The hospitality industry keeps growing exponentially. Now there are over five million Airbnbs worldwide and even small towns and cities have become competitive spaces.
So, how can you guarantee everyone keeps coming back to your vacation rental instead of giving one of your competitors a try?
Forget about installing hot tubs or buying pool tables. Ensuring a great first impression and making guests feel welcome is the best way to get repeat visits. That means going above and beyond to provide an enjoyable experience that sets you apart from nearby businesses.
Let’s look at some tried and tested strategies from leading professionals in the vacation rental space to get you started.
1. Be there to welcome guests (Chris Schalkx of GuestReady)
GuestReady personally welcomes each guest at the door to create a positive first impression. They have ‘greeters’ who make sure everything’s in order, explain the rules, and give everyone a quick tour of the property when they arrive.
Greeters also share a few local tips to make the guests settle into the neighborhood faster. Nothing elaborate, though. It could be the fastest route into town or which gas stations have the shortest wait times.
But avoid overcomplicating the check-in process. After a long flight, guests don’t want a comprehensive tour of the rental or a long speech about all the amenities. Besides, a warm smile, friendly body language, and some eye contact go a long way.
2. Make guests feel like locals (Third Home)
“One of the best advantages of vacation rentals compared to hotels is being able to fully immerse yourself into the local culture,” says Third Home, “As a host, you can take it a step further and assist your guest by offering helpful local suggestions. These can include a list of your favorite restaurants or chef, must-see local attractions, and area excursions.”
Consider including all your recommendations in a digital guidebook. Platforms like Hostfully let you customize one for each property and send it to guests as a link, saving them from having to download an app.
You can include categories to cater to different types of guest preferences:
- Restaurants and bars
- Shops
- Activities and attractions
- Nature trails
- Galleries and museums
Don’t forget to include some practical information like the nearest supermarket, pharmacy, and gas station. You don’t always need to wow guests to increase satisfaction. Sometimes making sure nobody experiences any frustrations or setbacks can be a powerful strategy.
3. Let guests know you put their health and safety first (HomeToGo)
HomeToGo recently surveyed property managers and guests and found a disparity in cleaning standards.
“45% of guests surveyed included enhanced cleaning in their top three decision-making factors when making a booking” explained Rachel Tabellion, Head of Sales at HomeToGo. “Yet 27% of property managers aren’t highlighting COVID-related cleaning measures they’re taking”.
The survey uncovered that most property managers include extensive cleaning measures in their service. They’re just not making guests aware of that fact or reflecting this in their pricing.
Do you mention your health and safety procedures anywhere? If not, add them immediately to your listings and digital guidebook as a simple, unobtrusive bulleted list. It only takes five minutes and it makes each guest feel more secure.
4. Set clear expectations for everyone (Sharon Schweitzer, founder of Access to Culture)
“To make the hosting experience enjoyable for both you and your guests, do a self-assessment and determine if, when, and how you plan to interact with your guests,” says Sharon, “This is your vacation rental property; you need to determine if you and your family prefer privacy or company.
She adds: “In your property description, state whether you will be on-site during the rental. Setting these boundaries communicates expectations, and how you expect guests to behave and treat your property. No vacation rental owner has time to hover over guests, micromanage their stay, or imposing group activities. After all, this is a vacation rental, not a party invitation.”
5. Go the extra mile with airport pickups (Sabina King of TaZa.co)
Sabrina says her company’s most popular service is the airport pick-up. Instead of ordering a taxi themselves, the guest pays for her driver to come and collect them instead.
Greeting guests at the airport helps them avoid:
- Waiting for the taxi to show up
- Worrying about no-shows
- Being scammed or overcharged by unregulated taxi drivers
- Dealing with language barriers
- Getting lost on the way to the rental
Sabina adds that it’s best to limit how much information you give guests at once. People are busy so they don’t have time to pore over an email to find details about your pickup service.
To solve this problem, Sabina makes all her guest communication and guides more visual. “We send an email and then we also have our greeter and staff reinforce the important points quickly when they arrive and then during their stay. It may seem like a lot, but we’ve found that multiple touch points are necessary to communicate important info.”
Making house manuals more visual
Showing your guests is better than telling them. That’s why Hostfully lets you upload images and videos to your digital guidebook to help them understand how to get your vacation rental and get settled into the property. That might be where to meet your driver at the airport or the shortcut through your neighborhood that Google Maps doesn’t know about yet.
You can include an interactive map of the local area rather than describing complicated directions or uploading a screenshot.
And you can create a video library with how-tos for all your appliances and amenities so guests can instantly make themselves some refreshments, whether that’s with your smoothie maker or your espresso machine.
6. Make a lasting impression with a locally sourced gift (Emmanuel Arnaud of HomeExchange)
Hosts on HomeExchange like to leave guests a welcome gift. Some local delicacies can make a good impression or you can emulate the hotel experience with some soaps and shampoos. A thoughtfully put-together welcome basket can also make sure guests get a warm welcome.
