Owning a vacation rental property can be a stressful thing. You’re constantly trying to provide your guests with the best stay possible and putting in a lot of time and effort to do so. There are a lot of different tips you can follow to try to get good reviews each booking, but sometimes, bad experiences happen. Below we’ve listed some of the most common negative vacation rental reviews, to show you what exactly will get your property on people’s bad side, along with some information on how to prevent these reviews from happening. Check it out!
Deceptive Location
When you’re including photos of your home and the surrounding property and area, you’re doing the most basic thing to get guests interested in your home. Steer clear of taking photos of more attractive areas that aren’t related to your property. For example, some people will take photos of water (lake, river, ocean) and say that the property is waterfront, when in reality the property is further away.
How do you prevent this?
If you want to include photos or information in your description about aspects that aren’t directly on your property, then don’t be afraid to add captions. These should describe what the photo depicts and how far it truly is from your property. Statements such as “15-minute walk from XXX” or “30-minute drive from XXX” show honesty, which is one of the most important qualities guests look for in a rental owner.
Inaccurate Listing Description
One of the biggest things that can land you with negative vacation rental reviews comes from inaccuracy. If you try to make your property seem more luxurious than it actually is, by including aspects that cannot actually be found in the house, you’re misleading potential guests. More often than not, a misleading description providing an inaccurate picture of your property will only lead to negative reviews later on.
How do you prevent this?
Stay as honest as possible in your description. If there are any strict rules that you’d have in your , make sure to list those in the description as well. Guests don’t like surprises when it comes to extra rules, or any “extras” in general, unless it actually benefits them (like additional amenities or free gifts).
Poor Communication
Similar to how honesty is vital to a guest, so is communication. When vacation rental owners have poor communication skills, guests get frustrated, which leads to negative reviews. For example, pretend you’re a guest yourself, and you’ve planned a lovely trip and booked a stay at what you assume is a beautiful rental, but the host has still not responded to you about check-in times, and anything else you may have queried. That stress and worry can completely dampen a trip, so why do that to your guests?
How do you prevent this?
It’s simple—if you’re guests have any questions, especially before their stay, you need to make sure to answer as quickly as possible. Don’t leave guests hanging—they won’t appreciate it and doing so will cause you much more harm than good. If you know if you have a booking coming up, or guests at the property, make sure to turn notifications on and respond as soon as you get a question. Your guests will thank you for being so on top of it.
Lack of Cleanliness
If you want to get raving reviews, you need to treat your property like it’s a luxurious five-star hotel, which means that it should be cleaned like it’s a five-star hotel. Kitchen, showers, toilets, floors, beds—everything should be spick and span before new guests arrive. Even the smallest things can make guests squirm, resulting in a negative review for you.
How do you prevent this?
Whether you decide to clean it all yourself (get ready for some scrubbing) or you pay people to do it for you, your property needs to be cleaned right after every guest stay, and right before the other. Cleaning twice gives you a better chance of getting at those pesky spots or cleaning a spot that you may have missed before.
Worn Out Amenities
One of the most important things that you can do to ensure a successful stay for you guest is make sure that everything is working properly before they come. All of the little bits that make for an enjoyable experience need to be running smoothly. However, it doesn’t matter if your oven from the early 2000s still “works.” Up-to-date amenities are just as important as working ones. For example, a grill isn’t exciting to guests if it doesn’t work, a dishwasher that doesn’t actually clean dishes, and a bed that isn’t actually comfortable will only frustrate guests.
How do you prevent this?
Any items—amenity or not—needs to be replaced if they are showing signs of wear and tear. Upgrading appliances and other amenities may cost a bit of money, but they are investment that needs to be made. The price you have to pay for replacing a few of these things every now and then is much less than the price you’ll have to pay for a very upset negative vacation rental review.
I Wish the Property Had…
Most guests you have at your properties won’t expect a fully stocked fridge and back-up to the back-up toiletries, but they will have some expectations for what you leave them. No guest will be happy if the ice maker doesn’t work, if the toilet paper runs out, if there’s no soap, and no cooking utensils. Guests who have to run out to the store in the middle of the night for toilet paper aren’t going to be happy.
How do you prevent this?
You don’t have to go out and buy obscure spices or various kitchen utensils, but you do need to make sure that the basics are there. If for some reason, you aren’t going to provide enough toilet paper for the guests during their stay, make sure to note this and reiterate this. Like we’ve been stating—guests appreciate honesty, so the more up front you can be about not having any of these things, the better.
If you take the preventative steps mentioned above, then you will lessen the chances of receiving a negative vacation rental review . However, its important to realize that sometimes, guests can just be picky, and may not be happy with anything that you do. If that’s the case, make sure to follow proper review etiquette, and respond nicely and calmly. Do your best to appease the situation and move forward.
If you want to get even more out of your Telluride home rental, reach out to Exceptional Stays, who can give you proper advice and help with running your property and answer any different rental review questions. Reach out now!
