Miscellaneous Every October we take to the road in our fifth wheel and explore the US, usually heading south to get a last blast of summer before returning to the snowy climes of Ontario for the start of another busy booking year for our rental management company. This year our road trip has taken us to some fantastic locations in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and currently, Texas. I will be attending the Vacation Rental Managers Association Conference in San Antonio at the end of the month before heading home. During the trip we have stayed at 11 RV parks – some in State Parks and some that are privately owned. Each one of them we have found at a great site called RV Parks Reviews because the (generally objective) feedback from people who have gone before us usually provides an accurate reflection on what we’ll find. Here’s a few things I wanted to share about this year’s trip that have a bearing on our business in vacation or cottage rental: Testimonials don’t all have to be good As mentioned we rely heavily on a review site to help us select the campgrounds we’ll be staying at. Although a slew of great reviews are great, it doesn’t bother me to see an occasional low score with negative feedback. Often it’s someone with an axe to grind about something they did that fell foul of campground rules such as not keeping dogs under control or creating noise late at night and it’s pretty clear their poor review goes against the bulk of positive testimonials. Directions to a location should address GPS accuracy Campgrounds, like many out-of-the-way vacation rental homes, can be tricky to find. In some cases the directions have clearly stated that GPS instructions should not be relied upon and since there is little more unnerving than finding you have turned onto a dirt track with a truck and 36ft of trailer with no means of turning around, we follow campground directions precisely and ignore our GPS. Most people now rely so much on technology to steer them in the right direction, if you don’t state whether GPS directions will accurately guide them to your property or not, they will inevitably use that as their primary navigation aid. Information on facilities and features should be up-to-date and accurate Staying on the topic of accuracy, it can be very annoying to plan a night stop in a site because it has a facility we require, only to find it is not in working order or not available in the low season. Where a web site shows facilities or features, we do expect them to be available unless otherwise stated. This applies just as well to a rental home web site and demonstrates how important it is to be accurate in all web and printed material. My biggest bugbear has been internet access as this is very important to continuing my business while on the road. On this trip, many sites that have stated they had ‘Wifi available’ did not have a good enough connection to enable me to post to the blog, which has been very frustrating. It’s always better to undersell and over-deliver than the other way around. Lots of tourist information makes planning easier Arriving at a new place with no local knowledge can be frustrating if you want to plan a few days stay quickly. Information on local golf courses; the location of the nearest grocery store, and restaurant recommendations is all so useful, and most sites provided this. The better ones had details on hiking trails and maps for half and full-day driving tours to take in nearby attractions. The welcome needs to be simple and uncomplicated We’ve arrived at most sites in the day time and on the whole have found a pleasant welcome with quick registration. Most have recognized we’ve driven a long way and only want to get set up and settled with no fuss. They provide a sheet with essential information so don’t need to explain it in detail. I’ve long realized that this is the same for rental guests at our cottage; they don’t want or need us to show them around and point out every feature and facility – they just want to be left alone to find it out for themselves and have a number to call if they have any questions. Garbage handling is important One of the first things we need to know on arrival at a campground is how garbage should be disposed of. Do they recycle? Where are the dumpsters? One thing we have never had to deal with was taking garbage to a transfer station or dump which is what many rental guests have to do. Given the importance of this, consider your guests and how you instruct them to dispose of their garbage. Do you provide the appropriate bags? Are the directions to the disposal site clear and easy to follow, and are opening hours clearly stated? Weather advisories are useful We arrived at a State Park in Tucson to be warned that heavy rainfall at certain times of the year could close the access roads in the park meaning we could be stranded for up to two or three days in spring rains. Not a problem for our fall visit. But it reminded me of our trip to Oregon last year and setting up in an ocean front campsite when a tsunami warning was announced. Fortunately we had been pre-warned of the procedure so knew what we had to do and how to proceed to higher ground. Other sites mentioned the potential for high winds to cause damage to awnings and outdoor furniture and hurricane shelter advisories. It got me thinking about the occasional severe weather our cottage guests encounter and including a warning in our cottage guide about what they should do in the event of heavy snowfall & power outages. A good packing list is essential We’ve been doing these RV trips for several years now and have a standard packing list so rarely forget anything; however I do remember the early trips when there would always be something important I’d missed. There are so many new rental guests who have never self-catered before, it’s a nice idea to provide them with a list of things they should bring – or at least let them know in detail what you provide. I’ve got another two weeks to go before returning to the chill of an Ontario winter, and four more campgrounds to experience before we leave the trailer to its own winter rest in a site in Tennessee. I’m sure there will be more to learn and of course will be sharing that too. I’m glad to be back in harness and with good wifi connection from here on it, you’ll be hearing more from me.
