Tricks to Make Your Vacation Home Rental Decorating Feel Hotel-Like

You decided to start renting out your house as a vacation home. Congratulations! Your home is going to make a lasting impression on travelers because your vacation home rental decorating will feel like a luxury hotel. Guests will book your house again and again. You will be glad you followed these tips when your income skyrockets.

As a host, you’ll need to learn tricks to make your vacation home rental feel like a luxury hotel. If you do this, your vacation home rental guests will be delighted instead of disappointed with their rental choice. You can achieve five-star reviews and passive income from your home if you can master vacation home rental decorating.

So what does it look like when your rental home decorating channels a luxe hotel?

Every luxury hotel has three things in common. You are going to steal these best practices from luxury hotels and put them into practice in your vacation home. Here are the three Fs you need to implement:

Fun – Think of this as your “going viral” element. You want your guest to be so impressed with something unique, quirky or shocking that they take a picture. Having a vacation rental is about more than creating a place for people to sleep; you are creating an experience. Make sure you have a feature that everyone who comes to your home will want to tell their friends about.

Functional – You could equate this section to the bathrobes, coffee maker or the safe provided in a hotel. Turning your home into a short-term rental means having practical items for guests to use. These items are really more about needs than wants. Think like a guest to ensure you have essentials they can use or borrow to make their trip a success.

Free – Large corporations have mastered the psychology behind giving something to get something in return. In your vacation rental, you should give something free to ensure your guests feel extra grateful for your hospitality. Grateful guests leave rave reviews. Great reviews lead to more bookings and increased income.

Scenario 1: Renting Out a Spare Bedroom in Your Primary Home

In this scenario, a guest will book a private room in your house and most or all living spaces will be shared. Most new short-term rental hosts will concentrate on just the private room the traveler is paying for. Hosts will usually ensure the private room has decorations, is cleaned thoroughly and looks appealing in photographs.

However, it’s not just the room for rent that needs to look like a luxury hotel. Your entire place needs to be staged with high-end vacation home rental decorating. Simply writing in your house rules that guests should not access an office, garage or loft is not a way to avoid making things presentable to a paying guest. You never know where renters will sneak a peek in your home.

Try minimizing your home by removing personal objects you wouldn’t want guests to touch, de-cluttering excessive items that could be sold for extra income and purging (read: “donating”) all the remaining items that you don’t want to keep but nobody will pay you money for. Make sure you have removed anything from your home that could offend, hurt or scare your future paying guests.

Scenario 1 Fun, Functional and Free:

When you are renting a room in a shared home, the nightly rate will not be as high as private spaces. That doesn’t mean you will be avoiding the luxury touches, though.

At this lower rate, your fun feature could be a reading nook set up with a cozy blanket and herbal tea selection or a chalkboard feature wall with some amazing art and a hashtag you want guests to use on social media. By creating a home away from home, you will solidify the guests’ decision to stay in a home rental vs a hotel.

Some functional ideas would be:

• • A drawer with every kind of [amazon_textlink asin=’B010S9M3L6′ text=’electronics charger’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’top50c30-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’dc3ea7d6-d1f0-11e8-87d2-d31b2a3128aa’] labeled and ready to borrow
  • [amazon_textlink asin=’B071ZRMLWB’ text=’Umbrella’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’top50c30-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’e9c75111-d1f0-11e8-b83f-27591264cfc9′] by the front door if they have to walk to their car
  • [amazon_textlink asin=’B074NB5TNW’ text=’Alarm clock’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’top50c30-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’f5d3455d-d1f0-11e8-8814-cbb33a1ef55b’] strategically placed across the room from the bed, so they don’t accidentally snooze it and fall back asleep

Base your free items on the type of person coming to stay. For women you could leave a bottle of wine, and for men you could put a six pack of beer in the fridge. Make sure your guests know those gifts are free and not a hidden additional charge later. By going the extra mile, you’ll help ensure five star reviews.

Scenario 2: Renting Out Your Entire Home While You Stay Elsewhere

Renting out your entire home and staying elsewhere will result in the highest nightly rate because of the additional costs you will incur displacing yourself from your home. Additional costs and a higher nightly rate are not reasons to avoid becoming a one-home host. Homeowners have created a $41,331 income stream in one year by renting out their primary home. If you own a home, you could be sitting on a hidden goldmine of profit. You can learn the proven strategies to turn your home into income by enrolling in the Homeowner Hustle e-course.

On most days, your house is functioning as your family home, but a new reservation could come in at any moment. Be ready to clean and stage everything to make your vacation home rental feel like a luxury hotel anytime a booking comes in. Very quickly you will realize minimizing your personal belongings will make quick transitions much easier.

Guests appreciate personal homes because of all the details. Fortunately, homeowners don’t have to spend much extra time or money on vacation home rental decorating. Your home is likely already decorated and mostly ready for renters. The biggest obstacle when renting out personal homes is reducing personal items to ensure guests can’t access them.

