Without the foundational work of strategic brand positioning – defining what the property truly stands for, who it is for, what makes it distinct, and what emotional experience it is promising – no logo, website or Instagram account can do its job properly [read more: What is strategic brand positioning – and why it matters for luxury Airbnbs].

Because all of these elements are meant to reinforce the same overarching brand message – both visually and in writing, not act like separate assets [read also: The 4 elements every luxury Airbnb needs to become a sought-after hospitality brand].

When the brand positioning is clear, everything that follows becomes coherent. The visual identity has direction. The website has a point of view. The Instagram has a story to tell rather than just sterile, soulless property images to post. The guest experience feels intentional. And crucially, the property stops competing purely on price and availability, and starts being chosen – actively sought out – for what it represents.

From a collection of assets to a captivating story that converts

Having a logo, website & Instagram does NOT constitute having a brand

Strategic positioning is the foundation to all other brand elements. Therefore, it needs to be in place before:

visual identity design
Instagram presence
content creation
direct booking website design

This is why my Branded & Booked framework – a bespoke brand ecosystem for luxury Airbnbs, holiday villas and boutique stays – starts with strategic brand positioning. It is the first of the 3 core pillars of the work I do with commercially-minded property owners wanting to reduce reliance on booking platforms and build a long-term asset. In this process, we define the unique identity of your property, establish its positioning, and translate that into a cohesive visual expression and strategic online presence.

Learn more about how we can partner to take your property from ‘just a listing’ to a recognisable, premium brand.

More insights to explore:

What I offer

The good news is that because the majority of properties are still operating with this surface-level understanding of branding, the bar for standing out is actually remarkably low for those willing to go deeper and shift their focus from short-term occupancy to long-term asset building.

When most of the market has websites that look dated and feel forgettable, and Instagram accounts that are identical – full of beautiful but soulless imagery, devoid of story – a property with a clear, strategic brand cuts through immediately.

It helps to stand out in a sea of sameness.
It builds preference over competitors.
It creates recognition that compounds over time.
It attracts higher quality, higher-paying guests.
It helps reduce reliance on booking platforms.

And most importantly, it helps to future-proof the business in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

The opportunity – for owners willing to see it

Here is why this happens consistently:

The logo was briefed to a graphic designer without any foundational brand thinking in place.
The website was handed to a web developer to build.
The Instagram was set up and filled with photos from the property shoot.

Each of these elements was treated as a separate task to be completed, rather than as an expression of a single, coherent brand strategy.

And this is precisely the problem.

A brand is not a collection of visual assets. It is an underlying promise. A story. A point of view. A feeling that travels with the guest from the moment they discover the property online, through to the moment they leave – and stays with them long after. It's what makes someone choose one particular villa over another that looks just as stunning. It's what makes them come back, and tell their friends.

The real issue: brand strategy was never part of the conversation

There is also a very common set-and-forget mentality at play. Many of the websites I came across were clearly outdated – in some cases, significantly so. Renovations had been completed, the property had been elevated to a genuinely exceptional standard, and yet the website still reflected the old version of it.

This disconnect matters more than owners tend to realise. Today's travellers are more visually sophisticated than ever. Stunning design – in the physical space and in the digital one – is no longer impressive, it is expected. An outdated or visually underwhelming website doesn't just fail to impress; it actively undermines the perceived quality of the property itself.

Poor mobile experience compounds this further. Quite a few websites were clearly buggy and the user experience was broken. Given that the majority of travel inspiration and discovery has been happening on mobile devices for years, a website that doesn't perform beautifully on a phone is losing potential guests before they've even had the chance to fall in love with the villa.

Set-and-forget mentality underestimates the sophistication of the modern traveller

One of the most common misconceptions is that having a logo equals having a brand identity.

But a logo is a mark, while brand identity is a cohesive, considered visual and verbal language that consistently expresses who the property is for, what it stands for, and what its underlying emotional promise is – across every single customer touchpoint.

