When vacation rental guests first arrive to a new or exotic holiday home in a foreign city, often the first thing they seek out is the "villa book," or the "home instruction guide." This manual acts as a guide and reference throughout their stay and most smart vacation rental owners provide this as an enhancement to every guests' stay.
The Book can be the key to having happy guests. The Book saves vacation property owners/agents a lot of time and potential trouble because the guests are able to help themselves to answers and guidance, rather than calling the owner or manager every time they have a question or concern.
Below we list the essential data and those optional enhancements which should be included in the Villa Book. Some owners of Uber-luxurious properties have turned their Villa Books into a high art form, suitable for publishing!
Basic Contact Info should include:
-The Street Address of the home and the home's telephone number.
-Local Number for Police, Fire, Ambulance and/or Private Security in the neighborhood or building.
-Owner or Manager's phone number, location, hours of availability, alternate contacts for an emergency.
-Numbers for any emergency service providers "on call" to the home, in emergencies, such as: Plumber, Electrician Handyman, Locksmith, Mechanic.
Check-in and Check-Out instructions, if any: Where should guests' leave keys, comments, and so on.
Who has Home Access: Notes and names of any gardeners, caretakers or other service providers who may have access to the home or exterior, their usual schedule or scheduled visit during the guests' stay.
Other essential items for the book are:
Maps, Addresses and Driving Directions to important places such as: Local Hospital Emergency Medical or "Walk-In" Clinics; Bank, ATM and Money Exchange; Airport, Train Station,and Bus Stations; Post Office, FedEx, UPS or other Express Mailing Businesses; Grocery Stores, Butcher, Baker, Liquor Stores, or other Essential Stores; Internet Cafe é or Business Center; Recommended Restaurants, Cafes, Clubs, or Thoroughfares; Local Places of Worship with phone numbers.
Local Maps and Transportation: Provide guests with multiple copies of bus maps, subway maps, bike paths or other transportation to get around locally.
The Car: If a car is being provided as part of the rental or exchange, do include the instruction manual any any registration or insurance documents in an easily found place. Further, makes notes for the guest on the following:
- How to adjust the seats if not immediately obvious
- Preferences for the appropriate or required type of fuel to put in the car and map of locations of nearby gas stations
- Where the gas tank is and how to open it from inside the car, if there is a special button; where is a safety and tool kit located within the car.
- If a convertible, how to put the top up and down appropriately
- Any special instructions for key fob, key ignition, unlocking the steering wheel, or other potential problems a new driver may have
- Any instructions to carry out in an accident or emergency (i.e. "use the throaway camera found in the trunk to document the accident, call XYZ insurance agent, file a police report, etc.").
- Always keep a first aid kit, documentation supplies and blanket in the trunk in case of a guest emergency.
Other items for management of the vacation home:
Emergency Instructions and locations: instructions for use of the backup generator, what to do or who to call in an electrical outage, telephone outage, where are circuit breakers, what to do in case of flooding, and so on.
Electrical Notes for the home: If the home uses 220, clearly state this and any special instructions for those who may have brought appliances or equipment of a different current.
Temperature Modification instructions for the home. Such as: Heating Air Conditioning Thermostat; Storage location of free-standing fans or heaters; Location of extra blankets; Heated floor locations and on/off area for floors; If the use of A/C or Heat will incur an extra charge to the renter, clearly state this in the Villa Book. Include approximations or specifications of what various usages will cost and how the financial details will be handled (i.e. deduction from deposit, etc.).
A List of Quirks of the Home. These may include: Issues with running water such as a long time to wait for hot, etc; Non-operational items like windows, lights, inaccessible rooms, etc; Neighbors, their animals, children, or noise issues; Difficult operation of old-style keys, gates, or other potential frustrations.
History of the Home for History Buffs: if you have a historical home or a home with an interesting past or a house that's come down with an aristocratic and long family tree, why not write about it in the book? Many guests are fascinated by both the provenance of mansions and estates and the cast of characters who might have resided in the home prior to its becoming a vacation rental.
