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Sarah Karakaian: [00:00:00] Hello. Welcome back for another great episode. My name is Sarah Karakaian.
Annette Grant: [00:00:03] I am Annette Grant. And together we are–
Both Annette & Sarah: [00:00:05] Thanks for visiting.
Sarah Karakaian: [00:00:06] And this is the–
Both Annette & Sarah: [00:00:07] Hosting Hotline.
Sarah Karakaian: [00:00:08] If you’ve got a question for the Hosting Hotline, all you got to do is go to hostinghotline.com. Good job, Annette.
Annette Grant: [00:00:15] I know.
Sarah Karakaian: [00:00:16] It’s real clear, to the point.
Annette Grant: [00:00:17] You want me to buy you a domain? I got your back.
Sarah Karakaian: [00:00:20] Go to hosting hotline.com. It is super simple. You just press the button, record your question, give us your name. We’d like to tell you when we’re airing your episode. And then your question will help so many other hosts know what challenges you’re facing, our thoughts on it. If we don’t have an answer for you, we’ll ask our network of experts to weigh in as well. So bring us whatever you got as it relates to your hosting business, and we’ll get you some answers. We’ve got a question here from Nick.
Question: [00:00:50] Hey, Sarah and Annette. I was curious. I really get into the holiday season, and I wondered, do you think there’s any value in decorating for the holidays for guests? Is there any pieces that I’m missing here as far as with our cleaners or anything like that in terms of cost versus reward? I’d love to get your thoughts on that. Thanks so much.
Annette Grant: [00:01:10] I’m going to have to do more extensive research, but I could not find anything immediately, Sarah, that would prove that the ADR, or increased nightly rate, or increased occupancy rate, specifically based off of holiday decor.
Sarah Karakaian: [00:01:29] I do love how Nick asked about the cleaning team, because so often, Annette and I have been at fault for this. I change something, and I think it’s mine or not a big deal, or I don’t even think at all, honestly, and then they approach me with like, hey, this is posing this or this challenge.
Annette Grant: [00:01:43] What are we supposed to do?
Sarah Karakaian: [00:01:43] Right. Or this is supposed to be here. And we were like, hey, the guests forgot this. So first of all, definitely have a conversation with your cleaning team. Let them know what you plan on doing, when you’ll do it, who’s doing it, if there are any other cleaning things you’ll need to do as it relates to the new decor that you have in the home. But I loved that he brought that up.
Annette Grant: [00:02:03] I’d have to think that the guest would appreciate. And it doesn’t have to be in your face, loud holiday decor. It can just be simple notes that, hey, the season is around us. Some things that are, let’s say, non-denominational, non-specific religions or things. I think there are things out there that you can blanket feel good about decorating your place.
I did, in my research, see that some guests, and I’ve had this before, will ask you specifically to decorate, or if you could. I think that is an opportunity for you to ask them maybe what their budget is, what are they exactly looking for? And you could curate that experience specifically for that guest with a little bit of an upcharge, a give or take there of the work that you’re going to have to put in, and then what are they specifically looking for?
Sarah, you and I went to the Vacation Rental Women’s Summit, and Ritz Carlton had this unbelievable gingerbread house that was jaw-dropping, and an icicle hallway. That really was impactful. I know I’ve been on holiday cruises before, and it made it that much more special. New York City in the– just that really does up level the whole entire visit.
Sarah Karakaian: [00:03:29] I have an owner who decorates every year, listeners, and she’s relentless about it. It’s very important to her. And I think we talk about this a lot, how your brand truly is who you are. So if it brings you joy to decorate in a certain way to celebrate a certain season, you should do it as long as it’s not offensive in any way, and it’s very clear in the listing when that guest checks in, this is what they’re to expect. They understand, and they appreciate that.
It’s just that reciprocity of the guest enjoying it, and you, the owner, enjoying it as well. But you will get more bang for your buck if you stick to more of a winter theme that can carry into January, February, so you don’t feel like it’s just up for the short amount of time.
And you have to take into consideration your booking window. So if you’ve had a longer booking window, the decorations may need to go up earlier than usual. Or figure out when that’s going to happen. We have a tight booking window here. It’s seven to 11 days from when a guest books to when they arrive. So we’re getting up our holiday decor now in some of our homes.
So it’s really up to you, I think, that transparency. But you’re right. My husband and I went to a short-term rental two Christmases ago, and I still remember that stay and how her tasteful holiday decor just made that stay so much more special.
Annette Grant: [00:04:46] And that could be throw pillows, throw blankets.
Sarah Karakaian: [00:04:48] I was cozy. Yeah.
Annette Grant: [00:04:49] And listeners, be on the lookout, though, because this does happen. Guests bring their own holiday decor, and they might leave it behind for you to clean up. So someone might go out and purchase, maybe it’s a Christmas tree, something like that, during their stay. So be on the lookout. That does happen. But just take care of it.
But also, I know we had one of our friends, Ingrid, her husband was just telling us during this previous fall holiday how it was very important to her that every home had Moms outside. She was just like, I want that to be part of the entrance of our home. So I love what you said, Sarah, of like– that’s why we host also, is what are those elements of things that we enjoy that we can impact our guests day with that, obviously, even, let’s say, the Moms?
That’s something that helps to decorate the whole entire neighborhood also. So I love it. Yeah. Great question, Nick. If you have some of your favorite holiday, if there’s a listener out there that you have your tried-and-true, each season, you bring a few things in to decorate for each, whether it’s winter, spring, summer, or fall, all you have to do is call. Oh, okay. Sorry, sorry, sorry.
Sarah Karakaian: [00:06:01] I have one last tip, as I often do. When you decide to decorate, if you can commit to those decorations year after year–
Annette Grant: [00:06:09] Ooh, good one Sarah. I know–
Sarah Karakaian: [00:06:10] Get those photos taken, and then you can use them year after year. So like I said, one of my owners, this is something very important to her. So I’ve got her holiday photos ready for us to upload to our property management software for it to deploy to all the channels and whatnot. It was a one-time cost, and this is year 4 for her maybe. I think four or five. So that’s also a lovely tip.
Annette Grant: [00:06:33] That’s a great hosting hot tip there. I love it.
Sarah Karakaian: [00:06:36] With that, I am Sarah Karakaian.
Annette Grant: [00:06:38] I am Annette Grant. And together we are–
Both Annette & Sarah: [00:06:39] Thanks for Visiting.
Sarah Karakaian: [00:06:40] We’ll talk to you next time.
