As a vacation rental host, one of your biggest goals is likely to maintain high occupancy rates. Regardless of the season, it’s hard work ensuring your listing is inviting, intriguing, and unique.
You’ve probably done all the right things by including specific words and offering awesome amenities, but are you possibly missing out on something more? Believe it or not, you might be.
With schools finishing up for the year all across the country, families are jumping into vacation season feet first and are looking for places to host them and their brood. If you want to really set yourself apart from your competition, consider these 5 reasons why you should be seeking to rent to families – specifically those with kids.
1. Airbnb homes are ideal for families – and they’re actively searching for them.
Vacations can get expensive. When you throw children into the mix, those expenses get even higher. Between the cost of accommodation and the expense of eating out, parents are often looking for creative ways to save a few bucks.
According to a report conducted by Airbnb on family travel, guests staying in vacation rentals instead of hotels during their trip save anywhere from 11-42% on their accommodation costs. That adds up fast!
All in all, vacation rentals give families the break they’re looking for. By having a kitchen available, a separate space for the children to sleep, access to a washer and dryer, and additional included amenities like Netflix or free premium TV channels, you’re giving family renters more reasons to shop for a vacation rental over a hotel.
2. Fewer hosts are actively marketing to families with children.
It will likely take a little extra work to make your place appealing to folks with littles. From creating a space that’s “baby-proofed” to including extra kid-friendly amenities like toys, age-appropriate gaming systems, and accompanying games, or a fully-themed bedroom, the more you do to be family-friendly, the further your efforts will go.
Adding special touches to your home entices family renters to choose your space over others because it caters directly to not just what they need but what their kids will enjoy.
3. You can raise your rates or fees.
You may be worried that raising your rates will take you out of the game when it comes to effectively catering to families. Actually, the opposite is true.
Even though families are looking to save some money, they also understand that their needs don’t come cheap. Finding a safe, clean, and reputable place can be challenging enough. Finding one that has extra amenities is even more difficult and can be akin to finding a needle in a haystack!
While it’s true that many parents are looking at vacation rentals over hotels in order to save a few bucks, there are plenty of families also willing to pay more for the non-hotel experience. Not only that, but consider all the areas where your guests might be able to cut costs by staying with you: Meal expenses, extra amenities, and more. Chances are, even with your rates slightly higher, you’re still giving those guests a break on their budget.
4. Kid-friendly vacation rentals are even more likely to result in repeat and referral guests.
Parents talk… a lot. This is especially true when they have a good story and they want to brag to all their friends about it.
Rest assured that if you provide your family vacation renters with a stellar experience, they will be telling everyone they know about it on their Facebook and Twitter pages. This is the best kind of advertising because it’s free to you and costs your guests nothing.
Families are also more likely to return to the same destinations for family vacations than their kid-less counterparts year after year. In addition to suggesting your place to other families (or even kid-free groups who would fit well into your space), you increase your odds of having the same guests return time after time.
5. You have more unique opportunities to set yourself apart from hotels and other nearby listings.
Families with kids need more stuff. We’re not talking about more fancy amenities, per se, but we are talking about high chairs, cribs or pack-and-plays, bed guardrails, nightlights, and other items that are the norm in a house with children.
Think about all the items parents buy to take care of their children on a regular basis. Need help determining what those things are? Check out the baby registry pages on Babies R Us or Target.com for a better idea of all the things it takes to care for a young child. Now think about how parents manage to travel with all those extra things in tow.
Feeling stressed yet? Welcome to life as a parent!
By offering some of these items – like special beds, kids’ plates and cutlery, or dinner table seating via high chairs or booster seats (and more importantly, by not charging extra fees for them) – you’re giving parents even more reason to rent from you and leave you a rave review.
If you’re considering adding some kid-specific amenities, you don’t need to spring for the most expensive items you see out there. Even mid-range cribs and stairway safety gates will be appreciated by parents. Do what you can within reason and think about where you feel your investment will make the most sense.
Don’t let the family angle go untapped. If you’re looking to increase your chances of staying fully booked this year, making a point to reach families is a surefire way to meet your goal.
Interested in learning more about how MaidThis! helps vacation rental hosts? Contact us for more information on our vacation rental turnover cleanings.
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