Touch Stay

Utilisez les Sujets spéciaux pour créer un guide digital plus engageant

Ned — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

So, you’ve organised all your guest info and begun populating your Touch Stay digital guidebook with the basic things your guests will need to know, like how to get there and what to expect during their stay. Now it's time to go beyond logistics and instructions to create engaging content that not only reduces guest questions, but provides valuable data to help you improve the guest experience.

Accueillez vos voyageurs avec notre modèle de livret de bienvenue

Laura Clayton — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

An Airbnb guest book accomplishes two things:

It helps you to provide a welcoming, personalised experience for each and every guest
It contains all the practical information guests will need to enjoy their stay with you

With a guest welcome book, guests know from the get go that you really care about their experience. They have a resource to turn to with any queries, meaning that they can find the answers quickly and easily, and are less likely to nudge you with repetitive questions.

But where to start? What information needs to go in your Airbnb guest book? What order should it go in? Lucky for you, that’s exactly what we’re going to cover in this blog - plus, you can download our free guest welcome book template!

If you’re a vacation rental owner looking for more hours in your day, then keep reading. 92% of Touch Stay users halve the time that they spend managing their guests. We’re going to guide you through our guest welcome book template so that you can do the same.

DISCOVER: Touch Stay guest welcome book templates for every holiday accommodation operator

Pressed for time? Jump straight to:

What is an Airbnb guest welcome book?
How a digital Airbnb guest welcome book supports your business
How a digital guidebook enhances your guest experience
How to create your guidebook using our Airbnb guest welcome book template
How to level up your digital guest welcome book
How to share your digital guidebook with guests

Looking to save hours on guest communications, and boost revenue with upsells?

What is an Airbnb guest welcome book?

Before we go any further, we should clarify exactly what we mean by an Airbnb guest welcome book. It really does exactly what it says on the tin – it welcomes guests to your short-term rental accommodation by outlining:

how to access the property
how to get in touch with the host
how to operate systems and appliances
any house rules
the best spots to eat, drink, see, and do in the local area
check-out and departure info

It’s a mixture of important practical details, your personal recommendations and how to keep in touch directly for future bookings. It aims to give your visitors all the information they need, in a clear, engaging format, so that they’re fully prepared to have the best possible experience.

The Airbnb guest welcome book

If you’re an Airbnb host, you might already know that they offer their own Airbnb guest welcome book feature. You can add local area information to your listing, spotlighting your favourite cafes, bars, restaurants, and activities.

This is a brilliant option if you want to entice Airbnb guests to book with you by showcasing all there is to do near your property, and the care that you put into curating their stay.

However, this guidebook only contains space for local area recommendations – it doesn’t include property information. Your Airbnb listing contains a separate house manual section, but this is limited to a single text box. There’s no dedicated space to clearly set out all the practical details your guests will need

The Airbnb guest welcome book will start priming your guests for an enjoyable stay (and help you to inch into Superhost territory!), but it still leaves work to be done.

READ: Four alternatives to the Airbnb guest welcome book

How a digital Airbnb guest welcome book supports your short-term rental business

A digital Airbnb guest welcome book containing all the material that your guests need – from WiFi passwords and laundry instructions, to the inside scoop on the best local cocktails – will help you to run a more efficient short term let.

With all the information in front of them, your guests won’t need to contact you with questions. Less time on the phone equals more time to grow your business, focus on other work, and see friends and family.

Prepare guests for their stay with you

A Touch Stay digital guidebook allows you to highlight your local area favourites. It also contains all the practical property details that the Airbnb house manual lacks. You can help guests to get prepped by sending your digital welcome guide to them before they even begin to pack.

Our short-term rental guidebook template walks you through all the information your guests might need, including:

an introduction to you and your team
things guests might like to pack
directions to the property
safety information & house rules
contact information
full local area guide
departure information

By the time guests arrive with you, they’ve already seen all the crucial info, and so they’re far less likely to call you with questions. If guests do get in touch, you can respond with a deep link to the relevant section in your guide. No need to type out the same instructions hundreds of times!

Unlike a paper guest welcome book, any changes you make automatically update for every guest at once. Everyone has access to accurate information, and there’s no need for you to reprint and replace a sticky paper manual.

WATCH: Our AMA on how to communicate more efficiently with guests

Welcome prepared guests with touch stay

A digital guest welcome book enhances your guest experience

A digital guest welcome book benefits your guests as well as you. They receive a sleek, branded digital Airbnb guest welcome book, which acts as a resource to which they can return throughout their stay. Instead of waiting on you to respond to their queries, they can easily look up the answers themselves.

A Canva guest welcome book template allows you to email a printable PDF to guests, or share a link to the template. A Touch Stay digital welcome guide improves on this with its own unique shareable link to a guidebook which adapts to any mobile or desktop device.

Every person in the party can install the guidebook on their phone, tablet, or laptop, with no need to download a file or an app. With Memo 1.0 – Touch Stay’s guest notification system – you can be sure that they’ll get all the information they need, exactly when they need it.

READ: How a magical experience at your vacation rental will cultivate guest loyalty

Start your 14-day free trial now

How to create your guidebook using our Airbnb guest welcome book template

To get you up and running as quickly as possible, we’ve created our own short term rental template. You can customise this template as much as you like, or even start from scratch. Here’s a sneak peek!

The Touch Stay guidebook template steers you through every stage of your guest’s stay

We’re going to walk through what to include in each section of your guidebook template.

Select your guest welcome book template

1. Welcome guests to your vacation rental property

Whether you’re on a blind date, at a job interview, or welcoming guests to your holiday rental, we all know that first impressions count. So, it’s important that you open your digital guidebook app with a warm welcome:

Introduce yourself (and your property manager)
Explain your ethos to guests – is your aim to create a carbon neutral holiday let? To support the local community? To help visitors to unwind and rest?
Tell them what prompted you to start renting to holiday guests
Explain the history of your property
Share your phone numbers so guests know how to get in touch

Sharing a bit about yourself and your accommodation lets guests know that they’re staying with a real person. This is reassuring for them, and also prompts them to treat your rental with even more care.

You could link to this section of your guidebook from a printed welcome letter. A welcome note contributes to the personal nature of your guests’ stay, and you can simply prompt guests to scan a QR code at the bottom of the letter to find more info in your digital guidebook.

READ: How to write a welcome note that makes your guests smile.

2. Include check-in instructions

Now that you’ve welcomed guests, it’s time to help them get through the door. Include all the practical details they’ll need to arrive safely at your property (don’t worry, you can hide any sensitive info until shortly before each guest’s arrival):

Explain to guests that they can access Google Maps directions via the Map tab in their guidebook
If the route from the airport/train station/port is confusing, you could also write out your own directions, referencing local landmarks
Clarify access instructions, to ensure that guests understand exactly how to get into the property
Insert details of early check-in options, or suggestions of things guests can do whilst they wait.

All of these details ensure that your guests walk through the front door ready to relax and unwind – rather than stressed because they couldn’t find the key box!

