Best Airbnb Amenities: What Actually Raises Revenue (3,168-Listing Study)

Research and analysis by Humberto Marquez, Founder of Surge

Every list of the best Airbnb amenities says the same thing: add a hot tub, add a pool, add a game room, and guests will come. Very few of those lists show what the amenities actually do to revenue. So we ran the numbers. We studied 3,168 whole-home Airbnb listings and compared revenue across similar homes with and without each amenity. Some of the results match the usual advice. Some of them do not, and the misses are the expensive ones.

This guide covers what we found, how we measured it, and then turns the findings into a practical list of the best amenities for Airbnb hosts: the essential amenities guests expect, the upgrades that pay, and the ones that mostly raise your costs. If you are an owner deciding where to spend your next dollar on a vacation rental or short term rental, start here. Getting the right Airbnb amenities in place is one of the simplest ways to attract more guests without a renovation.

The headline results

• Outdoor living was the strongest of the Airbnb amenities in the data. Homes with furnished outdoor areas earned about 19% more revenue than similar homes without, roughly $3,900 a year on a typical home.
• A pool raised the nightly rate by about 15%, but not revenue. Pool homes booked fewer nights, and annual revenue came out flat (+1%) once we compared like with like.
• A hot tub raised the nightly rate by about 16% with no loss in occupancy. Revenue was about 9% higher, though the sample was too small to call that certain.
• Pet friendly homes earned about 7% more, mostly by booking more nights, even at a slightly lower nightly rate.
• Listings marked as suitable for events earned about 17% less than similar homes.

The pattern behind those numbers is simple. Some Airbnb amenities let you charge more per night. Others help you attract more guests and fill more nights. Only the ones that do one without hurting the other actually raise what an owner takes home.

How we ran the study

We took 3,168 entire-home Airbnb listings from Surge market data (trailing 12 months, October 2026). Each one was active at least 180 days and had at least 3 guest reviews. For each listing we recorded the amenities the host listed and compared annual revenue, nightly rate and occupancy across similar homes, controlling for location, bedrooms, bathrooms, guest count, rating, review count, days available, and how many listings the host runs. Every amenity was measured at the same time, so the pool result is already adjusted for homes that also have a hot tub, and so on. The Methodology section has the details and the limits.

The typical home in the study earned about $20,900 a year at a median nightly rate of $166 and 53% occupancy. Dollar figures below apply each measured lift to that typical home. They are illustrations, not projections for your property.

Do amenities impact Airbnb revenue? The full results

Here is how each amenity we could measure relates to revenue, nightly rate (ADR) and occupancy, compared with similar homes without it:

Amenity	Share of homes	Revenue	Nightly rate	Occupancy
Furnished outdoor living area	45%	+19%	+6%	+1.9 pts
Hot tub	7%	+9%*	+16%	flat
Gym or fitness area	10%	+9%*	+4%	+3.0 pts
Pet friendly	44%	+7%	-5%	+3.4 pts
Pool	21%	+1%*	+16%	-3.6 pts
Fire pit	15%	+1%*	+6%	flat
Indoor fireplace	20%	-1%*	+5%	flat
EV charger	4%	0%*	flat	flat
Suitable for events	13%	-17%	-2%	-1.4 pts

*Not statistically certain: the measured effect is small relative to the spread in the data, so treat it as "no clear effect" rather than a precise number. Bold figures are the clearest results.

Pools: the most misunderstood Airbnb amenity

A pool is the amenity owners ask us about most, and it is the clearest example of why nightly rate is the wrong scoreboard. Pool homes charged about 16% more per night than similar homes. They also booked about 3.6 fewer percentage points of occupancy. Put together, annual revenue was essentially the same.

Size changed the picture. In 1 and 2 bedroom listings, homes with a pool earned about 13% less than similar homes without one. Many small listings with a pool are condos or apartments with a shared community pool, which guests tend to treat as standard rather than special, and those homes may be pricing the pool in without getting the bookings to match. In 3 bedroom homes the pool result turned positive (about +14%), and in 4+ bedroom homes it was about +13%, but neither group was large enough to call it certain.

