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We’re delighted that the USA has recently announced that travel will reopen for vaccinated travellers from November 8.

We’re already expected a surge in bookings and expect this to continue for the next few weeks. We know there is a lot of pent-up demand for Florida vacations in the European market.

Given this expected surge, we need your help!

Check your Ciirus calendars now!

As you know, it is your responsibility as a homeowner to keep your Ciirus calendars up to date.

Please log in now and check the bookings in Ciirus. Please check all of the bookings you have taken are updated in the calendar.

If you are already talking to guests about possible dates, please block out the relevant period in your calendar. This way, we can’t take bookings for dates for which a guest has already expressed an interest.

This is the best way to avoid guest disappointment.

Why is it so important?

We’re asking you to do this, not just for the benefit of your guests, but also for the benefit of your fellow homeowners.

The contracts we have with tour operators have numerous targets and standards we must meet. One important rule is around cancellations. If we have to cancel a guest booking due to double booking, we risk damaging the relationship with the tour operators and may lose their business.

Losing these contracts wouldn’t just affect your home – it would affect the bookings on every home we manage. That’s why it’s so important that you keep your calendar up to date and we avoid double bookings wherever possible.

As you know, it has been a difficult eighteen months for everyone. Please let’s show consideration as we emerge from the pandemic.

Best practice tips for calendar management

Here are some best practice tips to help you.

#1. We recommend that you log in to Ciirus every week and check your bookings. This is the best way to maintain an overview.

#2. Ciirus will send an automatic notification when a booking is made. However, sometimes these can end up in spam folders. Make sure you whitelist our email address to minimise the chance of this happening.

#3. Log in to Cirrus and check the dates are free before you confirm the booking. Please do this for EVERY booking you take.

#4. If a guest has contacted you about possible dates, log in to Ciirus and block off all the dates under consideration. This way, we can’t take a booking for those dates while the guest makes their considerations. This is the best way to avoid any disappointment with the guests you are speaking with – so please do block out potential dates as soon as you can. It’s easy to unblock or book them once the dates are confirmed.

#5. Don’t worry if you don’t feel confident using Ciirus. You can find lots of brilliant video tutorials and tips online. For a small investment in time, you can be really confident using the system. Find out more here: https://help.ciirus.com/m/21080/l/980716-home-owner-portal-2018

#6. Please do everything you can to avoid double bookings. Cancellations aren’t just bad for guests; they are bad for everyone. A double booking could cost us an important contract with a tour operator or reseller and this won’t just impact you – it will impact every homeowner we work with.

Important updates about Ciirus

Ciirus is our main calendar for bookings and, as a result, a variety of agents and tour operators have access to the system. It can sometimes take a little while for the activity of those agents to go live because they need to be processed by our team before they are confirmed.

When you do your weekly check of the system, if you notice a booking for which you haven’t received a notification, please reach out to our team and we can resend it to you.

It is possible to link your Ciirus calendars to the other calendars you might have. If you want to do this, please ask us for an iCal link. However, this isn’t completely foolproof. Instead, we recommend that you login and check the Ciirus calendar when you need to and at least once a week. This way, we don’t risk any problems arising from integration errors or dates not being carried over.

As you know, the system also sends out cancellation notices. There have been many cancellation and change-of-date requests over the past 18 months. During this time, we believe that some haven’t been delivered. We have reported this to Ciirus and they are looking into it. We will keep you informed of their advice.

In the meantime, this makes it more important than ever to regularly check your online Ciirus calendar. Please make sure you are doing so, especially before each booking you take.

What now?

Please contact our team if you have any questions or concerns.

Make sure you check and update your Ciirus calendar right away, so you are ready for the surge in bookings that will inevitably follow this announcement.

And let’s look forward to the more positive outlook before us! It’s great news for us all.

White Rose Villas is introducing a new marketing contract and we’ll be approaching all our homeowners over the next few weeks about it. This blog explains the reasons behind this change.

We’re facing very challenging market conditions in what is traditionally a quiet season in the theme parks. We need to step up our game when it comes to marketing, to ensure that we are doing the very best we can to book your home.

