In the holiday rental sector, competition is fierce and travellers are spoilt for choice. The traveller's experience begins well before arrival, and establishes a bond of trust that has become as important as the quality of the property.
Here are 5 practical best practices to help you achieve this.
1. Communicate in advance of arrival
Your traveller will take the time to search and compare, and when they choose you, they're not just booking accommodation: they're expecting to live an experience. Their stay begins even before they arrive. So it's important to communicate with them as soon as they book: they'll feel reassured and a bond of trust will be established.
We recommend that you send a detailed welcome message 7 days before arrivalThis will enable them to anticipate and prepare for their departure. In particular, you can include all the questions you receive on a regular basis to reduce the number of exchanges during their stay. It's important to personalise your messages: it's the little details that will arouse the curiosity of your travellers.
2. Dematerialising the deposit
Communicating early and well is essential, but the traveller experience also depends on more practical aspects, such as managing deposits. Often a source of friction and mistrust, it can be a real asset if it is well thought out.
This is where Swikly No more cheques to ask for on arrival or credit card prints to take manually! The Swikly deposit is a digitised bank imprint that travellers fill in before their arrival, within a time limit that you choose. It does not block funds on the bank card and makes it possible to secure the deposit upstream. If you need to cash in all or part of a deposit, everything is done via a dedicated interface, and any disputes will be handled by the Swikly team. This solution will save you between 5 and 8 minutes per file!
3. Flexible, stress-free check-in
We're all familiar with those stressful holiday departures because of traffic jams, long journeys and children who can't wait to get to their destination. But there's nothing worse for your holidaymaker than encountering a problem on arrival! We advise you to take care of your check-in so that you can offer a flexible, stress-free solution.
Many options are available on the market for creating stand-alone arrivals, such as key boxes or connected locks to manage late arrivals. You are also advised to adapt your check-in to the profile of your property and your guests. If you have top-of-the-range properties with a very demanding clientele, a face-to-face check-in will be more appreciated. We remind you that the first impression is the most decisive and will set the tone for the whole stay, so don't miss it!
4. An on-site concierge service
In a world where everything is automated and replaced by AI, the real added value for your traveller remains human availability. If you want to apply all these best practices but, caught up in your already busy day-to-day life, you don't have enough time to devote to it, we recommend that you call on the services of a concierge service that is present on the ground, such as Manasteos for our readers in the south of France.
Local knowledge is a real added value, especially if you don't live close to your rental location. They are more likely to be able to offer useful tips, a network of local partners and in-depth knowledge of the area. What if your traveller has a problem at 10pm? The Manasteos team is on hand to solve the problem without you having to intervene. Your traveller will feel reassured to have a human presence at their side - and that makes all the difference.
5. Collecting and making the most of traveller reviews
Reviews are the number one factor in booking decisions, so it's important to collect them and make the most of them to improve your booking rate. We recommend that you take care when requesting reviews by writing a message that is as human as possible and explaining why it is important for you to obtain this feedback.
The best time to collect them is around one week after the traveller's departure They'll be back from their trip and more inclined to take the time to reply. Despite all your efforts, you may receive negative reviews - in this case, turn this bad experience into proof of your professionalism by replying to them. This good practice may seem trivial, but it's the key to boosting your online ranking.
You can also incorporate reviews directly into your communications on social networks or in your various advertisements. The snowball effect is immediate: the more reviews you collect, the more visibility and bookings you'll get!
Conclusion
Improving the traveller experience is not just for large hotel groups; it's within the reach of every owner who decides to invest a little time and method. Advance communication, dematerialised deposits, frictionless check-in, a human presence on the ground and the collection of reviews: With these 5 practices, you're on your way to a successful experience.
Just remember that it's the little things that make all the difference. Take care of every detail, and your travellers will remember.
