How to succeed with your holiday rental guests?

If we say that competition among holiday rental hosts is increasing, you might think it's obvious. When a market becomes saturated, providers must stand out to capture more demand. Therefore, impressing your holiday rental guests is key to maintaining a source of income for your business.

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Informing your holiday accommodation guests

Whether you've just started your holiday rental business or you're already a SuperHost, informing your guests is a complicated challenge. Even more so is getting guests to read (whether it's your check-in or checkout instructions or house rules).

Today we try to solve a problem that any professional working with clients suffers from: phone calls from stressed clients for X or Y reasons.

Reduce guest stress

Surely this situation sounds familiar:

4:45 PM You’ve just checked in your guests. You’ve shown them how the air conditioning, TV, and heating work. You've also informed your guests about the area's favourite restaurants. You can affirm that they are now ready to enjoy their stay in your accommodation.

7:35 PM Your phone starts ringing. Damn it! No one calls today unless it’s urgent, right? You answer the call having a mini heart attack... It turns out they didn't know how to open the patio door.

You can avoid these stressful situations (for both host and guests) if you inform your guests. Remember that for communication to be established, the receiver (your guests) must correctly receive the information from the sender (you). That is, you must ensure that guests read what you tell them.

How you can inform your guests

We have four ways to inform your holiday accommodation guests:

1. Rely on your holiday home rules
2. Print your accommodation manual and disseminate it throughout the property
3. Convert it to PDF and send it via email
4. Inform your guests through a digital welcome book

Let's analyse the advantages and disadvantages of these ways of informing guests:

TypeAdvantageDisadvantageAirbnb House Rules> Already in your Airbnb listing> Guests don't read itPrinted accommodation manual> Cheap
> Easy to find> Time to consolidate
> Difficult to update remotely
> Complicated to use if you don't use a good formatSend your guests a PDF> Easy to send
> Easy to update> Not available on all devices
> You don't have traceability of what your guests readDigital welcome book> Easy to navigate
> Easy to update remotely> Depends on an internet connection
> Guests need to remember how to access

Find the solution that best suits your needs

Of course, the method(s) you choose to communicate with your guests will be those that save the most time. Both for you as a host and for your customers.

For example, printing your 37-page manual and leaving it on the living room coffee table might be the quickest option for you. However, if after page 3, your guests stop reading – and seriously, they do – and call you to resolve that doubt... We are not solving the problem.

Accommodation manual, rule book or Airbnb house rules

When you design your rule book or Airbnb house rules, one mantra must prevail: it is made for your guests to read with pleasure – only then will you have managed to inform them correctly –.

You should prioritise the information you display and hierarchicalise it (the most important first). According to the Holiday Rental Survey by our friends at Cohosting, these are the most common guest requests. In short, these are the topics you should prioritise when informing your guests.

The survey data shows that the most requested information by Airbnb guests is:

• Information about check-in and check-out – especially early check-in and late check-out –
• WiFi and internet connection
• Holiday accommodation rules

Additionally, it is quite useful to offer your guests information about nearby points of interest:

• Supermarkets or nearby shops
• Pharmacies
• Banks

Offer local recommendations

While not included in the previous analysis, the next most obvious step – once we have informed guests about house rules and basic points of interest – is to offer local recommendations.

Recommending your favourite local bistro or restaurant is one of the best ways to impress your guests. Some digital guest books offer your guests the possibility to book directly from their apps or websites:

• Takeaway food
• Transfer to the airport or station
• Babysitting services
• Gyms

What is important for Airbnb guests?

This time we bring you five facts that all Airbnb guests love, which will lead them to leave you better reviews and help you become a Super Host quickly. Additionally, happy customers are more likely to return to your holiday apartment if they are back in the city.

Offer services your guests don't expect

In addition to listing all the services you offer on your Airbnb accommodation profile – this is very important! – you can delight your hosts by offering extra services such as city tours, museum or tourist attraction tickets, or personal restaurant or bar recommendations. These details make the difference between just another accommodation and being an excellent host – or Airbnb Plus –.

Price your holiday apartment correctly

While Airbnb (or any of the promotion and booking platforms) recommends an estimated price for your apartment, it's really key that you do a small market study of prices for apartments with similar characteristics to yours.

Search on Airbnb and filter by your area, the services you offer, and the characteristics of your home (number of rooms, bathrooms, kitchen, etc.). Copy the price of the results into a spreadsheet for at least two date ranges: your high season and your low season. This will serve as a basis for deciding the price of your Airbnb!

Be flexible with your guest

Flexibility as a host is key and should permeate your entire relationship with your guests... even before booking! Respond quickly and concisely to any questions your potential guests may have about your accommodation. In this regard, did you know that you have a 90% chance of booking if you reply to your guest in less than a minute?

Speed and accuracy are fundamental elements. Furthermore, to become an Airbnb Super Host, you need flexible and wide check-in and check-out times. Most Airbnb hosts choose to automate check-in through smart locks for holiday rentals, which frees up a lot of their time – which they dedicate to providing higher value-added services to their guests.

Leave reviews on their profile

Always, always, always, always: Leave reviews on your guest's profile! Especially if they are positive. It is advisable to write the review two days after your guest's check-out: Why two days? Airbnb will send both guest and host an email the next day asking for these reviews.

On the second day, once you complete your review, the platform will send a reminder to your guest advising them to complete theirs. Two days is the perfect time!

Be honest

It is much better for the guest-host relationship if you are transparent with them. For example, if you include in your accommodation profile that you accept pets... don't say afterwards that you don't accept dogs over 10 kilos! These small clarifications – after booking – erode your reputation as a host.

If you find something you think your guest should know, then chances are you need to check it right away.

4 ways to amaze your guests

Offer sold-out tickets to your guests

Imagine your holiday apartment is near the Teatros del Canal. Wouldn't it be great to position your Airbnb as perfect accommodation to enjoy the shows in this Madrid theatre? Even better: wouldn't it be even better if you could sell tickets to shows that are already sold out to your guests? That will impress your guests and earn you points for an excellent review!

Doing something similar in your Airbnb – not just with shows, but with tourist attractions – will gain you popularity among potential guests and will be a great way to differentiate yourself from the competition.

Charming – and local! – welcome gift

In the holiday apartment manager's blog, we often insist that the typical customer seeks to immerse themselves in the local atmosphere. The best way to surprise or impress your Airbnb guests is by offering them a small welcome gift that reflects the local character of your accommodation.

Some ideas to impress them with this type of gift are:

• Cookies or assortment of sweets from local bakeries
• Bottle of wine or cava from nearby wineries
• Local fruit or fresh local juice

By offering some kind of detail, you will impress your Airbnb guests and... once again, improve their opinion of your holiday accommodation!

Offer VIP access

Who doesn't like to feel like a VIP when on holiday? If your holiday accommodation is located in an area known for its nightlife, consider building relationships with the owners of nearby venues.

It's a good way to surprise your Airbnb guests. Moreover, if you communicate this extra service well in your listing title, you can get more clicks – and therefore, bookings – from your target audience.

Checklist to impress your Airbnb guests

There is no doubt that creativity is an essential element to stand out from the competition and impress your Airbnb guests. Think out of the box. What would surprise you when arriving at a holiday accommodation? Any element that adds value to your services will be worthwhile!

Find ways to surprise that fit within your budget and make your guests feel special. As for what elements should be in a holiday accommodation, you can check out our holiday apartment decoration checklist.

How do you impress your Airbnb guests? Tell us in the comments!