04/12/2025
Think about the best hotel stay you’ve ever had and how it made you feel. Well-designed Airbnbs and vacation homes should transport, engage and soothe. Sight, sound, scent, touch—even taste—shape the guest experience.
Here are some quick wins you can execute today to start engaging guests’ 5 senses:
🧿 ENGAGE THE EYE
Local artists have a unique Keys point of view and it’s fun getting to know their work during the many craft shows, street strolls and weekend markets regularly occurring up and down the islands. Instead of spending money on generic decorative accents produced overseas (hello, tariffs), consider intricate metal sculptures by August Powers, island-life oil paintings by and gorgeous ceramics by Adam Russell, co-owner of . Vintage John Audubon bird prints found at are also apropos.
🎶 PLAY SWEET SONGS
A record player is an entertaining way for your guests to interact with your Airbnb and create instant island vibes. Stock the shelf with old reggae, Bossa nova and calypso albums that help them adjust to island time.
🌊 SMELL THE SEA
In Key West sells aqua-blue glass scent diffusers that gently release its signature fragrances of Ocean Surf, Lazy and Sunset Stroll. offers lovely sets of mini candles in Key Lime Pie, Rum Runner and Sandbar scents—perfect for bath time and for guests to take home as souvenirs.
🫳🏼 FEEL THE SKY
Durable, handcrafted furnishings, natural stone and weathered surfaces show the artisan’s unique hand and invite guests to consider their surroundings more deeply. Tactile fabrics, natural wood finishes, teak, bamboo and tropical hardwood furnishings and woven accents mirror what guests might find when they visit local a market or step out onto a secluded sandbar. and .Furniture each offer handcrafted and custom-made pieces.
🍋🟩TASTE SOMETHING SWEET
Surprise and delight guests with a sampling of locally-grown tropical fruits like Key limes (for cocktails) and breadfruit from Bennett's Bees of the Florida Keys is a farmer’s market-regular offering pure honey collected from hives along Big Pine Key.