Attract More Families To Your Rental With 5 Tips
Bring More Families Into Your Vacation Rental
Family vacations are truly magical, and as a vacation rental owner, you have the opportunity to help create memories that will last a lifetime. In fact, by marketing your rental to families, you can set yourself apart from other properties in your market. This marketing strategy not only helps you stand out from the competition, it also enables you to build connections with families seeking the perfect getaway.
In this article, we’ll give you some great tips for attracting more families to your vacation rental property.
#1: Make Your Rental a Safe and Welcoming Space for Infants and Young Children
Before you begin marketing your vacation rental as a family-friendly accommodation, it’s important to safeguard against any potential child hazards on your property. As any family with a small child knows, babies get into just about everything, and the least you can do is provide parents with a few protections so that they feel safe bringing their young children into your rental.
First, start off fixing any inherently dangerous child hazards, such as covering exposed outlets, padding sharp corners, putting any power cords or blind pulls out of reach, testing out your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and ensuring that all the window locks are childproof. Once those are taken care of, you can purchase a few extras to help parents out, such as door knob covers and baby gates.
#2: Stock Up on Child-Friendly Entertainment and Toys
Now that your property has been sufficiently childproofed, it’s a good idea to supply some kid-friendly entertainment and toys to keep the little ones occupied during down time. While you don’t have to create a dedicated playroom or anything, just providing some way for parents to get a break will attract more families to your vacation rental.
One great idea is to create a “kid zone” in one of the common areas filled with toys and books. It’s also smart to include some kid-friendly entertainment around the house, such as kid’s movies on DVD or a subscription to a kid-friendly streaming service. When parents are looking for a little alone time away from their children, these items come in very handy, plus these activities are a great way to tire the little ones out before a nap.
#3: Help Parents Pack Less With Baby and Infant Essentials
One of the biggest hassles of taking a family vacation is having to pack a huge amount of baby or infant-specific gear, since parents can never be sure if all of their essentials will be provided at their accommodations. It can be enough to convince parents not to travel at all, at least until their kids are a bit older and more independent.
However, you can make life a little easier for your guests and cut down on their travel costs (traveling with extra bags is expensive nowadays!) by supplying parents with a few baby necessities, such as:
A crib and/or infant bed
A highchair
Kid-friendly utensils and tableware
A packable playpen
A stroller
Baby/infant gates (especially if your property is multi-level)
A baby bathtub
#4: Provide Plenty of Extra (Cozy) Places to Sleep
Sleep is incredibly important to a child’s development, and it can be difficult for parents to get their kids to relax in a new environment. Make the whole process of daily naps and goodnight rituals a breeze for parents by providing plenty of cozy places for kids to sleep.
While a crib or an infant bed are great for nighttime, installing an extra trundle bed in one of the bedrooms or placing a fold-out couch in the living room gives parents even more options to make their kids comfortable. Another idea for encouraging good sleep hygiene is installing blackout curtains on all of the windows, so kids can nap comfortably and without disruption.
#5: Have Family-Friendly Activity Recommendations Ready
It’s wonderful to have a rental that’s well-prepared for the arrival of families, but that’s only a small part of the guest experience. To ensure that your guests have a great time during their vacation, research some family-friendly activities available in your area. This way, when guests come to you with questions about what there is to do in the area, you’ll have a few recommendations ready to fire off that will be perfect for creating happy vacation memories.
Many vacation rental owners also provide a welcome guide, filled with helpful information about the rental as well as suggestions for things to do, and this is another great place to include your local family-friendly recommendations.
Explore Even More Vacation Rental Tips
Traveling with children can be a huge pain for parents, but if you provide a few things to make their lives easier, it can pay off in the long run in attracting families to your vacation rental. There’s nothing quite like helping families to have a vacation they’ll remember forever, and with just a few simple changes, you can turn your property into a family vacation destination.
Hunting for more ways to improve your vacation rental? Take a look at our guide to attracting business travelers or tips for making your vacation rental pet-friendly.