Latest / Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights / Your Airbnb Guests Are Leaving Bad Reviews Because of This

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Your Airbnb Guests Are Leaving Bad Reviews Because of This · Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights

• 0:00
  But I cannot say enough about how important the sleep
• 0:02
  experience is. You really need to think about
• 0:05
  what type of linens, what type of pillows are on the bed.
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  If people can't get a good night's sleep in your place, it
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  can ruin a stay. Why do you need to standardize
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  the guest experience? What type of mattress should be
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  in every short term rental and why is it imperative that you
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  stay at your property? Ashley Ching from In Haven is
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  the special guest on the Host Planet podcast, and she'll be
• 0:28
  answering all these questions and more on today's show.
• 0:36
  Ashley, thank you for joining us on the Host Planet Podcast.
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  Let's talk about standardizing the guest experience.
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  Why is this so important and how can you do it?
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  You know, I'm going to go on a bit of a history lesson here to
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  start. You know, the vacation rental
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  space or the short term rental space is very much in the same
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  position that the hotel space was in 30 to 40 years ago.
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  You would show up at hotel, there might be colorful
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  coverlets, lumpy mattresses. And so the guests had a lot of
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  challenges and knowing what they were walking into and what they
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  were paying for. And everything changed in the
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  1990s when Weston launched the heavenly bed.
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  When Weston launched A heavenly bed, they declared that good
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  sleep was no longer a luxury. It was a standard.
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  And the entire hotel industry followed suit.
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  And they started to really standardize the sleep
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  experience, the bath experience, that check in experience.
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  And what we've seen is that over the last 30-40 years that
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  branded hotels that have standards have grown
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  significantly and independents have basically stayed flat.
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  They haven't grown because guests want to know what they're
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  paying for and they want to trust that they're going to have
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  the type of experience that they paid for.
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  And so that's why they look for people that can guarantee a good
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  night's sleep, fully stocked bathroom, etcetera.
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  And so that is why standards are so important.
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  It's what's really helped the hotel industry scale.
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  And that's where we are here to help the vacation rental
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  industry. We do not want to create the
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  cookie cutter hotel experience that, you know, you, you, you go
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  to a Hyatt hotel, whether you're in Tokyo or Cincinnati, OH, and
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  you don't know where you are guest book vacation rentals
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  because they want that unique experience, but they do not want
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  uniqueness when it comes to sleeping, bathing and eating.
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  And that's where you can standardize and create a more
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  consistent guest experience. Next question then, how do you
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  go about doing it? How do you go about
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  standardizing your guest experience?
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  Yeah, so basically you look at the comfort of the stay.
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  So sleep, eating, bathing and cleaning and you think about,
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  OK, what type of experience do you want to offer?
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  Is this more of an economy experience or is this a luxury
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  experience? And so that will really dictate
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  what types of products you're buying what, how much depth,
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  inventory depth. So whether you know if your
• 2:55
  place sleeps for, do you have 4 dinner plates or do you have 8?
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  So they're not doing dishes anymore.
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  So we work with our professional property managers and our hosts
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  to help them determine what type of experience they're trying to
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  offer their guests. And then we look at, OK, each
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  area of the comfort of the state to determine how much they need
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  to invest in based on the type of experience they're trying to
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  deliver. So really it's starting with
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  those those basic areas and standardizing around those areas
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  based on what type of experience you're trying to deliver.
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  And what do you think the immediate benefits of
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  standardization are when it comes to reviews, operations,
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  revenue? The benefits are extremely
• 3:35
  immediate and they are really to all the key stakeholders.
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  So from the owner perspective, from your team and to the guest,
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  you know when you get to 1015 properties, you can no longer
• 3:46
  have different sheets in all the homes or different plates in all
• 3:49
  the homes. When something breaks or
• 3:51
  something needs to replace, your team is now spending so much
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  time trying to figure out how do I replenish it so that I don't
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  end up with a bunch of this mixed inventory that looks
• 3:59
  really unprofessional. And So what, what's 1 of the
• 4:02
  biggest surprises that I've had since starting in Haven is the
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  property managers, the, the hosts are actually benefiting
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  the most from this because now they can standardize those areas
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  of the homes and they're not, their teams aren't spending
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  hours running from store to store looking for that exact
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  item. They know what's going to be
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  replenished. The guest benefits from this
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  because suddenly if they come to your your home, they have a
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  great sleep experience, or if they go to another property
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  under your control, they can have a very consistent
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  experience when it comes to the comfort.
