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Bachcare’s wide experience managing over 2,000 holiday homes across New Zealand makes us well qualified to offer holiday home advice, these top 10 tips — and mostly easy wins — on what makes a holiday home rental stand out from the crowd.
Great photos will lift your listing above the crowd, instantly set the scene and tell the story of what a holiday at your place looks and feels like. So, if ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’, there’s good reason to ensure that your holiday home listing stands out with great pictures. Anticipation motivates, and the right visuals can help fuel that anticipation.
You may want to consider professional photography. When you join Bachcare, we take care of this all for you, capturing your home in its best light!
Make the most of a sunny day to take high quality images, depicting the best of your property and surroundings — at least 20 so there’s a choice for your listing.
Pricing is crucial to optimising occupancy. Over-pricing risks missing out on bookings and income, while under-pricing could mean you’re simply not breaking even.
Effective price setting considers comparable short-term rentals in the local market and needs to be flexible for a seasonal market. Use the Bachcare website to compare your place with other similar holiday rentals in your area to get an idea on what you could be charging.
Or, you can leave it up to the experts. Bachcare is the only holiday home management company with a team dedicated to optimising your revenue, which takes away the guesswork of setting your base rate and adjusting the price to suit demand. With data from over 2000 homes, we know how to maximise revenue and occupancy based on the all-in-important demand and supply.
Research, compare and realistically assess your costs then reach out to one of our New Owner Advisors who will guide you through an income projection for your property. To set you on the way, check out what you could be earning on our income calculator.
Guests appreciate home comforts and, while getting away to a bach is about disconnecting from daily routine, that now also includes Wi-Fi and the ability to stay online — checking out what to see and do, keeping up with the social channels, or simply looking for a recipe. The holiday home sector is also experiencing the current social shift with more guests seeking a change of scene to work from.
It’s, therefore, no surprise that Wi-Fi tops the search list for our holiday homes and is crucial to boosting your booking chances.
Check options on unlimited broadband with your internet provider. If not, USB broadband is popular and easy to implement.
Inspire potential guests with opportunities to entertain themselves at your holiday home. Adding photos that include things like bikes, kayaks, a hot tub, or dart board can help guests visualise a fun-filled holiday at your bach. It’s thoughtful to provide things like board games and cards to offer entertainment options on rainy days.
Grab a second-hand table tennis or pool table off TradeMe. You’ll be able to list this under your home amenities and include it in your photo gallery to get more views!
One simple way to get your holiday home noticed is by offering a niche proposition. That could be pet or family friendly, accessibility, luxury, last minute booking availability or proximity to a specific location. Make sure it’s clearly identified, as it could bring an increase in searches and bookings.
Many families want to take the dog away on holiday, so dog-friendly bookings are increasingly desirable. Bachcare properties that are marked as pet-friendly receive 23% more bookings! Is this something your holiday home could cater for, or do you have another type of niche proposition?
When it comes to booking accommodation, the bedding configuration is super important. If you offer a flexible solution that accommodates a range of guests, your booking potential will increase.
Rather than single bunks, consider a double / single bunk combo (double on bottom, single on top). Consider a split-king bed instead of a queen for second and third bedrooms, allowing for a couple or twin share bedroom.
Make the most of your outdoor entertaining areas because that’s what your potential guests are looking for — a pleasant space to spread out into, put their feet up, eat and play together. Attractive outdoor areas with comfortable furniture are a significant plus for potential guests when it comes to deciding to book a holiday home.
Find inspiration on how to spruce up or create outdoor ambience at your place by browsing some of the best Bachcare listings.
A holiday is an increasingly precious break from the pace and pressures of day-to-day life. At the same time, there are higher expectations around accommodation — presentation, facilities, health and safety — while many guests are less inclined to want to spend time and energy cleaning or bringing their own linen. At Bachcare our stress-free service can include all the cleaning, linen, and rubbish removal services. Better for guests, even better for the owner!
Make it easy on yourself, and include these services as part of your stay, or enlist the help of a property manager like Bachcare.
While international visitors are temporarily down, domestic tourism is reaching new highs so there’s no better time to maximise the booking capacity of your holiday home. While listing on multiple short-term rental websites is the proven way to significantly increase reach to potential guests, managing all those listings can be all-consuming. That’s where Bachcare comes in, providing a fully-managed listing on our own high-ranking site, and managing your listing across multiple high-profile platforms including Airbnb, Bookabach, Holiday Houses, Booking.com and more.
Don’t just rely on one platform to get your bookings. Let us maximise your distribution. Bachcare properties listed across our partner network receive 64% more bookings on average than properties with a single listing!
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Little things do count. When your guests arrive at your holiday bach full of happy holiday anticipation, you can add to that joy with a little extra something. It could be a welcome pack, a bowl of fruit, bottle of wine, eggs, home preserves or baking. It doesn’t have to be much but guests who feel welcome are much more likely to keep coming back.
By adding a few small, thoughtful touches into your welcome pack, you’ll be helping your guests feel at home. We have found owners who reward repeat bookings are our highest performing and receive more word-of-mouth bookings, too!
At Bachcare, we work with more than 2,000 holiday homeowners all over New Zealand, who trust us with fully managing their property across all major listing sites.