3. Outline your house rules

This is your short term rental property, and it’s fair and expected that you have certain guidelines for your guests to follow. However, your guests aren’t mind-readers – it’s your responsibility to ensure that the guidelines are clear from the off.

Your digital guidebook is the perfect spot to reinforce any rules and boundaries. Guests have access to it before they arrive and throughout their stay, so they can always return to it to remind themselves. You can surface this section in your pre-arrival communications to ensure that you’re setting clear expectations. You might explain:

Quiet hours – periods when guests are expected to keep the noise levels down
Areas of the property/grounds which aren’t open to guests
How they can help you look after any specialist appliances/equipment
Any tasks you expect them to complete before they leave
How you deal with breakages

These can feel like awkward subjects to address, which is why it’s so important that you do so in a clear, up-front manner. You don’t want any difficult conversations mid-way through a guest’s stay!

4. Clarify appliance instructions

It’s easy to assume that because something is obvious to us, it’ll be obvious to everyone. If you’ve been operating your oven for the past ten years, you might not even notice its quirks anymore. But a guest will. And they’ll definitely notice if they can’t cook dinner because they’ve never used a gas hob before.

Appliances that often need an explanation include:

The thermostat
The WiFi router
The washer and dryer
The pool-heating system
The hot tub

If you’re unsure where to start, enlist a friend to walk through your property with you. Take a note of anything that they think is unclear, and make sure to include instructions in your guidebook.

If you can nail this section, your guests will have everything they need for a comfortable stay, and you’ll receive fewer questions!

5. Local area recommendations

This is the bit that’ll create a truly personalised experience for your guests. Don’t try to include absolutely everything there is to see/do/eat/drink. After all, guests could easily Google that information. What they want from you is a curated list of your favourites. You could suggest:

The best local attractions to visit with kids on a rainy day
The hidden beach that’s empty even on the sunniest days
The grocery store where locals get their fresh produce
The swish restaurant that’s actually worth the price tag
The cosiest coffee shop to finish a book in

Guests like to feel as though they’ve got the inside scoop, so you only need to suggest a few options per activity – in this case, less is more. A range of prices will ensure that you suggest something for every budget.

Your Touch Stay digital guidebook integrates with Google Places to automatically import information from each business you recommend. It’ll then pin each suggestion to the Map tab in your guidebook, so that guests can easily orient themselves. Provide guests with your personal insights, without spending hours researching addresses and opening times.

6. Wave a warm goodbye to guests

Solidify the warm relationship that you’ve built with your guests by sending them on their way with all the instructions they need to get home comfortably. Even better, detail how they can keep in touch!

Key points to cover are:

Check-out instructions
Details of how you’ll return their safety deposit
Links to your social media, direct booking site, and booking site listings
Info about your email newsletter

The aim here is to leave guests with a lasting impression of how caring and competent you were, and to give them every opportunity to stay on your radar. Tell them about any discounts you offer for returning guests, or for direct bookings.

You’ve already done the work of showing them what an exceptional experience they’ll have with you! Now you just need to show them how easy it is to return.

How to craft a truly special digital guest welcome book with our template

The information above forms the foundation of your guest welcome book. It guides guests through each stage of their stay with you. You don’t have to include absolutely every detail that we’ve suggested, but the more you can include, the more prepared your guests will be (and the fewer questions you’ll have to answer!).

These next suggestions will take your digital Airbnb guest book up another level, and really help it to stand out from the crowd.

Include a 'Making a Difference' section

We added the 'Making a Difference' category to the Touch Stay Airbnb guest welcome book template to help short term rental hosts spread the word about the good they’re doing. With 83% of travellers viewing sustainability as a vital component of travel, it’s crucial that you shout about the environmental changes you’re making.

From educating guests about how to compost, to encouraging them to donate one dollar per room night to local conservation initiatives, Touch Stay customers have already thought of a myriad of ways to use their 'Making a Difference' sections.

If you don’t currently have a cause that’s personally important to you, we’ve inserted templated content that allows guests to offset the carbon footprint of their holiday with Ecologi. With just a few clicks, you can show guests that they’re staying with a host who cares.

Click on the guidebook to see the
'Making a Difference' section in action

Sync your Airbnb guest welcome book with your brand guidelines

Touch Stay digital guidebooks are white-labelled, meaning that you’re free to include your own logo, fonts, the name of your short-term rental business, and your brand colours.

Making these edits will help to solidify brand recognition amongst your guests. They won’t think they stayed in “an Airbnb”, or “a Vrbo” – they’ll know that they stayed with you.

When it comes to booking again, they’re likely to do so through your direct booking website (especially if you let them know that it’s cheaper to book direct!), and this is where they’ll send any friends to whom they recommend you. Use your guest welcome app as a brand asset and boost your direct bookings.

Mix up your guidebook media

From photos and videos, to interactive floor plans, there’s a whole array of media that you can include in your digital guidebook.

Photos of yourself and your team help to build the emotional connection that guests feel to you. You become a real person, rather than a faceless username or email address.

Photos of your property help guests to orient themselves. If you remove sensitive property info, you could even use your guidebook as a marketing asset – guide guests through your short term let in far more detail than an OTA listing allows.

Instructional videos and diagrams support appliance instructions in making every facet of your property enticing and accessible.

Stand out from the crowd today

How to share your digital guidebook with guests

Once you’ve got your vacation rental guest welcome book in shape (and remember, you can edit as you go – it doesn’t have to include absolutely everything at first!), you’re ready to start sharing with guests.

READ: What, how, and when to communicate with vacation rental guests

Touch Stay is a progressive web app, which essentially means that it functions in the same way as an app, but it’s accessed via a URL. There’s no need for guests to log into an app store and download an app – they simply:

click on the link you send them
install your guidebook to their home screen
return to it whenever they need to

You can just paste the link into any emails, texts, WhatsApps, etc. that you send throughout a guest’s lifecycle.

Alternatively, use Memo 1.0 – our guest alert system – to automate your guidebook sharing via scheduled messages. Simply…

choose one of our message templates (or create your own)
decide when you want your emails/SMS to send
let Touch Stay do the work!

Guests will get the info they need, when they need it – every time.

Beyond the welcome

Streamlining guest communications extends beyond the initial welcome, ensuring a seamless flow of information from check-in to check-out. By using tools like the Touch Stay Guest Communication Planner, hosts can automate essential communications, including reminders and updates. This not only enhances the guest experience by removing uncertainties but also frees up time for hosts to improve other services, leading to better reviews and repeat bookings.

Reclaim your time with a Touch Stay digital guest welcome book

We designed Touch Stay digital guidebooks with you and your guests in mind. Your guests enjoy a stay like no other, where no question goes unanswered and no local gem goes undiscovered. You enjoy breezy guest communications and more time for yourself.

With this guide to our short term rental guidebook template, we’ll have you up and running in no time! It really is as easy as 1, 2, 3…

Set up your Touch Stay account
Edit our guest welcome book template to suit your property
Start sharing with guests

So, what are you waiting for? Start reeling in those 5-star reviews today.

