We’re thrilled to share some outstanding news with our homeowner family. Our Orlando-based vacation rental business has climbed into the Top 5 Airbnb hosts in the Lakeland & Winter Haven region!

 

With 24 meticulously managed homes in this area, we’ve amassed 519 guest reviews averaging a remarkable 4.79 stars. This milestone reflects not only the undeniable charm of your properties, but also recognition of the dedication of our entire team to deliver an exceptional guest experience for your guests.

 

Why this Achievement Matters

 

Every five-star review isn’t just a number – it’s a story of a family reunited, a couple celebrating an anniversary, or friends making lifelong memories in the Florida’s sunshine.

 

 

Here’s what this recognition means to us all:

• Validation of Excellence: 519 reviews at 4.79 stars prove our consistent quality and service.
• Competitive Edge: Ranking in the top 5 boosts our visibility on Airbnb, attracting more bookings across Central Florida.
• Shared Success: Each homeowner’s pride, combined with our operational expertise, drives this achievement.

 

Your property’s unique features – whether that’s the private pool, games room or cozy reading nook – are part of what is earning these fantastic guest accolades.

 

Voices of Our Guests

 

You might have noticed that lately we’ve been sharing more of our favorite guest reviews on Facebook. And the reactions have been overwhelmingly positive.

 

Sharing these reviews on social media accomplishes two key goals:

• It keeps our online community engaged and informed about the guest experience.
• It showcases your property’s strengths to potential travellers, translating into more bookings and higher occupancy rates.

 

 

Consistent Updates on Our Website

 

In addition to Facebook, every glowing review gets featured on the corresponding property page of our website. Why? Because prospective guests often browse multiple listings before deciding – and real guest testimonials build instant trust.

 

The Power of Teamwork

 

Hitting the top 5 is no easy feat. It’s the culmination of a well-orchestrated partnership among all of you with all of the White Rose Villas team.

 

That includes:

• You, our homeowners who invest in high-quality furnishings, décor and timely upgrades.
• Our cleaning and maintenance crew who ensure that each property meets exacting standards.
• The guest services team, providing rapid, friendly responses to inquiries and special requests.
• The reservations department who optimize listings, craft social media posts and regularly update the listings on AirBnB.

 

When everyone pitches in – from routine inspections to surprise welcome baskets – the guest journey becomes seamless, leading to memorable stays and rave reviews!

 

 

 

How You Can Contribute

 

We want to build on this momentum and rank among the top hosts in every area in and around Orlando where we operate.

 

Here’s how you can help:

1. Keep Your Property Fresh

• Update linens seasonally.
• Invest in a few statement décor pieces or local art.
• Inspect for wear and tear monthly, and schedule small repairs immediately.

2. Engage with Our Social Channels

• Follow and share our Facebook posts featuring your property’s reviews.
• Encourage friends and family to like our page and leave their own feedback.
• Did you know we’ve also recently launched a YouTube channel – so please follow us on there – and encourage your friends and family to too!

3. Share Your Insights

• If you’ve discovered a local vendor for welcome gifts or a reliable maintenance partner, let us know.
• Have ideas to streamline check-in/check-out? We’re all ears.

4. Amplify Guest Feedback

• Forward outstanding guest emails so we can turn them into public testimonials.
• Post your property’s best review as a story on Instagram or Facebook, tagging our page.

 

 

We’re always grateful for your engagement. Your active participation accelerates guest engagement, boosts our online reputation, and drives bookings.

 

A Heartfelt Thanks to Our Homeowners & Guests

 

To every owner who trusts us with your property, thank you. Your commitment to excellence – from thoughtful guest amenities to timely maintenance – forms the backbone of this victory. When we celebrate 519 reviews and a 4.79 average rating, we’re celebrating your vision and dedication.

 

Let’s raise a virtual toast to teamwork, continuous improvement and the many milestones yet to come. Keep an eye on our Facebook feed for fresh reviews and dive into your property’s page on our website to see your success story in action.

 

We look forward to soon be sharing more five-star memories and more delighted guest reviews as well as climbing ever higher on Airbnb’s host rankings together.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Got feedback?

 

Please reach out to the White Rose Villas team. You can reach us at: admin@whiterosevillas.com

This week on our blog, we’re absolutely delighted to bring you some thoughts from another of our homeowners.

Eric owns two fantastic family-friendly homes on Kissimmee’s Indian Point resort.  It enjoys a fabulous location, just a half mile drive from Highway 192 and close to the Orlando theme parks.

Like most of our homeowners, Eric has seen his bookings slow through the pandemic and, especially, through the various lockdowns.  As a result, he’s had to adapt some of his booking strategies.  We’re really grateful to him for sharing his tips here.

