Each vacation rental property is unique, and that’s why people love them.
Hotels are different because they can optimize their rooms, and each room is designed to be identical. They have entire buildings full of rooms that have beds that are the same distance from the wall, lit by lamps that have the same wattage, and covered in linens that are bought in packs of 1,000.
However, vacation rental properties are different. Every room has different assets and is different sizes to take advantage of, and owners use plenty of energy and time to make sure that each property’s best features are displayed in the right way.
One of the best features of vacation rental properties is individuality. This might be a little surprising since we’re going to be discussing four things that need to be the same for every vacation rental property.
However, don’t worry, we’re not going to be telling you to industry-standardize your dinner plates or linen. There are, however, some qualities that every traveler looks for when they stay at a vacation rental property.
There are four standards that your property needs to live up to. Otherwise, your guests won’t be happy – and their reviews of the place will reflect their displeasure. Nobody wants that!
Below you’ll find a list of four standards that every vacation rental property must meet – along with suggestions on how to make sure they’re in fine form for every guest.
Must Be Safe
The chances of your guests noticing that a rental property is safe are slim, but they will notice when it is unsafe. If your walkway is twisting your guest’s ankles in the dark or the house doesn’t have a fire extinguisher available in case of grease fires, it can cause serious problems.
This standard is first because it’s not just an expectation: it can be a real liability for you as an owner if your rental home isn’t safe for guests to occupy. While you might have great vacation rental liability coverage insurance, failing to live up to safety regulations can prevent your claim from being approved due to negligence – you’ll want to avoid that!
Plus, your guests will love feeling safe and secure in the vacation property. If the front door isn’t locking properly, they’re probably going to spend their entire vacation worrying about it, that isn’t the kind of experience that you want them to have.
To make sure that your property is safe is to double-check that all of the windows and doors have locks that work and that the carbon monoxide detectors and fire alarms are up to code – this also means making sure that the batteries are regularly changed. You should also make sure that there is easy to access fire extinguishers near any heat source – including in the kitchen – and consider putting first-aid kits in the bathrooms.
You’ll also want to keep an eye on basic safety standards. Your stairs and walkways must be easy to navigate, and your outdoor bushes and trees should be trimmed to match safety standards.
The best way to make sure that your property is safe before guests arrive is to do a quick walk-through of the home. This way, you can check to make sure that all of the above are up to standard.
Must Be Clean
While this might seem like an obvious standard, but it’s one that can easily be done wrong. The majority of guests complain about the cleanliness of the rental home.
We’re going to assume that no guest is fine with an unclean property, and there’s a reason for this: getting one task wrong can ruin the entire experience for guests.
For instance, your cleaning service might do a great job cleaning the property over 100 times, but on the last time, they accidentally leave a sink full of dirty water. Even though the rest of the property is clean, the guest can still leave a cleanliness complaint.
To ensure that the property is clean, we once again suggest doing a property walk-through before the guest arrives.
Must Be Guest-Ready
If your guest can’t enter the property after arrival, they have a terrible experience before they even walk through the door. Making sure that your vacation rental property is guest-ready means that you double-check that everything is in working order before your guests arrive.
Problems involving accessing the property can be avoided by double-checking your methods of entry. This means that you take a few minutes before the guests arrive to make sure that the key turns in the lock easily, that the lockbox code you gave them works, or you make sure that the time you arranged to meet them is confirmed.
Must Be as Advertised
Guests often arrive at vacation rental properties that don’t look the same as the one if the photo – even if the improvements that you did were for the better.
If the difference between the advertisement and the real house is negative, comments can go from confused to angry. An example would be that you listed that the house has AC, but instead, it only has a window unit.
Guests must arrive at what they thought they were getting matches what they arrive to. It’s easy to enough to provide this to them by making sure that you keep property photos and descriptions current. If they aren’t, you should contact the guests before they arrive to inform them about the changes before they arrive.
Again, doing a walk-through before the guests arrive can help you make sure that the photos and description match what the guests are expecting. This way, you can inform them if anything doesn’t match before they arrive.
Alternatively, you can make sure that the house matches the photos by matching your staging to the photos. This means that you would move furniture and décor around the house to make sure that it matches what your listing photos show.