What that means for owners:

• Do not build a pool for an Airbnb on revenue math alone. In our data the extra rate did not survive the lost nights, and a pool adds heating, cleaning, chemicals and liability every month.
• If you already have one, price it carefully. A pool that pushes your rate above the homes guests compare you to can cost you bookings. Watch occupancy, not just ADR, after a price change.
• Bigger homes have the better case. Groups booking 3+ bedrooms are the guests most likely to pay for a private pool.
• Safety is part of the cost. Fencing, gates, alarms and posted rules are not optional with kids on site. The federal Pool Safely campaign and the CDC's drowning prevention guidance are the best starting points, and your insurance policy should name the pool. Our guide for Texas Airbnb hosts with pools covers the local side.

Hot tubs: the better bet than a pool

A hot tub lifted the nightly rate about as much as a pool (+16%), and occupancy did not drop. That is the combination you want. Revenue came out about 9% higher, roughly $1,800 a year on a typical home, though with only 229 hot tub homes in the study that estimate has a wide range. Homes with both a pool and a spa did best of the three pool and spa combinations, at about 12% more revenue than homes with neither, again with a small sample.

A spa also costs far less to install and run than a pool, which makes it a great idea for many hosts with the space for one. The catch is maintenance: water chemistry has to be right between every guest, and a cloudy tub shows up in guest reviews fast and hurts guest satisfaction. The CDC's healthy swimming resources cover hot tub water safety. If your cleaning team cannot test and log the water at each turnover, the tub will cost you more in reviews than it earns.

Outdoor living: the attractive amenity that pays without the headlines

A furnished outdoor area was the clearest winner in the study. Homes that listed outdoor furniture earned about 19% more revenue than similar homes, with both a higher nightly rate (+6%) and more booked nights (+1.9 points). Even after we added photo quality and interior design scores to the comparison for the 3,103 homes we had scored for our Airbnb photo study, the outdoor living result held at about +13%.

That makes sense once you think about what guests actually photograph and remember: a patio set, a string of lights, a grill, a shaded deck. An outdoor area turns a house into a place to spend an evening. It is also one of the cheapest strategic investments on this list. A good outdoor dining set, lounge chairs, an outdoor rug and lighting usually cost a small fraction of a hot tub. Our guide to the cost to furnish an Airbnb has sourced budgets by room.

On their own, fire pits showed no clear effect across all homes, but size mattered here too. In 4+ bedroom homes, listings with one earned about 29% more than similar homes, one of the stronger results in the study. In 1 and 2 bedroom listings, the fire pit result was negative. It is a group amenity. Add it to homes that host groups, and it adds to the guest experience on cool evenings.

Homes that allow pets book more nights

Allowing pets was linked to about 7% more revenue, roughly $1,400 a year on a typical home. The lift came from occupancy (+3.4 points), even though pet friendly homes charged about 5% less per night. That is a demand story: 95 million U.S. households own a pet, according to the American Pet Products Association, and many of them only book homes that say yes.

Welcoming pets works best when it is set up on purpose:

• Charge a pet fee and set clear rules (number, size, no pets on furniture).
• Stock food and water bowls, pet towels, waste bags and a lint roller.
• Choose washable, durable fabrics and hard flooring where you can.
• Budget extra cleaning time, and make sure your cleaning team knows which stays had pets.

Why "suitable for events" listings earned less

Homes marked as suitable for events earned about 17% less than similar homes. We cannot tell from the data exactly why, and it should not be read as "events lose money." A likely explanation is that the event tag draws a different kind of booking: one-night parties, more wear, more cleaning, more neighbor complaints, and in many cities more rules. Airbnb has its own guidance for hosts on welcoming guests, and city rules on noise and occupancy apply on top. If you allow events, price for the extra cleaning and wear, screen carefully, and check local rules first.

