Max Found Nature's Paradise Right on the Water

By Alice Kirk-Sanchez
Published: 04/16/26 Topics: Dog Friendly, Hood Canal, Interview, Staytions Vacation Rentals, Vacation Rentals Comments: 0

Max from Kalama, WA is in his mid thirties and works at a paper mill. He, his wife, dog, and some friends all headed over to Hood Canal last winter to celebrate his wife’s birthday at  Natures Paradise Vacation Rental, managed by Hood Canal Hideaways a member of the  Staytions Network of VIP lodging managers. We spoke to Max about his visit. 

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VIP: When you visited Nature’s Paradise, did you come with anybody? 

Max: It was me and my wife and a couple of friends. And my dog.

VIP: What’s your dog’s name?

Max: Kilo! 

VIP: What prompted your trip? 

Max: It was primarily for my wife’s birthday, but we also went foraging for mushrooms. 

VIP: Did you find any? 

Max: We did! It was a lot of fun. We did a little tour and a class session. 

VIP: Was this your first visit to Hood Canal or have you been there before?

Max: I’ve been there before, but this was the first visit in the last twenty years. It’s been a long time. 

VIP: What’s your favorite part of the area. 

Max: Just being on the beach, the salt water itself was very nice. 

VIP: It wasn’t too cold in November?

Max: We had a nice clear weekend and it was super sunny. We got to watch the sunrise over the bay. 

VIP: What was your favorite part of Nature’s Paradise?

Max: It was very spacious, sauna was nice. Basically, we earmarked it to come back in the summer time with a larger family, since it was just the four of us but it seemed like a good vacation home. 

VIP: Yeah, it’s definitely in a beautiful area, especially in the summer when it’s nicer. 

Max: Yeah

VIP: What was your favorite part of your visit?

Max: Probably just being close to nature. It was very accessible for where we were going. 

VIP: Did you guys go into town at all?

Max: No, we didn’t spend any time in town. But it is something that we did mark for next time: actually seeing Brinnon. 

VIP: Did you leave the property feeling like you had a great vacation?

Max: Yeah, we did!

VIP: Do you think you’d stay in Nature’s Paradise again? 

Max: Most definitely, it’s just a beautiful little spot right on the water. It’s got enough room to house a big family. It’s just nice.

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Author: Alice Kirk-Sanchez – Contributor, Hood Canal Hideaways
Blog #: 1063 – 04/16/26

AirBnB Lists Anything Everywhere All at Once

By Ron Lee
Published: 02/25/23 Topics: Advertising, AirBnB, Booking.com, Expedia, Online Travel Agents (OTAs), TripAdvisor, Vacation Rental Association, Vacation Rentals, VRBO.com Comments: 0

AirBnB’s quest to make every home in the world into a "shared’ living space shows their appetite for growth and profitability even at the expense of those they serve.

AirBnB and others are really nothing more than an easily distributed list of classified ads. Albeit with the ability to print more quickly, include more information, display pretty pictures and allow consumers to instantly buy the product.

Because the Internet has simply remove the burden of mechanically compiling, editing and printing a media, like many Internet businesses in most industries, companies like AirBnB entice investors that they can "Scale" without limitation.

Other than governmental intervention, there really is no obstruction to listing every space, everywhere in the world all at once. (My apologies to the movie of similar name)

A close look at comments made by AirBnB’s immature CEO Brian Chesky reveal a fatal flaw in the company’s vision. As the economy has stalled and consumers are traveling less, which means a flattening or downturn in travel expenditures in total.

Some vacation home owners are squealing about dropping rental income which can be directly attributed to negative economic news. These investors are the ones who jumped on the AirBnB gravy train that was running fast and furious during Covid.

But now that demand is lower, what dose the CEO do? He runs a campaign to entice far more people to put their homes into rental. He foists grandiose projects about AirBnB’s income which misleads home owners into thinking they will follow in his footsteps.

It seems as if AirBnB will list any kind of "Lodging" in any kind of area and do so willingly. AirBnB’s argument must be that they have become so much the "Darling" of the lodging industry that they can attract enough new guests to fill every property.

Unfortunately that has never been the case. Smart lodging managers have always used all other possible media - such as VRBO, Expedia, Booking.com, TripAdvisor and many more. But even with heavy use of all possible advertising websites, supply can outstrip demand.

Chesky’s ploy will hurt existing AirBnB properties and short-change those he misleads into listing. But why should he care? The more inventory he gets the better for AirBnB, even if all the "Vendors" make less.

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Author: Ron Lee – Volunteer, Vacation Rental Association
Blog #: 0948 – 02/25/23

Sponsor: VRAI – Inside information from a reliable not-for-profit group. Speak your mind. Listen with open ears. For Vacation Rental Professionals – VacationRentalAssociation.com

AtTheBlue.com at Blue Heron Resort

By Libby Rogers
Published: 04/22/18 Topics: Hood Canal, Timeshares, Vacation, Vacation Rentals Comments: 0

YourShare.biz, which offers resort and owner direct vacation rental bookings for timeshare properties announced today that it has opened a new website AtTheBlue.com for the Blue Heron Condos on Washington State’s pristine Hood Canal.

Participating homes are advertised on the custom built full ecommerce website at BlueHeronHolidays.com and on hundreds of prominent websites worldwide such as VRBO, Booking.com, AirBnB, Expedia and more.

