Vacation Home 101
Designing vacation homes is one of my absolute favorite things to do and I have a real passion for making it a great experience for you the owner as well as the guests! Here are some of my best tips!
Create a Statement
Whether this is a rooftop space, a gorgeous covered patio, a dramatic bedroom or game room – create a space your guests will talk about after they leave. It’s also great to have this kind of space as your feature picture to entice potential guests to click on YOUR home instead of the 20 others that come on their search. For our beach home, the picture that pops up is a navy blue bedroom with white accents. I designed this room over 10 years ago and it has stayed a crowd favorite all these years.
Don’t Scrimp on the Linens
Your guests need to have amenities that correlate with what you are charging, meaning there should be matching, nice linens in the home. I used to go to Tuesday Morning to get my linens since you could find quality items for half the price but all of the Tuesday Mornings around me have closed, so I’ve started buying mine at Costco. You know you’ll have to replace these on a regular because someone accidentally takes off with a towel or decides to clean a fruit punch spill with one, so it’s nice when you find a set you like that you can reorder easily and not have to replace the whole set.
Buy extras in advance and keep them locked away. You need two sets of towels for the house because one set will be in use while the other is being washed. But you’ll want a third set on the ready in case you need to quickly replace something. I like having the whole house have the same towels.
The same holds true for sheets. You want your sheets to be soft and luxurious – people should be excited to sleep in the bed, not wishing they were back home in their own. Always get white sheets, except perhaps in a kids bedroom if you want a cute pattern, but white feels crisp and clean.
Plus, all beds need to have mattress protectors AND it’s important to spray beds down with bed bug killer/preventative….monthly. Ask your housekeepers to add this as part of their process.. It’s a few seconds added, but could be very costly without it. This is really gross, but one of our friends got bed bugs in their rental and they had to cancel their bookings for several weeks. It cost them thousands of dollars to kill and replace mattresses. So this is where that saying, “an ounce of prevention….” rings very true.
Bottom line with bedding is to make it your goal that no matter which bedroom a guest end ups in, they are happy. All have quality bedding and a curated appearance that is easy for the housekeeping crew to replicate each time. So make sure to start with the right foundation. My recommendations for towels, sheets and bed bug spray are linked at the end of the blog.
Have Amenities for Your Guests
What you provide as amenities somewhat depends on the kind of home you are renting. Ours is a beach house so we provide, beach toys, a wagon, beach chairs and umbrella, etc., etc. If you are at a mountain home, you’d want to provide things for people to utilize in the snow as well as the summer whether it’s a fresbie or spike ball, sleds or board games. If you have a fire pit, have things for people to use for S’mores. Anything that sets your house apart from the others and shows the guests you are excited they are there and you want them to have the best experience possible.
And don’t forget to list out everything that is coming with the house. I list out all the games I have available, all the baby and toddler items, what kind of coffee maker and tvs I have plus all the food staples that come with the house. You can see my listing here – just look under “Amenities” https://www.vrbo.com/1837646. If my listing doesn’t make you guess what you are getting and another comparable listing does – whose do you think they’ll choose?
A Great Welcome Book
I can’t stress enough how much a welcome book benefits your guests. In addition to the check and in and check out proceedures, having a list of your favorite places to go in town for breakfast, lunch, dinner, shopping, for a special occasion etc. is key. You are their concierge to the town and I’ll bet you have your favorite places, so share them with your guests. Also, listing any seasonal information they may need such as – this mountain entrance is closed during xxxx time of year or the sunsets are extra special from this vantage point. Again, creating an experience for your guests, enticing them to come back year after year and to tell their friends and family about your rental.
Something Special
One last idea I’ll leave with you – create something they can take home with them. For our beach house, I created something I call Ava’s Angels. Our daughter came up with the idea of making an angel out of shells and gluing them to a painted board to take home. We supply the boards and materials and our guests enjoy the hunt for the shells and their imagination to create their own special angel! Over the Christmas holidays, I also include things for them to make sand dollars into ornaments. People take pictures of their creations and post them on Instagram and they leave with tokens from their trip. Little touches like these really make a difference.
As you can tell, I REALLY, REALLY love working on vacation homes. I just finished a Mini Consultation with a client who is building a home in Cinnamon Shores and am doing Full Service for a vacation home in Broken Bow, OK. It’s so fun to make suggestions prior to the home even breaking ground so that I can help you think about things a vacation home needs – places for guests to put their suitcases, easy ways to keep the kitchen organized while providing guests everything they need, making sure they are thinking of trash disposal, large dinners, laundry and other things that happen at vacation rentals. Getting me involved early is the best way to ensure your home will function the way you need it to but I’m here for whatever you need in terms of getting it rental ready! My goal is for you is to have a home you absolutely adore going to visit as well as one that is making you the most money when you aren’t using it!
