23. May 2011
| by
John
As an owner of a vacation rental, you are probably accustomed to asking your renters to leave the place exactly as they found it. Over the years, this has been the accepted norm for many owners of vacation rental property. However, some owners are finding that tourists are not at all interested in cleaning at the end of their stay.
Embrace New Ideas!
That has spawned a new and unique way of handling the aspect of cleaning your cottage or cabin. Many of today’s vacationers have the money to pay extra for someone else to it. These are the kind of people who probably don’t even do the cleaning in their own homes.
Well-to-do travelers like these would prefer to simply pay more for the privilege of leaving the cabin or condo in a mess. After all, how much does it really cost to have a housekeeper come in and do dishes, make beds and vacuum?
The Luxury of Not Having to Clean
Offering your renters the option NOT to clean gives you just one more item that many renters would consider an amenity. It could even become a reason why they might prefer staying in your vacation rental over the one right down the road.
This is probably one of those “ideas whose time has come” and in the future, we will see a great many more vacation rental owners offering this amenity to their renters.
Making the Idea Work
This concept can actually work very well for both you and your tourists. The trick to making it work is in establishing an excellent relationship with a local house cleaning company or even a couple of reliable individuals in your community who do house cleaning.
Simply call them when someone checks in and let your housekeeping service know that you will probably need their services within a week or so. When vacationers clean their own cottage or cabin, you must always go behind them and tidy up anyway. Let’s face it! Most vacationers aren’t really interested in doing a superb job of cleaning your cabin or cottage.
Impress your Renters with a Few Niceties
With a professional cleaning service, you will have the peace of mind knowing that everything is done correctly and that your vacation property is nice and clean for the next tenants. You might even pay them a little extra to come down just before new tourists arrive to freshen the cottage up a bit and place fresh cut flowers on a table to welcome your new guests.
Tourists appreciate these kinds of “thoughtful little extras” that you can’t get in a large chain hotel. They remember these kind gestures and even tell their friends once they get back home. As all business people know, word-of-mouth is your best advertisement.
Give the Idea a Test Drive!
If you have been thinking about trying this but are still unsure, than you might try it out for one season and see what kind of response you get. It may add a lot more value to your vacation rental property than you think.
