Managing Your Rental Guests Surfing around Flipkey last weekend I found a review for a cottage which read “It rained, and rained and rained some more. Our longed for vacation was a complete washout. The cottage was OK but there was nothing to do in the rain except watch TV. We hadn’t prepared for that. I’m not sure we’ll do the rental thing again.” The cottage received 3 stars out of 5 Poor weather happens on vacation. I recall a miserable holiday staying in an idyllic place near Cahors in France one summer and it rained every day. It was fairly remote – 20 miles from the nearest town but we’d chosen it for the pool, with thoughts of relaxing in the sunshine; reading books and occasionally flopping into the water for a cool-down. After we’d exhausted all the indoor attractions in the area (the caves were amazing) which took a day, we spent the rest of the time indoors trying to create activities for the kids to keep everyone happy. It was really a holiday to forget but reading that review brought those memories back. What responsibility do we owners have, to ensure our guests are occupied, even when they are confined indoors? I know of some who would say that is what self-catering is about and renters take that risk when they choose a vacation rental. My take on it is that we have the power to create an environment that is enjoyable in any weather and if I can do something that will generate favourable review regardless of what nature throws at us, I’ve done my job. Wouldn’t it be so much better to see something like this?: “It rained, and rained and rained some more and we had the greatest time! The cottage was packed with things to do in bad weather. There were lots of games and jigsaw puzzles (with all the pieces!); there was a ‘dress-up’ box and a craft box which kept the small ones occupied for hours; a huge library of DVDs and videos (to suit all ages), and loads of books and magazines. The kitchen had everything I needed to bake cookies with the kids, down to shaped cookie cutters and a bag of sprinkles and toppers so we could be really creative. The Rainy Day Box (it was labelled like that) had lots of paper and card, and there was even a digital camera and photo printer so we ran a treasure hunt (which was also included) and the kids took pictures of what they found and had to print and make a poster with them. When the rain stopped we took the handheld GPS which was also supplied and followed the geocaching instructions and discovered a ‘new sport’ which we all loved. And when the sun came out….we were almost disappointed! This was the best vacation ever and I give it 5 stars out of 5.” I think we do have responsibility beyond providing great accommodation, if we want this type of vacation to be seen as a viable alternative to ‘package holidays’ where all activities are included. There’s some ideas in this post, and I’d love to hear what you think. What do you do to create a vacation experience for your guests?
