Quote from @Jonathan Greene:
You are hamstrung by the community this is in. I reviewed your listing and you are targeting families which is a hard target for this big of a property. It certainly has appeal for family reunions and multiple families together, but you are almost telling them not to book. The listing description is very rigid (see below):
"This home is meant for families looking to create beautiful memories. With such a unique experience comes a responsibility to respect the land, home, and neighborhood. We love our community and the atmosphere we have cultivated for this newly renovated home. As such, there are strict requirements that Hawaii State Law Quiet Hours must be observed outside the home past 9:30 PM (feel free to go snuggle up with some popcorn in the 16-seater movie room!). We ask that groups who book are limited to one family. The pool, pickleball court, and lanai close at 10 PM each night for your safety and to observe quiet hours. This home can't be used for parties or events."
What one family is coming to use 11 beds and 7.5 baths? You either chose the wrong place to try to do this or you are overly restricting who can come. You basically sound like an overlord in your listing as if someone is going to get in trouble as a guest if they sneeze past 10 pm and that is not enticing at a high price tag like this to have to be careful.
The property looks great, but your description starts with telling them that you spent 1.2m in renovations. No one cares about that. Tell a story, but you can't tell it like this being so restrictive of who comes there.
@Jonathan Greene Thank you for your feedback. Your insights are indeed eye-opening, and I appreciate your straightforwardness. You're correct about the potential misalignment in my listing's target audience and its tone. The section stating, 'This home is meant for families...' was directly influenced by local regulations. Hawaii County operates as a "complaint-driven" county, so they don't enforce any rules unless someone complains. After a neighbor's complaint on my property, the county scrutinized my listing and told me that all Airbnb's on the island have to abide by a strict 'one family' rental rule. Something that nobody follows and transparently feels like they selectively enforced on me... About a year later, when I was in a meeting with the Planning Director, he mentioned this rule is unenforceable because any guest can say they are "family", and how do I verify that? This has placed me in a challenging position, as my competitors are not being held to the same standard due to lack of complaints against them.
I don’t explicitly ask guests if they are family upon arrival. From my observations alone, it sometimes seems that not all groups who have stayed here fit the 'family' definition, but this has never caused any issues. Especially considering that we are in Hawaii where "everyone is Ohana".
Originally, the property was designed as a retreat center, but it didn't receive the necessary planning approvals for broader use beyond a single family residence.
I’m going to rework the description to better reflect this and to make it more inviting and less restrictive. Any further suggestions on how to navigate these regulatory challenges while appealing to a broader audience would be greatly appreciated. How have others in similar situations managed to balance such constraints? As a note... there are properties on the island that are "luxury" but per building department officials my house is the largest residential house on the big island with the biggest residential pool.