Start now for free

Les cauchemars d’expérience voyageur de l’équipe Touch Stay | Livre d’accueil digital

Laura Clayton — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

It's happened to us all - you've booked a stay somewhere that looks great, but arrive to discover things are, well... not so great!

From mouldy walls to broken air conditioning units, this blog is for any operator looking to understand how to improve their guest experience and review scores with a digital guest welcome book. We’re going to outline:

Why it’s important to talk about guest experience
How not to handle unhappy guests
The importance of setting guest expectations with clear communications

It all started when Andy and Joe, both avid travellers, realised that very few of their hosts – whether in short-term lets, B&Bs, or campsites – had a reliable means of clearly communicating with their guests. They created Touch Stay digital guidebooks to fill this gap. The aim was to make information-sharing easier for accommodation providers, and to provide a relaxing, carefree experience for guests.

Touch Stay started out working mostly with short-term rentals, and so that’s what a lot of our stories focus on. However, our digital guest welcome books are for any operator. So, if you’re interested in some shocking tales (and learning how you can provide an exceptional guest experience!), keep reading…

If we’re all about supporting accommodation operators to offer stellar experiences to their guests, why have we chosen to focus on the bad experiences this time?

Well, in order to be fully prepared to offer a wonderful stay to your guests (and to maximise your chances of guest retention), you need to understand both sides of the coin: what to do, and what not to do. Mistakes are great because we can learn from them, but it’s even better when we can learn from someone else’s mistakes before we make them ourselves!

So, if you want to better understand how you can create great experiences for your guests, read on!

DISCOVER: How a Touch Stay digital guidebook helps you to improve the guest experience

Why it’s important to talk about guest experience

Providing a cracking guest experience is crucial for earning five-star reviews, word-of-mouth recommendations, and guest loyalty. You have to clarify the definition of guest experience before you can understand how to ace it. So, if you want to develop a strong short-term rental business, it’s one of the first things you need to think about.

WATCH: The role of guest review scores in listing site rankings

The short-term rental industry has battled the stigma of barely-refurbished granny annexes. So, we’re understandably hesitant to talk about bad experiences. We’re more inclined to focus on the (many!) good experiences that guests have in vacation rentals.

However, if we brush the bad stuff under the rug, we can’t learn from it. Whether you’re seeing your review scores drop as your business grows, or you’re struggling to boost your score into Superhost territory, it’s important to identify the factors that might be undermining your guests’ experience, so that you can change them. And you might realise that you don’t need to dream up a catalogue of new ideas to refresh your guest experience – sometimes we just need to go back to basics.

Now – just to be clear! – we’re not suggesting that you’re providing an experience on a par with the examples below. These truly are our worst experiences. But, if we can get down to the fundamentals of just what made these experiences so bad, we’ll probably all find a few lessons to apply.

READ: The long-term gains of a guest first strategy

Tyann’s story: mould, and a property owner in denial

Who better to start with than Tyann, Touch Stay’s Queen of Guest Experience. Her story begins with finding a short-term rental on Craigslist. This was way back in 2009 – pre-Airbnb!

Photography whizz that she is, Tyann had agreed to pay by cheque plus a partial trade of new property photos. It felt like a good deal.

When she arrived at the house, however, with three young sons in tow, the first thing she noticed was the musty smell of mould. It was all along the baseboards, and had even spread up to some of the upper sections of the walls.

When Tyann called the property owner to request a refund – saying she’d still send the photos over – the owner denied the state of the property and said she’d had it professionally cleaned (worryingly, she suggested that this was something she’d done specially for them!).

Luckily, Tyann and her family found another local property that was available. But, they spent the next day trying to get their money back. The property owner resorted to accusing them of trying to scam her, and it was only when they took her to small claims court that she wired the money back to them.

Truly the holiday from hell! And yet, Tyann reflected on it with her usual sunny optimism:

We were thankful for the situation to be resolved, and that our kiddos still had a fun week.

How not to respond to a disappointed guest

This nightmare experience came down to two key issues:

Lack of cleanliness in the holiday rental property
Lack of open communication from the property owner

Of course, mould isn’t just a cleanliness issue, it’s a basic hygiene issue. That property should not have been rented in the state it was in.

Her host then compounded the stress of the situation through their unhelpful, even aggressive, interactions with their guests. They got defensive; refused to admit that there was an issue; and only recompensed Tyann when she raised the prospect of legal action. This is the worst way to handle unhappy guests – the host guaranteed that it would be the last time Tyann considered staying with them!

How you would improve on this guest experience

The mould speaks for itself – we won’t waste your time explaining that one!

You may, however, face your own cleaning mishaps during your time as a short-term rental owner. Tyann manages her own vacation rental properties, and amongst her many five-star reviews, she’s also faced a situation where her cleaning team accidentally missed a property off their list. It happens to the best of us!

When Tyann’s cleaning team made a mistake, however, she went the extra mile in making it up to her unhappy guests. They were met with a humble apology and a complimentary dinner. By the end of their stay, they’d been converted into loyal guests who even baked a homemade pie to say thank you!

Set clear guest expectations

People expect different levels of luxury at different price points. You might offer opulent splendour, or you might offer a simple, clean bed for a traveller’s head. Both are important assets for the short-term rental industry!

If a guest is expecting opulent luxury, however, they’re going to be disappointed to find a simpler option. The guest experience cycle starts before guests arrive at your property – it begins with the expectations you set from the moment they book. With Touch Stay digital guidebooks, you can share all of your property info – including photos and videos – with guests, before they even pack their bags.

Comprehensive, accessible info helps to create an emotional connection between you and your guests because they understand that you really care about their stay. Guests avoid any nasty surprises, and you welcome visitors who are primed to enjoy their time with you.

Create your guidebook now

Hannah’s story: a less-than-ideal arrival in a new country

Hannah’s our adventurous Creative Media Manager, and six years ago she decided to take a leap and move from the UK to Spain. An exciting prospect, but also a daunting one!

On the day of the move, she had to drive for 24 hours with all her worldly possessions packed into the boot of her car. It was ok though, because she’d booked an Airbnb to stay in when she arrived, so she had the prospect of a clean, comfortable place to rest. Or so she thought…

Well, it didn’t turn out quite as she’d envisioned it! In Hannah’s words: “it was GROSS”. In 35 degree heat, the flat didn’t have any air conditioning. The surfaces were sticky, everything else was grubby, and Hannah was too English to complain about any of it.

To top it all off, the host was rude and unhelpful.

After such a long journey and so much emotional stress, I really needed a nice place to relax. We didn’t have that at all.

How not to welcome a visitor to their new home

Not all guests will book into your short-term rental property for a holiday. Some will be on business, some might be visiting family, and some might have just uprooted their entire lives to move to a new country. You never know what a guest’s needs might be, and what a welcoming, cosy environment might mean to them.

