10 tips to make your holiday let family-friendly
Families love holiday lets. The space, the flexibility, the facilities, they’re an easy and comfortable place to spend time away with loved ones. As a holiday let owner, families will probably make up the majority of your bookings, so it’s important to offer them everything they need for a great holiday.
Not only will this improve guest satisfaction, but it can boost your review scores and allow more people to find your holiday home – many holidaymakers filter their online searches by specific features, such as Wi-Fi, dishwashers, accessibility and baby and toddler-friendly.
To begin, think about who will be staying at your holiday home. As well as adults, you’ll have babies, toddlers, kids, teens, grandparents, maybe even pets. What can you do to make your holiday home suitable and special for them?
Here are our top ten suggestions:
Make it Fun
Your guests are there to sightsee and explore the region you love, but when they need to unwind or the weather turns, your holiday home will need to entertain – especially if there are kids and teens!
WI-FI and a TV are the minimum, so look to supplement these with a Blu-ray player, a games console and some board games. Having a smart TV or a streaming box/stick means guests can binge-watch their favourite shows. Friends, anyone?
Let Them Play
A holiday home with a garden can be a huge draw for families, especially if they’ve got young kids. Add some outdoor play equipment and you’ll make it even more tempting! A swing set, football goal or a trampoline fitted with a protective safety net will let the kids burn energy while the parents get some much-needed downtime.
Share Your Entertainment Ideas
You know what makes the area around your holiday home special, so why not share that knowledge with your guests? A note in your welcome pack with suggested activities and attractions could be the making of their whole holiday.
Share ideas for entertaining the kids and some lesser known sights – what walks do you love, is there a great spot for fishing, a rock climbing centre or maybe a relatively unknown beach nearby?
Roll Out the Welcome Mat
A list of activities isn’t the only thing you can include in your welcome pack: cake, milk, wine or popular local produce are all appreciated. But if you know kids will be staying, why not include a treat just for them, like a colouring book, a toy or a bucket and spade?
If they have a dog, include a snack, blankets, towels or even a letter that tells them about the walks nearby. A personal touch makes a big difference.
Be Baby and Toddler-friendly
Young families will need a little extra care and attention over your regular guests – a first-ever family holiday can be stressful, after all! Ease their minds and lessen their baggage burden by providing them with the essentials like a cot, high chair, stair gate, baby bath mat and safety fittings. Having blackout blinds and an enclosed garden are really beneficial too.
Make Things Easy
When you’re travelling as a family, things can get chaotic. So make life at your holiday home as simple as possible by providing your guests with a washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher. Just remember to buy energy efficient models to keep your running costs down.
Add a Swimming Pool
It may sound a little extravagant, but a swimming pool can really supercharge demand and interest in your holiday home. If space is an issue, a good alternative may be an endless pool, which are fitted with counter-current jets. They’re great exercise and just as refreshing.
Welcome Pets
25% of British adults have a dog, and over half of them go on holiday with their pooch, so by welcoming pets, you’ll naturally attract a wider number of families to your holiday let. On average, cottages.com owners with pet-friendly properties earn 17% more per year against those that don’t.
Don’t Forget the Adults
The babies, the kids and the dog are all taken care of, but don’t forget the adults who booked the holiday!
Provide must-haves like hair dryers and an iron alongside some memorable luxuries. They could be anything from simple fresh flowers and a picnic basket to Bluetooth speakers, a fancy BBQ, an espresso machine or a hot tub. Make this family getaway their most restful yet and they may just come back.
Think about Accessibility
International travel can be really demanding, especially for the older generation, so many families choose to spend their downtime in a holiday let closer to home, where they can more easily enjoy time away with their elderly or less able relatives.
Having a holiday home with a downstairs bedroom and bathroom, grab rails and an entrance ramp will really aid its accessibility and its suitability for these families.
If you’d like more ideas about how you can attract families to your holiday home or would like more detailed advice on the tips we’ve given here, then do get in touch with our experts on 0345 268 1846 or visit www.cottages.com/let-your-property.