For a century the Southwest corner of Washington State, the Southeast corner of Hood Canal has been the private get away for the rich and famous of Seattle’s and Western Washington State including such luminaries as Bill Gates and the Nordstrom retail family.

Four decades ago, a stunningly beautiful condo resort complex was built and named Blue Heron after the magnificent birds so abundant in the area. The Blue Heron Resort features 26 one, two and three bedroom townhomes surrounding a large lawn common area, complete with towering evergreen trees.

At its center is a large year-round pool, hot tub, community center, lounge, sports facilities, gym and sauna. But folks flock to Blue Heron for its own private beach just across the State Route 106. There owners and guests can launch a boat, pick oysters, go water skiing and swim in the crystal clear salt water.

Owners at this resort get an impressive eight weeks use per year and get full weeks every sixth week of the year. With so many weeks to choose, owners can put their unused dates into the Yourshare program and get great income for dates that previously went unused.

Yourshare’s innovative program offers greater marketing than most timeshare resorts can accomplish and they do it for a lower commission fee. Owners only pay a fee when their dates are booked. There is no enrollment fee, a long term contract is not required and Yourshare handles all details such as advertising, reservations phones, guest and owner services.

AtTheBlue.com allows guests to discover one of the Northwest’s most stunning locations for family getaways and romantic rendezvous. Now they can book instantly online at great rates and friendly service.

For the resort itself, every guest becomes a possible new owner in a majestic Northwest resort which most did not know existed. Now, they can try it by renting before buying into the membership.

To book online go to AtTheBlue.com or call 360-614-3191 open every day of the year.

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Author: Libby Rogers – Author, MayPartners Public Relations
Blog #: 0587 – 04/22/18

Sponsor: YourShare.biz – Yourshare.biz makes it easy for guests to find quality timeshare vacation rentals, for owners to rent out unused weeks, and for resorts to generate income and attract buyers for their available weeks. Everyone wins with these well maintained properties in attractive locations. – http://YourShare.biz

Wonderful Puerto Morelos on the Yucatan

By Ron Lee
Published: 09/01/17 Topics: Inns, Mexico, Vacation Rentals Comments: 0

The city of Cancun gets all the international press about fun and sun on the Yucatan Peninsula. There you can find night and beach life worthy of any tropical destination in the world.

Just 30 kilometers south of Cancun, the sleepy village of Puerto Morelos is more to the liking of visitors who prefer to sink into a place, absorb its sights and sounds, and get to meet local who make the place the perfect prurient of Mexican hospitality.

The area was inhabited and dominated by Mayan civilization until most of the local sties were abandoned by the 15th century. Puerto Morelos modern history begin in 1898, when the Yucatan Company was founded to exploit and farm the agricultural and forest products from the surrounding jungles.

The port of Puerto Morelos was built to ship these products and a pier was built for fishermen. Today Pelicanos Restaurant stands in that very spot.

Maria Gomez, owner of El Mexicano gift shop said, "I could not imagine living in Cancun with all that traffic and noise,. Here visitors get to see a glimpse of a real Mexican beach town."

Although still a fishing village, the government declared the reef area and mangroves an ecological preserve with the intent to locals to keep development to a minimum. The Mangroves are extensive and the water is crystal clear.

The village flea market is small but with the original feeling of real artisans enjoying their original often. Often there is music or a snow played in the plaza and some local food to try.

At the beach, PoMo (Yes it is OK to call it that) has a defining landmark, a leaning lighthouse that makes the leaning Tower of Pisa look downright upright. After Hurricane Beulah tried to topple the beacon in 1967, residents built a new lighthouse but refused to take down the old one.

Abraham Gomez, manager of Caribe Suites Condos along with his wife Maria (Above), laughs when he talks about the lighthouse, "The government wanted to take down the lighthouse but the people insisted it stay. No one knew then it would become such a symbol."

As you walk the wide white sand beaches, watch the fishing boats come and go or take a dip in the bright blue waters of the Caribbean, you may want to remember the lighthouse as pointing a way to a different way of life. One of quiet, and beauty and calm that beckons back every one who visits Puerto Morelos.

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Author: Ron Lee, Plumbob Publishing
Blog #: 0534 – 09/01/17

Sponsor: Caribe Suites – Nearby but far from Cancun Mexico, in the sleepy fishing village of Puerto Morelos sit family run, family fun condos just a block from the beach. Great rates. Great Stays. – CaribeSuites.com

Hire a Crack Head to Clean your Home

By William May
Published: 03/01/17 Topics: Housekeeping, Vacation Rentals Comments: 0

"Hiring cheaper housekeepers is no problem", said the property owner. That way they can make more money.

"I mean how hard can it be to clean my little 3-bedroom 2,000 square foot house?"

Do you mean clean it any day of the week including weekends? Be on-call for special cleaning? Always show up on time and never complain? Be willing to do extra cleaning, and without notice, when some guests leave a terrible mess?

Do you mean a cleaner who has lots of family and friends to back her up when she gets busy with other things and decides she can't work on a day you have a back-to-back? Or when a child is ill or a car breaks down?

Some owners want to believe there are many people just begging to clean their homes. Unfortunately, there are not. Worse yet, most of them don’t pass a background check. They don't have references. They don’t want to take training. They detest checklists.

These cleaners don’t stick around when things get too busy and they never clean at high hospitality standards. They do not clean sufficiently and they are not there when you need them the most.

Let us all be honest, not all job applicants will be dedicated to our industry. There is no glamour unless they work for a desirable company that treats them well.

