Commercialization of your Vacation Rental Business

Aug 17, 2014

Vacation homes witnessed a splendid progress over the past few years. Their availability on the market was like a breath of fresh air for tourists who were sort of bored with staying in extremely professional looking hotel rooms.

Not surprisingly, people gave a warm welcome to vacation homes as it allowed them the luxury of having an exotic home all to themselves. After all, basking in luxury is one of the key priorities of people during a vacation.

However, as the vacation home industry is sort of established now. The freshness has faded. Expectations of tourists have grown manifold and competition from hotel is also pinching the vacation rental owners. It is high time managers and owners take stalk of the reality and tighten their belt.

To succeed the competition, they ought to bridge the gap between highly professional attitude of the hotel and the laxity associated with vacation rentals. Hence a balanced commercialization should be adopted, which does not hurt the charm of a rental and at the same time matches the growing demand of the discerning tourists.

It means adopting the professional attitude of the hotel and becoming more systematic in order to offer the best treatment to the visiting guests. Visitors should be made aware of the services they can expect from the vacation home.

Their inquiries, requirements and feedback should be well attended to make them feel more comfortable. At the same time, vacation owners should stop short of becoming too commercial and put off tourists that choose them over hotels simply because they hate the “commercial” attitude of a typical hotel.

The crux of the matter is that vacation owners must come in terms with the fact that they are doing business. Hence they have the obligation to behave as a professional.

Steps vacation home owners should take to become more commercialized

1. Spruce up your interiors

This does not mean you need to make expensive renovations, offer brand new furniture or adorn the walls with expensive artwork. A commercial makeover to the interiors may simply mean, having complementing sheets, pillow cases and blankets and having the same color of the bedding all through the rooms. Having an embroidered logo on the bed linens can also render a professional look to your rental that will appeal to your guests.

2. Get labels

Labeling stuff is another simple route to give your rental a commercial look and feel. This is especially desirable if you have a large condo or a big vacation villa. It is a good idea to have your labels laminated before they are slapped on things.

3. Invest in an inventory management system

A reason why people prefer hotel is that they are more organized and methodical in their approach. Albeit a small business, vacation rental can be made more systematic. Owners can take advantage of software packages which can be downloaded for free besides they can take benefit of cloud based services that make organization convenient. Being organized can streamline things to a significant extent and make life easier for the vacation owners.

4. Add a dash of commercialization to the bathroom

A luxurious and well appointed bathroom is highly appreciated by tourists. Vacation owners can make the bathing experience more enchanting by being commercial. Akin to the services offered by a hotel, they must offer towels (adorned with the logo of the rental), shower gel, shower caps etc to make the stay more comfortable. Dispensers on the wall of the bathroom can make life even more convenient for the guests.

5. Housekeeping

This one is of course highly desirable. When staying in a rental people expect the same professional housekeeping service as offered in hotels. Vacation owners should hire housekeeping professionals to ensure a comfortable stay to their guests.

6. Concierge service

Vacation rental owners must also offer concierge service to their guests as offered by most hotels. The service will help tourists get their bookings done for air, rail or bus and can even help to make reservations in restaurants or bookings in theaters, theme parks etc. When on a vacation tourists are in a mood to relax and enjoy, keeping their mind away from such stress is a highly desirable and vacation owners must keep this in mind.

There are many more ways through which vacation owners can give their rental a commercial makeover. This was just to help rental owners get an idea on how they can offer more professional service to their guests. A touch of commercialization through steps mentioned above will surely help visitors enjoy a more comfortable stay and gradually help your rental become more popular amongst tourists.