Short term Holiday rentals are not so common in North America, but are popular and widely used throughout Europe.

This type of property can form a valuable part of your rental portfolio, and produce cash flows which can assist your business.

A mixture of long term property lets for consistent steady income with short term holiday lets to take advantage of “spikes” in demand for rental property at different times in the year,  is an ideal way to build a rental portfolio.

Major difference of a holiday let compared to a hotel

The major difference between a hotel and a holiday rental is the fact that you have access to the entire space being advertised,  which includes a kitchen / cooking area (including all utensils),  sleeping areas, a lounge,  a bathroom with bath and / or shower and a WC.

Depending on the size of the holiday rental, you may also have extra space such as a hallway and access to a garden or a balcony or a patio.

This is a very general description of Holiday Rentals, and will not cover every type of holiday rental that is available.

Who does this type of accommodation appeal to?

Tourists

Obviously tourists who want some space without having to use a hotel are prime candidates.

Travellers

You also find travellers on business want a place to stay for maybe 1 week a month, and they find this type of holiday rental accommodation much easier to live in, and the costs compared to a hotel make it very attractive.

Companies

Companies sometimes need to have a base for visiting personnel,  and they find a “Corporate” lease with a holiday rental apartment is more cost effective than using hotel accommodation,  and more convenient, as they know the property will be available at prearranged times of the year.

This can then be taken further, with the occupants having the opportunity to keep costs lower than hotel / restaurant costs, by shopping locally and cooking their own food. This can result in substantial savings compared to hotel and restaurant costs.

Living in this type of accommodation also gives the occupants more opportunity to find out about local life and culture.

The 3 big advantages of a holiday rental to the customer include

• The fact that you have complete independence in the property, it is like your “home” and your own living space while you live in another country.
• Costs of holiday rental accommodation vary, but normally doing a straight comparison with a hotel will immediately show you the savings to be made by staying in a holiday rental.

• Sometimes the price of the rental is per person, and sometimes it is per day, and sometimes it is a combination of the two.

Normally, the longer you stay, you will find the price per day reducing.

The 4 big advantages of doing a holiday rental for the owner of the property include

• The fact that the property is filled on a regular basis when properly marketed
• Because this type of rental competes with hotels, the owners can charge more than the rates for a 6 month lease, whilst still keeping below the rates per day offered by hotels.
• The property is regularly checked and any problems should be quickly spotted and sorted to prevent lengthy “empty” periods.
• When special Holiday periods or Special events occur, it is possible to increase rates to reflect the demand for the property during these popular times (you cannot do this with a long term rental)

The 4 holiday rental Cleaning requirements

1. The property must be kept clean all the time. Whilst guests are in the property it is expected that the guests will keep the property clean.  To ensure that the property is ready for the next guest(s), the holiday rental agreement  should include a paymenty for the cleaning service to prepare the apartment for the next guest(s).
2. The minute guests leave the property; it has to be cleaned to an acceptable standard before the arrival of the next guest(s).
3. It is normal to vacate the property mid morning and accept new guests mid afternoon, giving a 4 or 5 hour “window” for cleaning to be carried out.
4. A holiday rental should be fully serviced, i.e.; bedding linen and towels should be changed on a regular basis whist guests are in the property, and all bed linen and towels must be  renewed before the arrival of the new guest(s).

Cleaning Service

This should be made available during the time guests stay in the property, and should also be in place to ensure the property is quickly made ready for the new guests.

The cleaning service for the holiday rental should also include access to laundry facilities.

7 things to check when making your holiday rental booking

• Find out exactly where the property is, and how easy it is to access with the use of public transport, as well as your own car, or a hired car..
• If the property is in a remote area, you may have to consider either taking your own car, or hiring a car whilst staying at the property.
• Check when the payment for the holiday rental must be made, and how much deposit is required.
• Find out if the payment for the apartment includes the cleaning service which is used to prepare the apartment for the next guest(s)
• Because so many things can happen between you booking the apartment and actually arriving, be sure to read the cancellation policy, and find out how much notice must be given to ensure you get your deposit back.
• Be sure to ask if the price you are paying includes the costs towards heating, lighting, energy costs and TV / Internet access.
• When making your booking, ask the owner to confirm they have public liability insurance cover, and should a problem occur with the accommodation, ask what support will be made available to you to ensure minimum disruption to your holiday.

Places to look for holiday rental accommodation

The obvious place to look is through classified advertisements in papers local to the area you plan to visit.

This can be done online through many classified sites just by entering the area / city you wish to stay in.

If, you wish to stay in a different country, as many people do, it is easy to do an online search with a search engine like Google or Yahoo.

For example, say you were you planning to stay in Vienna, a popular search term on the internet would be “ Holiday rentals Vienna”.

Of course you can change Vienna to whatever country or city you wish to visit.

The results of the search should produce a vast choice as many private owners tend to advertise this way.

Many private owners have their own websites with all that you require to make a booking.

In some cases, property owners go out of their way with their websites, and include sections to help you find flight booking sites, train booking sites, car rental sites and even travel insurance sites.

This complete package helps visitors quickly and easily makes all the arrangements they need online, in a safe and secure environment with all the protections that internet booking provides.

This ensures that visitors can make a complete booking with the least possible hassle.

You often find such sites also include photographs and guides to places of interest, local restaurants,  banks,  shops  and what local events are happening when you visit.