My sister and I planned to visit Rome during the Christmas holidays in 2018. Initially, it was an exciting experience as it was our first time booking an Airbnb. However, it turned out to be the worst and the last one too.
To begin with, the property owner couple who were named the hosts did not exist, and a creepy man who was pretending to be the partner of Natacha was the only host!
Additionally, the linens were not spotlessly clean, and there was no breakfast served, although it was included in the services when we booked it.
Furthermore, the first time we wanted to shower, the water was deadly cold, and I had a cold shower in December. Despite all of these issues, we decided to overlook them because of the Pantone he gifted us to improve their guest experience. That’s why we ignored that awful experience and did not leave him any complaint or bad review.
This Airbnb experience underscored the significance of guest experience. Despite a host’s unsettling behaviour, a thoughtful gesture prevented negative feedback.
As we celebrate World Tourism Day and its emphasis on sustainable and responsible tourism, it’s crucial to reflect on the importance of guest satisfaction in the hospitality industry. But what exactly defines a positive guest experience, and how can vacation rental businesses enhance it?
Table of Contents
What Is Guest Experience?
Guest experience is the customer experience of a hospitality business. My sister and I had a terrible experience with our Airbnb host. The person we believed was the host turned out to be a complete stranger posing as the partner of the listed host.
We faced issues like a cold shower, a missing breakfast, and unclean linens. Despite all these problems, we decided to overlook them because of a thoughtful gift we received. A recent SuperOffice article highlights that informed customers are more likely to share their experiences, making it essential for businesses to deliver exceptional service.
What Is the Importance of Guest Experience?
Ezeeabsolute mentions the loss of customers to competitors as the result of the lousy guest experience. Your hospitality-related business might get hurt because of losing:
- Guests
- Revenue
- Reputation
A poor guest experience can lead to lost customers and revenue. By prioritising customer satisfaction, you can cultivate a loyal customer base and attract new guests through referrals.
Here’s how:
1. More Recurring Guests
The more satisfied you keep your guests, the higher the number of your recurring guests will be. To retain guests, focus on enhancing their vacation rental experience. Happy guests are the cornerstone of successful hospitality.
2. Increase in Revenue
Customers will pay more for a better customer experience. Offering superior services sets your vacation rental apart from competitors, allowing you to command premium rates. After all, guests rarely regret investing in an exceptional experience.
Superoffice highlights a Temkin Group study demonstrating the strong correlation between customer experience investment and revenue growth within three years.
3. More Referrals, More Guests
Happy customers are willing to tell their friends about their experience. Customer retention means that your satisfied guests will refer your vacation rental to their friends if they find it a good value for money.
What Makes a Great Vacation Rental Experience? Essential Components for Success
Prioritising guest satisfaction is a constant endeavour for vacation rental managers and their teams. To create a five-star guest experience, short-term rental managers must focus on specific areas of their business. Below are just some of the most important ones:
- Communication
- Smooth Booking Process
- Cleanliness
- Amenities
- Well-Maintained Place
- Importance of Details
How to Improve Guest Experience in a Vacation Rental Business
1. The Art of Communication to Improve Guest Experience
Effective communication with guests, both current and past, is crucial for improving the overall guest experience and boosting revenue.
Current Guests:
- Do not leave communicating with your new guests for some days or hours before arrival. Instead, initiate communication to let them know you value their experience of booking your vacation rental. Additionally, make sure to provide the newcomers with the required information before arrival.
- What is your approach to communicating with guests? Always good to show them you remember their name and reservations. You will decide on calling them by their family name or not.
- Pay attention to the guests during their stay and try to be available.
- Listen to the guests if they are not satisfied with the service and resolve any issues as your top priority.
- Encourage guests to leave reviews on Airbnb or your website. According to BrightLocal, over 90% of consumers now read online reviews for local businesses, highlighting their increased reliance on reviews for making informed decisions.
- Make sure you and all your staff are familiar with the details of your properties to be prepared to answer guest requests.
Previous Guests:
- Your previous guests are a precious asset of your vacation rental business, and the goal is to bring them back again. Build up your guest CRM during the booking process or pay for CRM software. Try to store as much information as possible, even their preferred meal or their anniversary date.
- Set up email marketing campaigns and offer your previous guests tempting discounts and customer loyalty rewards.
- Inform them about the festivals and events around your properties.
- Inform guests if travel restrictions allow them to visit your area.
Future Guests:
- Promote your local attractions in social media and increase your exposure. Use social media platforms as an engagement tool.
- Take advantage of live chat tools and chatbots to minimise the response time on your website.
2. Smooth Booking Process
- Providing a smooth and seamless booking process makes substantial impact on guest experience. Hassle-free check-ins and easy check-out process always make good impressions. Online check-in process should not require the guests to fill in long check-in forms. Provide guests with clear and timely check-in information, and promptly refund their security deposit after check-out if there are no problems.
3. Offering Spotlessly Clean Rentals
- Cleanliness is paramount for a successful vacation rental business. Hygienic standards might be different from individual to individual and from culture to culture. In my story, the creepy host used a domestic washing machine to launder the linens, which were still not clean enough to meet today’s hygiene standards in the hospitality industry.
- Zeevou has assembled a free checklist in an article, “Remotely Monitor Your Airbnb’s Cleanliness.” [Grab your free checklist by reading our blog post.]
4. Well-Maintained Place
When booking a vacation rental, people seek a perfect experience, not one reminiscent of their homes. Enhance your in-room amenities. A vacation rental with leaking faucets, broken furniture or a messy garden will not delight your guests.
5. Relevant Amenities
Required amenities for vacation rental properties differ based on their potential guests’ segmentations. In “5 Factors to Look Out for When Choosing Arbitrage Properties”, we have discussed some of these.
Anticipate business travellers’ needs and ensure your rentals are equipped with the necessary amenities and facilities. Again, it all depends on your niche and the expectation of your guests. You can also have a list of corporate housing companies that help hunt business travellers from here.
6. Importance of Details
Paying attention to details makes huge differences. Expressing gratitude through personalised touches, like handwritten notes, small gifts, or thoughtfully stocked fridges, can greatly elevate the guest experience. In the Airbnb example, the host’s failure to address the unclean linens and the thoughtful gesture of providing a Pantone gift highlight the contrast between a poor and a positive guest experience.
Conclusion
Customer experience is the same as guest experience in the hospitality industry. Improving guest experience in your vacation rental business increases your ROI and is a win-win investment.
This article explored key guest experience components and outlined six strategies for enhancing your vacation rental offerings. Implementing all these tips can be challenging. We would like to hear about your experiences!
