Does Your Vacation Rental Feel Like Home?

 I wanted to share a blog post I read today on At Home in Tuscany because it says very succinctly what renters want when they book a vacation home.

The post is written by Pauline Kenny, someone I admire hugely for the knowledge and information she shares on the vacation rental business, from a renter’s perspective, and we should all take the time to read the article and draw what we can from it.  I think most owners who manage their rental homes professionally do all of these things to some extent – I’m not sure many of us would be offering stiff line-dried towels though – but to those that are new to the business, there are some great points made.

The one that resonated with me the most was #1:

Someone or something is there to greet me. It is nice to be welcomed by the owner or local representative but we have stayed in places where the key was left under a flowerpot and they still felt welcoming. Tea was set up on the counter or there was a note from the owner or fresh flowers in a vase – something that let me know the house was ready for me.

We are often not able to meet our rental guests however we do make sure they know someone was there and made it ready for ‘them’.  We leave a personal note of welcome, a gift basket with produce from our local farmer’s market, a list of what is on in the area.  We always leave the radio on a classical station; lights on if our guests are likely to arrive after dusk,  and in winter the wood stove is lit.  I don’t think there can be much more unwelcoming than guests arriving to a cold, dark cottage and having to fumble around for light switches and then have to look for ways of warming the place up.

What do you do to make your cottage or vacation rental feel like home?

Pauline is currently renting a cottage in the Cotswolds while on a year-long stay in UK. You can check out her Slow Europe site here