Booking an Airbnb is the easy bit. Getting a genuinely brilliant stay - where you find the right café, know exactly how everything works, and actually do the things you meant to do - takes a little more. Here's what guests with the best experiences consistently do differently.

Ask the Host, Not the Algorithm

Hosts are your single best source of local knowledge. They know which café is worth the queue, which restaurant is overpriced for tourists, and which park has a better view than the one on every Instagram post. The guests who have the best short-stay experiences say the same thing: they followed the host's recommendations rather than defaulting to a review platform.

Short-term rental guests spend an average of £100 per day in the local area, with 43% going directly on food, drink, and retail. Ukstaa The question is not whether you'll spend that money - you will. The question is whether you'll spend it somewhere worth going, or somewhere you stumbled across because it had the most Google reviews.

Use Whatever the Host Has Put Together For You

The best hosts now provide a digital welcome guide - accessible from your phone via a QR code in the property - that contains property information, local recommendations, and often bookable extras like late checkout or add-on experiences. If your host has put this together, use it. It's the fastest route to the local knowledge that would take you years to accumulate yourself.

If your host hasn't provided a digital guide, send them a message before you arrive and ask for their top three local recommendations. Almost every host has opinions - they just haven't always packaged them up.

Book Experiences Before You Arrive, Not On the Day

48% of travellers now plan trips specifically around local experiences and activities Ensoconnect - and the ones who have the best time are the ones who do at least a little of that planning before they arrive. Trying to book a popular restaurant on the night, or joining a sold-out walking tour on the day, is a reliable way to end up in a chain restaurant feeling vaguely disappointed.

If your host's welcome guide offers bookable experiences, book them early in your stay - or before you arrive if the option is available. The best local experiences in any city fill up fast.

Don't Overlook Late Checkout

If you're arriving after a long journey or leaving after a big trip, late checkout is often the single easiest quality-of-life upgrade available. Many hosts offer it as a paid extra - and it's almost always worth it. Being able to sleep properly on your last night, shower at a reasonable hour, and leave without rushing can transform the end of a trip.

Check your host's welcome guide or message them early in your stay. The earlier you ask, the more likely it is to be available.

Leave an Honest Review

Three out of four short-term rental operators reported higher guest ratings in 2025 compared to the previous year Hostaway - partly because the sector is professionalising, and partly because guests are getting better at communicating what they want. A detailed, honest review - the things that were brilliant, the one thing that could be better - is genuinely useful to the next guest and pushes hosts to keep improving. It takes four minutes and makes a real difference.

StayPay helps hosts create brilliant digital welcome guides for their guests. If your host uses StayPay, look out for the QR card in your property.