bathroom,” making it easy for guests to jump straight to the photos they want to see. Captions are most effective when they add information the photo alone can’t convey, such as “Double bed (140cm wide) with a view of greenery through the window.” Well-organized photos increase time spent viewing your listing, which in turn tends to earn favorable treatment from the OTA’s algorithm.
Multilingual Property Descriptions
Many hosts put great care into writing their Japanese description but leave the English or other language versions blank entirely. While OTAs offer automatic translation, the accuracy isn’t perfect—expressions unique to Japanese are particularly prone to mistranslation. Airbnb allows you to manually input descriptions in up to 26 languages, and simply adding English, Simplified Chinese, and Korean can significantly boost your appeal to inbound guests. Even just reviewing the auto-translated text once and manually fixing any awkward phrasing can make a real difference.
Missing Details About the Surrounding Area and Access
Travel Time from the Nearest Station or Bus Stop
Some listings provide an address but omit details like walking time from the nearest station or nearby bus route information. Details such as “8-minute walk from the nearest station” or “5-minute walk to the airport limousine bus stop” are important decision-making factors for guests unfamiliar with the area. While Booking.com automatically displays “distance from the airport,” specific information about accessing the property via public transportation still needs to be entered manually. Including the time and approximate fare for a taxi ride (e.g., “about 20 minutes and ¥3,500 by taxi from the airport”) can substantially ease guests’ anxiety upon arrival.
Nearby Shops and Restaurants
Distance to convenience stores, supermarkets, and restaurants is especially important information for guests planning extended stays. Specific details like “convenience store 2 minutes away on foot” or “izakaya, ramen shops, and cafes all within a 5-minute walk” effectively convey convenience. Some OTAs provide a dedicated field for “nearby facilities,” and Booking.com allows you to individually register information about nearby restaurants and tourist attractions. Carefully filling in these fields lets you highlight your property’s appeal from a location standpoint, helping differentiate you from competing listings in the same area.
A Practical Checklist for a Complete Listing
Preventing oversights requires building a systematic checking process. Put the following three actions into practice. First, check the “listing completeness” indicator in your OTA management dashboard. Airbnb sometimes displays how complete your listing information is as a percentage—aim to bring this as close to 100% as possible.
Next, set aside time once a month to review every section of your management dashboard from top to bottom. This should take roughly 30 minutes per property. Pay particular attention after OTA platform updates, since new fields may have been added that require your review. Finally, view your own listing from the guest’s perspective and check for any areas where information feels lacking. Comparing your listing side by side with competing properties makes it easy to spot exactly what information you’re missing.
Struggling with OTA Listings for Your Vacation Rental? Talk to Stay Buddy Inc.
Listing a vacation rental on OTAs is never a “set it and forget it” task. Maximizing your booking rate requires professional expertise across field optimization, photo selection and ordering, pricing strategy design, and multilingual support. As a dedicated vacation rental management company, Stay Buddy Inc. provides end-to-end support—from the initial setup of your OTA listing through ongoing improvements after launch.
In fact, one property that Stay Buddy optimized saw its monthly bookings increase by 1.5 times simply through a review and refinement of its listing information. If you’re unsure about your current listing content, or if you’re preparing to list a new property, we invite you to start with a free consultation.
Getting your OTA listing settings right isn’t a one-time task—it requires continuous updates in response to market conditions and competitor activity. Stay Buddy Inc. conducts regular listing audits and provides improvement recommendations, giving our full support toward maximizing our owners’ revenue. Please feel free to reach out to us anytime.
