How Interior Design Increases Airbnb Bookings and Revenue

Ramya Mehta (00:00)
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, when like for example, if somebody’s going to the beach, right, you go and you’re looking, let’s say Panama City Beach, you start looking for listing. Every condo out there looks the same. There is not anything that stands out to me when I’m looking at those listings. So that is where the power of design comes into place where you can actually drive.

People to your listing just by making it stand out, not making it look very not making it blend in, basically.

Dylan Silver (02:05)
Hey folks, welcome back to the show. Today we’re joined by Ramya Mehta, an investor and founder of Yellow Tulip Designs, an interior design firm specializing in short-term rental and investment properties. Ramya, thanks for taking the time today.

Ramya Mehta (02:18)
Thank you, Dylan. I’m so happy to be here.

Dylan Silver (02:20)
Great to have you on. Design above all else does seem to be driving bookings in the short term rental space specifically. Are investors aware of how important design is when marketing these properties?

Ramya Mehta (02:34)
I want to say many do. Some, you know, I think the it’s always your investment cost that is always guiding the decisions that investors make. So at some point of time I do think that budget comes into the picture and they think twice about design, but I I do want to emphasize that you know for ones who are on the edge and want to

Are considering it, I do want to share with them that it’s always you know, it would be an investment and not to consider it as a cost. Because when your design is good for the short-term rental, it immediately is displayed well in your photographs. And that’s how your listing stands out among the rest of the listings. And I I’m sure.

Most owners, investors are aware of this when they’re trying to market their short-term rental property. So and you know, when you have like a sea of listings, if your listing is the one that stands out, that’s the one that clients are going guests are going to click into. And that is the biggest challenge that most investors face on a big platform like Airbnb or VRBO. And so how do you capture the audience?

Attention and make them gravitate towards your listing. That’s the power of design. Once they’re in the listing, the design is what sets the tone for the at attracting that guest, making sure that they are able to see that it is thoughtfully planned, thoughtfully spaced, and the comfort is visible over there. Are there any fun experiences that they’re able to visualize for their families, for their friends?

That the guest might be booking for. Usually they’ll come with some guests with their friends, large, large number of people are coming in together for one property, and they are pressurized because they’re making this decision for that entire group, and they want to see those good experiences. They want to be able to visualize that. So that is what a powerful good design can provide. And

Immediately it helps making that decision easier for that guest. And that automatically converts into a ROI for your investment that you’ve put into design. So I do hope that you know owners who are on the fence about a good design seriously give it a thought and it is going to be an investment that immediately provides returns for you.

Dylan Silver (06:03)
Now on a granular level, what might this look like and what has y have you seen be successful for folks when designing these properties?

Ramya Mehta (06:13)
So I I think, you know, for when investors are looking for success, it is making sure they have a great ADR. They are looking at their annual revenue. So those are the things that investors are thinking about. I think it’s also what helps is that it makes you remember that property so much better, right? When you go back to that area, if you’re going to

You will immediately remember that’s the property we stayed in. We had an amazing experience. It was comfortable for everybody. Every generation in my group had something for them. You know, those are the things that makes you remember a property. You want to come back to that property. I repeat, booking is amazing for owners. And not to mention word of mouth, right? They’re going to go back and tell their friends, their relatives to and recommend that space. So

There is so many positive outcomes that can come out of a good experience from a well-designed property. That if you if you’re not putting that much thought into that design, you’re not going to get that. It’s just going to be one other listing among several out there. So it is extremely valuable to have that much thought and space planning and design done in your property.

Just so that you can get those word of mouth reference, those repeat bookings and ultimately be able to charge a higher ADR for your property.

Dylan Silver (07:43)
What does good look like when we talk about thoughtful design, right? What what does good look like?

Ramya Mehta (07:49)
I mean o obviously you wanna ha make it look pretty. That is without saying it, you know. But other than that, you’re also thinking about how many guests are going to be in a property. You know, I I know that in the short-term rental, it’s always talking about maximum occupancy. You wanna get most heads in that room in that property. I I get all of that. At the end of the day, you also want to make sure the comfort of that guest is taken into account.

So you want to see how many people can comfortably stay in that place, how many bathrooms are there in that property? You don’t want to overcrowd that space. You also want to think about if you’re seating, if you have 24 guests coming into a property, do they all have a place to sit in and gather comfortably in that? Do they have enough seating in that table when they want to have large meals together? Are they are there good.