Hannah actually experienced very similar issues to Tyann:

Lack of basic cleanliness and comfort
Lack of availability and communication from the holiday rental owner

These two factors are so fundamental to a guest’s experience – if you’re not nailing them, it’s going to be very difficult to bring it back.

How you would improve on this hospitality experience

We’ll start with the first issue: cleanliness and comfort. Think about how you’d like to arrive at a rental property.

Most of us are ok with a sticky spot on the counter in our own homes, because we probably know where it came from, when it happened, and that we’ll clean it just as soon as we finish what we’re doing. In a rental property, we don’t know any of these things. That sticky patch could have come from anything, and goodness knows how long it’s been there!

Similarly, it’s important to realise that you might be welcoming travellers who aren’t accustomed to aspects of your local area, such as the climate. Heat and humidity which is everyday for you might be unbearable for them. Investing in that air conditioning will be greatly appreciated.

Proactively communicate with your short-term rental guests

Hannah had concerns about the flat from the get-go, but she was too polite to raise them. And yet, she’s still telling the story to other people now – six years later!

Just because your guests haven’t actively got in touch with feedback, doesn’t mean that there aren’t any issues. They might instead highlight problems in a review after they check-out, in online forums, or when telling friends about their trip.

As much as we might like to be able to read our guests’ thoughts, this isn’t actually possible. So, it’s up to you to communicate proactively. With a Touch Stay digital guest welcome book you can explain to guests that you’d prefer if they raised any concerns during their stay, and tell them exactly how they can do it.

READ: What, how, and when to communicate with holiday rental guests

Guests feel like you’re an active presence, and know that you genuinely care about providing a memorable experience for them. If they do raise any problems, you can solve them together during their stay, rather than in the review section after they depart.

Enhance your communications with touch stay

Kate’s story: grimy plates and forgotten ketchup

Kate, our CMO, had her worst and best Airbnb experiences on the same trip to New Zealand. If you’re interested in hearing about her best guest experience, you’d better head over to her article: Hotels vs. holiday rentals – we’re staying focused on the rubbish bits today.

The first Airbnb Kate checked into clearly hadn’t been stayed in or cleaned for quite a while. She could tell from the layer of dust that had collected on all the surfaces, and the grime that had settled on the decorative plates in the kitchen. Not to mention the dollop of long-forgotten ketchup on the floor underneath the dishwasher.

After a long haul flight, with two children under the age of four in tow, a family friendly rental needs to be just that – comfortable, welcoming, and far from a health hazard!

Once again, the owner of the vacation rental property was obtuse and difficult to get hold of. Unlike Tyann, Kate had Airbnb to step in and get her a refund – but even then it took them a while to respond through their customer service channels. It was only when Kate took to Twitter – loudly! – that she got the support she needed.

How not to make an impression on your short-term let guests

We’re beginning to see a pattern here… Like Tyann and Hannah, Kate experienced two key issues:

Lack of cleanliness (and general sense of being unloved)
Lack of communication

The host’s lack of communication compounded the already serious problem of a dirty rental property. They fell down at two key hurdles.

How you would improve on this guest experience offering

Once again, they could have given the property a good scrub before new guests arrived!

Beyond this, when guests complained, they’d ideally have been responsive and apologetic, and certainly not pushed Kate to the point of involving Airbnb. A few cleaning errors don’t have to be the end of the world – if you handle them with sensitivity and care, you can pull a guest’s visit back from the brink of disaster.

It’s particularly important that listing sites view you as a reliable accommodation operator who offers an excellent guest experience. You’re dependent on Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo to display your property towards the top of their rankings so that potential guests can see you. If an OTA marks you as a host who provides a less-than-stellar guest experience, you might drop down the results pages.

READ: 6 benefits of taking direct bookings for short-term rental owners

Show guests that you’re there if they need you

It’s understandable that hosts don’t want to spend extensive amounts of time communicating with guests. You’re a busy bunch, after all! You might be juggling your short-term rental alongside other work, or expanding your business to include multiple properties.

This is where a mobile guest app is perfect – simply deposit all the information that guests need in there, share it with them, and allow Touch Stay to do the work for you. You can even leave QR codes on any tricky appliances, directing guests to instructions within your guidebook. Give your guests more clarity, and reclaim hours for your day!

START YOUR 14-DAY FREE TRIAL NOW

Andy’s story: check-in instructions that left guests in the dark

Compared to Tyann’s, Hannah’s, and Kate’s worst experiences, we’d say Andy’s got off pretty lightly! At the very least, he’s managed to avoid mould and ketchup leftovers.

However, he was still left stuck outside a rental property, at midnight, in the dark – not ideal. And potentially worse, depending on your point of view.

He and Tyann had travelled from Bath to London after an evening event. This meant arriving at their short-term rental property close to midnight, after three hours of travel at the end of a very long day.

With poor check-in instructions, they couldn’t slide smoothly into their respective beds. They couldn’t even get through the front door!

But it wasn’t just our problem. It was every neighbour’s problem too: car engine running, full beam pointing, me ringing the manager on speaker phone whilst Tyann and I shine our phone flashlights around in search of the lockbox.

Andy highlights that their predicament didn’t only cause a stressful check-in for them, it also probably woke up the neighbours. An untimely midnight awakening is unlikely to have improved the neighbours’ perception of the short-term rental industry.

Fortunately, the property manager had a 24/7 support line for exactly these situations, and within five minutes of calling them, Andy and Tyann were in the property. Half an hour later, they were asleep!

How not to prepare your guests for their arrival

Andy had a slightly different experience. The key issue that he faced was unclear communications prior to his arrival at the property.

If he’d arrived in daylight, refreshed and raring to go, he probably would have figured out how to access the property without too much difficulty. However, even having to figure it out doesn’t make a glowing first impression. And for anyone arriving in slightly more difficult circumstances, the task of getting through the front door suddenly becomes another mountain to climb.

How this short-term rental host (partially) redeemed a poor first impression

Unlike the other examples we’ve looked at, this host did have a reasonably good communication system set up! Fast, reliable, 24/7 support is crucial when you know you have guests arriving late at night, or in case of any emergencies. They communicated clearly, quickly, and effectively when Andy called them up.

What would have been even better, however, was clear, effective communications before Andy arrived. Greater clarity would have improved the guest arrival experience, and prevented Andy from having to call them in the first place. That’s a great first impression for Andy, and a full night’s sleep for the property manager (and the neighbours!).

Get creative in your guest communications

With a Touch Stay digital guest welcome book, you can include videos and photos to support written instructions. Insert a video of you accessing the property into the correct section of your guidebook, and never get another call from a stressed, locked-out guest! Share a deep link to this section before your guests arrive, so that they can familiarise themselves with the process and know exactly where to go if they need a refresher.

A digital guest welcome book helps you to improve your guest satisfaction levels by welcoming prepared, happy guests who already know that you’ve got their stay under control. And, by acting as a touchpoint to which guests can return for information, it saves you midnight telephone calls!

