Day job: office worker. Side hustle: Airbnb host
0. First meeting with a subscriber
"Hi, this is one of the newsletters I follow religiously. It's clear a ton of effort goes into it—really helpful stuff.
ps. Found a typo."
It was the day Weekly ON went out, like any other. Since we don't often hear from subscribers unless it's a survey, seeing "Re:" in my inbox made my heart skip a beat (in a bad way). Fortunately, it wasn't about the newsletter—just a typo on a different piece of content.
Typo aside, I was thrilled to get feedback. Then I noticed: this subscriber is an Airbnb host?! I wasn't about to let this chance slip by.
*A big thank you to Choi In-wook for agreeing to this interview.
1. Day job: office worker. Side hustle: Airbnb host
Great to meet you! Tell us a bit about yourself.
In-wook: Hi, I'm Choi In-wook. I work in product planning at a tech company.
What did you do before?
In-wook: I've been working for 16 years and tried a little bit of everything. Most of that was in marketing—I even led marketing at a startup.
Right when I was thinking about leaving, my current company reached out. One thing led to another, and now I'm in product planning. I have three sons, so my hands are full. 😂
Also, I'm an ENFJ, so maybe that's why I'm interested in so many things. Before Airbnb, I tried side hustles like selling products online. I also love writing.
Running a property might be another side of that curiosity. How did you open your stay?
In-wook: Gangneung is my hometown, so I'd visit often to see relatives. In 2018, the Winter Olympics were held in Pyeongchang—I thought, "What could be fun to do while the Olympics are happening out here in the countryside?"
I figured there would be a surge in foreign tourists, so it felt like an opportunity. Renting a place on jeonse (deposit-based lease) kept the risk low. That's how I opened my first stay at the end of 2017.
So you're a five-year Airbnb host now!
In-wook: Technically, yes—but I didn't stay in that first jeonse place the whole time. I wanted to renovate it, but couldn't since I didn't own it. For about two years, I ran a place in a multi-unit building. Eventually, in 2021, I bought a 27-year-old detached house and did a major renovation.
Balancing a full-time job and hosting must be tough…
In-wook: I work in Samseong-dong (Seoul), my wife works too, and we have three kids—life's already hectic. On top of that, Gangneung is 200 km away.
Fortunately, my aunt lives in Gangneung. I share booking schedules with her, and she handles cleaning and day-to-day operations.
Beyond housekeeping, there's facility maintenance. I handle what I can remotely. Flowers and gardens are too high-maintenance, so I set a rule: "Only do what I can manage remotely." Even if I only visit once a month, most things can be controlled from Seoul.
Remote operations—leading the way in digitizing hospitality. (That's ONDA's tagline, by the way.)
In-wook: When I first opened, I wasn't prepared. But when I bought the detached house, I built in IoT from day one.
For example, if the boiler or AC is running and I can't physically go turn it off, the electric bill racks up fast. So I set up remote control for heating/cooling, door locks, and lighting via mobile. One tap on my phone, and it changes in Gangneung, 200 km away. No reason not to do it.
2. Building "real" reviews for sales and marketing
You must've thought hard about how to sell the place after opening.
In-wook: Before opening, I knew real estate in tourist areas is expensive. Even within Gangneung, beachfront areas like Gyeongpo are pricey. But 15 minutes away by car, it's rural and much cheaper. I looked for a place close enough to tourist spots but affordable enough to convert into a stay with minimal investment. My goal: "A destination in itself, not just proximity to tourist spots." I also targeted families with kids, like mine.
That led me to Airbnb, which aligned with my vision. Normally, hosts list after they've fully prepped the space, right? I did the opposite—I listed it empty and updated it every time something changed during the renovation. Bookings were blocked, but the listing stayed visible in search. That way, travelers could start to recognize it.
As a new listing, I needed reviews to build trust. My mindset was "10 great reviews matter more than pricing," so I went hard on early promos.
Have you tried selling on other channels besides Airbnb?
In-wook: I tried Instagram at first. Quit after six months. 🤣
Airbnb is a platform for booking stays. Instagram is for content. The intent is different, so selling a detached stay in rural Gangneung to Instagram users turned out to be way harder than I thought.
Also, when someone DMs asking for a quote for a 4-night stay, it takes 10–20 minutes to calculate weekend rates, multi-night discounts, etc. Then they say they'll "look around more" and maybe send the deposit later. More hassle than it's worth.
Plus, I can't respond quickly during work hours. I needed a system where guests could check availability and pay on their own.
I did consider ONDA's distribution service to list across multiple sites, but since "Gangneung Madangjip" is a single detached unit, I decided to focus on one channel.
One year after opening Gangneung Madangjip, what's your strategy now?
In-wook: Early on, I focused on channel selection and brand awareness. Now, in the mid-stage, I'm all about satisfaction.
Airbnb has a solid review system—guests and hosts leave reviews for each other, and both go public. But sometimes reviews aren't totally honest. Koreans, in particular, might give 5 stars when they really mean 3.
