When your vacation rental is not in the condition to perform at its highest level, you’re losing out on your potential earnings. The most common reason properties are underperforming is investors trying to avoid the cost of interior design upgrades, but what they don’t know about is the massive impact it has on profitability.
What’s the one factor that determines the success of a short term rental? You probably wouldn’t have guessed it was “delight”, but according to a new study it is. That’s because delighted guests provide the best reviews, which increases bookings, which raises nightly rates, and ultimately results in higher gross revenue.
At Magic Interiors, we combine our expertise in interior design, with the science of consumer behavior, and apply it to our unique vacation rental market, to help our clients get the most out of their new short term rental investment property.
1. Photos matter. Having a “WOW ” cover photo is the key factor in your listings noticeability. Cover photos alone can predict the click rate on a listing. The better the cover photo, the more views the listing gets. Themed room cover photos are clicked on more often than non themed photos. Having 50+ professionally taken photos on your listing significantly increases occupancy rates. Photos are your first opportunity to delight your guests.
2. One of the things a lot of investors don’t realize is how much of an impact guest experience has on occupancy and average nightly rate. The best interior design is created to produce the best possible guest experience.
3. Exterior living space is just as important as inside. Pools with inviting outdoor furniture give your guests more to enjoy. You don’t want to overlook your outdoor living area. Take advantage of every square foot of potential to insight delight.
4. A fresh coat of paint on the walls can go a long way. It can make a room appear newer, nicer, and cleaner. An accent wall can transform a bedroom, and you can save quite a bit of money updating old ugly cupboards with a little paint and new hardware for an updated modern look for a lot less than removal and replacement.
5. Themed rooms have the power of social media on their side. YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram have mega reachability potential with the countless social media influencers that focus on travel and unique places to stay, and some that even make videos about all things Disney. If you reach out to them, you can always find someone who’s delighted to stay for a free weekend and do a video tour of the property to post online. Taking advantage of these advertisement opportunities is one of the fastest, easiest, most inexpensive ways to reach a very large audience that would have otherwise gone untapped.
6. Guests experience delight when they have the opportunity to enjoy things they don’t have at their own homes. One example might be adding a game room with an air hockey table, arcade games, and a popcorn machine.
7. A welcoming first impression sets the tone for the rest of their stay. A well lit entryway and a welcome basket with hand written notes and gifts that are local to the area is a sure fire way to impress, and increase your odds of delighting your guests.
8. Guests are willing to pay a premium to feel pampered with a luxury experience. High quality sheets and towels, an extra satin pillowcase, having the option of both a soft and a firm pillow, an extra soft blanket, makeup removing wipes, extra toothbrushes, high quality shampoo and conditioner, makeup removing wipes, robes and slippers, extra hangers, rainfall shower heads, 85 inch TV’s all create a delightful luxury experience guests are willing to pay more for.
9. Online listings that are bright and colorful are. The right use of color and a cohesive design will stand out in a crowd. Accent walls and themed rooms are an easy way to do this. This is called a “pattern break”. It gives you noticeability while scrolling through dozens and dozens of your competitors listings.
10. Creating a one of a kind experience sets you apart from all your cookie cutter competition. Think supply and demand. When you have something desirable and in demand, and you are the only supply, you create a bidding war between buyers. When you have something less desirable with a high supply, it drives the price down because the only thing you can offer as incentive to a buyer is a lower price. Now you make less profit, which means less money to reinvest in updating and maintaining the property.
Now that you have all of this valuable information, all you have left to do is apply it. The process can seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. We’re here to help. Our team of skilled, talented, and experienced professionals handle all of your project needs from start to finish, so you don’t have to.