Peak Season Vacation Rental Checklist: How to Maximize Your Profits This Year

Peak season for your vacation rental market is already here. If you want to ensure an enjoyable stay for each guest and maximize your bookings, you need a plan that you can stick to. 

For hosts, this means figuring out how to make your rental home stand out from the competition. You’ll need to update your listing and follow vacation rental best practices to ensure that your property will impress your guests. You must also employ marketing strategies for vacation rentals to attract more bookings. 

If you’re ready to get started, follow this helpful vacation rental checklist to get ahead during peak season.

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Check and Adjust Your Property’s Amenities

Now is a great time to check whether the amenities that you offer meet the guests’ needs. First,  go over the vacation rental checklist of the basic items like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, paper towels, etc.

Take a close look at your previous feedback to see what guests expect from your property. Your task is to make your guests feel at home, and your reviews can be a great source of excellent ideas. If there are any common requests you can make changes to your vacation rental checklist of included amenities. 

Perhaps your guests regularly ask for more towels or would have preferred to have the kitchen stocked with some additional cooking items and utensils. If your main target audience is business travelers, an ironing board can be a good idea. Adjust your vacation rental checklist accordingly to ensure that your property is always stocked with these important items. 

If you are willing to go the extra mile, add amenities that are most valued by travelers. An automatic drip coffee maker, a hot tub or even a game console can make an awesome addition to your property.  

Do a Deep Cleaning

Just as you perform a deep cleaning of your own home occasionally, your vacation rental property deserves the same treatment. Hire a cleaning service to do a thorough cleaning that will focus on the hard to reach areas of your vacation rental. 

Make sure to add deep cleaning tasks for every room to your vacation rental cleaning checklist. Dust light fixtures and clear away ceiling cobwebs. Clean the tops and insides of bathroom and kitchen cabinets. Wash the floor underneath appliances and clean window treatments. 

You’ll also want to give any outdoor areas a thorough cleaning as well. Powerwash the patio, porch or deck and any walkways. Wash down outdoor furniture and tend to the landscaping by clearing away leaves and other debris.

Renovate Your Property

If a deep cleaning won’t be enough to impress your guests, try a quick renovation.

Replace outdated, worn out or broken furniture. Give the walls a fresh coat of paint to cover up dirty spots and peeling paint. Change out old décor for a few new items. When you’re done, take new photos to replace the ones that no longer accurately represent your property.

Perform a Safety Check

As you go about cleaning and updating your amenities, you should also make sure that your property is safe and secure with a vacation rental safety checklist. Change out the batteries in carbon monoxide and smoke detectors. While fire extinguishers should be inspected every 30 days, check them again now. 

Make sure that all light bulbs are the correct wattage for the fixtures that they’ve been placed in. You can also save on energy costs by switching out regular bulbs for energy-efficient ones. Have your appliances checked to make sure that they are working properly?

During peak season, the weather may also change. Now is the time to check on your heating and cooling system. The fireplace, roof, and gutters should also be inspected to ensure that they are doing their jobs.

Promote Your Properties During Peak Season

Skillful vacation rental management just can’t do without a marketing strategy for your property. During peak season, you need to know how to make your vacation rental stand out from other vacation homes to attract better reviews. The properties that have the best reviews are the ones that will receive the most bookings. 

Here are a few peak season promotion tips to add to your vacation rental checklist:

Offer a Special Welcome

If you know that your guests are traveling to your city for a special occasion, offer them a special welcome at no extra charge. For example, if your guest is celebrating a birthday, buy balloons or a small welcome gift for them. If your guests are arriving for a romantic weekend, leave a vase of roses and a bottle of champagne for them on the kitchen counter.

A special welcome is an easy way to impress your guests. Small items that add a ‘wow’ factor are simple enough to add to your vacation rental checklist without increasing your expenses significantly.

Provide Special Offers

Special offers are a useful tool to help property managers fill in any gaps in bookings during peak season and to persuade guests to book with them over the competition. With a special offer, you can set a custom price for guests. Special offers help to create a sense of urgency since they expire in 24 hours. During peak season, guests know that vacation rentals are usually in high demand. So, a special offer will encourage them to book faster.

Add Extra Services

Instead of offering a discount and competing on price, your peak season vacation rental checklist can also include adding some extra amenities and services that are only available during this time of the year. For example, creating an Airbnb Experience or adding complimentary breakfast will interest your guests who are looking for a complete vacation package.

Emphasize the Benefits for Certain Types of Travelers

If peak season in your vacation rental market attracts certain types of travelers, emphasize the benefits of booking your property for these types of guests specifically. For example, if business travelers will arrive en masse for conferences, show that your listing is conveniently located near public transportation and convention centers. 

If your area attracts families enjoying a vacation during the peak season, make sure that your vacation rental checklist involves childproofing your property and adding extra beds to accommodate last-minute guests. Show potential guests that your property is the perfect place to stay for groups.

Succeed With Your Vacation Rental Checklist

Now that you’ve prepared your vacation rental property, the last step is to use vacation rental software to optimize your calendar and apply a peak season pricing strategy. By following the vacation rental best practices that we’ve shared here, you can boost your occupancy rates and get a healthy profit this year.