What I observed repeatedly is that the properties might have a logo, but the logo, the website, and the Instagram presence often feel like they belong to 3 different entities. There is little to no visual cohesion. The logo might be on the website but there is no overarching aesthetic expression uniting both the website and Instagram. Rather than reinforcing a singular, memorable impression, the overall brand experience feels fragmented – and fragmented brands don't build recognition or desire.

More strikingly, the level of branding almost never matches the aesthetic standard of the property. Owners and developers have invested enormously in creating exceptional physical spaces. But then the visual identity representing that space online is very often generic, dated, or simply not premium enough to do it justice.

Rather than elevating the property, subpar branding quietly does it a disservice, making the Airbnb blend in and disappear in the sea of sameness, rather than stand out and command attention – or even worse, quietly erode trust and the perceived value of the property.

Overall standard of branding is very low

>>> I reviewed more than 1,000 luxury Airbnb listings around the Mediterranean – here’s what I found

>>> What is strategic brand positioning – and why it matters for luxury Airbnbs

>>> Why Instagram isn't working for most luxury Airbnbs – and what actually fixes it

>>> The 4 elements every luxury Airbnb needs to become a sought-after hospitality brand

Where this fits in the wider brand ecosystem

My research uncovered that many luxury Airbnb websites have been built by web development companies. The problem with that is that web developers are skilled at building websites. They know how to make a site functional, how to structure navigation, how to make the booking button work.

What they are typically not equipped to do is think about brand positioning, emotional storytelling, or how a website should make a potential guest feel from the first second they land on it. This is not criticism – it’s simply a difference in the area of expertise.

In many cases, the aesthetic result reflects exactly that. Websites that look more like they were made for corporate services firm or a logistics company – clinical, cold, and entirely disconnected from the world of high-end hospitality they are meant to represent. The mismatch between the elegance and beauty of the physical property and the sterile digital presence representing it is, at times, striking.

When web development companies get hired for this kind of work, the result is websites that are technically functional but emotionally flat. Yes, they present the property – the architecture, the pool, the number of bedrooms, the location – in a competent layout. But they read like real estate listings dressed up with a decorative font. And critically, they look and feel almost identical to hundreds of other villa websites.

And because the strategic brand layer is missing, the websites – as well as the corresponding Instagram accounts – essentially reflect the underlying mentality of many luxury Airbnb owners, who are, strikingly, operating a property-first business, rather than a hospitality-first business [read more: I reviewed more than 1,000 luxury Airbnb listings around the Mediterranean – here’s what I found].

Website developers are not brand strategists

After reviewing more than 1,000 luxury Airbnb listings around the Mediterranean, one pattern became very clear: many properties seem to believe they ‘have branding’, when in fact, they are quite far from it.

They might have:

a logo
a website
an Instagram account

They think the necessary boxes have been ticked, when in reality, very few have an ACTUAL BRAND.

Because there is a fundamental difference between owning assets like a logo and a website in matching colours, and building a brand. And confusing the two is costing many luxury Airbnbs visibility, recognition, direct bookings and long-term commercial leverage.

Having
a logo, website & Instagram does NOT constitute having a brand

book a discovery call

I work with design-led luxury Airbnbs, holiday villas and boutique stays, helping them establish themselves as premium brands – with clear positioning, a distinct identity, and higher perceived value – appealing to a more discerning segment of the market and ensuring they stand out in the long run.

Having visited 30+ countries and lived a full-time travel lifestyle for the past 4 years, hospitality for me isn’t just a concept – it’s a lived experience. My passion for aesthetics, design, and elevated atmosphere makes me deeply attuned to what makes a place feel memorable, desirable, and worth choosing.

Let’s explore how we can partner to give your luxury Airbnb or holiday villa a competitive edge.

Brand Strategist & Creative Director, and the founder of Sparkle Creative Studio.

Hi, I'm Liis.