To help us do this, we’re going to introduce a new marketing contract that we’ll be asking all our homeowners to complete and sign. This will help us to act faster when it comes to taking bookings – as well as being able to offer enticements to ensure enquiries convert into sales.

What will the new marketing contract include?

Essentially, the new White Rose Villas marketing contract sets out in black and white the lower limits that you’d be willing to accept on a per-night basis. It also establishes the rules around taking a booking for your home.

You’ll be asked to tell us:

Knowing this information in advance, spelled out in black and white, is really important. It will enable us to act quickly. Rather than doublechecking on rates and possibly losing a booking during that delay, we can act fast and secure the booking.

Furthermore, we’ve had a couple of instances recently where we’ve taken a booking, but our homeowner hasn’t wanted to accept it at the slightly lower rate. This creates a bad guest experience and costs us all money.

The importance of getting the quote right first time

The listing sites apply a penalty for cancellations. As well as any financial compensation, they also drop the listing further down their search results. And it doesn’t just do that for the property concerned. It drops every single property that we manage.

This means that a cancelled booking impacts all our homeowners. That’s why it’s so vital that we don’t find ourselves in a position where we’ve taken a booking at a reduced price which we later need to cancel.

Furthermore, because our customer-first business model succeeds in attracting a high number of repeat bookings, we really want to avoid anything that could compromise the guest experience. Not honouring a booking we’ve taken is really upsetting for the guest and there is the potential we could lose their lifetime of future bookings as a result. We obviously work hard to ensure this doesn’t happen, but it is still a risk that impacts all our homeowners.

Signing the new marketing contract

That’s why we’re now introducing a new marketing contract for all homeowners. We’ll be approaching you over the next couple of weeks to discuss your options and ensure that the contracts are all signed and that you are happy with them.

We’ll be asking all our homeowners to sign the new contracts – whether you choose to use the RevMax dynamic pricing platform with us or not.

If you aren’t familiar with dynamic pricing, please check out our earlier blog about this automated system. It uses advanced algorithms to run fluid strategies that enable your property to achieve the highest income during high-demand periods and stay at the top of productivity in the market during low-demand periods. Last quarter, the team behind the system booked 70% more nights than the market average and at rates that were 17% higher than most.

It’s even more important to be really clear about what you’re willing to accept in terms of per-night revenue when working with the RevMax system, because the pricing is automated.

As you’ll know from our previous blog, there is no charge for you to use the dynamic pricing system – that’s a cost borne by us. The only real change you need to make is to be willing to accept different per-night rental rates, based on market conditions.

Find out more about RevMax here.

The offer of free nights

RevMax has told us that one great way to boost revenue is to run offers of a free night when a certain number of nights are booked. They’ve suggested that each homeowner specifies a number of nights per year which you would be happy to allocate free of charge on a promotional basis.

This way, the RevMax team can use the free nights to attract new business and close more bookings more quickly, before the guest can look elsewhere. They’ve told us that they have good results with these tactics and have advised it would be useful for us to test them too.

If you’re happy to do this, then all you need to do is to specify the number of free nights per year that we or the RevMax team can use for your home. You can do this in the marketing contract.

We understand that some homeowners may be reluctant to agree to give away free nights – and that’s fine too.

Next actions

You’ll receive the new marketing contract from us by email soon.

Please have a think about the rates and promotions you’d be willing to accept. If you’d like to talk this over with a member of our team, please get in touch.

Complete the rates and promotions details, sign the contract and return it to us.

If you have any questions about this, please reach out to us.

N.B. If you aren’t yet using RevMax, but you’d like to start using it, then please drop us an email to the usual email address: admin@whiterosevillas.com

With bookings in Florida taking a hit from the pandemic again right now, we take another look at the RevMax dynamic pricing system with this guide for homeowners.

Have you signed up to use our dynamic pricing service yet? If not, this blog is for you. It explains how dynamic pricing works and why it can help you maximise returns on your vacation home.

The counter-intuitive profitability

Let’s be clear from the outset: we have to acknowledge that it seems unlikely that by reducing the amount of revenue you get per night for your home, you can actually make more money from it.