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  And then the homeowners know now if something breaks or something
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  needs to replace, this is what's going to be replaced.
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  There's this level of transparency that didn't exist
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  before that they've come to really appreciate.
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  OK, real talk now for all you hosts out there, you know that
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  moment when you guest messages you again with, hey, what's the
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  Wi-Fi code? Or you're staring at 5 different
• 4:52
  calendars wondering if you've accidentally double booked the
• 4:55
  cottage. Yes, we've all been there.
• 4:59
  That's why here at Hostplanet, we've recommend Housefully.
• 5:02
  It's basically your rentals Control Center.
• 5:05
  It handles bookings across all the big platforms, syncs your
• 5:08
  calendars to ensure there are no double bookings, automates guest
• 5:12
  messages, and even creates these really slick digital guidebooks
• 5:16
  that stop all the repeat questions.
• 5:18
  Honestly, it just makes your life easier and keeps your
• 5:22
  guests happier, helping you achieve those all important five
• 5:26
  star reviews. And here is a little bonus if
• 5:29
  you're a House Planet listener, you can get $500 off onboarding
• 5:33
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• 5:37
  digital guidebooks for life. Just hit the link in the show
• 5:41
  notes and use the codes Planet 500 for the PMS and House Planet
• 5:46
  GB for the guidebooks. And if you'd like a proper
• 5:49
  walkthrough, there's also a link to book a demo with Frank Bosey
• 5:53
  from House Philly. He will show you how it all
• 5:56
  works. Less stress, more bookings
• 5:59
  sorted with housefully. Let's get specific then.
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  I was talking to my mom last week who helps me run a couple
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  of rentals and we were talking about the beds and the mattress.
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  And there's a there's a kind of a budget hotel brand here in the
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  UK called the Premier Inn. The hotels are not that Gray.
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  The rooms are not amazing, but you know that the mattress is
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  actually going to be pretty comfortable.
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  Now, if you're running whatever level of short term rental, what
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  does that mattress need to be like?
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  Yes. So the mattress is very
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  important. And what's the great news is, is
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  that there are great mattress companies like Timber Sealy,
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  like Corsicana, which makes a lot of them, the Casper
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  mattresses out there that produce hospitality grade
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  mattresses. So you're going to want to look
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  for hospitality grade mattress. What's the difference between
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  what you buy at Mattress Firm or a retail store versus
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  hospitality grade is when you buy a mattress for your own
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  home, it's meant to sleep the same body in the same position.
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  And so what's great about hospitality mattresses is they
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  hold up over time to multiple shapes, multiple sizes.
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  There's just so much more durability.
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  You're not having to flip the mattress every couple of months.
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  And so definitely invest in a hospitality grade mattresses.
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  They last 10 years. They will not break down and
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  they will give that guest, regardless of their shape or
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  size, a great sleep experience, you know, night after night.
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  So that's the biggest piece of advice I have on mattresses.
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  Hospitality grade. Got to get the hospitality
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  grade. Let's move into the bathroom
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  then. So what items or product
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  selections make the biggest difference in elevating the
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  guest experience beyond just providing the towels and the pan
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  soap? Yeah.
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  So I really think it is really just providing the basics to go
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  back to that. There are so many vacation
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  rentals and this is the reason why I started in Haven as I have
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  4 young kids. And the worst experience is
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  going to a place that you've never been before.
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  You've no idea where the nearest grocery store is and you arrive
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  and there is no shampoo and no conditioner just to get you
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  through that first night. Even at the most budget hotels,
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  they have shampoo and conditioner.
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  And so it's making sure that you have at least enough product in
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  your bathrooms to get them through the first night so they
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  can get acquainted with this new location and find, you know, a
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  store where they can go and get the products that they want.
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  So I think having those items like shampoo, like body wash,
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  like hand soap is table steaks. And then it's making sure that
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  you have the towels and depending on the the type of
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  property you're offering, you know, whether you have one towel
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  per desk or two, how many hand towels you have, how many, how
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  many washcloths do you have? And so that's where we can
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  really come in and help to say, OK, this is the standard for an
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  economy level stay mid scale versus the luxury.
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  And you mentioned there that how many towels and exactly what
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  you're stocking, how important is it to have those very clear
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  standard operating procedures? Because I get the impression
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  that a lot of house and property managers out there, they're kind
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  of winging it a bit and they're not really that precise.
