Vacation rental management probably takes most of your time. You are always working to ensure that the property is clean and fully equipped. You’re also busy promoting your listing and thinking of ways to attract guests.
But, those are only the basics. If you want to stand out among your competitors, then you need to think beyond the bare minimum. Don’t worry, you don’t have to break an arm and a leg to make your guests’ stay memorable. It’s all about the experience in today’s market and not necessarily who has the most expensive vacation rental decoration.
Here are a few ideas on how to impress your guests with small, thoughtful gestures.
Upgrade the Fruit Basket to a Seasonal Gift Basket
Putting fresh fruit out for your guests is a common practice, so how about you take it up a notch. Depending on the season, you can select various local treats they can munch on in between meals while admiring the view from their room.
At Christmas, you can add decorated gingerbread, oranges, mulled wine spice mix, pine cones, marshmallows and various hot cocoa mixes, jam jars with heartwarming messages on the personalized label, an so on. In the summer, you can add special treats, like roasted almonds, popcorn mixes, fruity and citrus teas, mixing utensils for cocktails, and make the fruit basket varied and abundant.
Offer Discounts for Local Services or Products
As we said before, being a successful vacation rental owner is all about offering a rich experience to your guests. Don’t limit yourself to offering a bed, a roof and a meal, but try to make the rental an extension of the location.
One of the best ways to make their vacation memorable is to collaborate with local restaurants and cafes, museums, theaters, and tourist sites and get discounts or special packages for your guests. Not to mention that working together will benefit the local economy. Even if you don’t get discounts for your guests, you can still propose a barter and create a local guide that includes selected locations.
Provide Entertainment for the Children
If you regularly get visitors with children, you should think of ways to help the parents entertain them and keep them active. Depending on the location, you can have outdoor play areas or reserve a special area for the kids in the house. Even in the smallest studio, you can still have a few children books, wooden toys, and DVDs with classic cartoons.
That is also a great opportunity to visit your local service providers and put together a guide for entertaining the children while out, plus get some discounts when possible.
Equip Your Kitchen and Bathroom with Custom Goodies
Guests will always expect to find basic things in the kitchen and bathroom, like salt and pepper and some basic spices, sugar, shampoo, shower gel, and hand soap, fresh towels, and so on. While providing this vacation rental stuff will not necessarily surprise them, taking it up a notch can get you favorable reviews and recommendations.
Adding local sweets and cookies, alternative sweeteners like stevia or honey or special utensils like cappuccino milk foam mixer, cold coffee press or a teapot can really impress your guests. For the bathroom, you can add bubble bath, bath bombs, new loofah sponges that they can keep, and family bathrobes.
Accessories for the Outdoors
If you want to make your rental a part of your guests’ overall experience, then you should offer them helpful accessories for the time they spend outdoors. Put umbrellas and raincoats in the hallway, a picnic set (basket, cutlery, glasses, and blanket) in the kitchen, and a beach umbrella and inflatable lounge chairs if you have a beach vacation rental.
