Renting out your home for local events? Here's a helpful checklist

There an event, like a festival, coming to town and the hotels are already filling up. Your apartment would sit empty that weekend anyway, so renting it out for a few nights is tempting.

And plenty of people start hosting exactly this way.

This guide is for anyone renting out their own home once, without having hosted before. Start with the free guides below, then work through the checklist in order.

Where Can You Find Beginner-Friendly Hosting Guides and Checklists?

Airbnb's own learning pages are the best free place to start. For the rules, look at your city's website and your insurance policy. None of these is written for a single event weekend, so the checklist further down puts everything in one order.

If you only read two things, read Airbnb's First-time hosting series and your city's rules page. The rest is in the checklist below.

Is Renting Your Home for One Festival Worth It?

It usually is if the event pushes prices well above normal and you have somewhere else to stay. Here's a simple example. The figures are made up to show the maths, not a promise:

• 3 nights at €180 = €540
• Cleaning after checkout = −€60
• Supplies (toilet paper, coffee, soap, bin bags) = −€30
• Left over: about €450, before tax and before what it costs you to stay somewhere else

It works best when your home is close to the event or to public transport, and you can stay with friends or family for those nights.

Skip it if your lease or building rules don't allow it. And if you'd have to pay for a hotel yourself, most of the profit is gone.

The Festival Hosting Checklist

Work through it in this order. Most of the effort comes early, so the weekend itself is quiet.

4–6 Weeks Before: Rules and Permission

• Check the local rules. Many cities have rules for short-term stays, such as registration or a tourist tax. Some countries also make you report foreign guests to the police. In Czechia, for example, you report foreign guests within three working days of arrival and collect the city tax. Our guide to Airbnb regulations in Prague covers the Czech side in detail.
• Get permission. If you rent your home, check your lease and ask your landlord in writing. If you own a flat, read your building's house rules.
• Call your insurer. Ask whether your home insurance covers paying guests. Airbnb's AirCover for Hosts helps with some damage, but it isn't insurance and has exclusions.
• Pick your dates. Decide on the exact nights and a minimum stay (two or three nights for most festivals), and sort out where you'll sleep.

2–3 Weeks Before: The Listing

• Take photos in daylight. Tidy every room first. Bright, honest photos do more than clever wording.
• Write a clear title. Mention what the guest cares about that weekend: "10 min walk to the festival grounds" or "Tram 17 to the venue, 2 stops".
• Describe it honestly. Say how many people it sleeps and which rooms or cupboards are off limits.
• Set house rules. Say clearly that parties aren't allowed and give the maximum number of guests. Festival guests come back late, so mention quiet hours too.
• Choose a cancellation policy. A firmer policy protects you on dates that are hard to rebook.
• Decide how guests book. Instant Book gets more bookings. Booking requests let you read guest profiles and reviews first.

The Week Before: Getting Your Home Ready

• Lock away valuables and documents. A locked wardrobe or one locked room is fine; just say so in the listing.
• Clean properly for the guests, looks for spider webs, bugs in corners and dust under the bed.
• Stock up with fresh sheets and towels for every guest, toilet paper and other necessities. Coffee and tea are always a good touch and most Airbnbs offer them, so at this point is not even an advantage, so you best include it. A phone charger make a big, positive difference, too.
• Sort out the keys. A lockbox or smart lock saves you waiting around for the arrival but it's not always possible, depending where the property is located and whether you can even have a lockbox installed. Plus, a lockbox comes as an additional cost which at this point is not worth it. So prepare to do the check-in yourself.
• Write a one-page house guide with the Wi-Fi password and your phone number. Add anything could confuses the guest, like how to adjust the apartment temperature and more importantly, what they need to do when it comes time to check-out. Trust us, what seems simple and common sense to you, it's not for a first time visitor.
• Optionally take photos every room in case something gets damaged, you'll need these.

During the Stay

• Send check-in details the day before arrival.
• Be available on your phone as questions can come up.
• Give your neighbours a heads-up and your number.
• Register the guests if your country requires it.

After Checkout

• Make sure the keys are left behind the way you instructed the guests.
• Walk through the flat, if something is damaged, file a request in Airbnb's Resolution Center within 14 days of checkout, with photos and evidence.
• Wash the linen and restock what ran out.
• Thank the guests and ask if they can give you a review.
• Keep a record of what you earned and spent for your tax return.

Quick Checklist

1. Check the local rules
2. Get permission from your landlord or building
3. Check your insurance
4. Fix dates and minimum nights
5. Take apartment photos
6. Write property description
7. Set house rules and cancellation policy
8. Set the price
9. Lock away valuables
10. Deep clean
11. Buy supplies
12. Set up key handover
13. Write the house guide
14. Message guests before and during the stay
15. Inspect the home and report any damage within 14 days

How to Price Your Home for Festival Dates

Price against other listings for the same nights, not your normal weekends. Search Airbnb for your area on the event dates a few weeks ahead and note what similar homes are charging and how many are already booked.

• List early: Many festival visitors book months ahead, so the earlier you're online, the more choice you have.
• Set a minimum stay: Two or three nights avoids a single one-night booking blocking the whole weekend.
• Include cleaning. Either add a cleaning fee or build it into the nightly price.
• Watch the last week. If you're still empty a week before, consider reducing the price.
• Try Smart Pricing. Airbnb's Smart Pricing adjusts your rate to demand, within limits you set.

Know Your Market: Where to Find Upcoming Events in Czechia

Events drive demand, so it pays to know what's coming months ahead. These are the most useful calendars:

• prague.eu: Prague's official event calendar
• kudyznudy.cz: CzechTourism's nationwide event calendar, with a yearly list of festival tips
• GoOut: concerts and festivals in Prague and other big cities
• Ticketportal and Ticketmaster CZ: see what's on sale, and how early
• City tourism sites, such as GO TO BRNO and Visit Ostrava

Where Czechia's Festivals Happen

In 2024, Czechia had 775 annual festivals in the official survey, up 10% from 704 in 2023. Prague had the most by far, 136 or 18% of the total. The South Moravian, Moravian-Silesian and Central Bohemian regions followed with 66–71 each, and Vysočina had the fewest with 25.

What this means for hosts: in Prague or Brno there's probably an event weekend worth renting for every few weeks, not just once a year. Outside the big cities, festivals are fewer but often the biggest thing in town, which is exactly when local beds run out.

Mistakes First-Time Hosts Make

• Skipping the house rules
• Vague check-in & check-out instructions
• Not providing the basics for the stay
• Pricing too low that leave no margins

That's it!

If the first weekend goes well and you want to rent your apartment more often, then it starts to look like a small business. That's where we can help.

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