However, that’s the starting principle on which RevMax works: by agreeing to be more flexible on the rates you achieve, you can boost your occupancy rates. Since the discounts per night are relatively small, the increase in occupancy rates more than offsets them.

In fact, in practice, RevMax is a bit more complicated than this.

That’s because on some nights – especially during peak season or busy periods – you can earn more per night for your home than you would at your standard nightly rate.  And that’s what makes RevMax so clever: it identifies the trends in the market and adjusts your per-night rate accordingly to ensure you achieve top dollar whilst also boosting occupancy rates.

Why do we need such sophisticated tools?

Your vacation home is great. It’s unique to you. No doubt, you’ve enjoyed many wonderful family holidays there. And you’re totally committed to making sure your guests have the same great Orlando experience.

We get it. Unfortunately, so do the big theme park hotels. And the big tour operators. And they’re doing everything they can to win those bookings instead.

To do that, they have the latest tools and technologies at their disposal. And they act fast: adjusting rates so that they dominate quiet markets and achieve premium pricing during peak periods. 

In fact, they are using similar technology to RevMax. They have their own advanced algorithms. That’s why some of the biggest hotels dramatically and suddenly dropped their rates two weeks ago – because they saw the market slowing.

That’s what we’re up against. And that’s why last year we started working with RevMax to implement dynamic pricing for you.

RevMax is already delivering great returns for some owners

Most of you will know that we’ve been working with the RevMax dynamic pricing system over the last difficult year. Some of you may already be benefiting from it.

The beauty of RevMax dynamic pricing is that it uses advanced algorithms to assess the state of the market and then prices your per-night rental rates accordingly. This means that your house is always marketed at a competitive rate, based on current market conditions. The main benefit to this is that you’ll see a big uptick in your occupancy rate – and, consequently, the overall revenue your home generates.

The main requirement is that you need to be really clear about the lowest per-night rate you will accept and what promotional tools (like free nights for certain bookings) you’d be willing to employ.

It’s only by having all this information upfront and programmed into RevMax that we can act as fast as the big hotels.

We’ve already seen some great results. It’s hard to comprehend that some of our owners have been able to increase revenues during this difficult period – but that has been our experience with dynamic pricing.

As we progress with the system, we’re continually refining and developing what we’re doing to try to maximise revenues for you, our homeowners, whilst also delivering the very best experience for your guests.

Could you benefit from introducing dynamic pricing?

If you’re not yet using RevMax dynamic pricing but you think you might like to, please get in touch with our team.

There is no additional charge for using the RevMax service. It’s a cost we are absorbing for the benefit of our homeowners. It’s completely up to you whether you want to use it.

Our advice? The key to getting the most from RevMax is to have a deep think and be really honest with yourself – and us – about what you want your home to achieve.

Our team will work with you whatever you decide. Our goal is to help you achieve your goals.

If you have any questions about this, please reach out to us.

If you aren’t yet using RevMax, but you’d like to start using it, then please drop me an email as soon as you can at the usual email address: admin@whiterosevillas.com

Cindy Miller and her husband own a fantastic family vacation home on the Indian Wells community in Kissimmee. Her home has received some wonderful reviews over the past year – and she’s kindly agreed to share her experience on our blog.

“The first time we stayed in our Orlando home we rented it – because we were visiting Disney. My husband and I lived in Florida and we’d been going to the parks for a while, but we really stepped up our Disney trips once we’d had our son!” explains Cindy.

Soon afterwards, the homeowners at that time decided to put the three-bed, two-bath property on the market. They emailed all the guests on their mailing list with details of the sale. The news came at just the right time for Cindy and her husband.

She says, “It was the right opportunity at the right time. We lived 45 minutes away at that time, so we felt like it could be a good investment for us. The family who owned it were renting it out for vacation rentals already. And we were familiar with the home. We knew it was really close to Disney, so it was perfect.”

Choosing to buy the property

Because Cindy knew the home and its location, she felt very comfortable about purchasing it.