Bed beddings, right? People sometimes skimp out on good bedding. Do they have a restful sleep at night? Are there blackout curtains in the bedroom for them not to be disturbed by light? Or, you know, there’s a lot of thought that goes into it. And like I just designed older property very recently, and the only space I could put a work table was away from the outlet. So I’m also thinking about a person who wants to work.

Comes in, ca sits there with his laptop, it he needs to be able to connect to that outlet. So providing them with a additional accessories so that they can make that connection to that outlet. Those, that is the level of thoughtfulness that you want to plan your space with, not just put a desk in the room and call it done. You want the ultimate experience that a person has in that stay is what matters. And these are the minor things that

You know not only avoids a negative review, but it can add to a positive review if you have thought through those things and make that stay extremely seamless because they’re going to be away from their home. They want to have a good experience. These are the things that matter. Every little thing counts. Every little thought comes through in their experience in that state.

Dylan Silver (10:41)
Now, theme is something that it has picked up a lot of speed over the years on short term rental platforms. You know, and it used to be w this was a convenient place.

To stay that way, you could call home for a couple of days. And now many of these spots have a definite theme and a vibe, and you can see, okay, that’s got this type of theme. This is we’re in a college sports town, it’s college sports themed, or you know, we are, you know, in a Florida location, or we’re in a beach town, it’s gonna be beach themed, right? And so when folks are looking at which direction to go, how important is theme?

Ramya Mehta (11:17)
There’s a lot of value in theme in especially in the area that you’re going to. And it it has to make sense for that area. If it does, then absolutely. Like if you go to Florida, people are usually Orlando thinking Disney. They want to experience that because the whole excitement when you’re taking your family to such a area is because that is the destination you’re going to. And what

A better way to start that experience, kick off that experience by living in a space that shows off that theme and introduces that excitement right from the beginning. So there is so much value in it as long as it makes sense for that space, right? So if you like Nashville, there are so many bridal showers that go on over there, so you want to have that experience over there and

It so there’s a lot of value in it when people are looking at listings. If they have a particular reason they’re coming to that area and your property has that theme, it’s definitely going to stand out among the rest. And even there, you want to make sure among those listings that have that theme, how you how do you make it stand out? You can can you do something different over there, but still stick to that theme, provide that experience, provide that excitement for that.

Family or that group that is coming there and give them that fun, fun experience that they are sorting. You know, it’s just invaluable when you’re going to a particular place for a particular vacation in mind or a celebration in mind and that they can experience it right from that property.

Dylan Silver (12:56)
If if you walked into, let’s say, average, you know, single family home that was being converted into a short term rental property, you know, what is maybe the the first thing or first couple of things that you might adjust?

Ramya Mehta (13:12)
I mean again, it depends on what we’re designing for. But I think I I’m a geek when it comes to space planning. I love space planning. I make sure that it is extremely thought out for that guest that is coming in, for the number of people that we can accommodate in the property. So yeah, so definitely my mind does go over there. Apart from that, I think a a wallpaper can give a really amazing wow effect and

It transforms that single family home into something very unique. It provides that hero shots, if you will, for your property listings. And you know, anything that can paint makes a huge difference. So you know, I I think for the past 10 years or so, people were so single family homes were all so

White, you know, it the kitchens were all white and I I somehow I w never gravitated to it. For me it made it feel very cold. I love some warmth in the room. So I’m so glad that the white kitchens are trending out and we have more warm kitchens. So I think if the walls are painted very neutral to give them some color, to give them some character with wallpaper and paint immediately transforms the space tremendously.

Of course, making sure it makes sense for that area, for that purpose that we are designing that property for. But yeah, this is just so much we can do in a single family home, as long as we know whom we are designing for and what we’re designing for. I think that all comes sorry, go ahead.

Dylan Silver (14:43)
Th there is a ton of of competition in the short-term rental space and and really only more so day by day, right? Do you think investors are maybe underestimating the financial impact of a strong interior design, even though it may be a hard act outlay initially, right? It really helps them over the long term.

Ramya Mehta (15:50)
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, when like for example, if somebody’s going to the beach, right, you go and you’re looking, let’s say Panama City Beach, you start looking for listing. Every condo out there looks the same. There is not anything that stands out to me when I’m looking at those listings. So that is where the power of design comes into place where you can actually drive.