So I run a separate feedback survey beyond Airbnb reviews for improvement. I act on the feedback and share it with the next guest. Obviously, the person who left feedback has already checked out, but the next guest appreciates hearing that we listen and improve. They pick up on the fact that we care.
I also run re-booking promos and give small gifts to guests who share photos I can post on social. I schedule one post per week using their content.
So you're doing customer-powered social marketing.
In-wook: Look at most stay Instagram accounts—aesthetic shots, copy like "gentle breeze" or "serene spring air" romanticizing rest. According to a platform exec I talked to, that approach lasts two years, tops.
Guest reviews are a sustainable source of content that doesn't take much time, and they're useful info for prospective guests, too.
3. Dispatching the Airbnb honorary firefighter
Why do you think Gangneung Madangjip performs well on Airbnb?
In-wook: Before Madangjip, I ran a stay in a multi-unit building near Gyeongpo beach. I surveyed guests from both "20-pyeong apartment in Chodang-dong" and "20-pyeong detached house in rural area." I found something interesting.
When asked how many properties they browsed before booking, guests at the cheaper tourist-area property checked 5–6 listings. But guests at the higher-priced rural house? They looked at 20+.
Near tourist spots, there are tons of options, so booking fast matters. But for people with specific needs—(1) traveling with kids, (2) want a yard, (3) want privacy—they eventually land on Airbnb. You can't take a crawling baby to a hotel.
Six consecutive Superhost badges…!
In-wook: Superhost is an absolute standard—anyone can earn it by fulfilling bookings and keeping guests happy. But there's a catch: if you cancel on guests more than twice out of 100 bookings, you're disqualified. I heard they made it stricter recently.
Being a Superhost helps with trust, obviously. But the real benefit is guests can filter for Superhost-only listings when searching.
You must know Airbnb inside out.
In-wook: There are about 40,000 hosts in Korea. To help new hosts onboard, Airbnb runs an official Ambassador Coach program. There are 10 ambassadors in Korea—I'm one of them.
Once you list a property, you get matched with people automatically. Out of 100 matches, 50% are duds, and of the remaining 50%, some are serious about hosting.
A lot of first-timers don't even know what to ask. So I first assess their baseline knowledge and coach them accordingly. Everything from opening a bank account to writing booking messages. I share links to blog posts I wrote, and they love it. Of course, they don't read it. 🤣
One host I worked with got their first booking 8 minutes after our call. I gave specific feedback on how to edit their listing for bookability, they trusted me and made the changes—and boom, booking. Neither of us expected it to happen that fast. Pretty wild.
I've been an ambassador for eight months, and last month I ranked #1 in host conversion rate.
But when you were a first-time host, where did you get info?
In-wook: Airbnb's listing process is more intuitive than other channels. The guides are solid, too. I mostly learned by doing and iterating.
Beyond that, I keep up with industry trends and need-to-know info through Weekly ON.
4. Love (not hate) for your listing
What's been the hardest part of hosting?
In-wook: I prepped for remote management, but emergencies still happen. Once, heavy snow knocked down the outdoor string lights in the yard and shattered them. It was a weekday, and a guest was arriving the next day. I stayed up until dawn picking up broken glass.
When I see beautiful stays on Instagram, I want to try things too—but I always ask myself, "Can I manage this remotely?"
That said, on nights without guests, my family can stay there. I've always dreamed of having a yard. And 95% of my guests are couples with kids—they love the bathtub and kiddie pool I set up. I feel connected to them, which feels good.
Having clear boundaries is key for sustainability. What's your hosting philosophy?
In-wook: Do what you can, within your limits. Otherwise, it stops being love—it becomes hate.
You also have to respect the guest's perspective. When someone mentions a problem, they've thought hard about it. That's actually valuable. If you listen and improve, things get better over time.
And if your location isn't great, you need a clear concept. A generic stay in the countryside won't attract anyone. There are kids' pension houses charging ₩700,000–800,000 a night that moms complain about—but they keep going back. "Pet-friendly," "indoor kids' cafe vibes"—you need a hook.
What's next for you?
In-wook: As my kids grow, I want to build new stories around the stay. I also want to keep helping senior hosts gain independence as an Ambassador.
Retirees in their 50s and 60s who become hosts often aren't smartphone-savvy. They need way more detailed explanations than we'd expect. I once exchanged 140 messages with one host. 😁 Without help, they'd struggle to do it alone. Supporting their economic independence feels meaningful—I want to keep doing that.
Any final words?
In-wook: Sometimes I think, "I work at a tech company, but here I am pulling weeds on weekends. Is this even ROI-positive?"
And my answer is: yes, it's meaningful. Profit matters, but the space itself has meaning. You discover new sides of yourself—"I do this for a living, but I can also do that pretty well." It adds meaning to life.
In a way, it's a small business—but it could become the foundation for a bigger venture later. If you're thinking about opening a stay, there are plenty of ways to get help with location, operations, etc. Just start.
