How to Choose the Best Holiday House
The Holiday Accommodation business has changed substantially in the last 10 years and the definition of Holiday House has become a little more broad which has us all wondering - What exactly is a Holiday House in 2023 and what can I expect as a guest.
We now have many options when it comes to travelling with family, friends or colleagues. In the past we had options of hotels, motels, resorts or the run down holiday house that was rented out by the local real estate agent. With all these options we roughly knew what we were getting, hotels meant we have a fully serviced stay with daily room service, amenities like restaurants gyms or pools in the same building and room service - hopefully.
Booking a holiday house meant we could take our pets (maybe) cook our own meals and have the space to ourselves.
How times have changed and now with the popularity of Online travel agents like Airbnb and Stays we are spoilt for choice with so many incredible purpose built holiday homes available to rent all over Australia, however if you have been on any of these sites recently you will find yourself wading through literally hundreds of properties ranging from very ordinary shared spaces to incredible properties designed specifically for guests.
The thing to remember is a holiday house is not a hotel, it is not staffed or serviced, however there is a huge difference in how holiday houses are managed and prepared for their guests and we can help you find the best in class so you can relax knowing you have booked a house which will have your whole group applauding.
So how do we find the perfect holiday house for our family or friends. Here are my top 5 tips:
1. Who is Your Host?
There are basically 2 kinds of holiday houses these days, the house that is used by the owner and rented out to guests either via a local real estate agent or self managed via AirBNB - and then there is the professional holiday house managed by a professional host set up exclusively for holiday guests.
If you find a house you like, check who the host is - this will give you an insight as to how the house is managed and how your booking will be handled. The Airbnb Superhost badge is a great guide. This is a stringent host review rating, which measures reviews, response rate and cancellations, it is reviewed every 3 months. This is a great way to know if your host will be there for you when you have an issue on Saturday afternoon, or if you booking will be cancelled last minute as the owners decided they want to stay now.
2. Shop around your OTA's
There are so many booking platforms now and the big guys will come up on the first page of google for pretty much any location you search in Australia, AirBNB, Stayz and Booking.com. Comparing pricing between OTAs (online travel agents) is a good idea and also doing a little deeper dive on Google for the direct website of the professional host sites, they don't quite have the SEO budget of the big guys but if the property is on multiple OTA's then chances are they have a channel manager and booking engine of their own and direct bookings are usually the best price. The smaller boutique management groups are usually more selective with their properties as well which make the searching even more curated for you, one site I really love is Riparide, they only feature unique, nature inspired houses.
3. Use your Filters
There is so much choice these days, maybe too much, and if you just put in your dates and locations you will get hundred of options from very average to amazing. Always start with occupancy and then any thing which is a deal breaker like pool, pets or close to the beach. The algorithms in these sites are designed to filter these according to the information the host puts into their listing which is again going to bring the listings up which have more info for guests.
4. Reviews
Read the reviews not just on one site but I recommend Airbnb reviews and Stayz. These are managed and monitored and a bad review can not be removed and a good review can't be manufactured. Direct websites will only show you the good reviews and google and tripadvisor are not accurate as a guest does not need to stay to be able to do a review.
5. Check Your Inclusions
If it is not clearly listed then double check what is included. Things like linen, towels, coffee, firewood, toiletries etc are all important inclusions. As is professional clean after every stay. Also check all the linen is professionally laundered and changed with every guest.
Bonus Tip
My biggest advice for those wanting to book a holiday house in 2023, is jump onto instagram and follow the region you are wanting to visit, this will not only help you find cool places to book but also things to do in the area, events, restaurants and activities.
Safe Travels and we hope to see you soon at The Greenhouse Retreats Central Coast NSW.