Choose your guidebook template

How Andy would have presented check-in
instructions in a Touch Stay digital guest welcome book

The importance of setting guest expectations through pre-arrival communications

So, what’s the takeaway here? All of these situations have one thing in common: the holiday rental host didn’t communicate effectively.

Firstly, they didn’t set expectations properly through their pre-arrival communications. Tyann, Hannah, and Kate were all disappointed by grimy conditions, and Andy was confused by a poorly explained access process.

Of course, it’s predictable that anyone offering a property with mould running up the walls would want to conceal its condition for as long as possible! For reputable holiday property owners, however, it’s crucial that you paint an accurate picture of your property before guests arrive.

LISTEN: to Episode 20 of The Guest Cast, where Heather Bayer explains how not updating guests about the exact specifications of her property turned her into a ‘bunk bed baddie’.

Secondly, three of the hosts were difficult to get hold of and hostile to communicate with when guests raised an issue. Rather than taking responsibility for the state of their properties, they denied the problem existed; tried to blame the guests; and, in Tyann’s case, even accused her of trying to scam them!

Even for those hosts who put their all into providing a wonderful experience, there’s always the odd slip-up – we’re human, after all. The best way you can handle a complaint from a guest is to:

accept responsibility for the issue
apologise
explain how you’re going to solve the problem (either for them, or for future guests)
perhaps offer a gesture of goodwill, depending on how serious the problem is/was

How Touch Stay digital guest welcome books enhance your guest experience

With a Touch Stay digital guest welcome book, you can provide 5-star experiences for your guests – every time.

Whatever kind of holiday property you run, from a cosy country cottage, to a pad for city breaks, your guests will know exactly what to expect when they arrive. Share your guidebook with them beforehand so that they can get stuck into your check-in processes, appliance instructions, and even your recommendations for the best local cocktail spot. They’ll be more than prepared to stay with you – they’ll be excited!

You’ll save time answering repetitive questions because guests will have all the info they need at their fingertips. Quickly and helpfully answer any questions that do pop up by sharing a deep link to the relevant section in your guide.

After providing a welcoming, guest-centric stay, you can use your guidebook to direct guests to your social media, and request that they leave a review. A Touch Stay digital guest welcome book helps you to welcome and wave goodbye to happy guests, whilst saving time for yourself. The perfect full circle!

Create your digital guidebook

Comment commercialiser une location de vacances de courte durée : plan marketing de location

Ned — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

Whether you’re just getting started as a host or looking to expand an existing rental business, crafting an effective property rental marketing plan is essential. An optimised promotional strategy for your short term vacation rental helps attract prospective guests and drives direct bookings to maximise occupancy and rental income.

Comment créer le Guide Airbnb parfait | Touch Stay

Ned — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

Crafting a phenomenal Airbnb guest book isn't just about Wi-Fi passwords and house rules. It's the first impression your guests receive, setting the tone for their entire stay. This guide offers a wealth of information to transform your welcome book into a valuable resource that wows your guests.

Comment meubler une location de vacances : le guide ultime et la liste

Ned — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

The right furnishings can turn a good vacation rental into a great vacation rental. If you can nail the balance between form and function—that is, furnishings that are as eye-pleasing as they are comfortable—you can jump ahead of your competition and stay there.

Gestion locative vacances : ce que c’est et pourquoi ça compte

Ned — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

As a short-term rental host managing a single holiday home, it can often feel like a full-time job. Try juggling that responsibility across multiple properties, and you quickly realise that scaling a successful operation requires more than just enthusiasm; it requires a specialised skill set and a dedicated support structure.

Touch Stay déclare une urgence climatique

Tyann Marcink — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

We are joining Tourism Declares in acknowledging that there is a climate emergency and it is time to act.

Taking a socially responsible approach to business

How can Touch Stay be a force for good? Touch Stay co-founders Andy McNulty and Joe Jones have considered this question, along with our team and Advisory Board, in some depth. With our roots in the travel industry, we naturally lean towards contributing to the climate change emergency over other socially responsible actions.

Yet we also recognise, in having a large and globally diverse customer base, that our choice of direction may not be fit for all. Instead we are more broadly putting social responsibility at the heart of our company values in recognition of the variety of social challenges and the personal preferences of our individual customers.

Cumulatively, however, our aim is to be a force for good; to improve lives and environments around the world, and to encourage others in our spheres of influence to contribute too.

Preserving the planet together

We recognise our responsibility to commit to social responsibility. However, we also recognise the opportunity we have to encourage and support others within our community to contribute positively to the social responsibility actions that matter most to them.

We have a direct opportunity to facilitate this activity through our guidebook software, enabling our customers to communicate their own individual efforts, thereby encouraging action on the part of their guests too. Collectively we can make a substantial change.

How to make your digital guidebook a force for good

As a Touch Stay customer you can join us by activating the social responsibility section of your own guidebook/s. Choose to adopt our climate change position by including the pre-built template option, or use the section to communicate your own unique position. In taking this action you are highlighting and promoting your chosen social challenge, inspiring and informing your customers. It’s important to us that this strategy reaches far and wide, is accessible for all, and impactful where each individual believes it matters most.

Where our social responsibility lies

Because we began our business in the travel sector and have travel industry customers worldwide, we feel we must place our feet firmly in helping to address the climate emergency by offsetting carbon emissions.

We join our industry peers in contributing to reducing the impact of travel on the environment, without limiting the joy of travel, through our commitment to Tourism Declares. We will actively promote our position on climate change and take offsetting actions that we understand will most effectively counter carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, for example by planting more trees.

We’ve joined Tourism Declares

We’ve signed up to Tourism Declares, an initiative that supports the growing number of individuals, lodging properties, travel companies, and nations in declaring a climate emergency. Collectively, we are taking purposeful action to reduce our carbon emissions, playing our part in halving global carbon emissions by 2030*

* advice from The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stating that global greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 need to be approximately “55 percent lower than in 2017 to put the world on a least-cost pathway to limiting global warming to 1.5C”.

We are starting by taking affirmative climate action on our very own doorstep, across 9 time zones, as our team spans one third of the globe.

Like all signatories, we have committed to the following five actions:

1. Develop a ‘Climate Emergency Plan’ within the next 12 months, which sets out our intentions to reduce carbon emissions over the next decade.

2. Share an initial public declaration of our ‘Climate Emergency Plan’, and update on progress each year.

3. Accept current IPCC advice stating the need to cut global carbon emissions to 55% below 2017 levels by 2030 in order to keep the planet within 1.5 degrees of warming. We’ll ensure our ‘Climate Emergency Plan’ represents actions designed to achieve this as a minimum, through delivering transparent, measurable and increasing reductions in the total carbon emissions per employee arising from our operations and the software sold by us.

4. Encourage our suppliers and partners to make the same declaration; sharing best practice amongst peers; and actively participate in the Tourism Declares community

5. Advocate for change. We recognise the need for system change across the industry to accelerate a just transition towards carbon-free tourism.

