South Devonshire Holidays Services
Fully Managed Services
We look at your property as a business intended to bring profit.
The good initial set-up of a holiday let bodes well for the future
of your holiday let. The following needs to be considered early
on:
- How will your property be marketed/advertised?
- Who are the potential customers (e.g. family of 4)?
- How will they find you?
- How much is it to stay with you?
- Are you pet and child friendly?
- How can they book?
- Do you take credit/debit cards?
- Who can clean and maintain your property?
- Who can respond to emergencies at the property?
Consultancy Services
A holiday home is a wonderful lifestyle investment to help you make more family memories. But what about when you’re not using it? You want it to earn you some money. Is letting through the resort, by yourself or a local agent, doing that for you?
A great way to maximise your lifestyle investment is to earn money back during periods when you aren’t using your holiday home; we’ll even help you along the way with our subletting service.
Resorts often charge a high commission rate and have to look to sell a large number of properties. Therefore, it is impossible that they can market your particular lodge in its entirety, with guests, when booking, being placed in a property of a similar grading.
Here at South Devonshire Holidays, we have years worth of experience in providing holidays and helping guests to make memories, so you are in great hands if you wish to sublet your holiday home, either by yourselves or via our managed services.
Subletting is one option to help you cover.
For more information Download the document or visit the Consultancy Services page.
Private Sublet
Set-up Services
The management of South Devonshire Holidays have
been managing private subletting since 2018 and have
learnt, often the hard way, their way around the holiday
subletting market.
The things to think about when privately subletting are;
The things to think about when privately subletting are;
- Are you allowed to sublet to holidaymakers in your deeds/mortgage terms? Some mortgage lenders do not permit short term lets,
- Do you need a private sublet licence (if within a holiday resort)?
- The need for public liability insurance in case a guest injures themselves.
- There must be smoke alarms fitted in the property and if you have any solid-fuel appliances, fit a CO detector.
Web Site Creation & Hosting
Having your own website helps establish trust, credibility and shows a much higher degree of professionalism. This reassures guests that you are serious about your rental, and their travel experience with you will be first-class. A well designed and informative site makes a great first impression, and guests will be more inclined to book with you.
Let’s face it, the most popular rental listings sites are crowded and competitive. A website allows you to showcase the unique
features and benefits of your holiday home as well as what the
local area has to offer. Plus, most travellers who contact you via
a booking portal will now expect to see a personal website. So a
listing on Facebook will no longer surface as the only place to
showcase your property.
One day you might even be able to transition away from paid
listing sites such as Airbnb if your own website generates the
bulk of your bookings.
If you’re wholly reliant upon adverts, then you’ll be far more
likely to be forced into competing on price. For more information Download the document or visit the Web Site Creation & Hosting page.
Booking System
South Devonshire Holidays is an established holiday rental
property management company. As such, we have negotiated
very low fees with online payment merchants for taking online
credit and debit card payments. If your guests chose to pay via
credit/debit card, you would be charged only 1% of the
transaction fee (pass-through cost), which is highly competitive.
Credit Cards Offer Increased Security
We all know that credit and debit card payments are much more secure than bank transfers. In addition, guests paying by card receive additional protection from their banks and/or card providers. Following the recent pandemic, holidaymakers have become more aware of the risks associated with booking holidays privately. Some holiday homeowners refused refunds for holidays cancelled due to the government lockdown, which was widely published in the press. As a result, many holidaymakers now look for accommodation accepting debit or credit card payments. For more information Download the document or visit the Web Site Creation & Hosting page.
Credit Cards Offer Increased Security
We all know that credit and debit card payments are much more secure than bank transfers. In addition, guests paying by card receive additional protection from their banks and/or card providers. Following the recent pandemic, holidaymakers have become more aware of the risks associated with booking holidays privately. Some holiday homeowners refused refunds for holidays cancelled due to the government lockdown, which was widely published in the press. As a result, many holidaymakers now look for accommodation accepting debit or credit card payments. For more information Download the document or visit the Web Site Creation & Hosting page.
Social Media
Management
SOCIAL MEDIA IS THE KEY TO YOUR SUCCESS
Research by Social Media Today reveals that people can spend up to 30% of their time online browsing social media, and most of that is on mobile devices – 60%. What’s more, 34% of millennials (aged 26-40) have booked a holiday or break because of specific content they’ve seen on social media. When it comes to deciding what to actually book, 49% of leisure travellers in the UK (aged 18-34) rely on Facebook and its associated apps (Instagram, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp) for inspiration before making their decision. For holiday rental owners, taking advantage of the power of social media can significantly boost your online presence and allow you to tap into potential guests at key points in their buying journey. When it comes to promoting your holiday property online, there are many different social media channels to choose from. While they all follow the same For more information Download the document or visit the Web Site Creation & Hosting page.
Photographic and
Videography Services
Remember, photos and short videos sell a holiday let, so
your photos need to be of the very top-quality. Dress the
property to impress. Imagine you are trying to sell the
place, so stage it to suit your ideal guest.
Beds should be made up with attractive linens, the
dining table set up for a dinner party. Place a bottle of
wine and two glasses in the kitchen, add flowers to vases,
etc.
Choose a nice sunny day to take photos, so the property
is presented in the most flattering way. If you want to
emphasise any special features, such as a log burner or
open fire, take photos at the most appropriate time (i.e.
in the evening when the fire looks cosy and inviting).
The photos are one of the most important ways to attract
visitors to your holiday let, and it will be an investment
that you will greatly appreciate when the bookings come
rolling in.
Sometimes words and pictures aren’t enough to
communicate to potential guests exactly what’s on offer
when staying at your holiday rental.
Within your holiday rental website, you should definitely
consider using video and photos to show your
accommodation to its full potential.
Video marketing works best when there is a visual
element involved, and not all businesses make good use
of it, but it’s perfectly suited to holiday rentals. For more information Download the document or visit the Web Site Creation & Hosting page
Cleaning and
Maintenance Services
When undertaking the Private Sub-Letting, the Directors
of South Devonshire Holidays couldn’t begin to
understand the mammoth undertaking that was in front
of them.
Both Directors were not local to their property, and as
such, they had to rely heavily on the partnerships they
had to build up within the area.
One of the main issues that were a concern was the
quality of the cleaning. In the beginning, they had guests
complaining about different hygiene issues that faced
them when they arrived, with the cleaners refusing to
come back out and rectify – meaning the owners were
stuck and often out of pocket compensating their team’s
shortfalls.
As the years progressed, South Devonshire holidays have
used numerous tradespeople for upkeep, extending, and
refreshing due to wear and tear.
We are pleased to have several people across different
trades within our preferred supplier’s list.
These people have been personally tried and tested and
have met and often exceeded expectations. These raised
from cleaners to plumbers, electricians to pest control
we have it covered.
If there is a trade or a project you need to, let us know,
and we can recommend the right person for your needs.
We have been doing this for a number of years, with high
praise given to those we recommended. For more information Download the document or visit the Web Site Creation & Hosting page