Scenario 2 Fun, Functional and Free:

Based on the higher nightly rate, you want to wow visitors. Your fun feature could be a fire pit accompanied with all the fixings for s’mores or a giant Twister board painted directly on the floor. The Homeowner Hustle e-course will teach you how to identify your ideal renter. Knowing your target market will make creating a fun element much easier.

In terms of functional items you could:

• Keep the fridge stocked with condiments and pantry packed with [amazon_textlink asin=’B07CKYQY9G’ text=’staple ingredients’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’top50c30-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’801a9787-d1f1-11e8-8d9b-81ecda1bc726′]
• Provide an [amazon_textlink asin=’B00CH9QWOU’ text=’espresso bar’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’top50c30-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’90dbd67d-d1f1-11e8-8a31-15b57ee631d6′] stocked with caffeinated and decaffeinated options
• Have a prepacked beach bag with [amazon_textlink asin=’B00PHSS3HC’ text=’towels’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’top50c30-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’a2e0b961-d1f1-11e8-b728-d326ebc4a023′], [amazon_textlink asin=’B07C99BS8V’ text=’kite’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’top50c30-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’b50de3dc-d1f1-11e8-9086-c72002ec66dc’], [amazon_textlink asin=’B01M5C545V’ text=’sand castle molds’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’top50c30-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’bedfee23-d1f1-11e8-9e70-e94e2f384ead’], and [amazon_textlink asin=’B00B81XR1Y’ text=’sunscreen’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’top50c30-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’cb0dc1f2-d1f1-11e8-98af-6f5a6afd0c3f’]

Personalized free items with a handwritten note are a must. If a family is visiting, set out [amazon_textlink asin=’B01ECG37I4′ text=’microwave popcorn’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’top50c30-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’8efb864a-d1e3-11e8-afc6-270f2b45e644′], [amazon_textlink asin=’B001O2DZ8C’ text=’individual buckets’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’top50c30-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’f15ee6c5-d1e3-11e8-bd0e-1b2ea7744430′], [amazon_textlink asin=’B017PWTVSW’ text=’glow sticks’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’top50c30-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’25e8005f-d1e4-11e8-80b1-6f6cbb44edb2′] and a good night[amazon_textlink asin=’1474833160′ text=’ story book’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’top50c30-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’98aa5b4d-d1e4-11e8-8a5c-17ba692eb010′].

READ MORE: Worried about renting out your house to the wrongs guests? Decide if a security system would be right for you.

Scenario 3: Dedicated Vacation Home Rental

You’ve achieved real estate success and obtained a full-time vacation rental property. With a dedicated short-term rental property, your goal is probably to have your property rented 365 days a year. Through trial and error, you will discover your ideal nightly rate and maximize your income stream.

Starting from a blank slate will require strategic vacation home rental decorating. Think carefully about how visitors will use spaces. Every room should have elements of personality, just like a personal home.

Once you have finished vacation home rental decorating, stay a few nights in the house. Missing details will be easier to identify when you are utilizing the home in the same way paying guests will be using it. Your biggest obstacle will be making your house feel homey, even when nobody really lives there.

Scenario 3 Fun, Functional and Free:

When setting up your vacation rental from scratch, keep your mind open for ideas that could go viral. Your fun element could be a basement pinball arcade or outdoor tree house video gaming hangout. Think outside the cookie cutter generic vacation rental mold. Be unique. Be you. Let your fun feature attract your ideal renters.

Functional items to consider:

• Postcards featuring local attractions and postcard stamps to send notes to friends or family back home
• Entertainment book filled with local discount coupons
• [amazon_textlink asin=’B0084175J6′ text=’Bicycles’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’top50c30-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’9b4ec27f-d1f6-11e8-8a6f-515a2439c092′] of various sizes with corresponding [amazon_textlink asin=’B01GRGVS8I’ text=’helmets’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’top50c30-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’c9e8ff0c-d1f6-11e8-968b-896d771ab27b’]

In a full-time vacation rental, your free gifts have to be easy for the person cleaning your rental to prepare for your guests. Sending home some local products will help them remember their vacation fondly. You could snag bags of local pancake mix, jars of local jam or boxes of local chocolate. Just make sure the gift is small enough to fit in carry-on luggage for travelers who arrived by plane.

Vacation Home Rental Decorating Generates Full-Time Income

In this article, you have learned tricks to make your vacation home rental feel like a luxury hotel. Now you know the three Fs to ensure your home gets five-star reviews every time. As a short-term rental host, you will leverage the power of your home and turn it into income.

Making just a few changes to your home can create an income stream that will improve your life. Most homeowners could benefit from more money. Don’t let fear of getting started prevent you from beginning your home rental journey today. Your home could be the answer to your financial problems. Use your new revenue to pay off debt, travel more, build up your retirement or simply have more wiggle room in your monthly budget.

Drop a comment below telling us how you would use an extra $3,000 per month. Real hosts have changed their lives by creating that much income using their one and only home.