Our sustainability strategy

We’ve drawn up a plan to measure and reflect on annual. Our goals are:

to become carbon neutral as an organisation during 2021
to offset our carbon emissions by working with a reforestation organisation
to consider ways to become a carbon negative organisation within 24 months
to enable our customers, via their use of our guidebook software, to participate with us, or to promote their own unique social responsibility priorities to their customers.

Sustainability is a key component in Touch Stay’s mission to build a business for good. We recognise that it is relatively easy for Touch Stay to neutralise its carbon footprint and to offset future excess carbon usage, but whatever contribution we can make matters. Similarly, we will do what we can to encourage others to play their part as part of their relationship with us.

How do you approach sustainability?

We are very keen to hear from Touch Stay customers prioritising social responsibility and sustainability in their businesses – please email us to tell us what you’re doing to make a change.

If you would also like to join forces with a travel industry community focused on tackling the climate emergency, please also consider declaring at tourismdeclares.com.

Mises à jour produit Touch Stay 2021 | Le meilleur de l’année

Laura Clayton — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

It’s been a busy year here at Touch Stay! We’ve been working hard to deliver a batch of shiny new features to improve the experience for our customers, and their guests.

When deciding which developments we should embark on next, we look to what our customers are asking us for, as well as what will provide significant enhancements for all. This year, for example, we introduced internal linking as a direct result of requests from our customers.

In the midst of these exciting advances, we don’t want you to lose track of the new features which will help you to use your digital guidebook even more effectively. So, to celebrate another dynamic year – and one in which we’ve been awarded a number of awards for our product – we’ve collected all of our 2021 product updates into one convenient list.

Read on to find out exactly how your Touch Stay digital guidebook has got even better, or click on an update in the list below to jump straight to it!

The brand new Touch Stay Content Hub
The Making a Difference Section
Deep links
Internal links
QR code for Quick Share links
Embedded images
Improvements to the guest view of your guidebook
Welsh added to the list of fully supported languages
Easier tracking of guest interactions with the guide
“Welcome” section integrated into Content Hub
Individual guides can now be customised directly from Content Hub
An additional twenty map pin icons
Option to insert a QR code onto the cover page of your guide PDF
Separate fields for the name of the account owner and the name which appears on your guide cover page
New starter template options
Access level filter in Content Hub

The big five – our favourite 2021 Touch Stay updates

These are the big updates. The ones that we’ve been shouting about since we released them.

1. The brand new Touch Stay Content Hub

Of course we had to start with this one – it’s shiny and new and so much easier to use. In March, we released a complete overhaul of Content Hub. The updated version is slicker and more intuitive, with lots of additional features to help you create and edit guides even more easily:

properties are now referred to as guides, because we know that some of our customers have found ingenious new ways of using their guidebooks (e.g. as training manuals)
we’ve inserted more detailed on-screen guidance, to help you get the most out of Content Hub
sections can now be expanded and collapsed, for easier navigation
we’ve created an option to invite guests via a link that you can drop into any communication
content can now be reordered through a drag and drop function

Knowledge Base article:

Touch Stay’s new Content Hub – release notes

2. The Making a Difference section

We take our responsibility to our wider community seriously, and that’s why, in April, we inserted the Making a Difference (MaD) section into our guidebook template.

The MaD section allows you to champion your own social justice causes, whether that’s by informing guests about how they can make their stay more sustainable, or encouraging them to donate to a charity close to your heart.

If you don’t have a personally-important cause that you want to champion, don’t worry! The MaD section includes default content about our tree-planting partner, Ecologi. With no extra effort on your part, you can encourage guests to offset their holiday carbon footprint by planting trees.

Knowledge Base article:

Making a Difference

Tyann Marcink’s MaD section

3. Deep links

Since June, you’ve been able to send guests a deep link to a specific section of your guide, directing them straight to the information they need. Is someone asking about how the dishwasher works? No need to type out all the instructions again, just respond with a deep link to the relevant topic in your guidebook.

Using deep links effectively

You can download all of your deep links into one spreadsheet so that they’re easy for you to locate. You can also generate a QR code for each link. Just print it out and attach it to any appliance for which a guest might need instructions. Guests are taken straight to the correct section in your digital guidebook, without having to contact you at all. It’s a win-win!

Knowledge Base articles:

accessing the deep links for sections in your guide

4. Internal links

We were on a linking roll in June! Your guests shouldn’t have to spend time navigating between topics in your guide to cross-reference information. Want to direct them straight from your “Welcome” section to “Arrival Information”? Easy! Just insert an internal link which will take guests straight there.

Knowledge Base article:

how to create internal links to other sections in your guide

inserting an internal link into a topic

5. QR code for Quick Share links

Since May, you’ve been able to generate a QR code for the Quick Share link to your guide, making it even easier to encourage guests to read your guidebook. Simply place the QR code in a visible place in the accommodation or as part of a welcome note or poster, and instruct guests to scan it to find all the info they need.

Guests can whip out their phone and access the guidebook within seconds, reducing the likelihood that they throw questions your way.

Knowledge Base articles:

generating a QR code for your Quick Share link

Approved by the Touch Stay Rock Stars

All of our new features aim to improve the functionality of the digital guidebook for our users. We were over the moon when the Touch Stay Rock Stars told us that their two favourite updates from 2021 were the integration of QR codes, and internal linking. If the Rock Stars are happy with it, we know we’ve done a good job.

Our under-the-radar heroes – the 2021 Touch Stay updates that deserve more airtime

We want to actively place these features on your radar because we know that they’ll help you to get even more out of your Touch Stay guidebook. But we suspect we may not have shouted loudly enough about them so far. Here we go…!

6. Embedded images

In November, we made it possible for you to insert in-line images into your topics, an update that many customers had requested. Now, as well as the featured image which sits above your text, you can insert multiple images within the text itself.

This comes in handy when you want to illustrate your writing with a pertinent image or logo, or break up a block of text with a visual aid.

Knowledge Base article:

how to add multiple images to a topic

inserting images into your text

7. Improvements to the guest view of your guidebook

At Touch Stay, we’re all about guest experience, so of course we want to continue improving the guest view of your guidebook. We want it to be as fast and intuitive as possible, so that your guests can easily access all of the information they need. In 2021, we:

improved the guest’s experience of navigating through a guidebook on desktop
improved the speed at which guidebook content loads
improved the guidebook’s ability to adapt to non-standard mobile browsers
gave guests the option to expand or collapse all topics as they browse through the guidebook
improved the functionality of the “back” action whilst using the guidebook in a browser (either by pressing the “back” button or by swiping)
inserted an immediate jump from the category menu to the topic menu when only one subcategory is present, reducing the number of necessary clicks for a guest to access the information they need
now automatically use photo file names as alt text for photos, making guides more accessible for visually impaired users who use screen readers to help them consume your guidebooks
improved the way that iOS handles our Progressive Web App (the software that houses your digital guidebook)

Our mission is to improve guest experience, and as part of that we’re constantly looking to improve the guest’s experience of your Touch Stay digital guidebook. We want your guests to have a better holiday, and for you to spend less time answering their questions!