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  Super, super important, especially for your team.
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  You know, the standard in the industry is to have three sets
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  per bathroom. One that's in the bathroom, one
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  that's, you know, just maybe in the shelves, if, if, if guests
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  need extra sets, and then one that's in the laundry.
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  So especially when you're running at a very high occupancy
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  rate and you don't have time to do the laundry in the home
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  between stays, it gives you a little bit of breathing room to
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  know that you have at least two sets in the home ready to go and
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  then you've got your third that you can take off site and do the
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  laundry later. So those types of standard
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  operating procedures will really help differentiate you and
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  ensure that a guest has a five star experience every stay.
• 9:49
  Your short term rental business is evolving fast, but how do you
• 9:53
  keep up with the latest regulation, tax changes and
• 9:57
  industry trends? The answer is to attend the
• 10:00
  House Planet Roadshow, which is coming to a city near you in
• 10:03
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• 10:07
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• 10:11
  Accommodation Association, Price Labs and the women in short term
• 10:15
  rentals community. This is your essential
• 10:18
  opportunity for learning, networking and expert insight.
• 10:22
  Starting in Cornwall on the 5th of February, you'll spend a full
• 10:26
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• 10:29
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• 10:33
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• 10:37
  and London on the 23rd of April. That's the day after the Short
• 10:41
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• 10:44
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• 10:47
  So don't navigate the complex 2026 market alone, learn from
• 10:52
  the leaders driving the industry forward and shape the short term
• 10:56
  rental conversation in your market.
• 10:59
  Tickets are just £40 each and available now from our website.
• 11:04
  Head to Houseplanner dot Club for further details.
• 11:08
  If you're setting up the kitchen, what do you need to
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  make sure is in there from a basic point of view?
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  Because whenever I've stayed at one of my rentals, I always end
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  up buying something extra for the kitchen that maybe I thought
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  I'd had but I didn't have. And and also now I'm thinking as
• 11:22
  well, there's so much new tech out there.
• 11:24
  Do you need to have an air fryer in every single kitchen now?
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  Like where do you start if you're setting up a new rental?
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  Yeah, so let's just look at first, let's start with just
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  dinnerware. So again, you need your your
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  plates, your cups and your flatware.
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  I'd look again for hospitality grade and I wouldn't get too
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  creative, creative here. This is where I would go with
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  the more basic white Ware for dinnerware that you can find
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  that set year after year. You don't want to buy anything
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  seasonal because that's when you end up with a bunch of mixed
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  inventory. So, you know, going to places
• 11:52
  like in Haven, we can help you find those seasonal, those those
• 11:55
  non seasonal items that'll be available in 5-10 years.
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  So you're that you can keep that inventory looking consistent.
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  And then when it comes to stocking, you know, small
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  appliances, coffee is really important.
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  So making sure that you have some type of coffee machine in
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  your home and then you know, the basic toasters and blenders, the
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  air fryers kind of come in at the higher level homes, you
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  know, and it's really is, you know, where is your home
• 12:22
  located? Is it in a city where maybe
• 12:24
  people are eating out a lot more than eating in?
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  Or are you in the middle of a very remote location where
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  people are going to be eating in and just require more cookware
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  and bakeware for their stay? So really consider that location
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  when you're thinking about how to stock this day.
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  Makes a lot of sense when it comes to the cleaning process.
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  Then how does standardizing supplies and inventory improve
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  quality and consistency? Yeah.
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  So you really want to make sure that you're investing in, again,
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  in in commercial grade cleaning products, making sure that your
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  your places are clean. So it's really just, you know,
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  what products are your cleaners using?
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  I talked to a lot of hosts today that say, well, my cleaners
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  decide, and that's a bit of a risk, right?
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  What are they using in the home? You know, are they, are they
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  cleaning all the areas that you need them to be cleaning?
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  So making sure that cleaning you have processes in place and that
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  you're, you're vetting the materials and the supplies that
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  they're using and making sure that they're appropriate for the
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  type of stay you're trying to deliver.
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  So cleaning is really important. It's having that Direct Line of
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  communication with your cleaning teams.
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  So for a host that's listening right now and they want to start
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  immediately improving their guest comfort, what's the single
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  most important thing they should focus on?
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  They should first stay in their places, right?
