Arrivals

It is important that guests feel welcome on their arrival at your holiday property. Whether you are on hand to greet them yourself or you employ a housekeeper to do this for you, it is vital that whoever meets your guests is polite, helpful and approachable.

When guests arrive at your property, they may have endured a long and stressful journey, they may have tired, hungry children or they may simply wish to put the kettle on and sit down. Tread carefully when guests first arrive and try not to outstay your welcome. In some cases, it may be best simply to drop off the keys and point them in the direction of the information folder before leaving them to unpack and unwind.

You should be able to gauge the type of holiday guest you have in the first few minutes. If they appear stress-free and happy to chat, you could take the time to point out where things are and how they work. However, some people hate the idea of making polite conversation with a stranger and would prefer to find things out for themselves. If this is the case, hand over the keys and inform them of your contact details in case they need them, and leave them to it.

If you are not on hand to welcome your guests personally, you must ensure that you have a fool-proof method for handing out the keys. Your housekeeper may agree to do this for you, but what happens if guests do not arrive until very late at night? It is not very fair to expect your housekeeper to be on call all day and all night just to hand over keys.

I would always recommend that, whenever possible, there is someone present to greet guests personally; however, it is essential that you have a back-up system in case of late arrivals. I have found the use of a good-quality key safe to be the answer. Invest in a key safe with a number combination and place this out of direct view on the property. Do not advertise the fact that there is a key on hand by placing the safe next to the door bell! Even if your property is in a low crime rate area, advertising keys in this way is not a good idea.

If you are letting your property through an agency, inform them of your intentions to use a key safe and let them know the combination number. They will only inform guests of the number when they paid in full and have already furnished them with the address and directions to the property. If you are letting the property yourself, obviously the same will apply, and you should only inform guests of the combination to the safe after they have paid the full cost of the holiday.

Key safes are a good back-up choice. They prevent guests from having to stand around outside the property, waiting for the arrival of you or your housekeeper, should they arrive earlier than expected, and they avoid the need for guests to have to pick the keys up from your own or your housekeeper’s residence. An alternative to a key safe is to ask a neighbour to hold a set of keys for you, but again they will have the same problem as your housekeeper, and you should not expect them to be available to greet your guests at any time of the day or night.

Prior to the guests arriving, always make sure that you have furnished them with accurate directions on how to find your property. There is nothing worse than holidaymakers starting their holiday off on the wrong foot due to complicated directions. Remember, You may know the area well, but guests could be travelling from the other end of the country and have no idea where they are going. It is up to you to ensure they do not spend hours looking for your property due to poor directions. If you employ the services of a letting agency, they will furnish guests with directions to the property and instructions for obtaining the keys

Once your guests have arrived at the property, they will have their own expectations of what they hope to find. It is almost impossible to please all the people all of the time, but you must always strive to please most of the people most of the time. Try to anticipate what guests will expect and, wherever possible, provide it. Ask yourself What you would like from a holiday cottage and try to make the first impression one of a high-standard, well-equipped holiday property.

Guests will invariably expect:

You can impress guests by going that little bit further and providing:

I cannot stress strongly enough that the to ensure that the property is spotlessly clean is the most important thing any owner or housekeeper can do. Added touches, such as a welcome tray, are pleasant and will be well received, but they will never take the place of cleanliness. A bottle of wine or a vase of fresh flowers will not appease guests who find the state of the bathroom unacceptable or the sheets grubby.