Many applicants just want a quick buck to pay for their drug habit. This is more common than you might imagine. The homeowner may never know until the druggie goes missing along with assets from their home.

If you are paying your cleaner in cash, do beware that it's illegal and your money may be just feeding a habit.

Professional management firms must protect their reputation with guests as well as owners. They want to pay their staff a good working wage. They want to be fair, kind, and responsible employers. They need workers who are reliable, loyal and competent. They do background checks and they have extra staff for backup.

Of course, these things are just good business, but they are also the only way to provide hospitality grade cleaning - the kind that discerning travelers expect at every lodging establishment from four-star hotels to cottages in the woods.

"Oh, but if you can’t clean the house cheaply, it will drive away guests," said that owner.

It's actually the opposite that's true. Guests are not stupid, they understand that no one can clean homes for a measly amount. One guest enunciates what some owners refuse to acknowledge;

"Your home was amazingly clean. But last year I rented a beautiful new home from another manager and the place was disgustingly dirty. I should have known better - no one can clean a whole house as cheap as they charged."

Yes, and every owner should understand the basic formula for requiring professional and thorough cleaning. With the advent of the internet, guests now have a global platform to report unclean homes. One bad review can lose thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars in lost bookings.

Why risk that? The math is simple. Hiring great housekeepers, paying them well, rewarding them with praise and thanks is good for business. It's even greater for maximizing income while minimizing problems.

Still not a believer? Here is the challenge - after the next few departures, do your own cleaning.

Arrive to clean exactly on time and then wait while the guests loiters and leaves late, knowing that the incoming guests while inevitability show up early, and expect the house to be sparkling clean even before their scheduled arrival time.

Of course, you must chit chat and make nice with every guest, or they'll make nasty comments to your boss, even though they were not supposed to be inside yet.

To clean well, get your hands down deep into and behind the toilet, scrub your knuckles off in the shower, get on your hands and knees to scrub the kitchen and bathroom floors. Wash stacks of dishes, pots, and pans with gobs of dried on food.

Wash loads of towels and linens. Be sure to treat any of those unmentionable stains. Make every bed perfectly and plump every pillow. You'll just love trying to put on comforters on bunk beds. It is not impossible, but you won't enjoy it.

While you are at it, clean up the dog poop in the yard, or shovel the walkway of snow in the winter. Scrub that meat-encrusted barbecue until the brush breaks. Sweep the leaves from the porch.

Don't forget to check every light bulb, vacuum every square inch of every floor, and catch every cobweb or your boss will scold you like a child.

Do all this in the shortest number of hours because some owners out there want you to work cheap while treating you like an indentured servant.

After you do your own cleaning, the light will come on. You will want to pay cleaners more, you'll treat them better and you'll make more money because happy housekeepers make happy hospitality grade clean homes!

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Author: William May – Volunteer, Vacation Rental Association
Blog #: 0583 – 03/01/17

Chim Chimney! What to Know on Chimney Sweeping

By William May
Published: 01/01/16 Topics: Vacation Rentals Comments: 0

It’s that time of year to curl up around a warm fire - New Years has just happened, the weathers getting a little chilly, maybe there’s a light dusting of snow on the lawn. You open the flue, light your kindling, and wait for the romantic crackling to start.

But then you start wondering: when was the last time you got the chimney swept?!

It may sound like something of a Dickens novel, but modern chimney sweeping is something every homeowner needs to do. Soot deposits can clog your flue, smoking out your house, or worse, soot can create a fire hazard.

Sweeping also alerts you to any maintenance needs, and boy is it easier to repair a brick than replace the whole chimney!

So how do you go about getting your chimney swept? Well, this is something best left to the professionals. The last thing you want to do is wedge a ladder up your chimney and track soot all over the house.

Find a local sweeper who’s certified by the Chimney Safety Institute of America, or the National Chimney Sweeps Guild. These groups ensure their members know what they’re doing with a brush, and can help diagnose any repairs that need to be made.

Professional chimney sweeps will set up tarps that capture failing soot, and will first inspect the flue to make sure there’s no major damage. Cleaning is done with brushes (not boys climbing up!) and high powered vacuums.

Cost typical depends on how many flues you have. While you may only have one firebox, other appliances in the house may have their own flues, such as dryers, heaters, and anything that needs to vent to the outside air.

Average prices should start around $150 and go up to $200 if video equipment is used. Video better enables diagnose of damage. For a more thorough inspection, ask for a Level II inspection.

So this winter before you pick out the movie and butter up the popcorn, make sure your fireplace is ready to go by getting it professional swept. And remember, it’s lucky to see a chimney sweep!

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Author: William May – Volunteer, Vacation Rental Association
Blog #: 0481 – 01/01/16

Expedia to buy HomeAway

By Ronald Lee
Published: 11/05/15 Topics: Advertising, AirBnB, Vacation Rentals Comments: 0

There’s always a bigger fish. Serial purchaser HomeAway has itself been acquired by Seattle based Expedia. And the price paid for the vacation rental giant? $3.9 billion. The deal is the sign of the times for digital travel sales, which has experienced massive M&A activity, like much of the economy this year.

While HomeAway has been busy dominating the vacation rental industry through acquisitions, Expedia has been doing the same in the wider digital travel sales. HomeAway’s many purchases this year (including Seattle based Dwellable just last month), pale compared to Expedia’s yearly activity which include massive purchases of Orbitz and Travelocity. Previously Expedia had focused on hotels, and so the addition of HomeAway to it’s portfolio presents some interesting changes.