Operation and instructions for various amenities: Where tennis court light controls located? What about Sauna or Steam room operations? Jacuzzi controls; Recommended temperature settings for the wine cooler; Grill or barbeque supply locations/instructions.
Wi-Fi, Cell Phone and Internet Access: make notes on passcodes or if there are "dead zones" in the home for reception, note this for the guest. Give instructions on how to "re-set" the wi-fi system or router, including WEP or other passcodes so a guest can be up and running easily after a failure.
TV, remote control, satellite dish, cable, and DVD player: provide instructions if turning them on if it is not a straightforward matter of pressing the "On" button.
Major Applicances: if the knobs and controls do not have explicitly easy-to-understand symbols or markings or are in another language, clarify in the Villa Book what the symbols/pictures actually mean, so that guests do not end up merely rinsing their clothing when they meant to wash them, or reheating their dinner in the microwave when they meant to fully cook it.
Appliances: If staff or services are not part of the home, include instruction booklets (hopefully with multi-language translations already in them) for major or minor appliances like the dishwasher, juice maker, cappuccino maker, crepe maker, etc.
Location of both essential items and extra for the home, such as: Extra towels, blankets, pillows Extra toilet paper, soap, paper towels, bottled water, sugar, tea, etc. Beach towels, ice chest, picnic basket Location and instructions for of any extra sports or fitness equipment - yoga mats, weights, skis, rafts, kayaks, etc. For fully equipped Home office: Fax number at home, location of extra printer paper, electrical equipment such as USB cords, etc.
Kamis, 31 Agustus 2017
Minggu, 13 Agustus 2017
Mystery Hotels - How to Cheat and Maybe Get a Bargain
We have spent some time looking at lastminute.com's 'Mystery Hotel' range and the new mystery offers from wotif.com. In some cases, LastMinute's descriptions of its mystery hotels make it pretty easy to pinpoint the actual hotel. Wotif's mystery hotels are a little harder to fathom but there are some clues, for instance they might be selling 'Comfort' and 'Grand Comfort' rooms at a mystery hotel so you just go through the list of other Wotif hotels in the same city and see which hotel uses that description for its rooms. The US company Priceline was the originator of the mystery hotel deal and we have always had serious misgivings about using them.
The main objection is that instead of seeing a discounted price (20% off the usual agent's price is fairly normal for both LastMinute and Wotif) at a specific hotel, Priceline gives you no clue as to the actual hotel and you have to bid the price you are prepared to pay. Priceline does give a little help - it breaks cities down into areas and shows the normal retail price of hotels in different star categories and suggests a likely discount you should apply when bidding. Nonetheless, there is a huge danger that you will end up paying more than you need to. Priceline might have set a secret minimum bid of $80 a night but if someone bids $95 the company will happily accept the bid. Also, in recent years, business has been very good for the hotel industry and we suspect that Priceline was selling rooms at some hotels that would otherwise have difficulty in attracting guests. In other words, you could end up paying over the odds for an inferior hotel.
However, now the game has changed a little. Quite a few hotels have empty rooms and are willing to sell them at low rates through Priceline, on condition of anonymity to avoid destroying their normal rating. And, we have found a rather handy guide that should help you avoid some of the Priceline pitfalls.
One community forum for users of Priceline (and HotWire, a division of Expedia, which is designed more for US customers) The front page is a bit messy, but all you need do is scroll down to find the forum dedicated to the area you want to visit. Pick Boston and the first post will be a list of hotels that forum members have purchased through Priceline. There is no guarantee that this list is completely accurate - hotels will come and go, depending on season and occupancy - but at least you have an idea of the sort of hotel you will get in each star category. Then you go through the most recent posts where members have listed deals they have actually obtained from Priceline. You may see that someone was able to bid $80 for a room at the Omni Parker two days ago and a bid of $85 got a room at the Hyatt Regency a week earlier. You need to take careful note of when the reservations were for (weekdays or weekends) and how far in advance the reservations were made because this is bound to have an effect on the price.