She says the features that guests love most about the home are:

“This house was just perfect, very clean and had everything you might need. Cindy was extremely helpful and on top of everything. The location is unbeatable! Everything you need is close by, grocery stores, gas station, restaurants, and the neighborhood was very clean and quiet. The pool was amazing, we were able to enjoy it everyday throughout our stay. Overall experience was amazing. Thank you for letting us stay in your house!!!”

When Cindy and her husband purchased the home in 2016, they chose to stay with the existing property manager. The previous homeowners had used them, so it made sense not to change too much.

However, Cindy says, “We were with that property management company for three or four years. Over that time, the service depreciated. Changing property managers seemed like a huge risk because we’d been with the existing company for a long time. However, I didn’t feel they shared my commitment to the guest experience.”

 Switching property managers was a tough decision

“I am part of several Facebook groups dedicated to Disney and sometimes questions about accommodation pop up,” Cindy explains. “I reached out to people on those groups and got a few recommendations, including for White Rose Villas property management.”

The family began investigating local property management companies and talking to the companies that had been recommended.

Cindy recalls, “One of the homeowners I’d spoken with had been through the ringer with their property management companies too and he told me White Rose Villas are the most professional company he’s worked with.”

“I definitely had concerns,” admits Cindy. “I’d only worked with the one property management company, so I was jumping into the unknown. I spoke with White Rose Villas at length and going with them felt like the right decision. Even so, I was worried about the sales situation: could they live up to their promises? And would their service also decline over time?”

Despite these concerns, Cindy and her husband knew it was time to move on. The service from the incumbent property management company had declined so much, she knew she couldn’t stay with them.   The transition process away from the incumbent property management company was a hurdle that Cindy was nervous to take on alone.  Cindy and White Rose Villas created a transition plan together, which was executed with full support and guidance from White Rose Villas. In 2020, the family successfully switched to White Rose Villas for the management of their vacation home.

“It was a tough decision, but there’s been a huge payoff,” Cindy says. “I’m so happy I made the change.”

Alignment on the issues that count

The key differences in the property management service delivery have been in communication and the general ethos.

Cindy explains: “Overall, White Rose Villas are 100% more professional. I’d say the value they place on guest satisfaction and happiness is on a par with me. With my previous property manager, I felt like I had to fight for the guest. With White Rose Villas, it’s the opposite. They put the guest at the heart of what they do too. As a result, we work much more smoothly as a team.”

She says that the White Rose Villas team quickly helped her overcome any reservations she had about making the switch.

“They earned my trust. And they maintained that trust by keeping the lines of communication open. They tell me about issues. And they help me resolve them quickly. If I ever raise anything with White Rose Villas, someone will be over there the same day or the next day having that facetime with the guest and fixing it. They are attentive. They have the right staff to understand the issue and what needs to be done. And they execute on that plan and make sure the guests are satisfied.”

Managing from a distance

Cindy has now moved out of state. Instead of being 45 minutes away, she is now several states away. Not being able to attend the property herself in the case of an emergency has made the relationship with her property management company even more important for Cindy.

“The White Rose Villas service has definitely been consistently positive,” Cindy says. “If anything, I have more trust in them now. I turn to them for advice – and 99% of the time, I go with what they recommend.”

She lists the main benefits of making the switch as:

“Bringing money in isn’t part of the dynamic for me,” Cindy explains, “because I market the home myself on VRBO. I do a lot of my own bookings. Because they are mostly local, we’ve seen a steady occupancy, even through the pandemic.”

“It was a great stay! Our son loved the pool so much he asked if we could take it home with us! It’s very convenient to many shops and outlets and a very easy Uber/Lyft ride to any of the Disney parks! Cindy was wonderful in her communication and the house felt very Covid safe!”

Excellent feedback

Cindy is a super host on VRBO. Her home now has a 4.7 star rating on the website.

“I have 72 reviews and most of them are five star,” Cindy says. “It has been a turnaround from what I was hearing from guests prior to switching. Things are now perfect and kept to the standards I expect. I feel like I can sleep well at night, even though I live many states away. My guests are now free to focus on having a good time and creating great memories.”