The essential amenities guests expect

Some amenities are so common that almost every listing has them, so they cannot raise your revenue much. Missing them is a different story. In our data, the few homes without a kitchen earned about 17% less than similar homes that had one, and homes without a washer earned about 18% less, though both groups were small enough that the exact numbers carry a wide range. Think of these as the price of entry. Guests filter by amenities in Airbnb search, so the essential Airbnb amenities decide whether more guests even see you, and a missing basic can keep your listing out of the results entirely.

These are the must have amenities every vacation rental should get right:

• Reliable WiFi. 99.5% of the homes we studied list WiFi. High speed WiFi with the network name and password posted where guests can see it is the floor, not a feature.Good WiFi is also what remote workers check first.
• A fully equipped kitchen. A well equipped kitchen means more than a microwave: real cooking essentials, sharp knives, pots and pans, a coffee maker with filters and coffee, salt, pepper, oil, sugar, dish soap and a sponge. A second coffee maker option (a drip machine plus a pour over) is a cheap upgrade guests notice. A fully stocked kitchen is what lets families and longer stays book you.
• Washer and dryer, with laundry detergent. Expected for any stay longer than a weekend.
• Air conditioning and heating. In Texas and Florida, air conditioning is non-negotiable from spring through fall. Smart thermostats and other smart home technology help you control energy costs between stays and keep guest comfort steady.
• Free parking. 95% of the homes in our study list parking. If yours does not have free parking, say exactly where guests can park.
• Self check in with a smart lock. Self check in lets guests arrive at any hour and removes key handoffs. A smart lock with a unique code per stay is also better for security. Self check in is one of the amenities guests filter for.
• A smart TV with streaming services. Homes with a TV earned about 9% more than similar homes without. Let guests log in to their own streaming services.
• Bathroom and bedroom basics. Fresh linens, extra pillows, extra blankets, plenty of toilet paper, paper towels, a hair dryer, a full length mirror and a trash can in every room.
• Safety items. Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, a fire extinguisher, a first aid kit, and local emergency numbers in the house manual.

Amenities for remote workers and business travelers

Remote workers, digital nomads and business travelers book longer stays and weekdays, which fills the gaps between weekend leisure trips. A dedicated workspace is how you attract digital nomads: a real desk, a comfortable chair, good light, outlets within reach and high speed WiFi. Homes with a gym or fitness area in our study booked about 3 more points of occupancy, and in 1 and 2 bedroom homes, the segment business travelers book most, gym access was linked to about 19% more revenue (close to, but not quite, statistically certain). If your market has hospitals, universities or a business district nearby, a dedicated workspace and a gym can be a deciding factor for many travelers, and a top priority when potential guests compare homes.

What about game rooms, theaters and sport courts?

We wanted to measure game rooms, home theaters, pickleball courts and putting greens too. The honest answer is that they are too rare to measure well: fewer than 3% of the homes in our study even mentioned a game room in the listing title, and the others were under 1%. Any number we published for them would be noise. What we can say is that the amenities which did pay in our data (outdoor living, a spa, a fire pit in large homes) are the ones that give a group something to do together. A game room with a pool table or board games fits the same pattern. Treat it as a group amenity, put it in your top photos, and price it modestly until you see the effect on bookings.

Small touches that earn great reviews

Not every amenity shows up in revenue data, but small touches drive positive reviews, and reviews drive bookings. Hosts who earn five star reviews consistently tend to do a few low-cost things well:

• A handwritten note with a local tip or two.
• Board games and a few books for families and rainy days.
• A welcome basket: coffee, snacks or a bottle of wine for longer stays.
• A house manual that answers guests questions before they ask, from the WiFi password to trash day.
• Step free access details for guests who need them, stated clearly in the listing.

These are where good hospitality shows. They cost little, they make for a great trip, and they are the details guests rave about in guest reviews and positive reviews, which is how you win increased bookings, repeat bookings and stand out from all the competition. For more, see our guide on how to become an Airbnb Superhost.

