We’re in SoCal this week, mostly to attend a funeral on Saturday. The whole family is here - nice! Weather has been glorious - clean and clear after the rains, sunny and 70. It’s snowing at home right now and I’m not sorry I’m missing it.

We’re staying in a stomping big AirBnB house a couple blocks from the beach. It’s quite a place - 2 party patios with fire pits, big fancy kitchen, spa baths with high tech electronic commodes, bicycles, beach toys - the works! Cost (off season) is a bargain compared with lodging 7 people in hotels and it’s a lot more comfortable.

The house is managed by the owner and she does a good job. The basics are solid - good beds, nicely equipped kitchen, blankets, WiFi, etc. there’s a notebook with everything you need to know about the house and the location - I’ve copied every page and plan to copy it shamelessly. What’s missing, though, are the details. Am I the only one who notices these things?

Missing receptacle plates, light bulbs burned out, loose doorknobs, toaster doesn’t work. Microwave is stuck on “child lock” with no instructions on how to reset it. Drawers that won’t pull out, dead batteries in the garage door opener. If they’d left some tools I could spend a pleasant afternoon wrenching on the place but I’m not finding any.

It’s still a 5 star house but to me it points out the need for two things - actually staying in the place yourself regularly and a very detailed inspection list. Hotels do this and I need to do it too.

Cheers!

Glad to hear you're enjoying your trip and learning a few lessons about the short-term rental business as a bonus. Cheers.

Big Al

Nothing like having the client's perspective. Well done.

Huntington? Newport? Laguna?

Huntington. Not far from the Pier.

Here’s the house:

Large Family Home

Nice crib, great price.

If you were generous, you could leave the owner-manager a list of all the niggles. Not in the review, but separately. If I were the owner, I’d appreciate that. It’s a small price for you “borrowing” their notes.

NYTimes/Wirecutter had a piece on how to outfit a vacation rental. It was interesting, but the comments were even more helpful. Not that I have a rental, but was interested to see what it said.

We just stayed in an airbnb in St. Louis a couple weeks ago; we were the first guests. It was well put together. The only suggestions I had (sent separately from public review) were an extra suitcase rack, and a grab bar in the shower. They had nightlights, which were great for the bathroom!

My favorite airbnb in Brisbane had something like this, with everything from the wifi password to tips about how to use the busses and City Cat, and their recommendations for local (walkable) places to grab a bite or a beer.

The things I found the most useful were "how to" instructions for the ductless heater/AC, a warning that it takes about 30 seconds for hot water to arrive for your shower, little things like that.

But your post makes me think that you might want to consider reaching out to your renters (perhaps you already do?) after they leave asking them if there was anything that could be improved, or if any supplies were running out. I think it might be seen as a nice gesture and could potentially keep comments like "don't rent here, they don't provide toilet paper" from your feed.

quote:

Originally posted by AdagioM:
NYTimes/Wirecutter had a piece on how to outfit a vacation rental. It was interesting, but the comments were even more helpful. Not that I have a rental, but was interested to see what it said.


We just stayed in an airbnb in St. Louis a couple weeks ago; we were the first guests. It was well put together. The only suggestions I had (sent separately from public review) were an extra suitcase rack, and a grab bar in the shower. They had nightlights, which were great for the bathroom!

That’s a great article!

Thanks!

Steve, is there a "wet zone" where people can dump their swimsuits, beach sandals, and wet towels when they come back in from the water? Maybe with some racks available to hang things up to dry?