See more of Cindy’s home here.

We’re always on the look out for ways to make life easier for our homeowners and to make our operations even more efficient. That’s why we’re excited to bring you news about a new way for you to make payments to us: Zelle.

About Zelle

Let’s run through a few quick questions and answers about Zelle, so you can get a great overview of the payment option we are introducing. If you have any further questions, please reach out to our team at any time.

What is Zelle?

Zelle is a digital payments service. It has the backing of some of America’s biggest banks. As long as you have a US bank account, you can use Zelle.

Which banks are behind Zelle?

Zelle is owned by some of America’s biggest banks, including Bank of America, BB&T, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, US Bank and Wells Fargo.

How does Zelle work?

Zelle is an easy to use instant payment service and mobile app. It’s a little like Venmo, but payments are typically processed faster (thanks to Zelle’s backing by America’s biggest banks).

Simply download the app and you can send and receive money for free. Zelle is also found in the banking app of hundreds of banks and credit unions nationwide. You can send money quickly and for free – even if the recipient uses a different bank or credit union.

To get started, you’ll need to register your email or cell-phone number (either though your existing banking app or through the Zelle app).

Then you can send money to people you know using their email address or cell phone number.

Why are we implementing Zelle now?

By accepting payments via Zelle, it gives our customers another choice of payment options. Because payments are so fast and easy, it means we can act faster when there’s a maintenance issue. And you can keep your escrow accounts up to date much more easily. It will help to ensure that services aren’t affected by under-agreed escrow balances.

What’s more, the service is free to use. So you can avoid the hassle and expense of writing bank cheques. Instead of waiting several days for a cheque payment to be made, payments are usually made within minutes – or seconds!

We think this is a really important benefit because it means that if you need expensive or urgent maintenance work, it won’t be held up by waiting for a bank cheque to clear.

It’s going to be especially useful for those homeowners for whom we manage the home but don’t take bookings. If we don’t have an income for which to offset services and maintenance payments, it can be a real hassle keeping your escrow amount up to date each month.

Now, with Zelle, that’s going to be a lot faster and easier for you.

Is there anything else I need to know about using Zelle?

If your bank doesn’t offer Zelle, you’re limited to sending $500 per month. However, if your bank does offer Zelle, the limits are much higher (typically between $1,000 to $5,000 per day or between $5,000 and $40,000 per month).

Because the money is transferred directly from one bank account to another, Zelle is much safer than sending cheques in the mail.

However, because it is such a fast and easy payment option, it’s really important to only use Zelle to send money to people you trust. Once sent, the money can’t be recalled – so it’s also doubly important to double check the recipient’s details before sending.
 

What are the next steps?

If you’d like to use Zelle to make payments to us and to keep your escrow account up to date, you can find our Zelle details at the bottom of your monthly homeowner statement.

If you have any questions, please get in touch for more information. We’re happy to talk you through the next steps, so you can be confident when making your payments to us using this convenient new payments platform.

Our New Linens Service from Standard Textile in Conjunction with Marriott.

It’s great to be able to share some exciting news with homeowners this month. We’ve joined a new programme on preferential terms which enables us to source hotel-quality linens quickly and competitively. We’re eligible for the special terms thanks to our partnership with Marriott.

Standard Textile has been supplying Marriott hotels with high quality bed and bath linens for many years. The long-standing relationship is based on Standard Textile’s commitment to the quality of its products and delivery of service. The textile company now supplies 30 of Marriott’s hotel brands with bedding and bath products and is a preferred partner of merit.

About Standard Textile

Standard Textile estimates that more than 100 million people sleep on its sheets each year – many as a result of the company’s partnership with Marriott. In fact, it receives many enquiries every year from people who have enjoyed sleeping on Marriott linens so much, they want to recreate that hotel quality in their own home.

What’s so exciting with this programme is that you can now offer all your guests that same hotel-style sleep experience!

Standard Textile ranges include bath and bedding products and they already qualify for best volume pricing – no matter how many or how few you order – under the Marriott scheme. Given the prestige of the brand, it’s really exciting to be able to offer you their high-quality products at these preferential rates through our partnership with Marriott.

