A couple book a glamping pod for an anniversary. She packs as though for a hotel. They arrive to find no bedding, a shared shower block two hundred metres away and a wood burner nobody has explained.
The listing said glamping. It meant something quite different to each of them.
The checklist
Publish these per unit and nobody arrives with the wrong expectations.
1. What the unit actually is
A pod, a bell tent, a shepherd's hut, a cabin or a safari tent, with what each means in practice. The words mean different things to different people.
2. The sleeping arrangement
How many it sleeps, in what configuration, whether beds are real beds and whether any of them are a sofa or a mezzanine. Families need the detail.
3. Whether bedding is provided
Linen, duvets, pillows, towels and whether anything can be hired. It is the most common arrival problem in the sector.
4. The bathroom arrangement
Private, shared, how far away, whether there is hot water and whether the unit has a toilet. State it plainly rather than describing facilities generally.
5. Whether there is electricity
Lighting, sockets, whether devices can be charged and whether it runs all night. Guests plan around it and assume there is.
6. The heating arrangement
Wood burner, electric heater or nothing, whether fuel is provided and what it costs. And whether somebody will show them how to use it.
7. The cooking arrangement
What is in the unit, what is outside, what utensils are provided and whether a barbecue exists. Guests bring food and no way to cook it.
8. What guests must bring
A specific list. Towels, a torch, food, matches, bedding if not provided. It is the most useful paragraph on the page, which is the same ground as glamping unit questions from first time bookers.
9. The water arrangement
Whether there is running water in the unit, where drinking water comes from and how far it is.
10. Signal and wifi
Honestly. Many sites have neither and guests should be able to choose that deliberately rather than discover it.
11. Accessibility and the ground
Steps, uneven ground, distance from parking and whether a case can be wheeled. It determines whether the stay works for some guests.
12. Whether it suits the season
What a unit is like in winter, whether it is genuinely warm and whether anything closes. Sites sell winter stays that guests find miserable.
13. The photographs must be honest
Including the interior, the bathroom and the walk from the car. A flattering photograph generates a refund request and a review, which is the cost described in what missed enquiries cost your business.
13b. What happens in bad weather
A canvas unit in a storm is a different experience from a timber cabin, and guests booking months ahead cannot picture it. Saying honestly how each unit performs in wind and rain, what indoor space exists on the site and whether anything would be moved lets people book the right thing for the season.
14. Answer the detailed questions at any hour
Guests planning a special occasion ask specific things in the evening, the same as in wedding venue enquiries in hotels and glamping enquiries that need more than a price.
Getting started
Publish an inclusions list per unit with what guests must bring and honest photographs, then answer detailed questions at any hour. SpideyChat for travel and leisure businesses answers from your published pages, plans are on the pricing page, and the chatbot ROI calculator works through the numbers.