How to maximise booking revenue during the pandemic

I’m not a huge proponent of short stays but realise that the short-term rental guest base has changed with everything going on.

I am getting many rentals from local Floridians and folks from nearby states.

Guests are now booking with shorter lead time.  Many of these guests are looking for weekend family getaways and prefer to stay in a cosy private home instead of a crowded hotel.  

This trend should be good news for vacation-home owners as it could actually lead to an increase occupancy rates.  The days of staying in a 500-room hotel are over for the foreseeable future.

I’ve changed my policy on minimum stays

I chose to limit weekend stays to three night.  Three seems to be the magic number for me.

By limiting weekend stays to minimum three nights it reduces the number of party guests.  At the same time, it provides the opportunity for guests who may want to book longer stays.  By doing so, I’m also seeing bookings of 4, 5, 6 nights.

When I tried a two-day minimum on the weekends, the calendar was filled up immediately – and often with less desirable guests. However, when two-night gaps become available in the calendar I then allow two-night rentals for those specific days.  

One big pro for short stays is the opportunity to accumulate many more guest reviews.  Potential guests like to see properties with many reviews.

While we would all love to have five-night or seven-night stays, we must realise that this is a transitional period in the short-term rental marketplace.  Things are very different to how they were 12 months ago.

During this time, we must do what we need to do as owners to press forward.  This time will not last forever and better days are ahead of us.

I am already seeing more guests starting to return from other parts of the country.  This is a positive sign.  With a COVID-19 vaccine hopefully being available in the spring, occupancy rates should surely improve. 

How to book Eric’s homes

Eric owns the fab Summer Point home, which you can view here.  It’s recently been refurbished and has a lovely south-facing pool.

His other Orlando property is Lake Point, which you can view here.  This one is a great choice for families and has a fantastic lake view from the pool and lanai.

Share your thoughts!

We’d love to publish more homeowner viewpoints on our blog.  If you’d like to write for us, we’ll credit your homeowners account with $30.  If you would like to be published on this blog, please get in touch with our team in your usual way. 

We at White Rose Villas are constantly searching for ways to increase those valuable bookings for our owners; particularly in these unprecedented times. We’ve previously discussed altering your cancellation policy and rate flexibility to encourage wavering potential bookers; today we want you to take a look at the many positives to be derived from making your home pet-friendly.

Many of you may, for different reasons, have never considered such a move: property damage, extra cleaning, allergies etc. We certainly wouldn’t wish to advise you to take a path you’re not entirely comfortable with. We would, however, ask that you take a few minutes to consider the many benefits of offering your home to pet owners (and their precious animals).

We at WRV have a selection of pet-friendly homes and experience very few issues; in fact, these homes are renting and filling up first, plus the renters tend to re-book!

You may, if you prefer, make your home dog-friendly only, and specify the maximum weight of canine you’re happy to welcome. This may remove concerns about huge, unusual or exotic creatures inhabiting your home! Provided you make any such policy clear in your T’s and C’s, you should have no concerns.

Looking at the US: in 2019 there were 44% of households owning a dog and 35% a cat; an enormous potential market. According to a recent TripAdvisor survey, 53% of pet owners take their beloved animals with them, only 25% of rental homes are willing to accept them. 64% of dog owners plan their trips specifically with the ability to bring their pets with them, and 53% would pay extra ($100 or more) to ensure this. On average, pet-friendly homes have between 10-20% higer rental income and higher occupancy than others. Switching to accommodate them could be a further weapon in your armoury, and provide the competitive edge we’re all searching for.

You can charge more to cover extra cleaning costs; require a deposit against possible damage and make it clear that any and all damage will be charged for. Any responsible pet owner should be happy to accept this. The WRV professional cleaning team are well-versed in cleaning our pet-friendly homes, and will ensure your home is sparkling clean between rentals. Guest reviews show no difference in the cleanliness or condition scores of these properties.

To sum up: you may earn more, you’ll encourage repeat bookings, your property condition won’t be affected and your overall occupancy level should increase.

These are all positive reasons to consider when formulating your rental policy; offering a pet-friendly home may not be for everyone, but it’s something we advise you to seriously consider.

White Rose Villas are constantly on the look out for pet friendly homes, if you would like to discuss this option or are interested in us managing your home, please email us at admin@whiterosevillas.com or complete the form below and we will get back in touch with you.

Choosing the right partner to help you manage your vacation home is vital for maximising revenue – as well as for your peace of mind.

 

Every home and every home owner are different.  Naturally, this means that what each home owner needs from their property manager is different too.

However, there are a few questions that every home owner should ask before choosing a property manager – and that every property manager should be able to answer!

 

Ten questions to ask any potential property manager

 

The White Rose Villas team talks you through the ten questions you should ask of any property manager with whom you are thinking of working.

 

#1. How do you expect my home to perform?

