Get your guests holiday off to a flying start

Customer standards within the holiday rental market have risen considerably in recent years. This, combined with the online review culture of many booking sites, means that holiday cottage owners are having to up their game. We are having to continuously think of new and innovative ways to ensure guests have a happy holiday.

One of the best ways to ensure you have happy guests is to create a good first impression. As we only get one chance to do this, it is important we do it right! If a guest receives a welcome that exceeds their expectations, they are far more likely to have an enjoyable stay, leave you a nice review or make a repeat booking.

Here are some suggestions to help you make sure your guest’s holiday starts as it means to carry on.

Get your guests in the holiday mood

Your website, listing or advert needs to stand out from the crowd. Make sure you include all the relevant information that a guest might need before making a booking. It is essential that you include good quality photos that show off your property. It is likely to be your pictures, not your words, that will catch someone’s eye.

However, in order to manage your guests’ expectations, it is crucial that your property is advertised accurately and that the information reflects the facilities available and its current condition. Your photos should be up to date and reflect any recent décor changes. What the guest sees on the advert is what they’re buying. They may not be impressed to find facilities are no longer available or that the cottage has been redecorated in cheerful colours when they booked a restful retreat in pastel shades.

Create the right impression with every communication

Every time you communicate with the holidaymaker, you are adding building blocks to the overall impression they are forming of you, and in turn your property. If communication is haphazard, it is likely they may also think your property will be haphazard and they might arrive looking for problems. Make sure every communication is professional, accurate and made in a timely manner.

Ensure arrival details are sent to guests in advance of their stay and send them an email to confirm they have received them. We have received a few panic phone calls late on a Friday evening from holidaymakers who are travelling to a cottage and cannot contact the owner for arrival details. These should include confirmation of arrival and departure dates and times, accurate directions including a postcode for satnavs, details on where to find the key and contact details for yourself and/or your housekeeper. Getting lost and wasting valuable holiday time is definitely not a good start to the holiday!

It is also useful to send guests a reminder of cottage facilities and recommendations on popular things to do and places to eat and drink. This will save guests packing unnecessary items such as hair driers or towels, and enables them to get the most out of their stay by allowing them to plan and book in advance.

The big welcome

Home-made cakes, biscuits, a bottle of wine – they all provide a nice welcome

You want your guests to feel like they are on holiday as soon as they arrive at your property and step through the front door. Make sure everything they see is nicely presented and clean. From driveways to front doors, including windows and bin areas. Do a practice run and arrive at your cottage as if you were a guest and try to scrutinise everything they will see. One of the first things I look at when I arrive at a cottage are the windows. If they are clean and well presented (i.e. no flaky paint) on the outside, they are likely to be clean and tidy on the inside!

Ensure keys are left where promised and regularly check the guest keys work. This is a valuable lesson we recently learnt when guests couldn’t access our cottage as the key had become worn!

Make sure the cottage is nice and warm when the guests arrive. We once stayed in a cottage in the Lake District in October which had the storage heaters turned off. As nice as the cottage was, it wasn’t exactly the warm welcome we hoped for.

Present your holiday home as if it were a hotel. Guests obviously expect the property to be well cleaned but really show it off to its best. Make the beds up with beautifully pressed linen, plump up scatter cushions, have towels neatly displayed and make sure the house is aired and smells fresh.

In order to deliver that ‘little bit extra’, hold a few surprises back for arrival. Sometimes it is nicer to receive a surprise bottle of wine, rather than expecting one and being disappointed with the choice of grape! Welcome hampers, wine or breakfast for the first morning are all nice touches but surprises don’t have to be expensive. Think about what you would really appreciate being welcomed by after a long drive. We rarely receive a thank you for the chocolates and wine we leave for guests, but often receive one for the pint of milk, tea, coffee and biscuits!

There are plenty of inexpensive welcome surprises you can offer. Why not have the fire ready for lighting with a pot of marshmallows by the side for toasting, or bake a home-made cake? We find guests really appreciate fresh herbs growing on the windowsill, some fresh flowers from the garden in the bedroom and a convenience cupboard with some essentials such as toilet roll and dishwasher tablets. If your property accepts pets you can go the extra mile and leave them some doggy treats and a map with some suggestions for walks and dog friendly cafes. If your property has lots of families with children staying provide a few toys, puzzles and books for the kids. Content and occupied children will result in happy and relaxed parents! Take a look at our guide about how to create a holiday home that both parents and children will adore.

Provide guests with concise welcome information so they can quickly find their way around the property and local area. We provide our guests with a welcome letter with all the information they should require to get them going. This includes how to operate the heating, hot water and waste collection etc. We also have a welcome folder for them to read at their leisure with more detailed information which includes recommended restaurants, appliance user guides, local contact numbers, walks and beaches. No one knows the property and local area better than you, so share this knowledge with your guests to make sure they get the most out of their stay.

If you are not available to welcome your guests, give them a call on the first evening to check they are happy. This will allow you to answer any questions they may have and should there be any problems, you’ll be able to sort them out quickly before they fester.

Creating a good first impression is arguably even more important if your booking has come via an OTA (Online Travel Agency) where the guests are likely to have paid service and commission fees on top of the normal price. Whilst this might result in higher guest expectations, if your listing is accurate and you are able to add a few special extra touches, there will be little reason for anyone to be disappointed.

Happy guests equal happy owners

Setting the right impression from the onset will get your guests holiday off to a good start. If they get lost, can’t find the key, enter a cold cottage and then have the beds to make, the chances are their holiday mood will have gone. You can’t control their whole holiday. The weather might not be perfect, someone might be ill, or the washing machine might break. But you can do your best to ensure each guest has a warm welcome. If they have had a good start to their holiday they are more likely to not worry about small details that might not be perfect and be more forgiving if something does go unavoidably wrong! The more things you can get right from the start, the more likely you are to have happy guests, good reviews and repeat bookings.