Share VRS341 – What to Expect From the New Vacation Rental Traveler Persona Just a year ago we were looking at some worrying figures as we faced something new – the changing nature of traveler behavior. Guests were booking later and for much shorter times and we began looking at our decades-long practice of only offering weekly rentals in high season. How times change. Within a few short […]
Share VRS299 – Born Into The Vacation Rental Business with Jodi Taylor Refosco When you are born to parents who run a vacation rental business and your first real job is cleaning hot tubs in rentals you are likely to learn a lot about the industry from the ground up. Having that sort of experience is what prompted Jodi Taylor Refosco to launch Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations & […]
Share VRS291 – Preparing for a Long Hot Summer Of Vacation Rentals We are two days away from the real start of our high season and as ever, kicking off with a bang – the Canada Day weekend. For many of our properties the rentals starting this weekend are the first of the season, and from here on they will be back-to-back. To get ready for the […]
Share VRS285 – Boost Your Vacation Rental Business With Referrals When you are lost in the sea of other homes in your location and despair of ever getting seen, a referral from a past guest, a friend, or even another homeowner could be your lifeline to increasing occupancy. Rather than asking for referrals, today’s guest Matt Ward says we simply need to create the environment […]
Share VRS216 – Getting Back To The Basics Of Vacation Rental with Wes Melton Are property managers a dying breed? Is this the end of property management as we know it? These questions are coming at us from a variety of sources and the latest was an article from Wes Melton at Smoky Mountains.com, published on Matt Landau’s Vacation Rental Marketing Blog. In this insightful but inconclusive argument, Wes […]
Share VRS211 – Paying it Forward with Vacation Rental Owner Bob Garner Who hasn’t dreamed of quitting the day job and enjoying life in an idyllic location, following a passion of meeting people and helping create amazing experiences? This is what Bob Garner did in 2005 when, together with his long-time partner, Ian, they gave up their corporate careers in London, bought a derelict farmhouse in a […]
Share The Perfect Vacation Rental Welcome Making sure your vacation rental guests have the perfect welcome when they arrive at your property is very important. The first 5 minutes will determine their happiness for the next few days and that first impression lasts. You can read a little more about first impressions and the ‘WOW’ factor or maybe you want to […]
Share VRS197 – The Essentials of a Vacation Rental Guest Agreement with Bryan Geon of Vacasa We protect our homes in many ways with safety and security systems; video cameras; apps to prevent overcrowding or noise; monitors to prevent overheating or freezing; smoke and CO2 alarms etc., but how many vacation rental owners have a guest agreement? If my last few reservations are anything to go by, it’s not as common […]
Share VRS195 – Welcoming Vacation Rental Families in Style with Mary Ostyn Creating a family-friendly vacation home is challenging, not least because children of different ages have different needs. Unless you have recent experience of vacationing with a lot of kids in tow, how can you really know what is going to make the experience the best possible? Should you provide lots of baby stuff? What types […]
Share VRS192 – 10 Sure-fire Ways to Upset Your Guests at Check In In this solo episode I’m getting back to some basics as I talk about the first 30 minutes your guests experience at your property, and why that is so important to the overall enjoyment of their vacation and to the review they subsequently may write. There is a magic that accompanies arrival at a vacation […]