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  You should stay during the low season, a night in your place.
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  Experience it like a guest. What are the mattresses feel
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  like? What is the what are the linens
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  feel like? Are things are your basic
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  cookware missing or not working? That's really important to stay
• 13:53
  in the place, but I cannot say enough about how important the
• 13:57
  sleep experience is. You really need to think about,
• 14:00
  you know, what type of linens, what type of pillows are on the
• 14:03
  bed. If people can't get a good
• 14:04
  night's sleep in your place, they can't enjoy all the, you
• 14:07
  know, amazing gathering areas you've created you they can't
• 14:09
  enjoy the, the, the, the town around them.
• 14:12
  It, it can ruin a stay. So really make sure that you're
• 14:15
  investing in your sleep experience.
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  Again, pillows, linens, mattresses.
• 14:21
  Those are really table stakes. We are selling sleep people make
• 14:25
  sure you get that mattress and, and everything else right.
• 14:29
  Ashley, just tell us a little bit then about inhaving.
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  And I was, I was looking at your LinkedIn as well.
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  It said that you spent 12 years working at Tiffany.
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  So how did you go from Tiffany to short term rentals industry?
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  Well, there was a stop at the Home Depot which really helped
• 14:45
  in between that. But you know at Tiffany I was
• 14:47
  responsible for their global merchandising operations.
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  So I went over and lived in Asia for five years running their
• 14:53
  Asian merchandising business. And what was really important is
• 14:56
  how do you create consistent brand standards.
• 14:58
  So a guest going from the Sydney, Australia location to
• 15:03
  Beijing to New York have a very similar product experience, but
• 15:08
  then localizing it based on the local needs.
• 15:10
  So in Asia, and that's where we introduce a lot of rose gold
• 15:13
  jewelry. That's, that's what's important
• 15:15
  to the Asia consumer there. So it's a balance between
• 15:18
  managing your, your overall brand standards, but while
• 15:21
  feeling locally relevant. And so that's what I learned at
• 15:24
  Tiffany and Company is really the, the importance of brand
• 15:26
  standards and localization. Then went on to Home Depot and
• 15:31
  ran merchandising for one of their home decor textile brands
• 15:34
  called The Company Store. And that's where I would travel
• 15:36
  the world and learn that every single manufacturer has 2 lines,
• 15:41
  one for our own homes and one for hotels and restaurants.
• 15:45
  And so that's, you know, as I mentioned earlier, I have all
• 15:49
  these young kids and when we travel, we stay in vacation
• 15:51
  rentals. And so my goal with in Haven was
• 15:54
  how do I bring that those, the hospitality, the commercial
• 15:57
  grade lines to the vacation rental space to bring more
• 16:02
  durable products to this space to create a better guest
• 16:06
  experience. And so that's, I guess, the
• 16:09
  throughput from Tiffany to Inhaven.
• 16:13
  I love it and tell us if people want to find out more about
• 16:15
  Inhaven, where should they go? Yeah.
• 16:17
  So they should definitely check out our website inhaven.com
• 16:20
  membership sign up is free. We do right now service the US
• 16:26
  and we really work with our with our property managers and hosts
• 16:28
  to help them create standards around the comfort of the stay.
• 16:31
  So the bed, bath, kitchen and cleaning.
• 16:32
  And then we have a bunch of inventory management and quoting
• 16:36
  tools available so that you can send owner quotes with your
• 16:39
  markups, really helping these these hosts turn home supplies
• 16:43
  from cost centers into revenue generators.
• 16:47
  Fantastic. Check it out and we'll put all
• 16:48
  those details in the show notes, Ashley.
• 16:50
  Then a few questions to finish your favorite brand in the STR
• 16:55
  industry and why, Apart from in Haven of course.
• 16:59
  Hands down about luxury rentals in Park City.
• 17:02
  I love the team, I love everything they do in creating
• 17:05
  just this incredible high touch guest experience.
• 17:09
  They do everything from concierge services to they have
• 17:14
  branded parchment paper and they offer their every guest these
• 17:18
  amazing croissants from a local, a local bakery for each arrival.
• 17:25
  So they just do, they've really thought through the entire guest
• 17:27
  experience from pre arrival to arrival to post.
• 17:30
  And so I think what they're doing is incredible.
