Almost everyone’s heard of Spring cleaning…but what about a Spring “refresh” for your vacation rental home? It’s always important to keep your rental looking its best and now is the perfect time to make some updates that will let your guests know you care.
Spring in Phoenix is peak season for vacation rentals. Properties renting for $80/night during the summer can command 3-4 times that price during the Spring. This alone may raise the expectations of your guests, so you certainly want them to be happy they chose YOUR vacation rental home.
Competition is fierce – don’t let your rental look dingy! Almost everything in a busy vacation rental experiences significantly more use/abuse/laundering than it would in a normal residence and should be replaced/updated accordingly anyway. Read on to find out what you can (and should) do to get ready for Spring!
Soft Stuff
When thinking “fresh” we MUST think linens! No one wants to sleep on torn or stained sheets, or use “crunchy” towels – especially at $300/night.
Do a thorough inspection of all bedding and bath linens in your vacation rental home. You should definitely put yourself in your guest’s head for this task – would YOU be happy to be paying to use these items? Weed out anything that doesn’t look, feel or smell completely fresh and replace as necessary. (Psst…For ease of care and organization, Moxie Girl recommends white cotton everything for bed and bath!)
Check out all throw pillows and rugs throughout the home. Don’t forget the kitchen towels and potholders, too! Spring is an excellent time for a color change in these household goods – especially if replacements are necessary due to staining or wear. Discount department stores such as TJ Maxx, Ross and Big Lots generally have a ton of options in colors and designs at bargain prices.
Got shower curtains and liners? These items can get especially gross – and quickly – even with regular laundering, so it’s almost always time for new ones anyway. And new shower curtains are a great way to carry your “color change” into the bath, too! (Moxie’s advice: Splurge on a “wow!” machine-washable curtain and stock up on cheap vinyl liners.)
Other Touches
Look for decorative items in the home that may be easily swapped out for a more season-appropriate look. Colored vases, silk floral arrangements – even candles and coasters – may be good choices for Spring updates. (Check those discount stores we mentioned earlier!)
If you live in Phoenix, YOU’RE probably not in the pool yet, but chances are your out-of-town guests WILL be, so it’s not too early to put out the “summer goods” – pool towels, plastic drinkware for poolside, etc. (Read more about this topic in our blog, “5 Sizzling Summer Tips for Vacation Rental Homes with Pools”!)
How Moxie Girl Can Help
Having a professional vacation rental specialist you can count on makes a world of difference in the operation of your property. Communication being one of our core values, Moxie Girl vacation rental service includes immediately alerting our clients to any damages or theft of items in case emergency replacement is needed. This means that not only will the issue be resolved, but you’ll be well within the reporting window if you need to hold guests financially responsible for any mishaps!
Moxie Girl is happy to not only provide you with our expert recommendations on specific goods that perform well in a vacation rental situation, but many of our clients prefer to just have us shop for and stock their properties for them. Easy-peasy!
Moxie Girl can also help you to put your retired household items to good use by donating them to the Esperanza Preparatory Academy. Esperanza Preparatory Academy is a complete circle of care school in Tempe, Arizona. Visit their website HERE.
Phoenix area vacation rental home owners – CLICK HERE for a free consultation and discover the benefits of having your own vacation rental specialist!
Did you know many vacation rental home owners periodically book stays in their own vacation rental homes? Whether it’s just to “check on things” or take advantage of their Phoenix “investment” during perfect weather, these visits are never bad idea.
And regardless of your the reason, it’s always a good idea to mentally prepare yourself for an “in-between-guests” visit to your operating vacation rental home. In other words…various and multiple virtual strangers have been almost continually occupying your home since your last visit, so it may not look exactly as you left it last time you staged it yourself.
Loved, But Also Lived In
Moxie Girl, your vacation rental specialist, makes a point of alerting our clients immediately to theft, es or anything in obvious need of repair when we turn a home, but everyday wear-and-tear in a busy rental home is quite different than that of the home you live in full time.
Paint may seem a little dull compared to last season, and throw rugs and sofa pillows might look less than brand new – bed and bath linens could feel slightly less than luxurious to you this time around. Wow, it’s a good thing you dropped in! Now could be the perfect time to replace your soft goods and maybe even consider planning some more extensive updates such as paint, flooring or window coverings (during “off season” of course!)
A “Turn” Clean is Not a Deep Clean
Moxie Girl services many vacation rental homes that offer back-to-back availability, limiting the time we can spend making the home guest-ready. Our “window” to completely turn a home, including laundry, is often a matter of a few hours. So, while we certainly don’t skimp on the cleaning – we want your home looking top-notch, too! – there simply isn’t time to get to “deep cleaning.”
Things such as hard water build-up, stained grouting and other issues that slowly become an issue over time really SHOULD be addressed, whether it be during your visit or by scheduling a deep clean with Moxie Girl as your property’s schedule allows. But the point here is, yes, you might see some things that need attention, but they will generally be the type of things that would fall under the deep cleaning category.
Why is This HERE???
Are you sitting down? And is your chair exactly where you left it last? If so, great! But if you’re walking into your vacation rental home for the first time in a while, this may not be the case. We’re not sure why, and the reasons may be many, but brace yourself for this bit of news: GUESTS MOVE THINGS!
Weird, right? And yet, it’s absolutely not uncommon. Moxie Girl, being who we are, takes care to beautifully stage your vacation rental home as soon as we’re done cleaning, but even WE sometimes just don’t know where a chair (or a nightstand, or a this or a that) actually belongs according to your original plan. So, we do our best.
And you know if guests are relocating furniture, chances are the items in your kitchen cupboards and drawers have definitely been moved! Again, Moxie Girl does take care to make sure these areas are clean, neat and organized, but maybe not exactly as YOU would have them arranged.
P.S. You’re absolutely welcome to arrange them as you wish during your stay!
What Can You Do?
As a vacation rental home owner there are steps you can take during your visits that will help you (and us) keep your investment looking its best for your guests. Remember, proper maintenance of your vacation rental home and its contents help keep your ratings high…which helps keep your calendar full…which gives you higher return on your investment!
Meredith Willis of Arizona Getaways, a Phoenix vacation rental management service, understands that between-guest attention, even by professionals, is on a strict time limit and advises vacation rental home owners to visit their properties regularly to check out the wear-and-tear and make needed repairs and provide routine maintenance to household systems.
As we mentioned in our blog “Minimizing Your Liabilities as a Vacation Rental Homeowner” keeping your home in good repair not only LOOKS better but greatly reduces the chance of accident or injury to guests, and ta-da! – minimizes your liability. Brilliant!
Meredith says this is also a great time to check all the linens! Even if your property rotates multiple sets of sheets and towels, these items are heavily used and laundered much more so that in regular residential use, and everything from kitchen towels to duvet covers are bound to take some mild abuse.
In short, nobody sees things in quite the same way you do, so it’s best you make it a point to do regular inspections of your vacation rental yourself. If we’re not doing things quite the way you’d like, let us know and Moxie Girl will make an effort to accommodate all reasonable requests.
Contact Us!
Looking for reliable, professional vacation rental service? Moxie Girl is here to help with everything from converting an existing home to a vacation rental to in-between-guest turns, including same day services! Contact us today for a FREE CONSULTATION!
