What Guests Want to Know About Your Vacation Rentals. Be Aware!!!

What Guests Want To Know

What guests want to know about a vacation rental is more than whether it is available or not. It’s how and what they do during their trip, their security and the amount of comfort that these properties bring that go into consideration when making the reservation. 

Many will argue that search engines like Google and Bing provide self-help  for everyone. But many questions are better answered by the host. And as a host, you should not be caught off guard. You need to be ready with answers to the likely questions guests ask before they do. 

To be ahead of this, it is recommended that a host have a well structured guest welcome book that provides all what guests want to know about the property and the community. Below are some of the information guests would like to know before check-in.

Location

It’s no surprise that location is everything for guests who book a Vacation Rental. But what was surprising for us was the conundrum this topic created in our recent post What guests really want. On one hand there’s travelers: they want to know everything about where they’re going right away—it helps them decide where to book and plan their trip.

On the other hand there’s hosts, many of whom naturally want to maintain privacy, especially before a booking is confirmed, and others that want to share every last detail right away.

Is there a way to convey the location details a guest wants without leaving the host feeling over-exposed? We think so. Let this checklist be your guide and everybody wins.

Nearby Attractions and Places of Interest

Provide recommendations early to allow guests to plan their trip. Your recommendations should include nearby attractions and places of interest. Make sure you have enough information about the area for your guest’s experience on a daily basis. 

You should add the following to your list of nearby attractions and places of interest:

• Contact and address of nearest police station
• Local shopping malls
• Nearest grocery stores
• Nearby gyms
• ATM and Banks
• Pharmacies and Hospitals.
• Religious places of worship

Your Listing Description

The devil is in the detail. Filling in well detailed description in your listing is a great way to compile your recommendations, and it makes it easy to grow and repurpose for future guests.

Your Personality

Personality is appreciated—recommend things you actually do yourself and places you like to go. A concierge might provide recommendations based on what they think an average tourist might like, but your tips can be more personalized. Provide them with a list of outdoor activities you do yourself as well as your favorite restaurant and bars.

House Rules

It is imperative to lay your house rules out to your guests beforehand. This will make them know what and what not to do in your vacation rental property.

Make sure to set out your house rules according to each parts of the premise. For instance, no smoking allowed inside but guests can smoke outside; no loud music allowed after 10pm; pets are not allowed in the bedrooms. House rules are there to avoid accidents and misunderstandings between host and the guests.

Guests Welcome Book

As a trip approaches, anxiety increases for guests. Where do I need to go? How do I get there? How will I get a key for the space? How do I plan what to do on my trip? Put your guest at ease by giving them all of the info they’ll need up front, in form of a welcome book, instead of making them wait until the last minute.

You should make both printed and digital copy of your guest welcome book. Send the digital copy to your guests prior check-in and leave a printed copy in the property for them. This establishes trust right away and will most likely garner you a great review, and great reviews lead to bookings.

Here is a guide on how to create a vacation rental welcome book.

Use the tips above and you’re bound to get great reviews and feedback like this:

“Our host’s tips about cheap food and other things to see nearby were right on. We’ll definitely be back again!”

“I am pretty widely traveled and fairly independent with it, meaning normally I like to figure things out myself, but there is no question: our host added great value to my experience.”

“The cheat sheet guide to the neighborhood our host sent to us in advance of our stay was great and we tried out a few of the recommendations on the list.”

Meanwhile, incase you haven’t read before, you might want to see 10 tips to increase your bookings.