Enhancing Guest Experience

Who this is for

12 tasks for the difference between a property that's adequate and one people write about — communication, arrival, local knowledge, and the small touches that cost little and get remembered.

Arrival is where satisfaction is decided

More bad reviews come from a confusing check-in than from anything about the property itself. Guests arrive tired, often in the dark, frequently in a place they don't know. Clear instructions sent in advance and again on the day, with photographs of the door and the lockbox, remove almost all of it.

Test the instructions on someone who's never been. What's obvious to you — which door, which entrance, where the parking actually is — is not obvious at eleven at night.

Local knowledge is the cheapest luxury

A short, genuinely opinionated guide beats a rack of leaflets. Three restaurants you'd actually eat at, the good coffee, the walk worth doing, the supermarket, and the one thing tourists get wrong about the area. Guests consistently rate this highly and it costs an afternoon to write once.

Small touches, chosen not scattered

One thoughtful thing lands better than five generic ones. Good coffee, decent toiletries, a note that mentions their trip specifically. What doesn't work is a basket of branded miscellany that reads as a marketing exercise.

Be reachable and then leave them alone

Guests want to know they can reach you and mostly want not to need to. Say how to contact you, respond quickly when they do, and otherwise don't check in repeatedly.

Anticipate the seasonal complaint

Fans in summer, extra heating in winter, an umbrella by the door. The predictable discomfort, pre-empted.