While much of Europe is  still struggling with the snow, ice and heavy rain – you should be preparing your vacation rental for the new season! Here are some tips to help attract more bookings and make your guests feel welcome:

1. Renovate

The paint on your walls is no longer fresh? Bits have fallen off the walls and windows have cracks? Now is the time to replace, renew and freshen up the “bones” of your holiday home.

2. Upgrade your style

Think quality: wow your guests with the type of furniture and decoration that you would appreciate and feel comfortable with, in other words: the more high-spec and personal your décor, the more it will be appreciated. So out with tired furniture and appliances, in with quality material. Ditch the plastic chairs on the terrace and invest in some funky wooden or fibre outdoor furniture. And while you are at it: give your property a style makeover – review colour schemes and fabrics – it is easy to make an impression with new wall colours and matching cushions & throws.

3. Spring clean

This seems obvious but it is essential to ensure that your property is super clean – it does not only apply to the inside but extends to all external areas such as your terrace, garden and pool, so scrub, polish and weed!

4. Showcase your property with professional photos or video walk-thrus

It helps to regularly add new pictures or videos to your holiday rental online gallery, especially if you have up-styled or renovated. Every upgrade and improvement in your rental should be showcased and is testimony to the fact that you care about the property and your guests!

5. Go digital and interactive with your rental home guidebook and manual

Your guestbook is tired, tatty and needs a thorough update? Why not go digital? Use the HOSTISSIMO interactive guidebook to give your guests access and insight into the “inner workings” of your vacation rental (such as directions, Meet & Greet, access and wifi info), a guest manual (to explain how your appliances and other features work) and personal recommendations (local attractions, shopping, restaurants and important contacts such as nearest doctors, hospitals or embassies). And you don’t need to set up a website – HOSTISSIMO has done that for you: all you have to do is copy and paste the information from your guestbook into the digital guidebook and then publish. Send your guests a link in advance so they can prepare for their visit and it will help them in case of questions and even emergency situations. In addition it is linked to google maps and gives directions and can be accessed in different languages.