It’s that time of year when we take stock of our lives. Look back on the past year and think about our highs and our lows. Our holiday home is no exception. It’s time to reflect on the amount of time, hard work and sometimes stress you’ve put into taking paying guests this year. Was […]
Recently I’ve been looking to book a family holiday for one week in July, so I turned to the listing sites where I could deal directly with the onwer. Thinking this would be the easiest, quickest, and smoothest way to book. Sadly, my recent experience as a guest, is a lesson in how not to behave […]
When setting your pricing you must always: offer value for money know your ideal guests then market your value for money property to them 1. Value for Money Take this example of two holiday apartments. Apartment 1 is a one-bed basic apartment priced at £300 a week. It’s basic, no extras; what you see is what you […]
As we move into the low season it’s natural that the booking calendar is looking leaner than it did a few months ago. Don’t panic it’s to be expected but don’t sit on your laurels either. Here’s what you can do to get more bookings for your holiday home in low season. 1. Talk it up […]
Or put another way, how to style a vacation rental / holiday home. Only a few of us have the money to employ an interior designer. So, we do it ourselves and as a result styling mistakes are often made. Easy for me to say, as I’m a styling professional and it’s my job to spot these […]
When it comes to providing guests with facilities and extra touches and attention to detail, then the more the better. But there are times when the old adage “less is more” applies. Is it really necessary to stock your holiday rental with items that serve no purpose? That clutter up the place? That cause guest frustration? […]
How to market your holiday rental Picture the scene You’ve spent all that time and effort on marketing your holiday rental and convincing guests to book with you. They do and they are not disappointed. You exceed their expectations and they have a fantastic time in your holiday rental, in your part of the world. […]
SCUMP time – that’s what! SCUMP time for me, is a couple of days booked out of the availability calendar, every few months to tackle Sorting, Cleaning, Updating, Maintaining, Painting in more detail. And I’ve set aside a few days the beginning of June to do just that. Tasks that are all part of the weekly housekeeping checks […]
Do you feel that you’re “doing” Twitter because you feel you should? You spend time on Twitter talking about your holiday rental but you feel that no-one is really listening? Twitter is so busy and fast moving that you’re struggling to be heard above the noise? You’re not alone. It’s true that there is a lot […]
As holiday rental owners, that’s exactly what we want to do – increase profits from your holiday home. But how? Some would advocate you invest as little as possible, offer your holiday rental for a mediocre amount of money each week and as a result fill it as many weeks as possible. But why? When there’s so little […]
Boutique hotels are synonymous with stylish interiors, attention to detail, personal touches and great customer service and therefore attract high-end guests. These qualities are the same as I teach, advocate, and live and breath as a holiday rental coach and owner. And as owners of quality holiday properties I know you will be offering these […]
Do you know you need help with your holiday home? Yet you plough on, chasing your tail, trying to manage it and run it all by yourself. Yes? Well you need to get help! That’s certainly how I used to be. But I had a choice; to carry on complaining about how much I had to do or […]
And I don’t mean the type you have to call 999 for, I mean the real fire, in the fireplace, that guests just love! And sitting here in winter, wrapped up in my home office, with a rug on my lap (and sadly no fire in sight), I can understand why! A real fire or log […]
For all holiday rental owners the purpose of our website is to ultimately get people to book. Yes we want website visitors to stay on our pages, to look at our lovely photographs, to read about us, but ultimately we want them to progress to making a booking. To increase your chance of this happening: Here […]
Here are my tips on how to prepare and decorate your holiday home for Christmas, so they’re ready for your Christmas guests. It’s our job as holiday rental owners to not only provide accommodation, but to help guests create new and special holiday memories and this is particularly important over the festive period. By being prepared […]