Just what is Expedia’s plan with HomeAway? Expedia’s CFO said HomeAway would remain relatively autonomous, with it’s headquarters based in Austin. The main gain for Expedia appears to be hedging. Airbnb is one of the biggest travel competitor left to face Expedia, and of course, focuses on short term vacation rental stays. Expedia’s purchase of HomeAway is a smart move to counter Airbnb’s growing share of the market.

The sharing economy is an attractive market compared to the business of connecting hotel users to hotels. Virtually any home in the world can become a rental property for Airbnb and HomeAway, and Expedia is diversifying to protect against pressure on the hotel industry. Plus, individual home owners are a more attractive partner than big hotel changes. Home owners have very little leverage or sophistication in the business, and generally take what portals like HomeAway and Airbnb offer them. However, distribution might become easier with the Expedia and HomeAway merger.

What can customers look forward to? Integrated booking might be a long shot, but this merger could give customers the ability to directly compare hotel and vacation rental accommodations. This doesn’t appear to be the play the companies are making, but we’ll have to wait and see.

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Author: Ronald Lee – Reporter, Vacation Rental Association
Blog #: 0478 – 11/05/15

Vacation Rental Insurance for Condo Owners

By April Klazema
Published: 10/12/15 Topics: Insurance, Lodging Management, Vacation Rentals Comments: 0

Vacation Rental Insurance for Condo Owners

Say you own a condo in Florida that you have been visiting every spring break for ten years now. Next spring, you have a different trip planned and won't be able to make it down to the condo at all. However, the condo is in an area that is a hot tourist destination during the winter and spring months. If you aren't going to be using it, you figure someone else would pay good money to rent it out for a few weeks. Who knows? You might even be able to finance most of your other trip just by renting out your condo to other Florida tourists!

Remember Vacation Rental Insurance!

Before you start setting up an Airbnb account or uploading pictures of your condo to VRBO.com, you need to take a moment to look into getting vacation rental insurance for your condo. While your condo is probably currently insured as a second home on your homeowner's insurance policy, you need a different type of coverage if you are planning on renting out the property to anyone else.

Let us explain. When you are utilizing a vacation property for personal use—be it a condo, a cottage, or an actual second home—it can be considered a personal residence for insurance purposes. That's because what you are using the property for—more or less, as a place of lodging for you and your family—is not really different from what you use your primary home for.

The moment you rent out your condo, the primary use of the property switches from residential to commercial. If you are letting someone stay at your condo in exchange for money, then you are, by definition, using the property for the purpose of business. This type of commercial use of your property is not covered under traditional homeowner's insurance policies.

What You Get with Vacation Rental Insurance

As with any other type of insurance, your vacation rental policy will vary depending on the value of your condo and the value of its contents (furniture, appliances, etc.). However, most vacation rental insurance policies will likely come with the following types of coverage:

Commercial liability coverage: Keeps you from being held liable if a guest is injured or killed while using your property.

Replacement cost coverage: Reimburses you for the cost of your condo or your belongings in the case of catastrophic damage or theft.

Coverage for damage: Helps you pay for damage caused to your condo or building by a guest.

Loss of income coverage: If a guest damages your condo to a point where you have to cancel other reservations or take it off the rental market for an extended period, this type of coverage will reimburse you for lost rental income.

You will want to speak with your insurance agent to see if you can add a vacation rental insurance policy to your condo, and to learn about the types of coverage that are available in their vacation rental policies.

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Author: April Klazema – Reporter, Vacation Rental Association
Blog #: 0417 – 10/12/15

How Much Vacation Rental Insurance Do You Need?

By April Klazema
Published: 09/01/15 Topics: Insurance, Lodging Management, Vacation Rentals Comments: 0

When you are looking to buy vacation rental insurance coverage for the first time, you will likely have a laundry list of different questions that you want answered. Specifically, how much vacation rental insurance coverage do you need, how much can you expect to pay to insure a home that you are renting out to vacationers, and how will the cost of the policy compare to what you are currently paying to insure your own personal home?

To get answers to these questions, we reached out to Eric Kossian, the Agency Principal at InsurePro (www.insurepro.info). Based in Washington and serving the entire state, InsurePro is a respected and reputable insurance agency, and Eric is a longtime industry expert with extensive knowledge in all kinds of insurance coverage—including vacation rental insurance.

In regards to how much vacation rental insurance cover homeowners should get, Eric emphasized the importance of commercial general liability coverage. He noted that buyers should look for policies that include $1 million in liability per occurrence and $2 million aggregate per year (in case there is more than one liability claim in the space of a calendar year).

"When dealing with renters who don't know you, you are more likely to be sued, as [the renters] view you—the property owner—as a business," Eric said, explaining why liability coverage is the crux of most vacation rental property insurance policies.

In addition to $2 million aggregate liability coverage, Eric also noted a number of other "must-haves" for vacation rental insurance policies, including income coverage (also known as "loss of rents"), replacement cost valuation for the building, replacement cost valuation for the contents of the building, and enhancement coverage (in the case of theft or damage to the property caused by a guest). The coverage amounts for the replacement cost valuations for your vacation rental property "should match fairly closely" to an existing homeowners policy, according to Kossian.

As for the cost of a vacation rental insurance policy versus, Eric did caution that insuring a rental property can end up being substantially more expensive than insuring a secondary home whose function is personal use only.