 

You should be seeking a realistic but enthusiastic answer to this question. 

Don’t be fooled by wild statements about huge returns that the property manager can’t back up with evidence about how other similar properties in the area are performing.  But don’t settle for overly conservative estimates either.

If the answer you receive differs greatly from the estimations offered by your realtor when you purchased the property, ask the property manager to explain why this might be.

Most importantly, how excited is your potential property manager about marketing your property?  This is important, because you want your property manager to believe in your home’s potential and to relish the opportunity to help you achieve it.

 

#2. What can you tell me about the local market?

 

Your property manager should be able to discuss recent regulations, trends, rentable values and what potential renters expect.

If they can’t talk confidently about these topics with you, be wary.  Sense check their answers with what you’ve heard from the other property managers you’ve interviewed. 

Once you have spoken to three or four potential partners, you should have a good overview of what the real picture is and who is on top of their brief.

 

#3. What regulations do I need to be aware of?

 

Of course, you can research federal, state and local regulations on sites like ours.  But you do need to ask this question of any potential property manager too.

A good property manager is not only up to speed with all the regulations that apply to their business and your rental property, they will be able to offer advice about how you can ensure you comply – and (hopefully) be able to explain how their services help you do this.

 

#4. How will you market my property?

 

You want a good mix of marketing approaches in answer to this question.  It’s so easy to get bamboozled by marketing speak but, at a minimum, you need to look for:

• Listing on your property manager’s own website
• Potential for online bookings
• Investment into online marketing and search engine optimisation
• Database of previous guests with a good track record of repeat bookings to whom regular marketing communications are sent
• Listings on major vacation rental sites, including: AirBnB, VRBO, etc.
• Partnerships with other vacation companies
• Social media promotions

Every property manager will offer a different combination of these marketing approaches.  It’s worth spending time to talk through a tactical plan for the first six to twelve months, including agreeing any promotions you might want to run together.

 

#5. How will guests be able to book my property?

 

You’ll know from your own experience that guests don’t make vacation plans within normal office hours.  How available is your property manager to answer guests’ questions during the evenings and weekends?  How quickly do they respond to guest enquiries?

There is an easy way to test the validity of each potential property manager’s claims in this regard.

 

#6. How do you price your services?  What fees can I expect to pay?

 

Property managers usually charge anything from between ten percent to twenty-five percent of rental income – so you may find some very varied answers to this question.

However, it is vitally important to consider what you are getting for that percentage charge.  It’s not always easy to compare like with like.  Ten percent of hardly any bookings could be worse value than twenty-five percent of nearly full occupancy.

You first step should be to clearly define where you need help and how you need the property manager to add value.  Then you can really make a judgement about whether you are getting good value for money.  Or, more specifically, the right value for your money.

 

#7. What services are included in your management fees?

 

We’ve already touched on this and why it is important.  Ask potential property managers to supply a full price list, so you can understand their charges and ask them to explain how and when they might apply.

Here at White Rose Villas, we offer three different approaches to fees – you can pay as you go, opt for a package which covers all the essentials, or choose an all-inclusive arrangement with us.  What is best for you will very much depend on how much help and support you need from your property manager and it what areas, e.g. marketing, maintenance, housekeeping, guest relationship management, etc.

Not everyone needs help with everything – so find a property manager with a package to suit you.

 

#8. How will I be charged for these services?

 

This is important for your planning; you need to know how your property manager is going to help you achieve your rental income goals. 

Does your potential property manager require you to open an escrow account?  If so, what amount of funds do they expect to hold in there?  How frequently does your property manager pay out income?  Ask them to show you some typical monthly statements, so you can see how costs and income will be reported to you.

 

#9. Do you manage local taxes for your homeowners?

 

Here in Florida properties are subject to a “tourist tax” as well as sales tax.  These are paid to local and state authorities respectively.

A good property manager will manage these tax payments on your behalf; automatically applying them to guest bookings and forwarding payments to the relevant authorities.  It is worth checking whether this is the case, and how the property manager proposes to administer these payments.

 

#10. What sort of reporting can I expect?

 

As a vacation property owner, you need to know exactly where you stand with regards to the rental income your property is generating for you.  This requires clear monthly statements at the very least. 

In the longer term, what does your property manager offer to help you keep track of your property’s performance?  Here at White Rose Rentals, we schedule an annual review with each of our home owners.  This gives us a chance to discuss how your home is performing against your expectations, how we are doing, and what suggestions we have that can help you maximise bookings and revenue.

 

 

We think these are the ten base questions you should ask any potential property manager before deciding who to sign with. 

You’re sure to have your own to add to this list as well.

If you have questions of your own, please get in touch. 

Email: admin@whiterosevillas.com 

US – 321-710-8779

UK –  0333-332-1411