Holiday Property Management Tips: Dealing with Problem Guests

  • 2017-01-21

Dealing with problem guests is a side of holiday rental management that is often difficult to talk about. Guests are the lifeblood of the hospitality industry, and while the majority of interactions do not have to be anything short of pleasant, occasionally hosts will encounter more of a challenge.

Holiday Property Management Tips - Dealing with Problem Guests

How do you ensure that you properly handle issues such as complaints, returned payments, damage to property, excessive noise or any other issues that may arise? Join us today on the blog as we take a look at how you can tactfully handle challenging guests.

Holiday Property Management Tips for Hosts

For many property owners aiming to rent out their apartment or house to guests on a short term basis, guest interaction is something that is often overlooked. New investors may know that a certain amount of guest services are required, such as meeting guests with the keys and answering any questions that guest might have.

But there is a huge leap between the DIY style of holiday rental management and comprehensive, outsourced holiday property management. Such a huge leap in fact that we have a handy guide that compares Self-Managed vs Professionally Managed Vacation Rental. One of the big differences covered in this guide is guest services. From full concierge services to everyday interaction with prospective, current and past guests, interacting with guests is one of the major roles of a host. Some of the ways that you can ensure that your guest interaction is always professional – even under the most challenging circumstances – include the following:

  • Work with an experienced rental manager. Without fail, the most important thing that you can do for your holiday property is hire a professional to provide expert holiday rental management solutions. There is no comparison to having dedicated a customer support team on hand to answer guests’ questions, field complaints, deal with uncooperative guests, diplomatically deal with guests who have missed their check-out time, respond to poor reviews, set house rules (and enforce them if needs be) and generally help to keep your guests happy around the clock. This will allow you to enjoy full peace of mind, knowing that an experienced, expert team is on board to deal with all the day to day maintenance, as well as guest interaction. A good manager will also provide bookings management and even marketing as well, leaving you free to focus on the myriad other responsibilities you have, knowing that your property is in good hands.
  • Set house rules for your property. Whether you work with your manager or decide to take the risk of managing your property yourself, setting house rules is absolutely essential. There are many great templates to be found by doing a quick online search. As holiday rental managers have plenty of experience in compiling policies and related documents, you will have plenty of insider insight to assist you in creating a set of simple but reasonable rules that apply to your property. These could include policies on noise (playing music past a certain point, for example), arrival and check-out times, breakage rules (for crockery and smaller items as well as larger, more expensive items), which parts of the property can be accessed, and which cannot (this is especially vital for apartments), swimming pool rules and anything else that may be relevant. These rules will help protect you and your investment against potential problems. Without a set of rules, it is much harder to deal with property damage, noise complaints and more serious offences that could arise.
  • Develop a system for guest feedback. One of the things that every host dreads is unhappy guests. What happens when guests are unhappy right from the start, regardless of what you try and do to make their stay enjoyable? Having a clear system in place can make things a lot simpler. Even if you truly feel that a guest is being unreasonable, you will need to stay professional, calm and diplomatic at all times. An unhappy guest that is not treated with respect can very quickly become an angry guest that leaves negative reviews on your listings. How will you address concerns in a way that offers a solution? How can you turn a negative experience into a positive, or at least neutral experience? If you choose not to work with a rental manager, you will at the very least need to deal with all unhappy guests in person, as promptly as possible.

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The simplest and most effective way to deal with difficult guests is to provide such a high level of service that guests cannot help but leave with a smile on their faces. By investing in holiday rental management, you will be able to provide your guests with a wide range of bespoke solutions, from concierge services to 24 hour security, round the clock support and expertly run apartments or villas that are fully equipped for flawless self-catering.

Interested in learning more? Contact Totalstay today to find out more about our unique approach to holiday property management.