Knowledge Base article:

how to add alt text to your photos

immediate jump from category to topic level

expanding and collapsing all topics in guest view

8. Welsh added to the list of fully supported languages

Newyddion da! Good news! Our guidebooks now fully support Welsh-language content. If you translate the content itself, we’ll handle the rest by automatically translating the navigation elements (e.g. the “Get Started” button).

Knowledge Base articles:

activating additional languages

inserting content in additional languages

9. Easier tracking of guest interactions with the guide

You’ve put the time into creating an informative, polished guidebook for your guests – now you want to make sure that they actually read it! We’ve introduced a couple of different features which allow you to keep track of which guests have opened your guide:

a new search function in the Invitation table – you can now search for the name of a specific guest in order to quickly see how many times they’ve opened the guidebook. If a guest is peppering you with questions, and you can see that they haven’t opened the guide, perhaps it’s time for a gentle nudge!
a view count for your Quick Share link – you can also see how many times your Quick Share link has been viewed over different periods of time. This helps you to keep track of how guests are accessing your guide.

Knowledge Base article:

how can I see if my users/guests are viewing my guides

using the search function in the Invitation table

10. “Welcome” section integrated into Content Hub

Joe, our co-founder and product expert, had been wanting to make this change for years, and in May it finally happened! Rather than the “Welcome” section appearing separately to the Content Hub, it now appears within it. All of your guide content is now in one convenient location.

the “Welcome” section now sits in the Content Hub

11. Individual guides can now be customised directly from Content Hub

If you’ve got multiple guidebooks on the go, there’s a good chance that each guide will have some unique content. You can now edit this content directly from Content Hub – rather than having to switch between your guidebooks, you can edit everything from one location.

Knowledge Base article:

how to add information that is unique to a guide

12. An additional twenty map pin icons

Our customers recommend a whole range of local services to their guests, and we want you to be able to match these services up with a fitting map icon. You can now label your favourite local distillery, vineyard, and sweet treat, all with their own symbol.

Knowledge Base article:

how to add a pin to the map

choosing from all the available map pin icons

13. Option to insert a QR code onto the cover page of your guide PDF

Choose to automatically include your guide’s QR code on the cover page of any PDF version you generate. This way, your guests have multiple ways of accessing their guide, and can easily decide if they want to stick with a physical copy or access it through a mobile device.

Knowledge Base article:

how to add a QR code to your PDF

including your guide’s QR code on the front cover of the PDF

14. Separate fields for the name of the account owner and the name which appears on your guide cover page

You can now edit your profile to separately input the name of the Touch Stay account holder, and the name that appears in the guest view of your guide. If one person manages your Touch Stay account, but another is the guest contact point, you can now easily link both names to the relevant sections of your account.

Knowledge Base article:

how do I remove my name from the front cover of my guidebook?

separate fields for the name of the account holder and the name that your guests see

15. New starter template options

We have a new range of template options for you to choose from when you set up your guidebook. You can now select between:

short term rental
bed & breakfast/hotel
tourism guide
glamping
RV/campervan
camping

multiple guidebook template options

16. An Access Level filter in Content Hub

In addition to filtering the view of your topics in Content Hub according to their tags, you can now also filter them according to access level. Easily see which of your categories, subcategories and topics are set to limited access and unlimited access. Handy if you’re wanting to choreograph exactly when guests are able to see certain information.

Knowledge Base articles:

filtering by Access Level

Ways we’ve enhanced your experience of the Touch Stay digital guidebook

You won’t notice any of these as distinct new features, but they will have made creating, editing, and sharing your guidebooks just that bit easier.

we’ve improved the speed at which Content Hub loads for you
we’ve improved the speed at which the Guides page loads, particularly for accounts with a large number of guides and high view counts
iOS now supports drag & drop in the Content Hub, so it’s easier for you to edit the order of your content whilst on the move

A big thank you from all of us at Touch Stay

We wouldn’t be where we are without the continued support, feedback, and advocacy that we receive from you, our customers. We’re humbled by the examples of encouragement and community that we see from you every day, whether this is in our Rock Stars Facebook group, on social media, or at live events.

We hope that the improvements we’re making to our digital guidebooks are making your lives a little easier, and making your guests a little happier. And as always, if there are any new features you want to see, or anything you feel could work better, just get in touch!

Rendre votre propriété accessible aux voyageurs en situation de handicap

Laura Clayton — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

The vacation rental industry is slowly becoming more aware of our responsibility to ensure that guests with disabilities can access holiday accommodation, but we’ve still got a long way to go. Here at Touch Stay, we were lucky enough to sit down with Lorraine Woodward, founder of Becoming rentABLE, who’s taking matters into her own hands.

Lorraine has muscular dystrophy, as do her sons, and she wasn’t able to take them on holiday as kids because there simply wasn’t anywhere to stay. In response, she built her own holiday property – one that was properly accessible for herself and her sons.

And she didn’t stop there! She founded Becoming rentABLE to connect people with disabilities to accessible holiday properties. Vacation rental owners can list on the site for free and verify the precise ways in which they meet various access requirements.

If you’re a holiday accommodation operator looking to understand how (and why!) to make your property accessible for people with disabilities, then you’re in luck – we’ve summarised Lorraine’s expert advice below. If you’d prefer to watch her explain in her own words, you can watch her chat with Andy.

Why it’s a good idea to make your holiday rental property accessible

For a start, there just aren’t many of them! Lorraine noted that fewer than 1% of short term rental properties in the USA are accessible, and there are actually 23 states with no accessible short term rental properties at all.

If we, as an industry, claim to be inclusive, welcoming, and equitable, then we have to correct this.

How accessibility for guests with disabilities benefits vacation rental owners

For starters, making your holiday let more accessible also opens it up to a whole new market of travellers. According to the CDC, 26% of adults in the USA live with some type of disability. That’s a huge number of people (61 million, to be precise) who may not be able to comfortably stay in your holiday rental property.

So, making your property more accessible, through changes which are often surprisingly simple, opens you up to a new group of potential guests. Because so few short term rental properties are currently accessible, you’re likely to discover repeat guests who make strong recommendations to friends and family with similar access needs.

This is a brilliant example of how taking an inclusive, equitable approach actively benefits holiday rental owners. For another instance, check out how eco-friendly initiatives support your bottom line.

What does accessibility mean in practice?

Lorraine emphasised that making your holiday home accessible to people with disabilities doesn’t have to be a huge project. You don’t necessarily have to make any significant structural changes.

At the same time, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. There are a wide range of possible disabilities that guests could have, and a variety of ways you can accommodate their requirements.

You or I can’t identify what makes a property accessible for someone else. I can identify what my needs are, and they may be different from your needs.

Lorraine walked us through some practical starting points for making your vacation rental property accessible to people with different types of disability.

