7 Things Top-Rated Airbnb Hosts Do Before Their Photo Shoot

We shoot for Airbnb and short-term rental hosts across the GTA every week, from cottages in Stouffville to condos near Yonge & Eglinton. The pattern is consistent: the listings that look the best in our photos book faster, command higher nightly rates, and earn the host their Superhost badge sooner.

Real estate photography and Airbnb photography are different jobs. A real estate listing is selling a property. A short-term rental listing is selling an experience. Different prep, different details to nail. Here are the seven moves the top-booked hosts in our portfolio make before every shoot.

1. Stage the Beds Like a Hotel, Not a Home

This is the single biggest difference between a casually-prepared listing and one that gets called "stunning" in reviews. Crisp white duvet, layered with a textured throw or runner at the foot, plus 4 to 6 pillows arranged in a hotel-style stack. Match the bedding. No mismatched cases, no faded patterns.

If your bedding doesn't look like a boutique-hotel cover photo, swap it before the shoot. A white duvet cover from IKEA is $40 and pays for itself in a single weekend booking.

2. Light Every Lamp, Even During the Day

Turn on every single light source in the property an hour before the photographer arrives. Bedside lamps, kitchen pendants, bathroom vanity lights, under-cabinet strips, the lamp in the corner of the living room. Even on a bright sunny day.

The reason: warm interior light makes spaces feel inviting and lived-in. A room shot with only natural daylight reads as cold and clinical. A room shot with the same daylight plus the bedside lamps glowing reads as cozy. Cozy books.

While you're at it, replace any burnt-out bulbs. And if you have mismatched colour temperatures, like warm-white in one fixture and cool-white in another, swap them so everything reads the same colour on camera.

3. Set the Coffee Station, the Breakfast Bar, the Wine Bar

Guests browsing Airbnb are imagining themselves at the property. Help them see it. A coffee station with mugs arranged next to the espresso machine. A bowl of fresh lemons on the counter. Two wine glasses on the kitchen island. A book and a pair of reading glasses on the side table by the armchair.

These aren't accidents in top-tier listings. They're staged before the shoot specifically to trigger the "I want to be there" response. The good news: they take ten minutes to set up and they don't have to be expensive props.

One thing to avoid: anything that looks like junk mail, half-empty bottles, or random kitchen clutter. The goal is intentional, not lived-in.

4. Hide Anything That Identifies It as Your Home

Personal photos. Family memorabilia. Mail with your address on it. The water dish for your cat. Anything in the bathroom that suggests someone actually lives there full time.

Guests don't want to feel like they're crashing in your spare room. They want to feel like the space exists for them. Put personal items in one closet for the shoot, and make sure your photographer knows that closet is off limits so they don't accidentally open it.

Quick check: walk through every room and squint. If something reads as "someone's stuff," it goes.

5. Make the Bathroom Look Like a Spa

Bathrooms are small rooms that fill the frame. Every detail counts. Fresh white towels, folded crisply on the rack or rolled in a basket. A bar of nice soap in a soap dish. A small plant or a candle on the counter. The toilet lid closed. The bath mat either removed or replaced with a clean white one.

Anything in the shower, including your personal toiletries, goes in a cupboard for the shoot. Yes, even the shampoo. Especially the shampoo.

6. Capture Your Best Amenities on Purpose

Walk through the property and make a list of what makes it special. Hot tub? Cleared of cover and turned on, with bubbles in the photo. BBQ? Lid open, grill clean. Fire pit? Stocked with fresh logs and ideally lit if the shoot is at golden hour. Coffee bar? Loaded with options.

These are the features that close bookings. Don't let your photographer just shoot rooms in sequence. Walk them through the place and point out what guests have raved about in your reviews. Those are the shots that need extra attention.

7. Plan for a Twilight Exterior

If your property has any outdoor space, a hot tub, a fire pit, a deck, a pool, ask your photographer about adding a twilight shot. A property shot at dusk with all the interior and exterior lights glowing converts dramatically better than the same property shot at noon. It looks like the kind of place you'd splurge on for a weekend.

Twilight shoots take an extra 30 minutes at the end of the session and are the single highest-ROI add-on for short-term rental listings. Talk to your photographer about timing the shoot so it ends around sunset.

The Quick Walk-Through

If you only have an hour before the shoot, prioritise in this order: make the beds, turn on every light, clear personal items from bathrooms, stage two or three "experience" details like a coffee station or wine setup, and remove anything that looks like clutter. Everything else is bonus.

The hosts who consistently maintain a Superhost rating treat the photo shoot as part of their marketing budget, not as a chore. An hour of prep before the shoot saves months of underperforming photos on a live listing.