What have you learnt from renting other people's properties

How to communicate with your potential renters - how to turn site visitors into enquiries, and enquiries into bookings.
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

Lovely as she was, she oughtn't to be in the business of rentals unless she can do the thing properly! All those things are fairly fundamental!
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goosie
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Post by goosie »

Partridge - forgive me for being stupid but your item 3 - only salt and pepper provided meant you couldn't have eggs and bacon in the morning - what were you expecting and what has that to do with salt and pepper :?
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Partridge
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Post by Partridge »

goosie wrote:Partridge - forgive me for being stupid but your item 3 - only salt and pepper provided meant you couldn't have eggs and bacon in the morning - what were you expecting and what has that to do with salt and pepper :?
Oops have re read it Goosie, no, I didn't expect eggs & bacon provided. I just meant because I (and most LMH'ers) leave a mix of 'basics' i.e herbs, oils etc I kind of assumed there would be some cooking oil of some description (I took my eggs & bacon with me) and whereas I might have thought it unimportant realised that to me it was :oops: Salt & pepper was the only cupboard item provided. Funny thing was there was cotton wool, shampoos, hand lotions etc in the bathrooms which was very pretty but it made me think that the money would be better spent on some basic cooking ingredients as I don't think anyone goes on holiday without bathroom 'stuff'...well, not deliberately anyway.

GG, the lady didn't ask me for feedback but I decided (being the big mouth that I am) that I would give her some recommendations anyway, not heard back yet :shock:
Don't waste energy on things you can't change.

Costa de la Luz apartment rental
www.ownersdirect.co.uk/spain/S5386.htm
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pambon
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Post by pambon »

Partridge wrote: Funny thing was there was cotton wool, shampoos, hand lotions etc in the bathrooms which was very pretty but it made me think that the money would be better spent on some basic cooking ingredients as I don't think anyone goes on holiday without bathroom 'stuff'...well, not deliberately anyway.
What no First Aid in the bathroom :?: Shame... it should be the first thing that Health & Safety look for :shock: Don't have H&S here but it's still provided, together with sewing utensils.
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pambon
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Post by pambon »

It has been mentioned to me in the past that the UK does not have a long tradition of hospitality which is the reason that many family run businesses such as B&B's, Guest Houses & Apartment rentals etc are not up to European standards.

I have heard complaints of standards of furnishings (in all it's aspects), cleanliness and hospitality itself, on the whole fall well below what one receives 'on the Continent'.

Many friends of mine have complained of this also in 3 star hotels; but 4 and 5 star are OK.

Do other LMH's agree on this?
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Windy
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Post by Windy »

It has been mentioned to me in the past that the UK does not have a long tradition of hospitality which is the reason that many family run businesses such as B&B's, Guest Houses & Apartment rentals etc are not up to European standards.
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pambon
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Post by pambon »

<fx> stands back and watches the fuse wire burning swiftly towards the explosive device</fx>


May I point out that I'm only going on hearsay and NOT personal experience......yet :D

Standards of hospitality at many places here also fall well below what is acceptable. That is something I can vouch for personally.
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Partridge
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Post by Partridge »

Tough question Pambon as I'm sure there are good and bad everywhere. I haven't had much experience of 3 star hotels but did stay in a few in Scotland (some were pub inns) and have to say the standard and service was pretty grim in 3 out of the 4 we stayed in. I often wondered if this was standard and a reason why Fibi does so extrememly well with her properties, they are superbly decorated with great facilities.

4 and 5 star hotels have always been ok.

Self catering, well like I said, this is the first time I have done it and I have to say, again, the place was furnished beautifully and the lady herself was delightful to deal with. What let it down was not having the foresight to deal with 'little' things which is where I think LMH has been a fantastic learning tool. None of us would be here if we weren't striving for perfection and we all realise that there can be variants between us on what 'perfection' means, so we try to pull all the variants in and create the utmost perfect self catering experience, from the property itself to the service we provide :D
Don't waste energy on things you can't change.

Costa de la Luz apartment rental
www.ownersdirect.co.uk/spain/S5386.htm
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Windy
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Post by Windy »

LMH has been a fantastic learning tool
Amen to that Party!

It certainly keeps you on your toes by making you ask questions of yourself.
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pambon
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Post by pambon »

Well said Partridge. Perfection, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, so if our guests return home happy then we have probably done our job well :D

The problem arises from those many rental owners who are not LMH's; perhaps we should attempt to pull them up to standard by getting them onto this site.

By the way, why is this site not advertised - or is it? I only found it by pure luck going into other sites (which I've now forgotten).
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Partridge
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Post by Partridge »

Well I did think of telling her about this site but thought that was a bit presumptious of me and if, heaven forbid, she finds it I'd better delete my posts pronto :shock: :shock:
Don't waste energy on things you can't change.

Costa de la Luz apartment rental
www.ownersdirect.co.uk/spain/S5386.htm
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Windy
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Post by Windy »

Funny - I can't remember how I found this site either. It certainly wasn't an advert though.

I think it was maybe that search for "haberdashery porn" that I did a while back 8)

Maybe there ought to be a sticky somewhere right at the front of the site asking people to say how they found it so Paolo can optimise it even better?
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pambon
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Post by pambon »

Windy wrote:Funny - I can't remember how I found this site either. It certainly wasn't an advert though.

I think it was maybe that search for "haberdashery porn" that I did a while back 8)

Maybe there ought to be a sticky somewhere right at the front of the site asking people to say how they found it so Paolo can optimise it even better?
Brilliant idea!
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paolo
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Post by paolo »

Windy wrote:Maybe there ought to be a sticky somewhere right at the front of the site asking people to say how they found it so Paolo can optimise it even better?
That would tell me what keywords the site is found for that are already on the site, but not what keywords it should be found for which are not on the site. Like when you look at your visitor stats, the really valuable thing they don't tell you is - what keywords are missing.
Paolo
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Windy
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Post by Windy »

Yes I thought about that after I posted Paolo :cry:

Hmmmm....
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