• 17:32
  I love that I was again, I'm going to name drop my mum
• 17:35
  because mainly because we were having a conversation the other
• 17:37
  day about how we can manage the rentals better and we were
• 17:40
  thinking about, you know, we're in Yorkshire.
• 17:42
  What produce can we provide each season when for guest arrival to
• 17:47
  say, look, you know, you're in Yorkshire now, you know, is it
• 17:49
  going to be a cheese? Is it going to be a local honey?
• 17:51
  Is it going to be something like that?
• 17:52
  So yeah, I love the fact, you know, really being of your local
• 17:55
  region and and promoting the best of it.
• 17:57
  That's really fantastic. OK, then individual shout out
• 18:02
  time. Is there some somebody in the
• 18:03
  STR industry you'd like to give a shout out to and why?
• 18:06
  Katherine Radcliffe, who runs STR Benefits.
• 18:10
  She also runs her own property management company and she's a
• 18:13
  host herself. She has been just so helpful and
• 18:16
  within Haven and thinking through our benefits plans.
• 18:20
  She's a great person to have in your Rolodex, to be able to
• 18:23
  call, and she's just done a tremendous work in our industry
• 18:27
  from being a host herself to consulting on benefits, to
• 18:31
  running the first ever Canada STR conference, and she does a
• 18:36
  bunch of work in human trafficking as well.
• 18:38
  She's just an awesome person all around and I encourage everyone
• 18:41
  to get to know her. Great shout out for Catherine.
• 18:43
  Then a past guest on our podcast, Would You believe as
• 18:45
  well. So yeah, really good shout out
• 18:47
  there. Final question then, Ashley,
• 18:49
  your biggest lesson learned since setting up in Haven?
• 18:53
  Well, we just launched a case study, sorry, Pivot tier on
• 18:57
  hospitality management. And the case study was done
• 19:01
  after the fall of ICASA and another property management
• 19:04
  company on the hotel side called Ambridge Hospitality.
• 19:07
  And we spoke to dozens and dozens or actually hundreds of
• 19:11
  of executives in hospitality management across the
• 19:14
  restaurant, vacation rental and hotel space.
• 19:17
  And the biggest lesson that I lessons I've learned have really
• 19:20
  come out of that study and talking to these executives
• 19:22
  about what makes for successful property management and what can
• 19:26
  can drive to failures. And one of the biggest lessons
• 19:28
  that came out of this study was that in hospitality, there are
• 19:33
  not economies of scale, they're actually dis economies of scale.
• 19:37
  So as you get bigger and as you grow, it actually becomes more
• 19:40
  complex and harder to scale. And so it was a big finding that
• 19:44
  we had. You know, we looked at labor
• 19:47
  costs. As you get bigger, people expect
• 19:49
  higher salaries, better benefits.
• 19:51
  So it actually can lead to dis economies of scale.
• 19:55
  We looked at just the number of people that you need.
• 19:59
  As you get bigger, you just need more people and more management
• 20:01
  layers and. Why not?
• 20:02
  So that was really interesting and, and, and if anyone wants
• 20:06
  access to the study, it's it's again free.
• 20:09
  Just reach out to me at ashley@inhaven.com.
• 20:11
  There's it's 100 page study, but there's a nice 10 page executive
• 20:14
  summary in the front and just some great findings on how to
• 20:18
  how to create more sustainable, a more sustainable business when
• 20:21
  it comes to hospitality management.
• 20:23
  Sounds really valuable and we'll, we'll put a link to that
• 20:25
  in the show notes and include your e-mail address as well.
• 20:28
  Ashley, it's been a real pleasure.
• 20:29
  Thank you for talking to us about standardizing everything
• 20:32
  and for sharing the story of In Haven.
• 20:35
  Thanks, James. Great to chat to Ashley Ching
• 20:37
  there from in Haven. I hope you found that discussion
• 20:40
  useful. That's just about it for today's
• 20:42
  episode. Remember, this podcast is
• 20:44
  brought to you in collaboration with House Philly, which is
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  trusted by short term rental professionals across the globe.
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  As a House Planet listener, you get 2 exclusive offers, $500 off
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  Just use the code Planet 530% off digital guidebooks for life.
• 21:02
  Use the code House Planet GB To grab these deals, click the link
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  in the show notes or head to housefullie.com.
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  For more free education tips and trends from the STR industry,
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  visit Houseplanet dot Club where you can sign up for our
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• 21:22
  That's it for today's episode. Until next time, happy hosting.