Although not a new trend, in the last couple of years we have seen a marked increase in travelers opting for longer vacations in the destinations of their choice. Good communication facilities and mobile & internet connectivity have made this possible for travelers to take life easy, spend more weeks or months in holidaying, all the while, enabling them to stay connected with their professional lives.
While, we always encourage travelers to take longer vacations, we have seen that many holiday homes are actually not prepared to cater to the needs of this segment of guests. In this article we will thus discuss the ways by which the holiday home owner can prepare his property for long vacationers.
HOUSE CLEANING: When a person is staying for a longer period in your holiday home, it is necessary that you have a very effective and efficient house cleaning person in order. You should have a person who does the cleaning of the rooms, the kitchen and the bathrooms on a regular basis. A part-time cleaning person who comes at a convenient time agreed by the guest(s) would do the trick.
LINEN/ OTHER ESSENTIALS: Have a good number of sets of bed sheets, bed covers, pillow covers, towels, dining table mats, etc. and ensure that the cleaning person, change them regularly. Depending on the climate of the area, also keep some essentials, like umbrellas, rain-coats, beach mats, a garden umbrella, etc. If the area experiences wintry conditions make sure you service your heating system before you rent out your home. If you have a fireplace, ensure you have the chimney cleaned thoroughly and there are enough fire-wood in the store for the guest to have a cozy evening by the fireplace. If you have a swimming pool make sure that you have a person to clean, refill the pool. You should not expect and neither will the guest(s) swim in a pool that is not maintained properly.
COOK: If you are renting out your holiday home to long vacationers, make sure that you have a cook in place. However many a time, guests love to do some light cooking themselves and the rest of the times they would go out. So when you are accepting a booking from a long vacationer always discuss this. If he doesn’t need a cook, make sure you have a couple of menu cards of the nearby restaurants and takeaways with their phone numbers handy. But if he requires a cook ensure that you employ a reasonably good cook. At least give him some options to choose from by preparing a menu card. Read our article on the Top tips to consider while preparing a holiday home menu card
INTERNET: When a person is taking a relatively longer vacation, he would definitely love to remain connected with his friends and family. So having a good internet connection, preferably with a wi-fi router is almost next to necessity. Take a plan that has good speed and charge your guest accordingly.
TRANSPORT: It is actually not a bad idea to keep a couple of bicycles in the house for the guests to take an occasional ride in the evening. Keeping a motorcycle is also a good option. You can charge guests extra for availing these. Want more information on keeping vehicles for guests? Read our article on Benefits of Providing Your Vacation Rental Guests a Vehicle to Move Around
DIRECTORY: Prepare a directory of all the important phone numbers of the locality – chemist shops, departmental stores, hospitals/ doctors, restaurants, nightclubs, laundry/ dry-cleaners, music shops, video rentals, local guides, ticketing agents, cab services, etc; take prints of these and put them in a folder to be kept in places where the guests can easily find them.
ENTERTAINMENT: Do you have a TV with satellite connection and a VCD? If not, get them. These are electronics that long vacationers will definitely look at before they book the accommodation. If you have a good collection of books, create a small library. Make sure you have a lot of coffee table books. Guests during vacations most likely do light reading, so these books can be a good way to pass one’s time.
So, this sums up what a holiday home owner needs to do to cater to the needs of a long-term renter of your holiday home. In addition to these pointers, make sure you take some time out during their stay to take their feedback.
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