“Stay Here” doesn’t tell the whole story of running a successful Airbnb

Netflix’s new TV series, “Stay Here,” follows a formula familiar to fans of home renovation shows: Design saviors step in to transform an ugly duckling home into a swan — with a big reveal in which the owners are astonished when they see their renovated property for the first time.

On “Stay Here,” however, the ducklings are short-term rental properties that promise to generate big profits for their owners once they’re optimized in terms of renovations, branding, and marketing.

The show demonstrates how mainstream short-term rentals have become, both as a potential extra source of income for regular people as well as an accommodations option for travelers.

The hosts, interior designer and star of “Trading Spaces” Genevieve Gorder and real estate expert Peter Lorimer, visit short-term rentals across the United States, ranging from a houseboat in Seattle to a firehouse in Washington, D.C. Besides redesigning the short-term rental spaces, they also help owners with business plans and tips on how to make the most of their properties.

The show vs. reality

Each episode starts with a property that just hasn’t been able to gain much traction in the short-term rental market. Gorder and Lorimer consult with the owner or owners, find out what their goals are, and come up with design ideas. Then they shoo the owners away until the big reveal.

While Gorder and Lorimer offer some great advice for short-term rental hosts, the show understandably focuses on the more glamorous side of short-term rentals — such as picking out the right deluxe robe and slippers for guests and creating a “social media moment” — while glossing over the not-so-glamorous tasks that go into successfully running a short-term rental.

The reality of renovation

On the show, designers and crew take care of all aspects of renovation for the owners. Many of the redos on the show are quite extensive, including knocking out and building walls as well as other structural changes.

The show also picks up some of the tab. While the owners on the show do contribute quite a bit of money to the renovations, they literally walk away before work begins then come back to ooh and ahh over the final results.

In reality, doing big renovations on your short-term rental property is usually a complex project that involves managing a number of people and typically takes more time and money than planned. For real-life owners, it is very much a hands-on situation, and short-term rental owners need to be realistic about the amount of work, hassle, time, and cost involved and whether it will be worth it for their bottom line.

The guest experience

The hosts on “Stay Here” emphasize the importance of providing an exceptional guest experience — as they should. Potential guests have many choices when looking for a place to stay. In particular, if they’re paying premium prices, they expect a premium experience on par of that of a boutique hotel.

Lorimer advises hosts to spend 10 percent of the cost of a night’s stay — so around $30 for the Seattle houseboat’s per-night price of $300, for example — on welcome gifts for guests. In the case of Seattle, this could be a plate of treats from Pike Place Market, including local cheese and smoked salmon, while a $1,500-per-night Malibu bungalow might welcome guests with a bottle of nice Champagne.

Another idea from the show is to leave a list of recommendations for local destinations and experiences, presented in a creative way, such as on an oversized blackboard at a hip Brooklyn brownstone property.

While these small gestures can make a big impact, “Stay Here” drives home the point that everything about a short-term rental should provide a unique and exceptional experience, from the comfort of the bed to the Instagrammability of the view.

What “Stay Here” doesn’t show is that providing an exceptional experience takes consistent effort. Whether you take care of the details yourself or hire someone to help, that property must be pristine, fully stocked, and functional for every single guest that checks in.

And despite your best efforts, things will go wrong during your guest’s stay. Sometimes you’ll have to provide a great experience by solving a problem while still striving to keep guests happy.

Branding and marketing

Branding and marketing strategies take a central role in “Stay Here.” All properties are professionally styled and photographed in order to show them in their best possible light.

Lorimer also recommends that owners define their niche and work to own it using marketing methods such as search engine optimization (SEO). Hosts can use a combination of stunning visuals, captivating descriptions, and glowing guest reviews on their websites or listings with Airbnb, HomeAway, VRBO, or other sites to make sure potential guests look no further.

These are important tips for getting the word out about your property. However, the best short-term rental marketing doesn’t stop once the listing is done. Marketing should be constant for any short-term rental host, using tools such as social media, blogs, partnerships with other local businesses, and more.

Taking care of business

Lorimer makes sure to ask the owners what their goals are for their property, which is a key step for any short-term rental host. In the first episode, for example, the owners of the Seattle houseboat want to cover their costs for the property as well as generate enough income to pay for child care for their baby daughter.

Goals for short-term rental hosts are very individual, and it’s important to establish what those are and map realistic and actionable steps toward realizing them. The process in the show is to start with what the owners want to earn, study comparable properties, and create a plan and budget, which is a great way to go.

However, running the business side of a short-term rental takes more than just figuring out how much money you want to bring in.

For one, there are legal considerations. Local laws regarding short-term rentals vary according to location, but a growing number of communities are passing laws to regulate these properties. Legal requirements can range from where you’re allowed to have a short-term rental to what kind of permits or licenses you must get to operate legally.

Then there are taxes to deal with, both income taxes and local short-term rental lodging taxes. For income taxes, you’ll need to keep track of your short-term rental income as well as any deductions.

Short-term rental lodging taxes, meanwhile, can be quite complex. These are actually paid by the guest, but you’re responsible for adding the right amount of tax to the guest’s bill, collecting the tax, and remitting the tax back to the government.

The total amount of lodging taxes you’ll charge depends on your location and is usually made up of many different taxes. These can be levied by the state, county, city, or other jurisdiction. Sometimes these will be collected for you by online rental platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway — but sometimes not. It all depends on your location. You can look up your local lodging tax rate and other requirements here.

While you won’t see the short-term rental owners on “Stay Here” struggling with lodging taxes, it’s part of the territory. It’s key for you to know what your lodging tax obligations are and to make sure you’re complying with requirements. The MyLodgeTax solution can help you get a handle on lodging taxes so you can get back to the more glamorous side of short-term vacation rentals.