Are guests celebrating a birthday or anniversary? Tying the welcome gift into the special occasion can let them know you’re paying attention. Some balloons or a cake are a quick way to boost guest satisfaction.
| Pro tip: Hostfully’s guidebooks include Marketplace, a tab where you can easily add products and services to upsell to your guests. Guests get an easy view of extras they can purchase within the guidebook, and you get to promote add-ons like mid-stay cleaning, guided tours, and airport pick-up and drop-off.
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7. Explain everything with a welcome note or booklet (Third Home)
Every property has quirks. You might know your rental inside out but small things like a WiFi box in an unusual location or a mysterious smart TV set up can leave guests stumped.
Sending a welcome message or guide can help guests get used to your property faster. You can also avoid situations where they need to restart the internet but can’t find the WiFi or work out how to figure it.
Again, a digital guidebook is the perfect place to include these kinds of tips as it keeps all the relevant information in one place.
8. Make sure you’re on standby (Mary Cave of Duas Quintas Guesthouse)
When welcoming guests, always make sure they know how to contact you and encourage them to call or text with any issues. Follow up a few times throughout their stay in case they’re experiencing issues but are too shy to say something.
Remember: Many people expect to be treated like hotel guests but you can’t offer them front desk staff. You need to show them that you’re still available even if you’re not one small elevator ride away.
Mary’s tip is to make sure the check-in process doesn’t take priority over your welcome. Staff members can complete many check-in tasks after arrival such as topping up soap and leaving extra bedding in guest rooms. But if someone doesn’t feel welcome when they arrive, it’s hard to undo that later.
Want to give guests a real hotel welcome? Consider using a virtual concierge to answer all their on-the-spot questions.
9. Limit automated messaging (Sydney Smith of Maliko Retreat)
Sydney says you should avoid using automated, welcome emails where possible. Sending a personalized message a month ahead of their arrival will make guests feel special and give them a good first impression.
Some vacation rental companies may find this impossible. If you manage a small team or handle all the bookings yourself, you can’t always find the time to write every message yourself. That’s when we’d suggest using templates so you can write friendly emails and let the software fill in the details.
Hostfully includes an automated messaging feature as part of our Property Management System.
10. Stay on track with a welcome checklist (Michelle London of Lillian Farms)
Follow a checklist to ensure everything’s ready and running smoothly ahead of guest arrival. For example, you can:
- Set the air conditioning to an optimal temperature
- Turn on the lights
- Tune the TV and radio
- Stock the fridge
- Clear leaves off the front path
But don’t forget about your phone while you’re busy getting ready. If a guest calls with an issue or a special request, you need to be available to answer them.
This rule applies the whole way through the stay. You must balance being present to make guests feel welcome and making sure everything’s perfect. Letting every call go to voice mail or leaving people on read for hours never makes a good impression.
11. Never forget the personal touch (Elissa English of MainelyGlamping)
One guest’s idea of a great experience might be another’s worst nightmare. Try to learn more about each set of visitors so you can learn what makes them tick and tailor the stay to their needs and preferences.
As an example, some guests might like regular check-ins and real-time updates whereas others might only want a mid-stay follow-up.
Where possible, tie amenities and services into the local area. As Elissa says, people don’t come to Maine to eat or take away a product that they can get back home. They want something unique that is going to provide them with a new experience.
For instance, she offers locally made pancake mix and maple syrup at her glamping business. She’s made it part of her complimentary breakfast service.
12. Keep conversations out of the doorway (Gary Auerbach of Frisbee Guy)
Guests are likely to be tired after a long trip and either dying to get off their feet or keen to stretch their legs. They don’t want to get stuck in the doorway of the property having a long conversation.
That’s why Gary and his wife try and keep this part of the welcome process short. They hand over the key, show guests the property, ask if they have any questions — and that’s that. If you need to get a bit deeper, give everyone the chance to sit down and maybe even have a drink rather than lurking on the porch.
A good host needs to be great at communication, which means reading people and knowing when to leave them alone.
13. Find the perfect words (Fred Davidson of Condo.Capital)
Communication is a powerful tool. Just the way you talk to guests as you welcome them can leave a positive or negative impression.
So, train your team on the best way to talk to guests. You can run through common scenarios and make sure they always know the right thing to say.
For example, guests might complain about how the property was hard to find. Telling them that ‘nobody else has ever had a problem’ comes across as defensive. Instead, your team could say something like:
“I’m sorry to hear that. Please can you tell me what happened? Maybe we could improve the directions in our guidebook.”
14. Always respect guest privacy (Sydney Smith of Maliko Retreat)
Avoid spending a lot of time around guests unless they explicitly ask or strongly indicate they want the company. You need to strike a balance between being available and respecting their need for privacy.
Sydney’s favorite workaround is the text message. It’s less intrusive than a phone call or a visit as guests can respond whenever they like.
Final thoughts on the vacation rental guest experience
Arrival is the most important point in the guest’s stay. It sets the tone for the entire experience, shows everyone what to expect, and alleviates any worries and stresses.
So, while other businesses introduce flashy gimmicks, focus on offering guests a great welcome to your property. You can get consistent 5-star reviews with just a few minor changes and rely on repeat customers.