This site works best with Priceline's US hotels. Postings for international reservations are far sparser. If you want to stay in Venice in May, it is of little use to know that someone was able to bid $90 for a room at the Hilton Molino in February.
All prices on Priceline are before the dreaded 'taxes and charges', which can add a sizeable sum to the total and clearly include a generous service charge. We could not see how they came up with charges of £28 on a basic hotel cost of £92. At least you see this figure before your bid is submitted.
Once you are ready to go ahead, you have to submit your payment details. If the bid is accepted, your money is taken immediately and there is no possibility of cancellation or alteration. If the bid is not accepted, no money is taken and you are only allowed to rebid if you alter some of the terms of the original bid. Betterbidding suggests a way around this. Let's say you want to stay in a five-star hotel in one area of Paris. Your initial bid is turned down so you alter your bid to include another area of Paris but an area which you can see from Betterbidding does not have a Priceline five-star hotel. Assuming Priceline has not suddenly added a new hotel (which is a very real possibility) then your increased bid on the hotel you want should be accepted.
Betterbidding also gives the same range of information for HotWire. This is part of the same group that owns Expedia and Hotels.com but it is designed principally for US customers and payment is taken in dollars - effectively adding to the cost for UK customers.
HotWire's system is similar to Priceline with the bidding aspect removed. You know the star rating in advance, the area of the city involved and the full cost (plus taxes and charges). A quick look at Betterbidding should give you an idea of which hotels it is selling in the various categories and cities. The site is not as strong on hotels outside North America as Priceline.
With both these sites, we recommend you attempt to cross-check prices with the hotels direct or hotels of a similar category. Neither Booking.com, nor Expedia/Hotels.com (the companies behind these mystery sites) is noted for selling hotels cheaply. In some cases, a 20% discount off their rates will only equate to a 10% discount off rates available elsewhere. If you think you can get a room at the Luxor in Las Vegas for $65, you might find it better to take away the guesswork and book direct with the hotel for $72.
We certainly cannot recommend Priceline and the Betterbidding site to everyone. It can be very time-consuming and dangerous. There is a huge potential for error: you can easily pay quite a lot of money for a hotel you do not want. Another significant danger is that you can get carried away with the whole game and concentrate too much on trying to 'win' rather than on finding a hotel that is suitable for you! However, there are some genuine bargains around, particularly in the US, where Priceline is stronger, and there is plenty of information on Betterbidding. If you are looking for a couple of nights in a hotel in New York, and you have the time and patience, you might just get a good deal.
Will I get the worst room in the hotel if I have booked a mystery deal at a special price?
There is a possibility that a few hotels will use these mystery deals to sell a handful of less desirable rooms they would not normally sell unless the hotel was full. Most hotels will give you a standard room but, as is common for rooms booked at special rates through agents, it is likely to be the lowest-category room available. The better rooms may be on higher floors, have more modern furnishings or better views and these are likely to be allocated to clients who have booked direct with the hotel.
The main objection is that instead of seeing a discounted price (20% off the usual agent's price is fairly normal for both LastMinute and Wotif) at a specific hotel, Priceline gives you no clue as to the actual hotel and you have to bid the price you are prepared to pay. Priceline does give a little help - it breaks cities down into areas and shows the normal retail price of hotels in different star categories and suggests a likely discount you should apply when bidding. Nonetheless, there is a huge danger that you will end up paying more than you need to. Priceline might have set a secret minimum bid of $80 a night but if someone bids $95 the company will happily accept the bid. Also, in recent years, business has been very good for the hotel industry and we suspect that Priceline was selling rooms at some hotels that would otherwise have difficulty in attracting guests. In other words, you could end up paying over the odds for an inferior hotel.
