147. Back to the Basics: Refocusing on Guest Experience

Following up on last week’s episode covering the basic steps you can take as a host to make sure you have all the simple things dialed in, we look at ways to step back and reconsider your guest experience. The customer is always right, after all.

We’ve stayed at at least twenty hotels and short-term rentals over the past year and we always come away with new takeaways each time. Today, we share those insights with you. Most of them are simple, immediately actionable, and affordable to implement. Let’s not overthink it!

Nobody wants to feel like they’re intruding on someone else’s space when they’re staying somewhere. Knowing this, you should do everything you can to make sure every guest feels like they’re the first person to stay there. You don’t want half-empty shampoo bottles, stray hairs, or any other lingering signs of the previous guests to be around reminding people that this isn’t their own personal space, one where they can be comfortable and escape whatever they’ve left behind for the time being.

A few small things that can have a big impact on your property:

• Refillable cleaner containers
• Full-length mirrors
• Iron and ironing board
• Hooks, luggage racks, and hangers
• Chip clips
• Basic coffee maker

If your property can sleep twelve guests, it should be able to support twelve guests. That means seating, dinnerware and utensils, towels and washcloths, and more. If your property is being used to the capacity you are advertising it for, it needs to be equipped to provide a good experience for those guests, at capacity, for the duration of their stay.

Don’t forget to go back to the basics and ensure your property is immaculate, all year round. These are all things you want to be auditing your space for, regularly. Mostly easy to implement, they can be easy to overlook if you’re too focused on the big picture.

Resources:

• BOTHSTAR Keypad Door Knob
• Visit thanksforvisiting.me/workshop to watch our Hosting Business Mastery Method workshop!
• #STRShareSunday: @pines.edge