14 Tips before a guest rents your home
Tips for Renting your Home to Vacationers
When renting a villa the guests generally spend months prior to planning the adventure. When the day finally arrives the anticipation has built to a very high level. They don’t sleep well the night before has the decision to take this risk may blow up in their face. For most of the day, they will travel to get there. Once arriving they will be exhausted, hungry, and just ready to relax.
Trouble is there are still lots of logistics to deal with once they arrive….car rental, meet and greet, signing the arrival agreement, being escorted to the villa, and trying to pay attention to the directions. It can be overwhelming.
Finally, they arrive at the villa. In most cases, it is dark as they have traveled all day. When they arrive at the villa they are provided an introduction to the logistics of the property. Having escorted hundreds of guests and provided the introductions to the properties, we can say it is next to impossible to capture their attention to reviewing the property. They walked into the property with hoping it has lived up to their expectations. They become very emotional as they look around. Most just want to just jump into the pool.
Our suggestions include assigning one key person that must pay attention to the details of the introduction as it will pay off in the long run. Below are some key tips to take a pro-active approach as it will help make your stay far more enjoyable.
14 Tips for renting your home
Validate the gas grill tank is full of propane. Nothing worse than going out to the grill ready to cook and there is no gas. This is something the property management team often overlook.
Television remote instructions - every television system seems to have a different remote control system. Make sure there are written instructions on how to use the television. Have the person who escorted you to the villa walk you through the process. Then repeat them in front of the person. Otherwise, you will be frustrated and something as simple as this could spoil the trip.
Guests love to open up the doors and windows to feel the warm breezes flow through the villa. They fail to turn off the air conditioning. If the air conditioning is not turned off it will freeze up as it will overload. Then it will shut down and not operate. Not fun to be sleeping at night without air conditioning.
Indoor and outdoor lighting is important. Living in a strange home and not knowing where the light switches are and which switch turns on which lights can be dangerous. Some villas have lights on meters so they turn on and off automatically. Make sure you know where the light switches are located. The Property Managers generally inspect the properties during the day and forget to inspect the outdoor lights, especially the one in and around the pool. Recommend during your introduction to the villa to make sure these lights work.
Sharp knives are a must. The food is very expensive on the islands. You will pay a great deal of money for things like tomatoes. Imagine cutting a tomato with a dull knife? Make sure the knives are sharp otherwise you will get frustrated preparing meals.
Pool alarms are for your safety especially if you’re traveling with children. At night especially turn on the alarms. Children often wake up and are unfamiliar with the floor plan. They can often wander out and fall into the pool. Be sure you know how to operate the pool alarm.
Water on islands is a commodity you need to pay close attention to each and every day. Resist taking excessively long showers. The general method of providing water is catching it from the roof and having it stored in a cistern tank stored below ground. Some villas this is their only source of water, while some also have public water as a backup. During your introduction of the villa have the escort check the water level of the cistern tank. Nothing worse than returning from the beach and wanting a cool shower only to turn it on and the no water.
Bugs, bugs, and more bugs! With the doors and windows open all the time there will be bugs. It is simply a fact. If you leave food out on the countertops you will attract more bugs than you can ever imagine. Store all food in containers with lids closed at all times. Recommend making sure food is stored in a refrigerator. If you don’t you will be quite unhappy.
Most villas have a book available that provides contact information etc so if you have any issues you know what to do. Make sure the book is available. If not, get the phone number of the key people to contact in the event of a problem.
Fire extinguishers - make sure you know where these are located along with First Aid Kits
Loss of electricity - this is far more common than you may think. Make sure you know where the circuit breaker box is located and know how to reset it. Some villas have back-up generators, which is a huge plus. Imagine having a refrigerator full of food without electricity for days?
Believe it or not many guests request heated pools. It is important for you to understand how the pool is heated…propane, electricity, solar? Is the heating system always on or when will they turn it own prior to your arrival. It takes several days to heat the pool water. Raining and cloudy days can lower the pool temperature quickly.
Bed configuration is important. Historically a vast majority of villa renters request kingsize beds. The pricing structure is by the bedroom with two-person per bedroom. Often two people do not want to sleep in the same bed. Some villa owners have caught on to this and invested in kingsize beds that can be converted into twins.
Breakdown rates. Villas are priced by bedroom category. Historically the average number of bedrooms rented is 2.3 bedrooms. The larger villas that are 4-9 bedrooms are far more in demand during the holidays. This translates the larger category villas can often go empty. Some villa owners have provided what is defined as “breakdown” rates. This translates the guests only to pay for the bedrooms they will use. The additional bedrooms are locked off. This is a huge advantage because the larger villas have far more interior and exterior space plus larger pools.
Even after all of the above is done, problems will still arise. It’s best to be proactive rather than reactive. So create your own checklist before each client arrives to reduce the chances of problems.