What bath and bedding products are available?

This week I was treated to a whistle-stop tour of some of Standard Textile’s most popular products for the hospitality sector – ranging from best premium quality through mid-range and performance products to affordable options at an entry price point.

The range includes:

I’m especially excited by the washable duvet inserts made from recycled plastic bottles. It’s great to see a company doing what it can to close the loop on this problematic product supply chain.

What to do next

If you’d like to know more about any of the options above, please get in touch. I’m really happy to share more information about the products and/ or the ordering process.

You can also see the full range of bath and bedding products on the Standard Textile website, under the hospitality menu item.

We need your help!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Standard Textile ranges and which you’d like to see in your home.

Please browse the website and let me know which products you like or are interested in for your own property.

Thank you for your feedback. It’s always appreciated and helps us serve you better.

Happy Fourth of July! We’d like to wish all our homeowners a very happy Independence Day.

Please be aware that this year all the communities and resorts have emailed to advise that fireworks will not be permitted.

We know this is disappointing because fireworks are such a traditional part of people’s celebrations, but it is really important to ensure that the rules are followed.

Resorts are making this request because if fireworks or spent shells fall into the pool screen, it can cause a fire. This is a particular concern this year as more people will be celebrating at home due to the pandemic.

We’d like to reassure you that we have emailed all guests to ensure that they are aware that no fireworks are permitted this year. We have suggested instead that if they would like to celebrate with fireworks, they attend the firework display in Haines City.

You can find more details about this event here: https://www.hainescity.com/353/Thunder-on-the-Ridge

Attention all homeowners! We’re currently in talks with a security company about some new, more robust pool alarms. We’re encouraging all homeowners to have them fitted. Please read on to find out why.

Earlier this month, we received extremely sad news about a drowning on the Windsor Hills resort community. While this thankfully didn’t affect any of our homeowners directly or involve any of the homes we manage, we are keen to do what we can to ensure that we never receive such sad news about one of our properties.

We want to support you to do everything you can to keep your guests safe.

To that end, we’ve been in contact with a local security company with a view to beefing up pool safety for our guests. We’re recommending that homeowners fit an integrated pool alarm on the pool access doors.

If you don’t currently have a pool alarm, or the one you do have is battery operated, please consider fitting one of these in your homes.

As well as making your property safer for guests, these pool alarms come with the added benefit that they prevent guests from leaving the pool doors open. This means that any air conditioning that’s running won’t be trying to cool down the outside areas – saving you from excessive electricity bills!

Why should I fit a pool alarm?

A pool alarm sounds an alarm whenever the pool access door is opened without first pressing the alarm button located beside the door. It is designed for guests who are travelling with young children, so they stay alert to where their kids are in the home at any one time. Simply, it means that should a young child open the door to the pool without an adult with them to press the button, the alarm will sound and the parents can swiftly get poolside.

We think its a great addition that really makes a difference for families travelling with toddlers and small children – both in terms of safety and peace of mind.

Why should I swap my battery-operated pool alarm for a hard-wired pool alarm?

The security company we are speaking with highly recommends a hard-wired design. It means that you don’t need to worry about batteries running out and the alarm not working.

Dead batteries in an alarm could make the property less safe as the unworking pool alarm would give parents have a false sense of security that they will be notified if the pool doors are opened.

Since a hard-wired alarm can’t run out of batteries, you avoid this safety issue.

You will save on any battery-related callouts, as well. If our groundcrew are called out to change the batteries in your pool alarm, you’ll be charged for a callout as well as for the batteries – just a few of these events would pay for the hard-wired alarm to be fitted!

How does the alarm work?

The alarm unit is mounted on the wall beside the pool door at adult height, so children can’t reach it to press the button.

The alarm runs to the nearest outlet/ electricity socket, where a transformer will be screwed into the outlet with a security screw so that it can’t be removed.

You’ll need an alarm for each door that accesses the pool area. You can also choose to have a unit added upstairs if you wish to ensure the alarm is heard around the property.

