Knowing how to be a good vacation rental guest is slightly different than being a good hotel guest. You are staying in someone’s home after all. I truly believe that the vast majority of guests want to give their hosts a good experience. Owners and vacation rental managers work hard to make sure guests have a great stay, so why not return the favor? Here are some of the ways you can avoid being “that guest” to your vacation rental host.
Read the Vacation Rental Listing Carefully
Every vacation rental is different. A quality vacation rental owner will know this and will make sure to clearly and accurately describe their home when marketing it online.
A quick scan of a vacation rental listing may say that a property sleeps 6 people, for example. What you may not now, if you don’t read the listing description, is that this includes one person on a sofa bed and one on an inflatable mattress. Similarly not all vacation rentals come with hotel-type amenities such as coffee or bath soap. Again this will typically be detailed in the description.
Good vacation rental owners and managers do not want to mislead their guests. The information is all there. You just have to do your part and be an informed guest. Having unrealistic expectations is the quickest way to a bad experience for you and your host.
Be Honest with Your Host
One of the most important parts of being a good vacation rental guest involves not taking advantage of your host’s trust. The entire foundation for vacation rentals and room sharing is built on mutual trust. You are trusting that your host is providing a clean, comfortable place to stay. Your host is trusting you with the use of his property.
Be honest in regards to your group size, whether or not you have a pet, the ages of your group members and other important details. If you break something during your stay, tell your host. If it was an honest accident or something of little value, they probably won’t even charge you for it.
Know the House Rules and Follow Them
Most house rules are common sense. Most vacation rentals do not allow smoking, for example. Please do not try bring a pet if the vacation home is not pet friendly. Even some areas of the home, such as the garage or owner’s closet might be inaccessible to guests. Some communities might not allow street parking and many will have “quiet time” hours.
Do a quick read through of the house rules when you arrive, or better yet beforehand when you book. Rules are in place for a reason. Respect the property owner and follow them.
Respect the Neighbors
One of the great things about a vacation rental is you can live like a local. Just keep in mind that the locals around you probably aren’t on vacation. The neighbors have work in the morning, just like you would if you were at home. Be courteous and keep any noise to a minimum after dark. Also make sure to respect any boundaries and don’t trespass onto someone else’s property.
Follow the Check-out Procedures
I have worked in hospitality for most of my life. I have cleaned more than my share of rooms and have seen things I won’t repeat here. For those of you who have not had similar job experience, here is a little secret: working as a housekeeper is very hard work. Of course housekeepers get paid to do a job (usually paid quite well) and we all expect them to do their job properly.
That doesn’t mean that you can act like an absolute pig and expect someone else to clean up because it is their job. Most vacation rentals ask guests to collect trash and if possible place in a dumpster, load and start the dishwasher and put all the furniture back to where it was when you arrived.
Taking care of these simple check-out procedures will be much appreciated by the hard-working housekeeping crew, and it really is the courteous thing to do.
Be Respectful of your Host and Their Time
Hosts are usually more than happy to make themselves available to you throughout your stay to answer questions, handle problems and provide local recommendations.
This doesn’t mean you should call your host at midnight to ask the channel number for ESPN. First of all, your host most likely has a guest book with a channel list. Secondly, this is one of the quirks of renting a self-catering vacation rental. The guest is, to a reasonable extent, left to their own devices.
Your host or vacation rental manager should not make you feel as if you are a burden every time you as for help. You should feel welcome to contact them if you have a question or an issue. That said there is a fine line between asking a few questions and being a needy guest.
Treat the Vacation Rental as you Would Your Own Home
This last one should be easy. Simply treat your vacation rental as you would your own home. Perhaps your kids spilled a drink on someone’s brand new hardwood floors. Would you wait two days to clean it up if this was your home?
It really is as simple as that. You are on vacation, so have fun! You should not be stressing about cleaning up every five minutes. Just show the property the same respect that you would expect others to show your own.
