Guests often have high expectations for luxury vacation rentals and prestige villa rentals. Owners of top notch vacation properties must think in terms of offering guests some of the same amenities, creature comforts, and services that their discerning guests are used to receiving at five star hotels.
Walk through your property as if it were a hotel. What would a luxury hotel suite offer that you don't? What can you offer in a home that a hotel cannot?
The following list can help you prepare your property for rental to the kind of guests your luxury villa advertising will attract:
Basic Needs: Consider having travel adapters (for every country) available for your guests, in addition to blow dryers, extra toothbrushes, charming guest soaps, extra toilet paper, paper towels, travel-size products, and the like. Make sure that you have adequate linens available for everyone staying, and make certain those linens are soft and fluffy. Offer separate extra-large beach and pool towels, too.
More Basic Comfort Needs: The best hotels provide their guests with ways to adjust the room temperature, provide in-unit CD players and alarm clocks, an easy way to prepare a cup of coffee or tea and always extra pillows and blankets in the room if desired. Don't forget extra fans and heaters hidden away in the closet, just in case an automatic system goes down or a guest prefers fans and heaters.
Bathrooms: In the bathrooms, have you provided adequate storage and/or a table where they can leave their toiletry kits? Have you provided no-slip, rubberized bathtub covers so your clients don't slip and fall getting out of the tub? What about small bath rugs so they can dry off without making the bathroom floor slippery?
In the bedrooms and other public areas, have you provided adequate lighting for reading, and a desk with a comfortable adjustable chair near an outlet for those who want to compute? What about a selection of various pillows because not everyone likes the same kind of head pillow.
Home Office: Is your internet speed and service of a good enough quality for a business person with a lot of work to do? Have you installed wireless internet access so that your visitors can work from any part of your property? Have you installed a phone system which allows your clients to make free local or even long distance calls; if you don't wish to allow long distance, have you made card purchase available through the housekeeper or concierge? Consider suggesting or offering them telephone cards so they are not left without long distance phone access. Make sure your printer, fax, copy machine, scanner and other equipment is easy to use and supplies are at hand for your guests.
For a truly upscale property, offer a computer loaded with all the software they could ever need (just in case they forget their laptop computer at home). The home office can truly be a deciding factor for those families that have the resources to spend on a long stay, yet want to be well-equipped to run their businesses from a remote office. Make it an easy decision for them to choose your property over others! Don't hesitate to mention this in your luxury vacation rental listing on the websites where you advertise your holiday home.
Kitchen: In the kitchen, consider offering a high quality juicer, a powerful blender, waffle or crepe machine, food processor, and electric grill, rice steamer, chef quality pots and pans, and a set of high calibre, sharp knives. For those who love to prepare meals at home, these items are indispensable. The promise of an outstanding kitchen can be one of the great deciding factors in a client booking your property for a long period (or not). In areas where the water quality is questionable for tourists, be sure and warn your guests beforehand. Specialized under-sink filtration/purification systems are a great asset in the kitchen, so that even rinsed foods will not leave traces of questionable water for your guests. This is really something to brag about and can also make the difference in your property being booked (or not).
Small Fire Extinguishers: Have these readily available in various areas of the home where appropriate.
Extras: Have you thought about what your clients might do on a rainy day? Consider providing a closet filled with a selection of board games, childrens books, art supplies, and anything else that may provide some entertainment. Don't forget umbrellas, various sizes of rain boots, and rain slickers for a walk outside.
For homes near the beach, make sure that you offer your clients use of adequate beach equipment, and a manner to carry everything to and from the beach comfortably. In certain areas where it's possible, consider taking a membership at a local cabana club, which for an extra fee might allow your guests free access to their facilities. This could be a major selling point in getting your home rented over others.
For homes with tennis courts, bocce ball, badminton, ping-pong, a pool table, or other amenities: make sure you have adequate supplies and equipment available for your guests to actually play the games. Guests who booked the home with the hope of enjoying these amenities will be disappointed if they must go out and spend time and money shopping for supplies for their games.
Security: If theft of your 'extra' items is a concern, have your clients sign a checklist and "check out" the items from you, and offer locks to the supply closets by checkout. Later, have a staff member verify the items and receive the keys before their departure.
Make sure any potentially dark areas, hallways, and stairs have adequate lighting. Install automatic night lights, or lights which come on automatically when motion is detected. Consider lighting the underwater of your pool area for a romantic ambiance and security as well.
Make sure your pool area is child-proofed with a gate system if this is a concern. A portable pool gate system is a good idea if sometimes the house will only be occupied by adults and this way both children and adult guests can be accommodated. Not everyone wants to look at a pool gate.
Offer your clients the use of a large central safe, or individual safes in each suite. They will appreciate the extra feeling of security in leaving their more valuable belongings in the home. Make sure that your fire alarm system is up to date and the batteries are current. Also, in the case of individual smoke detectors, provide a ladder which is handy in case the alarms go off by accident and your clients need to reach up to turn them off!
Little Ones: Consider your clients who are parents. Offer baby equipment such as high chairs, cribs, a changing station, and other necessities that parents may need. Perhaps you might dedicate a small room to being a nursery or playroom. A wide selection of toys can usually be found inexpensive at local charity shops. To appeal to the vast number of couples traveling with small children, consider having your home "baby-proofed" by a professional who can assure that all areas of the home are safe for the smaller guests.
Your vacation rental is a hybrid between a hotel and a home, and the details do matter. The more amenities you can provide your guests (and do feel free in charging something extra for the privileges) the more clients it will appeal to, and the more likely your luxury vacation property will be booked, enjoyed, and returned to, again and again.
www.luxuryvillafinder.com is an elegant, uncluttered "vacation rentals by owner" site where an elite group of owners and agents advertise villas, mansions, estates, pied a terre, vessels and yachts, boutique hotels, maison d'hotes, and bed and breakfast inns. Advertise luxury villas as Luxury Villa Finder: where details DO matter.
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