Whether you’ve got a beachfront villa in Costa Rica, a 48th story penthouse in New York City, or a countryside cottage on the outskirts of Zurich, the success of your business is highly dependent on one crucial factor: guest reviews.
If you’re a good property manager, you provide your guests with prompt responses to their enquiries and clean, well-maintained rentals. When it comes to impressing guests and scoring 5-star ratings, though, it’s often the little things that get you there.
Here are 6 small touches you can add to your short-term rental to win over your guests:
Prepare a Warm Welcome
Your guests have just spent hours in a car or plane only to arrive in a new and unfamiliar place. They’re bound to be a bit disoriented. Why not offer them some immediate comfort and reassurance with a nice welcome basket?
Fill it with everything they need to start their stay on the right foot from a collection of local products to a map highlighting popular nearby destinations. Top it off with a short personalized note, which can include fun facts about the property (for example, the year it was built or the number of guests its hosted) as well as helpful information (like the wifi password).
Choose Decor With Character
There are many reasons travelers choose to stay in vacation rentals over hotel rooms, and one of them is that they are looking for a more unique experience. Hotel rooms are pretty standard across the board: a bed or two in simple, white sheets, a night stand and a small table.
One of the appealing things about short-term rental properties is that they come with some local flair, as their furnishings are often influenced by the surrounding trends and culture. Invest in some art or statement pieces that will give your property some personality and keep the sense of “being somewhere new” alive for your guests, even within your four walls.
Let Them Know You’re There
As a host, you’ve got to be available for your guests to reach out to with any questions or comments. That’s a given. But the way you do it can make all the difference. You can let your guests refer to previous emails or the original booking channel to find your details should they need to contact you, OR you can invite communication in a gracious, heartfelt manner. Leave a note with your personal number, telling your guests they shouldn’t hesitate to call you should they need anything at all. It’s just another thing to add to your welcome basket.
Make It Easy
Work is supposed to be hard, vacations are supposed to be easy. When people are travelling, they want as little hassle as possible and sometimes, key exchanges can be prove a bit inconvenient.
As a professional property manager, it may be worth your while to incorporate a keyless entry system into your rentals, making check-in and check-out efficient and stress-free. Guests will be delighted to learn that a simple code or scannable icon is all they need to access the rental and that they don’t need to worry about meeting up with you or other personnel at specific times. Plus, keyless entry makes the dreaded “lost key” a thing of the past, giving everyone a little more peace of mind.
Know Your Audience
In order to finalize booking details, you need to interact with your guests before they arrive. So why not do a little digging and find out who it is you’ll be hosting? A professional? A group of college students? A family of five? You can use this intel to cater your rental to your guests as much as possible.
For example, people with kids are likely to be very pleased with a couple of toys and puzzles, while honeymooners might enjoy a nice bottle of wine and some rose petals adorning the bed. These efforts not only contribute to your guests’ experience, they also demonstrate that you value their happiness.
Add Some Final Touches
Before you mark a rental ready for use, step into your guests’ shoes , look around the place, and ask yourself what little conveniences and amenities you’d want to have when you travel.
You’re not expected to feed your guests, but a bottle of milk in the fridge and a bowl of fresh fruit on the table might help refresh them after their travels and tide them over until they get a chance to run out to the supermarket. The same goes for basic toiletries like shampoo, toothpaste and hand soap. Letting travellers know ahead of time that you will be providing these essentials will save them the hassle of packing them in their luggage, something that is sure to be met with appreciation.
And you’re set. Implementing these ideas is the perfect way to provide your guests with a stay worthy of five stars, one that will have them coming back on their next visit and enthusiastically referring your properties to fellow travellers.
It’s all in the details.