"For the same location, compared to insuring the home as a secondary residence used just personally, a Vacation Income Property policy will be 25 to 100% more in premium, depending on amount of lost income coverage needed and liability needed," Kossian explained.

Do you have any addition questions about how much vacation rental insurance coverage you might need for your property, or how much you should plan to spend on a vacation rental policy? Reach out to us today!

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Author: April Klazema – Reporter, Vacation Rental Association
Blog #: 0414 – 09/01/15

Do I Need to Get Special Insurance for My Condo or Vacation Home?

By April Klazema
Published: 08/01/15 Topics: Insurance, Lodging Management, Vacation Rentals Comments: 0

If you own a condo in Florida or Hawaii, or a vacation home in some other exotic locale, you are likely curious about what kind of insurance you need to get to cover the property. Will a general homeowner's policy do? Or will you have to acquire a different kind of insurance to cover the vacation home?

Determining the Purpose of Your Vacation Home

To answer this question, we'll ask you a question of our own: for what purpose is the vacation home being used?

If the purpose of the vacation home is for personal use only, then a homeowner's insurance policy will be sufficient to cover the property. Perhaps you and your family take frequent trips to the West Coast and always stay at the vacation property when you do. Or maybe you spend your summers in one part of the country and live out your winters somewhere else. In these and other similar scenarios, your insurance company will usually be more than happy to provide you with a second homeowner's policy to cover your vacation home.

The bottom line in these scenarios is that your vacation property is still being used as a residence. As a result, the insurance rules for the property are the same as for your full-time home.

Using Your Vacation Home as a Rental

On the other hand, if you rent out your property to vacationers or other tenants when you are not using it, then it cannot be protected under a homeowner's policy. If you are accepting money to allow someone to stay at your vacation home, that qualifies as commercial use, and your vacation home qualifies as a business. Businesses can never be insured under homeowner's policies, and you will need to set up a different kind of insurance policy as a result.

If you are renting out your vacation home for profit, the insurance you are looking for is vacation rental insurance. A policy of this type will provide you with commercial liability insurance—meaning that if a customer sues for your injury sustained on your property, you will not be liable. It should also include provisions that reimburse you in case your guest damages the property, steals your belongings, or skips out without paying rent.

Don’t fall victim to insurance confusion when it comes to your condo or vacation home! If you are only using the property for personal residential use, a homeowner's policy will cover it. If you are using the condo or house as a rental, then vacation rental insurance is pivotal to keep you, your building, your belongings, and your finances safe!

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Author: April Klazema – Reporter, Vacation Rental Association
Blog #: 0413 – 08/01/15

Special Insurance for My Condo or Vacation Home?

By April Klazema
Published: 07/01/15 Topics: Insurance, Lodging Management, Vacation Rentals Comments: 0

If you own a condo in Florida or Hawaii, or a vacation home in some other exotic locale, you are likely curious about what kind of insurance you need to get to cover the property.

Will a general homeowner's policy do? Or will you have to acquire a different kind of insurance to cover the vacation home?

Determining the purpose of your home

To answer this question, we'll ask you a question of our own: for what purpose is the vacation home being used?

If the purpose of the vacation home is for personal use only, then a homeowner's insurance policy will be sufficient to cover the property. Perhaps you and your family take frequent trips to the West Coast and always stay at the vacation property when you do.

Or maybe you spend your summers in one part of the country and live out your winters somewhere else. In these and other similar scenarios, your insurance company will usually be more than happy to provide you with a second homeowner's policy to cover your vacation home.

The bottom line in these scenarios is that your vacation property is still being used as a residence. As a result, the insurance rules for the property are the same as for your full-time home.

Using your home as a rental

On the other hand, if you rent out your property to vacationers or other tenants when you are not using it, then it cannot be protected under a homeowner's policy.

If you are accepting money to allow someone to stay at your vacation home, that qualifies as commercial use, and your vacation home qualifies as a business. Businesses can never be insured under homeowner's policies, and you will need to set up a different kind of insurance policy as a result.

If you are renting out your vacation home for profit, the insurance you are looking for is vacation rental insurance.

A policy of this type will provide you with commercial liability insurance—meaning that if a customer sues for your injury sustained on your property, you will not be liable. It should also include provisions that reimburse you in case your guest damages the property, steals your belongings, or skips out without paying rent.

Don’t fall victim to insurance confusion when it comes to your condo or vacation home! If you are only using the property for personal residential use, a homeowner's policy will cover it.

If you are using the condo or house as a rental, then vacation rental insurance is pivotal to keep you, your building, your belongings, and your finances safe!

Read more

Author: April Klazema – Author, Vacation Rental Association
Blog #: 0406 – 07/01/15

The Vacation Rental Property Insurance Difference

By April Klazema
Published: 06/01/15 Topics: Insurance, Lodging Management, Vacation Rentals Comments: 0

A vacation rental property may look like a home, but in the eyes of an insurance company, it’s a business. If you own a second home that you frequently rent out to temporary guests, then that property is a business and cannot be covered under a homeowner’s insurance policy.

Even if the property was used as a residence at some point, the moment you start bringing in out-of-town guests for daily or weekly vacation rentals, the rules change.

What Do I Need Instead?

Most insurance companies will offer a specific vacation rental insurance policy that you can purchase to protect your rental properties.

This kind of policy will provide certain types of coverage that a homeowner’s policy won’t, including commercial liability insurance to protect you in the event that a guest is injured at your property.

