How to Make Your Vacation Rental Workation-Friendly
Aside from learning how important it is to wash our hands and isolate ourselves when we’re sick, the pandemic also taught us we can be productive working remote.
Since March 2020, remote work has become more popular, a trend we can expect to continue. FlexJobs projects over a quarter of America’s workforce will work remote throughout 2021 and over a fifth of it will by 2025.
Americans love this because remote work doesn’t mean working from home, but rather, working from anywhere. Like your vacation rental!
This will lead to extended stays and more bookings year round, but only if your property has what guests need to enjoy a workation.
A good place to start is by making sure you have Modern Innkeeper's following suggestions.
Open Desk
Creating a workspace for guests does not mean sacrificing your rental’s beautiful interior.
Since open floor plans and being a minimalist are now in, the days of bulky desks with high shelves and wide cabinets are a thing of the past. The desk that will look best is one that is open, or airy.
An airy desk is one you can see through. Instead of doors covering the bottom shelves, it remains open and what’s behind it is visible.
An open desk doesn’t dominate the room, either. This is beneficial because if you have to put one in the living room or a bedroom, you do not have to worry about it looking out of place. It becomes more complementary.
The next workspace necessity is what makes the desk functional.
Charging Stations
At-home offices have become quite deluxe since March 2020. Some people work on multiple computers and operate several different devices simultaneously. This requires them to be near an outlet, but two plugins may not be enough!
Plugging in an adapter that has multiple plugins will centralize all of guests’ charging devices, and to really go above and beyond, provide them with portable chargers for their phones and tablets.
Not many hosts will think to do this, so make sure you let travelers know you did by, subtly, bragging about it on your property’s posting.
Guests can also bring them along if they elect to use the following item.
Lap Desks
Maybe guests will want to ditch the office chair and desk for a spot on your movie theater-style couch. In order for them to be comfortable and productive, or at least appear to be, they are going to need a lap desk.
That way, they will have a portable desk to take anywhere they want to work, including the most coveted workspace of them all (keep reading).
Outdoor Workspace
Sitting at a desk stuck inside and without any fresh air only amplifies work’s stressors, but they don’t seem as catastrophic when outside near a pretty garden! A sufficient outdoor workspace is one of remote work’s biggest benefits, but it is a luxury.
One your guests deserve.
Making certain your guests can solve the world’s problems outside starts with providing the right outdoor furniture, but that becomes obsolete if they cannot establish a strong enough connection for their Zoom calls. Set up a strong enough Wi-Fi network so at least some of your outdoor space is in its reach.
If necessary, get your place a Wi-Fi extender. The guest experience will be better for it, and after all, that is what you are all about, right?
Not every property can accommodate an outdoor workspace, but bringing in some natural elements is possible in any rental, thanks to the last item on this list.
Plants
Having plants inside your property improves its air quality and guests’ wellness, but they also enhance the work environment.
Exeter University in the U.K. reported indoor plants can boost concentration and productivity by 47 percent, so by having plants near your rental’s workspace, you will make your guests and their bosses happy.
What other host has ever accomplished that?
Below are some options:
- Spider Plant
- Snake Plant
- Peace Lily
- Succulents
- ZZ Plant
Your guests will have so many fun things to do during their stay, remaining focused on work may be difficult, but plants help them stay on task.
Balance Work and Fun
Remote work will increase how often guests are able to travel, but that doesn’t mean it will be all fun and games. Make sure your rental’s environment is conducive to productivity, and you’ll receive a lot more bookings.