How to create a rental property that’s accessible to people with autism

For Lorraine, the key to making a property accessible to people with autism is reducing sensory stimulation. Strategies include:

choosing muted colour schemes
installing blackout curtains
avoiding fluorescent lights

Lorraine also suggested installing deadlocks and door alarms to ensure that everyone in the property remains safe and accounted for, especially at night.

She highlighted that none of these solutions involve any renovation – many of them are fairly simple swaps or installations. She estimated that they could cost less than $500, but would allow you to reach a population of around 6.2 million people with autism in the USA.

How to create a wheelchair accessible vacation rental

Lorraine uses a wheelchair herself, and a few of the things she looks out for in a new property are:

a roll-in shower
space to move about between items of furniture
a roll-under sink
a microwave that’s reachable from a wheelchair

She emphasised that a lack of specific information often makes it difficult for her to know how accessible a property will actually be.

For example, some showers are described as accessible because they’re step-in (meaning that the user doesn’t have to step over the side of a bath to access it). Whilst this is a solution that works well for guests with walkers, Lorraine needs a roll-in shower for proper wheelchair access.

Similarly, a property with shallow steps might be suitable for a guest using a walker, but it won’t be accessible for a guest who uses a wheelchair.

Allow room to manoeuvre

For both walker- and wheelchair-users, space is a key priority. Lorraine recommended having at least 40 inches of space between different items of furniture, to give guests enough room to move around.

Similarly, her wheelchair requires a door that’s at least 36 inches wide. Most walkers need a door that’s 32 inches wide.

Give your rental property a test run

It’s always a good idea to spend a night in your vacation rental property to understand how your guests experience it. Is there enough cutlery? Are the pillows soft enough?

Similarly, Lorraine recommends putting yourself in the position of your guests with disabilities before they arrive. Invite over a friend who uses a wheelchair so that they can use your property to see what’s accessible and what isn’t. If this isn’t possible, Lorraine even suggested sitting in a kitchen chair and moving about. Are there any appliances you can’t reach? Any spaces you can’t manoeuvre in?

Get creative! If you’re low on funds and time, start by considering how you can position appliances and equipment so that a guest using a wheelchair can operate them.

Part of the process is rethinking how you position accessibility in your narrative on the booking platform. You just have to be a little creative and think about how your space could be accessible – sit in a chair and see where that chair can go; if you have a friend who uses a wheelchair or walker, invite them over to see what access they might have.

How to make your vacation rental property accessible to guests who are deaf or hard of hearing

Adapting your property to make it accessible for people who are deaf doesn’t have to require a chunky investment. Lorraine suggested:

enabling closed captions on your television
connecting a vibrating alarm system to the door bell
installing a signalling device connected to a light system

With a series of small changes (your TV probably already has closed captions!), you can make your property accessible and inviting to a whole new group of travellers.

How to improve accessibility for people who are blind or have visual impairments

Finally, Lorraine walked us through her suggestions of ways to improve accessibility for guests who have visual impairments:

installing under-counter lighting
creating a clear walking path to allow for easy navigation
placing fluorescent tape on steps
creating a map of the house which incorporates different textures

You can see here how the same solutions can benefit multiple groups of guests. For example, creating a clear walking path supports guests with visual impairments, whilst also creating space for guests who use wheelchairs and walkers.

How to communicate the accessible vacation you offer

A big part of Lorraine’s work is improving how we communicate about accessibility. Listing sites such as Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com offer a range of accessibility filters, so a good starting point is to check that your listing specifies the ways in which your property is accessible.

And yet, at the time of writing, Vrbo only allows users to specify that they want the property to be ‘wheelchair accessible’, and/or to have an elevator. Well, we’ve seen that there are a whole host of other adjustments that guests with disabilities might need to enjoy a comfortable stay. Airbnb only allows hosts to specify if their doorways are wider than 32 inches, whilst Lorraine highlighted that her wheelchair actually requires a doorway to be at least 36 inches wide.

Listing sites are taking steps to help travellers with disabilities find holiday properties that meet their needs, but they’re pretty slow steps.

Say hello to Becoming rentABLE

This is where Lorraine stepped in. Becoming rentABLE is a reality TV show and social media platform dedicated to advocating for accessible short term rental properties. It’s also a listing site!

Becoming rentABLE has 36 possible filters for you to apply to your short term rental property. You can tell prospective guests that it’s vision accessible, autism accessible, walker accessible, and so much more. Their representatives verify that properties are describing themselves in the correct way – Lorraine noted that some properties were already accessible in more ways than they realised!

Lorraine’s aim is to connect people with disabilities – and their friends and families – with accessible short term lets where they can enjoy a comfortable holiday. That’s why Becoming rentABLE’s listing site is currently free. Lorraine also provides a series of free resources, including:

a guide to achieving zero-threshold entry
documents that clarify the legality of accessibility in the USA
suggestions of ways you can make your property accessible to people with specific disabilities

These resources also clarify the terms of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA outlines accessibility guidelines and requirements to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to public life and services. Becoming rentABLE explains who these guidelines apply to, and why you shouldn’t be nervous about them.

Essentially, they can tell you everything you need to know about the legal and practical considerations of making your home more accessible.

Use your digital guidebook to convey the access requirements you meet

A digital guest welcome book is the perfect tool to share the ways in which you’ve made your property accessible. Your Touch Stay digital guidebook comes with a short term rental template which you can customise in any way you like. You’re in control of the content and structure, which means you can choose when and how you want to present your accessible modifications.

Guests access your guidebook via a shareable URL, so you can share it with them multiple times before they even pack their bags, with no need for them to download an app or a PDF. Generate a deep link to a specific section in your guidebook to send them straight to crucial accessibility info.

You can even use your guidebook as a marketing tool. Simply share the link on your listing, your website, and your social media to allow guests to browse your property in depth. With the ability to add pictures and videos to each section, you’ll be able to demonstrate exactly how you welcome guests with disabilities.

Guests will know even before they book that they’re staying in a property that serves their needs, with a host who truly cares.

Enhance your guest communications today

The tangible effects of accessible short term lets

Lorraine shared multiple experiences with us which really demonstrated the transformative effect that accessible accommodation has for people with disabilities and their families.

Lorraine herself struggled to take her kids on holiday when they were younger, until they built their own accessible holiday property. They recently had someone stay with them who hadn’t been on holiday in 28 years.

When a renter comes to our property I ask them, ‘Why did you travel 2.5 days from Canada to North Carolina?’, and they say, ‘Lorraine, there’s nothing in between here and there that’s accessible.'

Widening access to your property undoubtedly makes sense from an economic perspective: you’re widening the markets to which you have access. It also makes sense from a community perspective. Whether travellers with disabilities are looking for a wheelchair accessible oceanfront rental, a cabin that welcomes kids with autism, an accessible van rental service, or an all-inclusive resort, they’ll be able to find something to suit their needs.

Start making simple changes to your vacation rental property today, and spread the word with a Touch Stay digital guest book.

Create your digital guidebook