0 Shares How to Please Guests When the Sun Doesn’t Shine in Paradise Many years ago we planned a vacation in the Cahors region of France – in a rental villa. It was a small place just for the two of us, but it was in a beautiful region and we were excited about exploring; eating out on terraces in old villages; relaxing by the pool at the […]
0 Shares How we got 60 Reviews and created a loyal band of repeat guests This week saw a milestone at Osprey Cottage and our 60th review. It was from a group who have been to the cottage before but this was the first time they had posted a review so it was a delight to hear from them. Since we have had such great success with this property, I […]
0 Shares Making the Vacation Rental Process Effortless When I first got into the vacation rental industry in the 1990’s it was markedly different to what we see today. I remember going to rental cottages in the UK and being completely tolerant of the thin sheets, dust bunnies under the beds and the long lists of rules and instructions. As a family, we’d […]
0 Shares VRS008 – 10 Things We Learned from a Summer of Rental Well, I finally got to Episode 8 after a long hiatus over the summer and into the fall. It seems there is no stopping this runaway train that is the business of vacation rentals and we felt it in our agency as many others have experienced too. The busy summer of rentals took all our […]
0 Shares Ten Weeks in the Life of a Vacation Rental Manager Wheee…..it’s been quite the ride over the last 10 weeks and I can state for a fact that I’ve been living, eating and breathing the vacation rental business 16 hours a day, seven days a week.
0 Shares How negative reviews can bring positive results I am sure we all get that sinking feeling when something unforeseen happens while guests are in our property. We do our utmost to make it beautiful; have it well prepared for guests’ arrival, and make ourselves available for help if required. Conventional wisdom would also dictate that a well-handled problem should deliver more satisfied […]
0 Shares Tweaking Windows 8 & the Art of Pleasing Guests I think I have got it! In fact, after a month of frustration, reading manuals, tweaking this and tweaking that, I understand (sort of) how it all hangs together. Windows 8 that is! And along the way I began to really appreciate what it’s like when we take familiar landscape and functionality and transfer it […]
0 Shares Why You Should Deliver on Your Promises It’s been a frustrating week here on our RV site in Alabama. While we’ve been watching presidential candidates making promises in their election campaigns that they may or may not keep, I’ve been patiently waiting for the promised internet connection to materialize. From the day we arrived here, ten days ago, the intermittent and poor […]
0 Shares How to Prevent Cottage Rental Disasters by Playing the Insurance Card This guest post is by Phil Schofield of Schofields Insurance At some point holiday cottage rental owners will come up against problem vacationers. Unfortunately, it’s an occupational hazard – not every booking is good for business. Avoiding certain ‘difficult guests’ can result in fewer headaches and a higher quality experience for the guests you do […]
0 Shares Ten Cool Things to Tell Your Vacation Rental Guests Some of your guests will do a lot of research prior to their vacation and will have planned their trip meticulously. Others, particularly the last minute bookers, may have decided to rent your vacation home on a whim and have no idea what they will do when they get there. I’ve seen reviews of places […]
