3 Add-ons for Which Your Guests Will Be Willing to Pay Extra
See what extras you can't do without in your holiday home
November 2024
Are you making the most of your holiday rental business? Many landlords only offer guests a place to lay their heads at the end of the day — but if that’s the case, you could be missing out. Try incorporating these add-ons to your rental for bigger profits and happier guests.
Why try holiday rental add-ons?
Extras for holiday rentals can seem like a bit of an unnecessary faff, but they are, in fact, one of the best ways to grow your business and take your holiday home to the next level. Here are a few reasons to try them:
- You can often get better profit margins on add-ons. For example, guests are typically willing to pay a significant sum for the convenience of meals without leaving their accommodation.
- Add-ons can increase guest satisfaction. Now, your holiday rental isn’t just for sleeping — it’s a crucial part of their whole experience.
- Add-ons can help you advertise your holiday home and grow your brand. Landlords frequently wonder how to promote holiday rentals — well, here’s a great way to do it. Choose add-ons that suit your particular image. For example, if you’ve got a luxury holiday rental, you could offer a special meal prepared by a chef. On the other hand, if your property is all about family fun, consider offering tickets to a nearby theme park or a discounted craft workshop.
Now that you can see the value of extra services for holiday rentals, let’s have a look at some of the most popular choices.
1) Breakfast
This is always top of the list when it comes to the most requested services for holiday rentals. In fact, surveys have shown that around 50% of holiday rental guests would be happy to pay extra for breakfast. It truly is the most important meal of the day — at least when it comes to your business.
Guests love being able to roll out of bed and eat breakfast at their leisure without going outside. It’s great for landlords, too! One of the best things about breakfast is that it’s an add-on guest will want to use every day. If they’re staying for five nights, they’ll probably want to pay for five breakfasts, which is great news for your bottom line.
Of course, a good breakfast doesn’t mean leaving guests with a half-opened carton of cornflakes and a jug of milk. Guests are happy to spend money on breakfast, but they’ll expect it to be up to scratch. Think about the kind of breakfast you can offer, which will depend on the nature of your property and your own skills:
- A kitchen stocked with breakfast goodies like croissants, juice and so on. This is an option for the traveller on a budget, as you won’t be able to charge as much.
- A delivery from a nearby business. If you’ve got a good relationship with a nearby bakery, then it should be easy to organise a regular order of pastries, hot coffee and fresh juice. The freshly baked, still-warm pastries will command a higher price than shelf-stable croissants from the supermarket.
- An in-house cooking service. This is the fanciest option of all, and you’ll be able to charge quite a bit for it — but be honest about your cooking skills. You’ll also have to ensure that you have enough ingredients (buy plenty of eggs). This is by far the most complicated choice for you, but if you can pull it off, guests will be delighted.
If breakfast works out for you, you may also consider other food-related add-ons. These could be as simple as a well-stocked kitchen, or as complicated as a personal chef coming to the property to prepare a gourmet meal. Does that sound like too much hassle? Just stick with breakfast, and you can’t go wrong.
2) Tours and activities
Some guests like to spend all weekend lounging around in their holiday rental. However, others want to rent a holiday flat and make it their base for exploration. When these guests come to stay, try offering them fun tours and unique activities.
Depending on the area where your property is located, these activities could include:
- Walking tours. Nature walks, guided city tours or something unique like after-dark ghost walks.
- Cooking classes. Focus on local cuisine, and choose dishes that are iconic but also easy and fun to prepare.
- Adrenaline-pumping activities. These might be quad bike tours, white-water rafting, sports sessions, hikes and so on.
- Cultural craft workshops. Again, this will depend on your area, but people love to explore local traditions. Popular choices include pottery, mask-making and other traditional activities.
One of the biggest benefits of these add-ons is that you don’t have to do much. If you strike up a partnership with a local business or guide, you can simply act as the middleman, taking a cut of the booking fee.
As an even simpler option, consider offering sports equipment for hire. Depending on what your property is like, the equipment could be kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, bicycles or ping pong sets.
3) Transport services
This is one add-on that will depend heavily on the nature of tourism in your area. For example, it probably won’t work well in a rural destination like Cornwall, as most guests drive there. However, if your property is based near a city with an airport or a large station —or is a little hard to reach— then offering transport services can be a goldmine.
The most popular form of transport services is a shuttle to and from the airport or station. You can advertise this on your holiday rental website and make sure guests know to book it in advance. Mention it in your booking confirmation email when you ask what time they’ll be checking in.
Apart from that, you may also want to leave a card in the holiday rental that offers local transport services. Some guests might want to hire a car to take them to a restaurant for dinner or to a local attraction.
How can you make your transport options attractive in the age of Uber? Of course, convenience plays a part. For a premium service, you could even consider offering a private driver who will stay with guests for half a day or a full day, taking them to the places of their choice. In this case, make sure the driver you choose has a friendly attitude and is able to answer questions.
These are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to add-ons. Why not have a look at what other landlords are offering on your holiday rental portal and see if you can find inspiration?