Replacement and repair coverage is usually included as well, in case a guest steals from you or damages your property during their stay.

Why Do I Need Vacation Rental Insurance?

There are subtle differences between homeowner’s insurance policies and vacation rental insurance policies.

For example, a homeowner’s policy will include personal liability coverage, which essentially means that if a guest is injured while visiting your home—perhaps they fall down the stairs—then your insurance company will help defend you if you are sued and cover medical bills for the injured party.

Meanwhile, a vacation rental insurance policy offers commercial liability coverage, which offers the same basic type of coverage, but for a business instead of a person or family.

Homeowner’s insurance policies exclude commercial activities from protection, so if a renter at your vacation home falls down the stairs, the incident won’t be covered under the personal liability section of your homeowner’s insurance.

Instead, you will need to have commercial liability coverage to be protected, as the injury was suffered by a customer instead of a guest. Similar differences and separations apply for other types of coverage (theft, property damage, etc.) as well.

Unsure if you have the correct vacation rental property insurance? Today is the day you need to find out, before it is too late.

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Author: April Klazema – Author, Vacation Rental Association
Blog #: 0402 – 06/01/15

Creepy Vacation Rental Videos

By Wm. May
Published: 05/27/15 Topics: Marketing, Vacation Rentals, Videos Comments: 0

Recently, a number of websites - including some Vacation Rental portals - have begun using videos as a kind of background image that depict people using vacation rental homes.

Maybe you have seen them. Often they are mundane and slow moving but even the slight movement attracts attention.

There is no sound, and no titles and they are seemingly used mostly as a graphic element - to indicate that staying in the home is comfortable and desirable.

Unfortunately, they do the opposite because no one realized the implications that make the videos creepy.

• One depicts a young woman asleep in a disheveled room as she wakes up.
• Another shows a dad and daughter playing on the top bunk of a bed.
• Another shows a couple of men making breakfast, in a none too attractive tiny kitchen.

All of these feel like they were video taped by a peeping tom when the people were not looking. Viewing them should make you feel uncomfortable.

So who thought this was a good idea? Maybe a peeping tom or voyeur?

The videos are often grainy, or perhaps faded which inadvertently indicates the videos were shot a non-professional camera. That too implies they were taken without the subjects approval. Even more creepy.

By comparison, some videos are exterior long shots of the ocean with boats moving, or waterfalls falling, some have people far in the background.

Those videos are more reassuring because they were clearly taken in a public space and not of some one in a private bedroom in their jammies. The subtleties between various videos is the difference between acceptable and creepy.

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Author: Wm. May – Volunteer, Vacation Rental Association
Blog #: 0398 – 05/27/15

Mouse in the house. Or Rats, Bears, Ants, Termites, Cockroaches, etc.

By William May
Published: 03/01/15 Topics: Lodging Management, Vacation Rentals, Wildlife Comments: 0

Whether a home is a vacation rental or just a treasured second home where families get away periodically, pests are often more of a problem than in the owner’s primary residence. The question is . . . why?

Location --- While vacation rentals have become popular in urban and suburban areas, most vacation homes are in desirable locations such as by lakes, in the mountains and at the ocean. These areas are generally more remote and - shall we say - a little closer to nature.

LIONS & TIGERS & BEARS

And with nature comes wild animals. We can’t say "Lions & Tigers & Bears" but we can say Bears, Mice, Rats, Bats, Raccoons, Snakes and Insects. And - no one wants to say this aloud - bed bugs are also possible.

These critters are not dumb. They know where food is, they are adept at finding it. They seem to have a knack for attacking when no one is home - as is often the case with second homes.

Motels, hotels, inns and resorts in rural or remote locations are just as suspect able to the same problems, even though in those cases there is often staff far closer at hand.

Killing the Messenger

Owners who use professional vacation rental managers find it convenient to blame the manager (messenger) for bringing them bad news that one or more pests have decided to call their place home. But owners need to understand why such things happen and the limits to which planning, attention and diligence can help prevent such things.

Unfortunately, no one can protect a home full-time unless of course they want to pay for costly daily inspections. Even then, there are clear reasons why pests are a bit more common in second homes.

Preventive Steps

Cats - In a primary home, many owners have a cat or dog for friendship. But even the most docile cat is greatly feared by mice, rats and even insects. Mice hate the smell of cats. Just let loose your friendly feline to see that rage that lights up their eyes when they decide to torture a mouse. Creepy as it sounds, if your cat is not interested in patrolling you are feeding them just a bit too much.

Of course, it is not possible to leave a cat in a second home which is a great incentive to pests to show up.

Lights, Noise & Heat - Some vermin also are adverse to lights and noise and will avoid it if other equally desirable habitats is available. There are some pests like mice that actually prefer a warm abode.

Of course, it would be expensive to keep a home heated, lit and noisy at all times so that solution is of little help.

Lighting Fast - Arriving at a home with bugs or mice does not mean that housekeeping is lax. Think back to being a child, and discovering a line of ants waltzing in and out of a home following the chemical trail they have laid down.

That is, after all, how it works for insects and even small mammals. Find a spot, explore until you get in and then send back messages for the entire troupe to charge in. You may think it takes days or weeks for an infestation to happen but that would be wrong.

The gestation period of mice is only 20 days followed by an average of 10 off spring. They are ready to give birth in 3 to 4 weeks which means one mouse can turn into 300 in a year.