How to choose the right amenities for your home

1. Get the basics right first. WiFi, a fully equipped kitchen, laundry, air conditioning, parking and self check in. Missing basics cost more than any upgrade earns.
2. Add outdoor living next. It was the strongest and most consistent result in the data, and it is affordable.
3. Match upgrades to the guests your home attracts. Spas and fire pits for group homes. A dedicated workspace and gym access for 1 to 2 bedroom homes that host remote workers. Pet friendly setups for drive-to markets.
4. Judge every amenity on revenue, not nightly rate. A higher ADR that loses nights is not a win. Track occupancy and revenue for 60 to 90 days after any change. Short term rental data beats guesswork.
5. Show it. An amenity guests cannot see does not exist. Put your best amenities in your first five photos and in your title. Our photo study found that photo quality is one of the biggest revenue drivers you control.

Property managers make these calls every day with live booking data. If you would rather have someone run the numbers on your home, Surge manages short-term rentals for owners in Texas and Florida, starting at 15% for full service. See how Surge Airbnb management works, or check our Airbnb pricing strategy guide to make sure you are pricing your amenities, not just listing them. Planning a refresh? Surge Design plans furnishings and amenities around the same market data.

Methodology

Sample. 3,168 entire-home Airbnb listings from Surge market data, trailing 12 months as of October 2026, each available at least 180 days with at least 3 reviews. All homes come from one large U.S. market, so results describe that market and may differ elsewhere.

Amenities. Taken from what hosts listed on their listings. A listed amenity is not always a good one: a "pool" may be a private heated pool or a shared community pool, and "outdoor furniture" may be a full patio or two chairs. That blurs the results toward zero, so true effects for well-executed amenities may be larger.

Model. Ordinary least squares regression of log annual revenue (and separately log nightly rate and occupancy) on all amenities at once, controlling for submarket, bedrooms, bathrooms, guest capacity, rating, review count, days available and host portfolio size, with robust standard errors. A robustness check on 3,103 homes added photo quality and interior design scores. The pool, hot tub, pet friendly and events results barely moved. The outdoor furniture result fell from about +19% to about +13% but stayed clear. Amenities listed by fewer than 3% or more than 97% of homes were not modeled on their own.

Limits. This is an association study, not an experiment. Hosts who add amenities may also differ in ways we cannot see, such as how well they manage. We would treat every number here as a direction and a rough size, not a promise for any single home.

The bottom line

The best Airbnb amenities are not always the most expensive ones. In our study, a furnished outdoor living area was linked to about 19% more revenue, hot tubs lifted rates without costing bookings, and pet friendly homes filled more nights. Pools raised the nightly rate but not annual revenue, and event-friendly listings earned less. Get the essential amenities right, invest in the upgrades that fit your guests, and judge every amenity on what it does to revenue.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best Airbnb amenities?

In our study of 3,168 whole-home listings, a furnished outdoor area had the clearest link to revenue (about +19%), followed by pet friendly policies (about +7%) and hot tubs (about +16% higher nightly rate with no loss in occupancy). The essential amenities, like WiFi, a kitchen, laundry, air conditioning and self check in, matter most because missing them costs bookings.

Does a pool increase Airbnb revenue?

Not on its own in our data. Pool homes charged about 16% more per night but booked fewer nights, so annual revenue came out roughly flat compared with similar homes. In 1 and 2 bedroom listings, pool homes earned about 13% less. Larger homes showed a more positive, but not statistically certain, result.

Is a hot tub worth it for an Airbnb?

It was a better bet than a pool in our study. Hot tubs raised the nightly rate by about 16% without lowering occupancy, and revenue was about 9% higher, with a wide range because of the small sample. The real cost is water maintenance between every stay.

Should my Airbnb be pet friendly?

Pet friendly homes in our study earned about 7% more revenue, mainly by booking more nights, even at a slightly lower nightly rate. Charge a pet fee, set clear rules and plan for extra cleaning.

What Airbnb amenities do guests expect in a vacation home?

Reliable WiFi, a fully equipped kitchen, a washer and dryer, air conditioning, free parking, self check in, a smart TV, fresh linens, toilet paper and paper towels, and safety items like smoke detectors and a first aid kit. These are the amenities guests expect as standard.