4 WELCOME BOOK TIPS THAT WILL PREP YOUR GUEST FOR AN EPIC DAY TRIP
Have You Wondered
“Is my Airbnb guide book good enough?”
Guide books are standard hosting practice by now, so if your guest is checking in and showing up to an empty counter space, you’re already two steps behind. Outside of house manual instructions, at the very least, they’re expecting a list of local recommendations (restaurants, grocery, activities, etc.). There are times that travelers arrive with too many plans crammed into their itinerary, and others without a clue. In either case, they’ll never be upset to find a curated guide book that cuts down the research for them—but, when a guide book is lacking in presentation, local recommendations and house instructions, they will 100% feel the gap.
let’s talk LOCAL RECOMMENDATIONS. If you’re asking yourself, “Is my Airbnb guide book good enough?” you probably have work to do. You want your “must-HAVE” local EXPERIENCES to pop off the page.
One way to do it: feature your best local day trips in detail.
So often travelers set their accommodations around a single day trip they’ve been forever dreaming of—it’s been living on their bucket list. And then, they book your property hoping that you, their “Local Travel Guide,” will have insider day trip TIPS waiting for them.
DISNEYLAND, CALIFORNIA
THE NARROWS OF ZION NATIONAL PARK
SNORKELING IN KEY WEST
[FILL IN THE BLANK…]
YOUR FEATURED day trip could be the most unforgettable moment about THEIR stay.
I can’t stress this next part enough…In the landscape of vacation rentals, the bar for achieving and maintaining “Superhost” status continues to rise. So, when it comes to making recommendations like a concierge, it may not feel like your job, but…
…this is your moment to shine.
Now, you may be asking, “What if my region doesn’t have any major attractions?” To this I say, no problem! Create your own. Come up with a creative combination of activities your guests would love to enjoy within one day. Think of a specific time range, like post-breakfast to dinner time. Maybe there’s one feature activity, and you just build meals around it. Like any good story, give it a beginning, middle, and end.
The Road to Hana in Maui is one of those epic day trips that require lots of planning.
In this article, I’m going to use this well known Hawaii attraction, and my personal experience, to inspire your next Superhost upgrade.
4 SUPERHOST TIPS
TO PREP YOUR GUESTS WITH EVERYTHING THEY NEED FOR AN EPIC, UNFORGETTABLE DAY TRIP
My little family got to drive the Road to Hana, our Maui bucket list dream adventure, when we stayed in Haiku-Pauwela. The Airbnb we booked was chosen for many reasons, one being it’s proximity to the first stop on the Road to Hana. This vacation rental home was built and designed by the owners themselves and was perfect for an active family like ours. But, what spoke to us the most was their tuned-in hospitality when it came to prepping us for our Road to Hana day trip. Spring boarding from my personal experience as their guest, here’s a set of best hosting practices you can use when recommending your best local day trip.
(1) GIVE HONEST ADVICE
When I asked our host for advice on travel time for the Road to Hana, I mentioned we’d need to be back by 4 PM that day for—I’m SO embarrassed to say it—a meeting. He kindly urged me, “Cancel your meeting. You don’t want to have to ‘be back’ for anything when you’re traveling the Road to Hana.” Additional disclaimer: Road to Hana day trips are often split into two for travelers seeking to hit every stop. At any rate, my girls (ages 8 and 4 years old, at the time) are still talking about the Pipiwai Trail bamboo forest, a 2.5 hour hike we braved and finished just before the sun went down. This hike was beyond Hana. Had I kept my meeting in place, that family memory would have never come to be. Getting misty over here!
(2) OFFER A CREATIVE “ROAD MAP”
There’s a reason why brochures worked for ages—but we’re in a new age, and you have an opportunity to reinvent the wheel. Our Maui hosts did share a few must-see stops on the Road to Hana, as well as warned us to consider road conditions based on the rainy season we were in. But, what if you could creatively inspire while inform with your own unique version of a travel guide? The Olive Jar’s top seller DIY template is the Vacation Vision Board, a customizable poster print, on which you can share inspirational prompts and local travel recommendations with your guests. No information overload—just enough to spark ideas. Best part: it’s all on one eye-catching page, like a road map…See where I’m going with this?
The Vacation Vision Board could be utilized as the perfect tool to feature and inspire a once-in-a lifetime day trip. Just for fun, we did just that. We adapted our Vacation Vision Board template for your next Road to Hana day trip (pictured below). Enjoy!
(3) PROVIDE CAR TRAVEL AMENITIES
Our hosts provided 2 top-of-the-line travel mugs. Don’t skimp here. Go Yeti, or the like. We filled those up for the road, then paired our coffee with Aunty Sandy’s banana bread (located at mile marker #16)! Think about other helpful road trip amenities, like…a mini cooler, or ice packs at the least; “eye spy” car travel games; skin protection relevant to your climate—guests likely brought their own sunscreen, but what about bug spray?
If you really want to wow your guests…Remember the disposable point & shoot camera? Gen Z is hooked. Gift a complimentary Kodak FunSaver single-use camera—perfect pairing for the “capture every mile marker moment” prompt on that Vacation Vision Board.
(4) ASK FOR GUEST FEEDBACK
Last, but certainly not least (and I mean that), ask your current guest what they loved about their day trip; ask what they’d do differently; and, if they have any tips of their own to share, etc. Now, you have more intel to pass on to the next guest.
Want to know the extra magic that comes with asking for guest feedback like this? It’s one simple way to build brand loyalty. Give your guests a platform to voice their experience outside of the 5-star review that will only benefit you. This is a prime opportunity to invite and engage your guests into becoming co-creators of the experience you offer. When your current guest finds out their own advice could improve a monumental experience for future travelers, it gives them a sense of ownership, which is proven to breed brand loyalty.
…
As promised, here’s my customized Vacation Vision Board themed out for a Road to Hana Day Trip. PRESENTATION RECOMMENDATIONS: We tell hosts it can be shared DIGITALLY, implemented in your GUIDE BOOK PDF; but it’s even better as wall decor—PRINT and clip into a magnetic poster frame for in-home display.
Want to see how the Vacation Vision Board could work for your own property?
Use this DIY tool to build your brand, generate organic buzz and achieve top-tier status. Shop link below!
meet our little OLIVE JAR family! VIEW our Road to Hana highlight REEL.
Rewatching my own highlight reel brought back so much warmth and joy. The longing to return is real. If you’re a parent, you know a 10-12 hour day on the road is no small feat with kiddos! This one was worth every mile—and, our “next time” bucket list was locked in long before we left.
We still keep in touch with our generous Haiku-Pauwela hosts to this day. If you’re planning your next trip to Maui, check out their Airbnb listing HERE!
What’s YOUR FAVORITE local day trip?
If this article has sparked a new idea you can apply to better serve your guests, as always, we’d love to hear!