When making the decision to invest in vacation rental properties, you can’t successfully do it without putting yourself in the shoes of prospective vacation guests.
Yes, you, of course, have to undergo the proper loan and financing process to acquire the rental property, but once you do, you can finally get to the fun part… designing your property!
Now, the thing to fully grasp in designing your vacation rental is that it’s not the same as designing your own personal property that you’d live in. When designing for vacation rental guests, you need to design it to make them feel like they’re on a vacation getaway, and not just going to someone’s house.
To create the ultimate vacation getaway vibe in your rental property, here are the top design elements to consider.
Design Elements to Create a Profitable Vacation Rental
Location, Location, Location!
Believe it or not, the location of your rental property will and should play a role in the overall inspiration for how you design your property. This will be especially helpful if you don’t have any idea where to begin pulling inspiration from.
In regards to location, you, first and foremost, want to make sure you’re not purchasing a property in a burglary hot spot. This will not only keep your vacation guests safe but your property safe as well.
Ultimately, when picking your vacation rental, whether you’re in the same state or even country or not, check the crime statistics of the area. Check the location of the property to make sure it’s not in a flood-prone area. And preferably choose a warm destination that gets plenty of warm weather and sunshine. Vacation rentals located in warmer climate areas get the most bookings.
If your property is located in a beachy area, design styles like coastal, Bohemian, Hollywood glam, and even minimalist and industrial are great design styles to incorporate in your decor and design. If your property is located in a mountainous location, rustic, farmhouse, and shabby chic are fitting design styles. Pull your design inspiration from the landscape and scenery of the area.
Touches of Luxury
Remember, you’re designing to cater to vacation rental guests so luxury is a touch that vacationers will love and appreciate. In fact, the opportunity to experience a bit of luxury is the whole reason why people go on vacation in the first place, right? And the best way to make your guests feel like they’re going on a grand getaway is to add a bit of luxury to the place.
Luxury can come in many forms but the overall goal is to add that “wow” factor. One way to add wow is to turn up the dial on fancy by way of chandeliers. To really wow your guests, you’ll want to hang your chandeliers in areas of the property that don’t typically have chandeliers. For example, hanging chandeliers in bathrooms and bedrooms will really wow your guests.
For entertainment, wow your guest with surround sound systems and large flat-screen TVs… give your guests a real movie theater experience. For outdoor luxury, the addition of a deck, patio, pergola, or pool will bring life to your outdoor living spaces as well, and that’s a luxury that not many people have at home. In fact, your outdoor luxuries will be a big contributor to your increase in bookings, mainly in-ground pools and decks.
Functionality and Accommodation
When it comes to creating an accommodating vacation rental, functionality is going to play a vital role.
Maybe you have a three-bedroom vacation rental but you’re trying to figure out how to get the most use out of the three bedrooms to accommodate more people… Well, you can always make one room the master with a king-size bed, another room can have a queen-size bed, and another room can have two twin beds in it. It all really depends on the size of the room. Or you can always make all three rooms have king or queen size beds.
With beds, the overall goal is to make sure your guests can sleep comfortably. You can also provide blow-up mattresses as well.
Another aspect of functionality is dining. One of the biggest reasons people love vacation rentals is because they can cook their own meals without having to eat out the entire time. To be accommodating to dining, you need to have a big enough kitchen for guests to comfortably cook and move around in. You also need to have a dining area large enough to comfortably seat four or more individuals.
