A family arrives at a cottage after a five hour drive with two tired children. There is no washing up liquid, no bin bags, one roll of paper, and the kitchen has no sharp knife.
The property is beautiful, the beds are made and the view is everything the photographs promised. The review is about the knife.
1. Publish a full inventory
Room by room, in the listing and in the pre arrival information. Guests pack around it and it prevents almost every arrival complaint.
2. Be unambiguous about linen and towels
Beds made on arrival, linen provided to make up, or bring your own. Three entirely different propositions using similar language.
3. Cover the bathroom essentials
Towels per person, hand towels, whether anything is provided for the beach or a hot tub, and whether extra sets are available.
4. Provide a genuine starter supply
Washing up liquid, dishwasher tablets, bin bags, paper, soap, salt, pepper, oil, tea and coffee. The cost is trivial and the goodwill is enormous.
5. List the kitchen equipment specifically
Not a well equipped kitchen. Oven, hob, microwave, dishwasher, whether there is a decent knife, a baking tray, a colander and enough pans for a family meal.
6. State the crockery and cutlery counts
For the maximum occupancy plus a margin. Guests cooking for six with four plates notice immediately.
7. Cover the laundry provision
Washing machine, tumble dryer, an airer, iron and board, and where any of it is. Families on a week's stay need this and nobody mentions it.
8. Be specific about children's equipment
Cot, highchair, stair gates, whether they need requesting and whether there is a charge. Parents book entirely on this.
9. Explain the heating and hot water
How it works, whether it is on a timer and how to override it. A cold guest at ten at night contacts an owner who could have written a paragraph.
10. Say what the outdoor space includes
Furniture, a barbecue, whether it is available in winter, and whether anything needs bringing in.
11. Cover the entertainment provision
Television, streaming, connection quality, board games and books. Wet afternoons are when these matter and guests plan around them.
11b. Explain what is locked or off limits
Owners' cupboards, a garage, a workshop or a room kept private are entirely reasonable and unsettling to discover. Listing them in the inventory means a guest opening a locked door understands it rather than wondering what else about the property was not described.
12. Say what is not provided deliberately
Beach towels, cleaning beyond the starter supply, firewood, a travel cot. A stated absence is fine and a discovered one is a complaint.
13. Cover the practical house information
Bins and collection days, parking, wifi and rules, which is the ground covered in check in, wifi and house rules questions from guests.
14. Handle the accessibility detail with care
Guests with specific needs require precise answers and should be able to ask them privately, in the way described in how to handle sensitive questions in your chatbot.
15. Learn from services that define deliverables badly
The same mismatch between what a client pictures and what arrives is examined in meal plan questions and what is actually provided.
16. Answer the packing questions before arrival
An assistant that answers what is provided, what to bring, whether a cot is available and whether beds are made lets a family pack correctly, which is exactly what guest questions before booking a holiday rental covers. Start at try, see features, and the sector view sits under hotels.