Research shows that ants can take over a house in as little as a hour. Mice and rats gleefully take over even faster and once they have moved in, they are not as easily convinced to move out..

Proliferate they do. There is a reason that ants, other bugs, mice and rats become visible almost instantly. A small infestation can go unnoticed even by the most diligent observer. But all these pests...

Hiding - And pests are great at not being seen. They have not survived for millions of years by offering to be prey to other animals. It takes some looking to find pests until they have expanded their colonies and left tell-tale signs.

Avoiding Infestations

There are some things that will slow - but not entirely avoid - discovering unwanted pests have one day invaded your second home.

Live there - Ok this is simply not a solution because owners must live most of the time in their full-time residence.

Get a cat - This idea too is unworkable for second homes, but has to be mentioned because it works so well. Outdoor cats? Nah, someone has to feed them and many prefer outdoors making them no threat to your indoor. Plus they are easy prey for coyotes and even raccoons.

Sealing Tight - Seal every entrance to the home and lock it tight when departing. If you think your place is tight as a drum, getting down in the under floor crawl, or shimmying through the attic may convince you otherwise. Check around plumbing and heating fixtures.

If necessary, mice and rates will eat the plastic off wires to make more space. In summer when doors and windows may be left open they seize the change to move right in. In autumn, when food falls short they are more determined to get inside. In spring, after some dormancy, they are even hungrier. Your house looks like a McDonalds with ready made meals.

Doors - The most frequent access to many homes is actually right in through the door. Did you know that many small mammals have the uncanny ability to flatten their rib cages which allows them to squeeze into the smallest of spaces. Make door seals air tight if possible. Older homes have more ":leads’ than new homes.

You can almost hear the mice giggling when they find what - to them - looks like a expressway into your house.

Lock Tight - Never leave food out where the smallest ant could find it. Flour, pancake mix and other dry ingredients may seem safe at home but in vacation homes they are a feast for animals. Even oils and other baking goods should all be kept in sealed metal containers. Plastics is not as good because some critters will chew right threw it.

Inspections - Frequently take the time to look at every nook and cranny of your house, not just after you have discovered a mouse. Remember, rats in particular are excellent climbers. They feed in trees and your house is just another bridge to food.

Traps & Bait - Treating for pests yourself sounds like a good idea, but seldom is a full solution. But putting these devices in locations - safe from children - can be a barrier to entry. Baits can be dangerous so read the label and follow it explicitly. Re-bait and check traps often.

Occupancy Helps

Vacation Rentals - Having guests arrive frequently helps in two ways. First, activity in the house alerts pests that humans are present and humans are dangerous to them. Guests arrive on unpredictable schedules another detractant to unwanted animals.

Frequent housekeeping - With guests comes regular cleaning of the home. Removal of crumbs from the floors makes less food available.

Pests usually show up suddenly and housekeepers can keep an eye out of invasions. They wont notice them all but this is a first-line of defense.

Periodic Deep Cleans - In addition to regular guest cleans, homes should be deep-cleaned periodically often once, twice or more per year. The goal is to clean unusual spaces such as inside cupboards, seldom used closets, dusting high spaces and other areas remove possible food and provides a visible inspection. Air vents must be opened and inspected.

Food in Refrigerator - When in residence, it is wise to keep all food in the refrigerator. This includes dry goods and bread and is a common recommendation in tropical climates where cockroaches are expert at finding any morsel outside the fridge.

Professional Help

Lastly, every home (not just second homes), should have regular pest inspections by a skilled pest control company. Hiring them once an infestation has started will require a higher cost and longer period of treatment. Do not be surprised when the pros recommend sealing the house further, and many of the steps recommended here.

When you home finally succumb to a pest invasion you will have a professional already familiar with your house who can jump right in and increases methods to rid your home of the problem.

And no matter how diligent the inspector, you can hope you will never experience an outbreak. When an outbreak comes, don’t blame the pest inspector or you manager. Just realize that your second home is in a battle with some very small but very determined enemies that no one can completely avoid.

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Author: William May – Volunteer, Vacation Rental Association
Blog #: 0474 – 03/01/15

Expert Says Photos Best Return on Investment

By Joseph Romain
Published: 02/01/15 Topics: Marketing, Photography, Vacation Rentals Comments: 0

In a recent blog post on his website VacationRentalMarketingBlog.com, Matt Landau proclaims professional photos to be the most effective marketing tools to increase bookings and revenue.

Landau says, "When you have limited resources, you must examine the return on investment (ROI) of everything you do." He then lists the Top 10 cost-effective Vacation Rental Marketing Activities.

Number one on his list is professional photos which he illustrates by providing a cost versus benefit graph clearly showing photos as the best investment.

Other steps, such as building a private website, increasing your paid listing rank, soliciting reviews and trying to speak with guests by phone also are beneficial.

While hiring a professional photographer is indeed a good idea, to this day many professionals have still not discovered or mastered the art of creating High Dynamic Range (HDR) photos.

Without that even the best cameras, a photographic education and lots of experience prohibit the photographer from creating truly accurate photos such as those HDR can create.

HDR photos are not easy and they are not cheap, but the benefit of having compelling and accurate photos attracts more guests, more bookings and more revenue.

 

Landau posits an analogy about whether a government should invest $10,000 to cure ten Malaria patients or the same amount to save a single AIDS patient. Tough call of course, but it illustrates that spending money on great photos is by far the most cost efficient treatment for vacation rental marketing.