However, now the game has changed a little. Quite a few hotels have empty rooms and are willing to sell them at low rates through Priceline, on condition of anonymity to avoid destroying their normal rating. And, we have found a rather handy guide that should help you avoid some of the Priceline pitfalls.
One community forum for users of Priceline (and HotWire, a division of Expedia, which is designed more for US customers) The front page is a bit messy, but all you need do is scroll down to find the forum dedicated to the area you want to visit. Pick Boston and the first post will be a list of hotels that forum members have purchased through Priceline. There is no guarantee that this list is completely accurate - hotels will come and go, depending on season and occupancy - but at least you have an idea of the sort of hotel you will get in each star category. Then you go through the most recent posts where members have listed deals they have actually obtained from Priceline. You may see that someone was able to bid $80 for a room at the Omni Parker two days ago and a bid of $85 got a room at the Hyatt Regency a week earlier. You need to take careful note of when the reservations were for (weekdays or weekends) and how far in advance the reservations were made because this is bound to have an effect on the price.
This site works best with Priceline's US hotels. Postings for international reservations are far sparser. If you want to stay in Venice in May, it is of little use to know that someone was able to bid $90 for a room at the Hilton Molino in February.
All prices on Priceline are before the dreaded 'taxes and charges', which can add a sizeable sum to the total and clearly include a generous service charge. We could not see how they came up with charges of £28 on a basic hotel cost of £92. At least you see this figure before your bid is submitted.
Once you are ready to go ahead, you have to submit your payment details. If the bid is accepted, your money is taken immediately and there is no possibility of cancellation or alteration. If the bid is not accepted, no money is taken and you are only allowed to rebid if you alter some of the terms of the original bid. Betterbidding suggests a way around this. Let's say you want to stay in a five-star hotel in one area of Paris. Your initial bid is turned down so you alter your bid to include another area of Paris but an area which you can see from Betterbidding does not have a Priceline five-star hotel. Assuming Priceline has not suddenly added a new hotel (which is a very real possibility) then your increased bid on the hotel you want should be accepted.
Betterbidding also gives the same range of information for HotWire. This is part of the same group that owns Expedia and Hotels.com but it is designed principally for US customers and payment is taken in dollars - effectively adding to the cost for UK customers.
HotWire's system is similar to Priceline with the bidding aspect removed. You know the star rating in advance, the area of the city involved and the full cost (plus taxes and charges). A quick look at Betterbidding should give you an idea of which hotels it is selling in the various categories and cities. The site is not as strong on hotels outside North America as Priceline.
With both these sites, we recommend you attempt to cross-check prices with the hotels direct or hotels of a similar category. Neither Booking.com, nor Expedia/Hotels.com (the companies behind these mystery sites) is noted for selling hotels cheaply. In some cases, a 20% discount off their rates will only equate to a 10% discount off rates available elsewhere. If you think you can get a room at the Luxor in Las Vegas for $65, you might find it better to take away the guesswork and book direct with the hotel for $72.
We certainly cannot recommend Priceline and the Betterbidding site to everyone. It can be very time-consuming and dangerous. There is a huge potential for error: you can easily pay quite a lot of money for a hotel you do not want. Another significant danger is that you can get carried away with the whole game and concentrate too much on trying to 'win' rather than on finding a hotel that is suitable for you! However, there are some genuine bargains around, particularly in the US, where Priceline is stronger, and there is plenty of information on Betterbidding. If you are looking for a couple of nights in a hotel in New York, and you have the time and patience, you might just get a good deal.
Will I get the worst room in the hotel if I have booked a mystery deal at a special price?
There is a possibility that a few hotels will use these mystery deals to sell a handful of less desirable rooms they would not normally sell unless the hotel was full. Most hotels will give you a standard room but, as is common for rooms booked at special rates through agents, it is likely to be the lowest-category room available. The better rooms may be on higher floors, have more modern furnishings or better views and these are likely to be allocated to clients who have booked direct with the hotel.
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