If you rent out or manage your vacation, it is vital to pay attention to the check-out experience of your guests. Indeed, after the initial reservation, the guest’s check-in and their stay, it is necessary to end their stay on a positive note. In this article, we offer you 6 tips to enhance your guest’s check-out experience after they are done staying in your holiday rental.
The check-out / departure of your travelers
The end of your travelers’ stay is one of the key stages of their trip. The check-out corresponds to the moment when your guests will leave your vacation rental: tidying up, handing over the keys and departure mark the end of their stay.
6 tips for a better check-out in vacation rentals
Wouldn’t it be a shame for guests to leave with a bitter taste in their mouth? Here are 6 tips to improve the check-out process of your short term rental.
Clearly announce the check-out time in your communication
As mentioned in our article on the arrival of travelers, clear communication is essential for a smooth stay. So in your listing on the various booking portals, your website, your house rules and in all your communication, remember to clearly indicate the departure time.
Indeed, a fixed time of departure / check-out is necessary to ensure successful management of your short term rental. Imagine yourself in high season when your rental will have to be cleaned and ready to welcome your future guests within a few hours.
Give all the information for an autonomous departure
Self check-in goes hand in hand with autonomous departure. If you offer this flexible option to your travelers, be sure to tell them how to return the keys, for example how to deposit them in your key box if you use one. You can share all this information either by email or in your Guest Guide for example.
Doing an inventory of fixtures
Your vacation rental is busy! Travelers come and go, and as a rental owner, you may encounter things that break. A chipped mug, a broken plate, or a glass that has fallen on the floor can all happen very quickly. Nothing serious. Your travelers will let you know if this happens and it won’t affect your rental business.
On the other hand, in case of more important damage (flood, fire, etc.), then your insurance should take over. If you list on Airbnb, since 2021, the platform offers insurance included under AirCover.
Conduct a cleaning checklist
Your travelers already pay a cleaning fee, whether they book directly via your own website or via the booking portals. So you are not going to ask them to clean your rental. On the other hand, you can ask them to put their dirty dishes in the dishwasher, to remove their sheets or to empty the fridge before departure to avoid leaving food lying around.
As for cleaning between bookings, you can arrange to have your rental cleaned efficiently with our guide to cleaning a vacation rental for more information.
Send a thank you note
Once your guests have left, consider sending them a thank you email or text message. It’s important to leave a good impression on your travelers and show them that you care about your vacation rental business. Indeed, the humanization of your business is important for many travelers.
You can also share your professional social networks Instagram and Facebook for example and thus expand your online community.
In addition, you can build loyalty among your travelers, ensuring they come back year after year. This will easily lead to many new reservations to help fill your calendar.
Leave a review
If your reservation is made through a rental platform like Airbnb for example, you can leave a review for your travelers and they will do the same. Then you will be able to see their evaluation after their stay on your Airbnb ad page.
If you need to know more about reviews, how to leave them and some examples, check out our Smoobu guide “Airbnb reviews“.
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