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Is Your STR Outdoor Space Ready for Summer? Here's What Guests Are Looking For
Summer is the most competitive season on Airbnb and VRBO. Guests have options — and they're choosing listings with outdoor spaces that feel like a vacation, not an afterthought. If your backyard, patio, or pool deck hasn't had an upgrade in a while, now is the time.
Here are the outdoor additions worth investing in before peak season hits.
Give Guests a Place to Rinse Off
If you have a pool, hot tub, or you're anywhere near water, an outdoor shower is one of the easiest wins you can make this summer. Guests love them, they show up in reviews, and they keep sand and chlorine out of your interior — which means less wear and tear between cleans.
We recently added ALEKO's cedar outdoor shower kits to our lineup for exactly this reason. The Ellipse model is built from Western Red Cedar and stainless steel, features a rain shower head, hand wand, and foot rinse spout, and connects via garden hose or hard plumbing. It assembles in a few hours and looks genuinely beautiful on a pool deck or beside a sauna.
Make the Pool Area Worth Photographing
Most STR hosts with pools miss the biggest opportunity right in front of them: the tanning ledge. An empty pool shelf looks like a construction oversight in listing photos. Outfit it with the right furniture and it becomes the image that fills your calendar.
The Floating Luxuries Kai series — our in-pool shelf chairs and chaise lounges — are designed to sit directly in shallow water. Made in the USA from UV-resistant polymer, they're built to handle heavy guest use and look effortlessly resort-style. For the deck itself, the Kingsley Bate St. Tropez Teak Sling Chaise Lounge is a perennial bestseller that photographs like it belongs at a five-star hotel — because the design honestly earns that comparison.
Shop Pool Seating & Loungers →
Add a Wellness Feature That Sets You Apart
Wellness travel is booming, and the STR hosts cashing in are the ones offering something guests can't easily find at a standard hotel. A cold plunge — especially paired with a hot tub or sauna — creates a contrast therapy experience guests will talk about long after checkout.
We now carry two great options:
The 63" Stainless Steel Wood-Fired Hot Tub & Cold Plunge is a dual-purpose showstopper. It seats 3–5 people, runs entirely off wood — no electricity, no utility bills — heats in 2–3 hours, and is built from 304 stainless steel with cedar surround. It works as both a hot soak and a cold plunge, making it an ideal year-round feature that photographs beautifully and earns its keep in every season.
For hosts who want a dedicated cold plunge, the Lumina Cedar Ice Bath Outdoor Cold Plunge Tub ships fully assembled, holds 118 gallons, and is chiller-ready. The cedar accents give it that clean, spa-like look that reads as intentional and upscale in listing photos — not like a stock tank thrown in the corner.
Either option gives your listing a wellness angle that's increasingly being used as a primary search filter by guests.
Create Shade and a Reason to Stay Outside
Summer without shade is summer guests spend inside. A pergola or pavilion gives guests a defined outdoor living space — somewhere to eat, lounge, and gather even during the hottest part of the day. It anchors your patio furniture, gives you a place to hang string lights, and makes every listing photo look more intentional.
Our pergola and pavilion kits are built for DIY installation, and we offer a free Installer Sourcing Service if you'd rather hand it off to a pro.
Summer bookings go to the listings guests can picture themselves in. A few well-chosen outdoor upgrades — the right shower, the right seating, the right wellness feature — can be the difference between a calendar that fills itself and one you're constantly discounting to compete.
Need help deciding what makes the most sense for your property? Call us at 1-800-914-0074 for a free host consultation, or explore everything we carry at optimaloutdooroasis.com.