Matt Landau is the Founder of the Vacation Rental Marketing Blog, an online resource for vacation rental owners and managers. He is also the owner of Los Cuatro Tulipanes vacation rentals in Panama, and a columnist for HomeAway and FlipKey, the world’s two largest vacation rental marketplaces.

http://www.vacationrentalmarketingblog.com/top_10/

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Author: Joseph Romain – Creative Director, Signatour Photo Team
Blog #: 0003 – 02/01/15

How to Hire & Retain Happy Housekeepers (10 rules)

By Wm. May
Published: 01/28/14 Topics: Lodging Management, Vacation Rental Association, Vacation Rentals, WAVRMA Comments: 0

Servers at restaurants, both fancy and plain, demand tips. The valet who parks your car puts his hand out. Even your neighborhood Starbucks barista wants money for making up your fancy café mocha, skinny, double cup, with foam.

In Lodging many guests simply do not know they need to tip those hard working housekeepers who slip in and out of their rooms while they sit comfortably in the dining room, paying too much for dinner, and giving the smiling cheerful waiter a big tip for being so attentive.

Recent anecdotal responses indicate that tipping in Vacation Rentals occurs less often in hotels. That is a disrespectful situation that must change.

Industry research consistently points to lack of cleanliness as the most common complaint of travelers. Everyone wants a good clean place to stay. But some guests are even reluctant to stay in a vacation rental for fear it is not sparkling clean.

It is time to prove them wrong.

Heavy Work

Those who clean bathrooms, scrub kitchens and scour barbecues deserve the highest respect not the lowest. It is hard work and under appreciated.

By comparison, being a corporate executive is a piece of cake. Those big wigs must even "Carve out" time everyday to go to the gym for the workout they do not get at work.

Housekeepers don't need a trip to the gym. They get down on hands and knees scrubbing floors, they climb ladders to clean or change light bulbs and they tote tons of trash out of homes.

Rent By Owners

Vacation rental rent-by-owners complain they can not find housekeepers, or good ones, can't keep them, or lose them often with little notice. That is because amateur owners base their hiring and retention methods on personal observations instead of empirical knowledge.

There are secrets to finding and keeping most any kind of employee, but they are especially clear and unavoidable for housekeepers and other workers who do societies dirty work.

Rental Managers:

Some vacation rental managers make the same complaints, but often they are new to the industry or have an over-blown sense of their own importance, while avoiding the hard work of personally cleaning homes.

Walking a mile in a housekeepers shoes is the only way to understand how difficult and deadline driven the work can be, and why those housekeeper shoes are often worn and tattered.

Luckily, most vacation rental managers eventually discover the secrets to finding and keeping the kind of loyal, industrious and committed workers who are willing to clean toilets and do other unglamorous work.

10 Iron Clad Rules

To find and keep top-quality people, who serve your guests well and do so with a smile on their faces it is necessary to follow some iron-clad rules.

PAY - Stop scrimping and pay people well. Pay them based on the hours cleans take and not on your budget, which is often far too little, and seldom accounts for differences in how guests leave a home.

SCHEDULING - Arrange cleaning dates as far in advance as possible. Provide online tools so workers can see where they are to be and when. Adjust schedules to accommodate second jobs, day-care, etc.

FULL TIME - Don't hire more people than you need. There will be employees who prefer part-time work but most want to get a full week's pay or close to it.

WEEKLY PAY - Pay your staff weekly, do it direct-deposit and never miss a payroll deadline, even by a few minutes. Everyone needs to get paid. They have bills to pay.

TIPS - Put out cute and subtle time envelopes, signed by the cleaner that just so happen to mention tipping. Guest actually like to reward those who serve them. Unlike restaurants, lodging guests need a reminder. This can increase pay 24 to 30% making housekeepers beam.

STANDARDS - Write clear concise cleaning "Hospitality" standards. Do not demand "Hospital" standards because they are not necessary or economically feasible. If you don't know the difference, someone else in your organization needs to be the inspector.

TRAINING - Require even experienced housekeepers to work along side current staff to learn the ropes of each home. Use checklists. Train, re-train and train again. Inspect work. Provide pleasant feedback.

HONESTY - Only hold housekeepers to a standard you could attain. To prove it - clean multiple houses in one day, and invite the housekeepers to inspect your work. Then do it for a week.

BE KIND - Cleaning small simple hotel rooms is far easier than scrubbing large personal homes that can have owner possessions, far more furniture and utensils and even peculiar outfitting.

RESPECT - Every housekeeper must be treated with the utmost respect. Never raise your voice. Never complain, Never insinuate.

This is the most often violated rule, but the most important one. Never fall victim to your feeling of superiority.

BONUS TIP - Believe every word housekeepers tell you. If a home needs deep cleaning - believe them, If a house needs extra cleaning after an owner says they cleaned it - believe them. If the vacuum cleaner needs to be replaced - believe them

Anything less disrespects the challenging labor to they do for you so reliably.

The Result

Not all new hires will be good housekeepers. Not all will achieve hospitality standards. Not all will remain employees for years to come. But converting your thinking to these iron clad rules will insure you achieve the following:

• High Quality Hospitality Cleaning.
• Happy guests and property owners.
• Respect from wonderful housekeepers
• Personal satisfaction in knowing you treated people well.

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Author: Wm. May – Volunteer, Vacation Rental Association
Blog #: 0338 – 01/28/14