How to prepare your holiday rental for large groups

December 2023

If you want to stand out, add an extra touch for travellers looking for a comfortable and relaxed group stay. To achieve this, you’ll need to plan for optimisation and adaptability strategies to ensure a pleasant and comfortable coexistence. We outline some practical ideas below so that large groups not only feel at home but also want to come back to your holiday rental property.

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Space distribution and preparation

First and foremost, it’s essential to organise the space intelligently. People staying in your holiday rental should feel comfortable. The goal is not only to create a sense of spaciousness but also to provide everything needed so that nothing is missed during their stay. If you don’t want to overlook anything, we recommend implementing these improvements in your holiday rental:

Tips for adapting your accommodation for large groups

• Opt for multifunctional furniture and accessories: always useful sofa beds, extendable tables, wardrobe shelves, storage ottomans… the options are numerous, but only resort to them if they truly serve their dual purpose; that is, they allow you to gain space and time.
• Invest in necessary equipment: the fundamental rule in the manual of a good host is that holiday accommodation must have the basic equipment for a few days of disconnection without missing anything: neither people nor things. In the kitchen of these group holiday accommodations, you must find sufficient utensils for eating and cooking (microwave, dishwasher, scrubber, coffee maker, plates…); in the rooms, plenty of blankets and sheets; and in the bathrooms, several sets of towels. You can also have some special touch that sets you apart from the rest. In this article, we provide information on the amenities most sought after by holiday rental guests.
• Condition common areas to be comfortable: common areas are of utmost importance for large groups. These are the places where they spend more time together, chatting, playing, or simply watching TV in company. Therefore, it is essential to have comfortable seating, multi-seater sofas, blankets, ashtrays, glasses… everything that is usually used when travelling in a group. And if you want to add a fun touch, consider that many houses and holiday rentals include an additional recreational element, such as a foosball table, a ping-pong table, or chess. Here are some ideas to create your own game room in your holiday rental.
• Discard unnecessary elements: some decorative accessories can hinder the daily life of guests in your holiday rental. Make the most of the spaces and try to avoid overloaded decorations, which can be obstacles for distracted guests. Well-understood minimalism can be very advantageous.

Good coexistence among guests is essential

In a holiday rental shared among several people, each with a different lifestyle, tension or conflicts may arise. This is entirely normal. Therefore, it is essential to establish common rules, such as time limits, order and cleanliness, permitted noise, use of the kitchen and bathrooms, etc. An interesting aid to facilitate communication and coexistence is to implement signage with the main rules in common areas.

Additional details to make your holiday rental unique

1. Prepare a pleasant and professional welcome for your guests

It doesn’t cost much for the house to be clean and impeccable, and, in addition, organise some kind of welcome snack. It could be a local product, a drink, or simply some snacks. Presented carefully on the main table, it will be a welcome detail that no one will forget.

2. Provide a fast and reliable internet connection

Nowadays, everyone is constantly online. Many guests find it helpful (and essential) to have a reliable Wi-Fi connection. This way, they can communicate with their followers as soon as they step into the house from any device, be it a mobile phone, a tablet, or a laptop. For certain travellers who telecommute, it is simply an indispensable condition when choosing accommodation. In this article, we provide practical tips to adapt your holiday rental for telecommuters.

3. Offer a pleasant treatment with smooth communication

It may seem obvious, but offering professional, respectful, polite, and helpful treatment to guests is essential to build loyalty and accumulate positive reviews online. In fact, a good way to increase the number of bookings is to have good reviews on your listings. For this, the accommodation experience must be positive, and that begins with your disposition as a host to empathy, mediation, and dialogue. But, beware; it’s important not to go overboard under the naive intention of being helpful. It’s also important to adhere to concepts such as prudence and discretion.

4. Provide a guide to plans to carry out in your town or city

An idea appreciated by guests is to find city or area maps and/or leisure guides to carry out cultural plans during their stay. It’s also advisable to provide a glossary with phone numbers that help locate and consult the main services and destinations in the surrounding areas and emergencies. Large groups usually organise plans together to have a great time, so any information provided will be positively valued in the final review. In any case, the best holiday homes for large groups provide an emergency contact number to solve any inconvenience.

5. Offer multiple payment methods

Currently, there are several ways to validate the payment for a holiday stay: bank transfer, cash, cheque, Bizum, PayPal, etc. Although all of them involve an additional cost, the more facilities you offer, the more chances you have of gaining new guests. Regarding accommodation for groups or family gatherings, it is best to establish advance payment of a deposit. Also, enable payment methods for groups, both individually and collectively, and it’s best to centralise them through holiday rental platforms like Holidu.

By following the advice we have gathered in this article, you can offer holiday homes for large groups with complete confidence. Holidu is the holiday rental portal where your accommodation will stand out the most. By clearly stating the house rules, and how everything works, and following our guide to good habits, you can rent out your holiday apartment or rural house quickly, easily, and effectively.

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