The alarms are designed to be very loud and screeching. It’s designed that way to ensure that it will be heard – even if you’re in the shower with an earful of water!

The security company is currently working to a two to three-week lead time because they are very busy fitting the alarms for homes at present. So the sooner you can let us know your interest, the better.

What will it cost to have the hard-wired pool alarm fitted in my home?

The first unit is charged at $295.

If you need a second unit for another pool door, this is also charged at $295.

Subsequent units (if you have more than two pool access doors) are charged at $245.

If you need power to run elsewhere (e.g. upstairs) this would incur and additional charge of $99.

Anything else I need to know?

The security company also recommends Infinite patio cal-locks for slider doors. This is a double-bolt system that requires the user to lift it up and down simultaneously to open the door. They are $69 installed and they can be installed at the same time as the pool alarms. As well as working to child-proof the access doors, these cal-locks also help prevent would-be thieves from being able to shimmy the sliding door.

What next?

If you would like to install either of these security features in your home, please reach out to our team. We’re taking bookings now, and we’re happy to answer any further questions you might have about the alarms and locks.

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. 

White Rose Villas property management is continually reviewing ways to help us improve occupancy rates for you, our homeowners.

The pandemic has been tough on us all.  The added economic pressures of not being able to rent out your vacation home due to COVID’s impact on the global travel industry has made the crisis all the tougher.

Helping you by helping guests

We know one of the reasons that bookings have been down is because of the uncertainty that characterises so much international travel at the moment.  The switch to local lockdowns is now impacting national travel patterns as well.

For this reason, White Rose Villas has been reviewing options on your behalf to give your guests increased confidence when booking.

After considerable research, we’ve decided to partner up with a company called Master Cancel through our sister vacation marketing company Ellis Exclusive Villas.  This agreement with Master Cancel will give your guests flexible cancellation protection when they book through Ellis Exclusive Villas.

It’s an important step forward to help you protect your rental income.

What does the cover include?

The Master Cancel agreement reimburses property managers for cancellations made for any reason (barring war or terrorism), provided the cancellation is requested between 60 and 2 days before the check-in date.

A deduction is made for 10% of the value of the booking – unless the property rebooks, in which case, there is no deductible.

This means we are able to pass on to you, our homeowners, either 90 percent or 100 percent of the full value of the booking – so you aren’t out of pocket when a guest cancels.

Essentially, the scheme is designed to reassure guests that there is no reason to delay or put off their booking, as they won’t lose out financially – whatever happens.  In this way, we hope that – with this added guest reassurance – we can boost occupancy rates as well as help by protecting your rental income.

How does it work?

There is a five percent surcharge for all bookings covered by the Master Cancel agreement.

To qualify, the booking must meet certain criteria:

We appreciate that you may be taking direct bookings from friends and family but, in order to qualify for the scheme, each booking does need to be made through Ellis Exclusive Villas.

Deciding whether to put family bookings through the scheme

Ellis Exclusive Villas charges merchant account fees of between three to eight percent of the cost of the payment (depending on the payment card used) and this will need to be added to the cost of your family or friends’ holiday in addition to the five percent Master Cancel charge.

This means, in total, your friends and family will be paying a premium of between eight and thirteen percent on the cost of the booking.  This is something you will need to discuss together to decide whether the additional peace of mind is worth this extra fee.

It’s totally up to you, of course.

What about other bookings?

It’s important to note that bookings made through tour operators will not be covered by this scheme.  So if your home is booked out by James Villas, or any of the other tour operators we work with, and then that booking is cancelled, the compensation won’t be paid.

Only those bookings taken via Ellis Exclusive Villas with a 25 percent dollar deposit paid at the time of booking will be covered.  The main idea is that, together, we’ll be able to drive more bookings for your home through the Ellis Exclusive Villas site.  Ultimately, this should help to boost your occupancy rates through these difficult times.

For more information about the scheme, or to talk about extending the cover to bookings you are taking directly, please reach out to our team.

As always, we value your thoughts and feedback.

HEAD OVER TO THE ELLIS EXCLUSIVE VILLAS WEBSITE TO MAKE A BOOKING

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