People to your listing just by making it stand out, not making it look very not making it blend in, basically.

And yeah, absolutely. I think in those terms when people are thinking, that’s where Anna had said in the starting that they consider it as a cost, but if they can transform their thinking and consider it as an in this investment in the beginning, they’re going to see the rate of return immediately as soon as.

They start seeing those bookings because it will show up in their listings. The properties are going to photograph better and people are just going to gravitate towards it when every other listing looks similar. And not to mention that if it’s done well, thoughtfully planned, it’s going to give you those positive reviews as well. So those are the things that you want to stand out with, and that is how you do it by making sure you have a well-designed.

Thoughtfully designed property, not one that looks like the rest of it. So yeah, absolutely. If if you can start thinking it in terms of an investment, you’re going to see that rate of return. And it’s it’s all going to be back the way I do it, I do a lot of AI analysis with it. I’m also looking at your competition to see what they have, what amenities we can add to the property.

There’s a lot of I come from an engineering background, so I am very familiar with leveraging AI skills to do that. So I’m able to use all those skills to come up with a very data-backed recommendation to when I’m suggesting design amenities or why we should probably consider this particular design theme or the the, you know, so that I can get alignment with that client.

So yeah, it’s absolutely very important that it could be considered as an investment, one that will add higher ADR for your property.

Dylan Silver (18:14)
You know, we used to say w what might the the future look like, you know, three years from now or five years from now in a given niche or segment of the real estate space like STR. But now, you know, with AI and you mentioned your engineering background, you know, that speed of iteration and improvement is now like six months to a year. So what do you see on the near horizon? What changes can folks start adopting now to put them ahead of the curve?

Ramya Mehta (18:42)
My gosh. Yeah, it is going at a crazy, crazy pace. And you know, I think there is it it it’s a that’s a difficult question to answer, honestly. It’s just the and even with design, so many investors are savvy enough that they are able to use AI prototypes, mock-ups to do that and more power to them if they’re able to do that. And

There is a lot of value if they’re able to do that as well. I think if you have the time to do that, yes, absolutely. You can put in your ideas into AI, get a good rendering of what you might what that space might look for, look like, and then go ahead and design it on that. If you don’t have the spa time and or the bandwidth or the mental

You know, some people are just not built for it and they struggle with it. And if that’s where your head is at, then just outsource it to people who enjoy doing it and who can do a good you know, good justice to that. So yeah, so AI is going at a tremendous rate. And if you can leverage it, if you have the mental bandwidth and the personality to deal with it, absolutely you should. There is so many potential.

Ideas that EI can give and it just keeps getting better and better. But if not, then yeah, there are a lot of people who are out there to help and do this exact same thing. And they do a pretty good job of it. So, you know, it’s just where where your mind is, where your personality is when where you want to invest your time and mental band with that, which you know, as far as I know, most investors

They don’t want to deal with it. They are more interested in getting that new property, running those numbers. That’s where their mind is. So yeah, so there are people vendors like me out here willing to support you guys and bring that design into that property.

Dylan Silver (20:32)
We are coming up on time here, Ramya. Any new projects that you’re working on? And then also anything you’d like to mention directly to our audience.

Ramya Mehta (20:39)
Yeah, so I finished working on a beach property in Daytona, Florida. It was an amazing, amazing property. The client was very specific on their color palettes that they wanted. The they had very specific pin Pinterest boards that they brought to the table. So, you know, I encourage all of that. I would love to see that as well when I work with clients. So I was able to really bring up a very good

Color, stick to that color palette, bring a very good design for them. So yeah, that that was a fun project, the Daytona Beach project. And then yeah, I you know I am very passionate about what I do. I w I want to provide value to c investors who want to give a good listing out there, who want to make their property shine.

I really l want to make sure that their thoughts are heard and design property, not only based on what they want, but also make sure that it is it makes sense for the customers, the guests who are coming there and giving them a good experience. So this is something I’m very, very passionate about. And yeah, if they would like to reach out to me, I would be more than happy to have a conversation with them.

Dylan Silver (21:51)
Ramya, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you for your time.

Ramya Mehta (21:54)
Thank you so much. Yeah, I’m available at Yellow Tulip Designs if anybody was interested to have a conversation. Thank you, Dylan. I appreciate your time so much.