Hosting as a craft, not a side hustle.

13-year Airbnb Superhost

4.93 overall rating

658+ reviews

Airbnb Experienced Co-host 4.99 rating

About Elise

I'm Elise Lauterbach — former English professor, working oil painter, and ceramicist, based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. I love houses: not just the idea of them, but the actual wood, stone, and stories they hold.

I've been an Airbnb host since 2013, starting with a funky 1960s mobile home on our mountain farm in Nelson County. That first listing became one of the most-reviewed small rentals in the region. I rebuilt it from scratch in year five, poured the concrete counters myself, and scrounged every window off Craigslist. It paid for itself in under three years.

That's the kind of hosting I teach.

The Airbnb Insider Advantage

In 2020, Airbnb selected me as one of only 50 top-performing hosts in the United States for their Superhost Ambassador Program — a pilot mentorship initiative for their highest-performing hosts.

They trained me on the nuances of their platform and asked me to help new hosts get started the right way. Since then, I've worked with thousands of hosts worldwide.

I'm regularly invited to Airbnb's San Francisco headquarters and participate in weekly working groups with Airbnb staff. I teach Introduction to Hosting webinars for Airbnb, and moderate their Central Virginia Host Club. That access shapes everything I do — co-hosting, consulting, and coaching alike.

“She is the reason my property has maintained Superhost status for so long, and she is also the reason my home had so many repeat guests over the years. ”
”

— Heather K., Nellysford, Virginia

Elise Lauterbach smiling at the camera takes a selfie on a rocky cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean on a sunny day.

Credentials:

Airbnb Superhost Ambassador (one of 120 elite hosts)
Airbnb Experienced Co-host | 4.99 rating
Airbnb Community Leader, Central Virginia
Top Contributor, community.airbnb.com
13 years hosting in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains
Former English professor; academic focus on the history of domestic space in literature

Airbnb Community Leader for Central Virginia

Airbnb SuperHost Ambassador

Airbnb Experienced Co-host

Top Contributor at Community.Airbnb

That insider access also shapes my consulting work. I offer one-on-one sessions for hosts who want to optimize an existing listing, untangle a pricing strategy, navigate a tricky regulatory situation, or figure out whether Airbnb is even the right fit for their property.

As an academic, I wrote about the history of domestic space in literature. In real life, I've loved restoring our old Virginia farmhouse and building a beautiful guest house that's been a wildly successful Airbnb for the past 13 years.

Great hosting requires creative design, attention to detail, and thoughtful staging of communication.

I help hosts design aspects of their listing they may not even consider as “design”— like communication, and management.

What I Do

I offer three ways to work together:

Airbnb Co-hosting — I manage your listing end-to-end: guest communication, pricing, reviews, and the 2 a.m. emergencies. You keep your listing, your reviews, and your intellectual property. This is not a property management company. It is personal, transparent, and held to a higher standard. I focus on Nelson County, particularly Nellysford, and special properties in Wintergreen, and my work extends into Crozet, Albemarle, and Charlottesville, and south into Amherst. I am open to larger properties in Staunton and the Shenandoah Valley, but I generally prefer to work close to home, so I can give your property the attention is deserves.

Consulting & Coaching — One-on-one sessions for hosts who want to optimize a listing, untangle a pricing strategy, navigate local regulations, or figure out whether short-term renting is even the right move for their property. I’m also happy to meet you in person nearly anywhere in Virginia for hybrid consulting. Book a session.

Interior Design for STRs — I help hosts design spaces that guests actually remember — not generic white-wall rentals, but places with a point of view. Learn more.

“I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY to find that my listing views and first page impressions more than tripled within the first day of implementing the changes that I made with Elise’s assistance, and that increase has stayed consistent across the board in the weeks since!! I am consistently outperforming similar listings in my area in every category and my AirBnB is maintaining an 85% occupancy rate! ”

— April W., Charlottesville, Virginia

This is not conventional property management.

You retain your intellectual property—your listing and your reviews. I host your property with exceptional care and hospitality, treating it like I would my own. My hosting is far more personal than traditional property management, with full transparency throughout.

Short term rental properties in Virginia should have a Virginia flavor— Authenticity is good business. It's why I've spent years working alongside hosts across the state, including as a leader of the official Airbnb Host Club of Central Virginia. I've worked with hosts across Virginia to advocate for reasonable short-term rental policies.

I use my position to advocate for everyone who lives and works in my community— affordable housing matters. Short-term rentals can be an important part of the local economy, but smart regulation helps preserve affordable homes for everyone.

I only co-host for hosts with a vested interest in my community— not for absent investors looking to ride a short-term-rental wave.

Why I Do This

This isn't just a business for me. I believe home sharing builds real connection — between guests and places, and between hosts and their communities. I only co-host for owners with a genuine stake in the community, not absent investors looking to extract value from a neighborhood.