Having just travelled through Europe for the past two months, staying in short-term rental properties has left us feeling like we know a thing or two about how to wow your guests, or disappoint them.
The short-term rental market has boomed over the past decade. A convenience for travellers and a good source of additional income for owners. Just throwing in some furniture and launching it on an app as a short- term rental is not enough and there are a few things to consider.
Getting things right structurally should simply be a given. The proportions need to be fit for purpose whether it is a full house or a studio apartment. It's not just about fitting the furniture in to suit you or your family, it needs to work for a broad range of potential guests of different shapes and sizes.
Be mindful that guests are travellers, and this means they come with baggage, not necessarily the emotional type, but the suitcase variety which needs to fit inside the space with them. Make sure you allow for this. Allow places for them to be able to open their luggage, and to store it with minimal impact on the space.
Ensure your short-term offering lives up to the brief because presenting less than promised will likely come back to bite you. We have seen apartments that would make a comfortable one-bedroom stay, that have been cleverly chopped-up into two-bed two-bath, to capture bigger groups and greater returns. If there's not enough space, it will disappoint and equate to bad reviews that will be guaranteed to hurt in the hip pocket in the long run.
Our most recent Mykonos stay was in a small house with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, ideal for a group of four. It hit so many high notes, a stunning location with water view, no noise transfer from the neighbours, well equipped with everything thought of for the perfect stay. Except, the shower in our bathroom was nothing more than an afterthought. At 70 X 70 centimetres, the shower alcove was ridiculously small and would have meant a person bigger than either of us simply would not fit.
One issue consistent across most places we have stayed has been lack of necessities. There is no point having an oven or a stove top without the necessary tools to utilise them. Also, if the apartment is designed for four, make sure there is at least enough cutlery and crockery. Oh, and while we're at it, wine glasses should be a given, and a water glass is not a wine glass. These are simple things that can easily be overlooked but they impact the overall experience. Most often people choose a short-term rental to save some money by preparing and cooking food at home, so they will be looking for these amenities.
It really doesn't have to cost a bomb to both stock your short-term rental with all the standard requirements, and a few extras to make your guests feel they've been well considered.
Same goes for the styling, whether it is high-end luxury or a budget offering, styling should look special and we know this can be done on any budget. Keep it simple, your guests are not coming to admire your styling prowess, but they need to feel its liveable, welcoming and special.
If the management of listing and turning-over the property between guests is not your thing, do some research and you will find a plethora of small and large groups that can manage this process for you. It can make it easy, as changing sheets and washing towels may not be your career choice.
Get it right, and being a short-term rental host can be very lucrative. Good luck and make sure you book in a few weeks for yourself before it sells out.
- See mitchandmark.com and listen to their Reality Reno podcast.
