If you haven’t stayed in a short-term rental type of home, you have probably at least heard of them. The term Short Term Rental (STR) applies to all properties provide hotel-like accommodations. Some partner with VRBO, and/or Airbnb, or may even establish themselves as a Bed and Breakfast for better positioning in the marketplace and according to local laws and regulations. The industry has been around for years; however, the pandemic drove a huge increase in demand for smaller, lower risk accommodations for families and individuals. Everyone is obsessed with short term rentals….and so are we!
Loudoun County VA and surrounding areas has a large number of STR’s best suited for both private stays and event rentals. The proximity to wineries, breweries and rural settings have only added to the appeal. As more investors enter into this very profitable venture, there’s one very important aspect that correlates with the world of real estate. Excellent photos, great styling and thoughtfully appointed touches throughout set your STR apart from the competition. This is the key to establishing a loyal following with outstanding reviews.
The combining of Real Estate, through our very successful staging business, and hospitality world is a bit of a dream come true for our owner, Leigh Newport. Her 15 years with Marriott International unite the customer focused details such as comfort and usability along with creating compelling visuals through the targeted marketing that is staging.
One of our favorite projects of 2021 was working with the owners of Otium Cellars in Purcellville, VA to renovate and convert a home on the property to a vacation rental. This property was ideal to market to multiple families, weddings and large-scale events.
The property, named Grüner Bungalow, boasted 2 kitchens, 2 casual dining spaces, formal dining room, sunroom, 3 car garage converted into an entertaining area, living room, three additional seating areas, an office, 8 bedrooms, and 7 bathrooms.
For this project, we began with a Short-Term Rental Property Consultation which provided suggestions for usage of the spaces, paint colors for the entire home and lighting suggestions for each room.
We then created a proposal for providing not only all the furniture, artwork, and accessories, but a turnkey set up that included all of the following as well as established pars for the property for easy re-ordering and maintenance.
-all linens, towels and soft goods for bedrooms and bathrooms, including bathroom amenities, and professionally laundering prior to installation
-kitchen setup: dishes, silverware, cooking appliances, cookware, convenience items, all pre-washed and installed
-kitchen amenities: coffee, tea, oil, sugar, salt and pepper, etc.
-cleaning items for kitchens, bathrooms and laundry and facility
-safety items such as fire extinguishers, carbon monoxide detectors
-Thoughtful touches such as games in the game room, marshmallow roasting sticks for the fire pit, and local magazines for reading material
The entire project was a wonderful experience, even though the scale of it was massive. Most properties don’t involve such a high quantity of items to be received and stored, however, we have the space, and the trained staff to manage an undertaking of this size. Shout out to our Operations Manager, Wendy, for managing all those Amazon boxes that flooded the warehouse!
The installation itself was slated to take place over the course of three days, but we are pleased to say that we accomplished this in two days!
How did we get it done? The installation took two 26-foot trucks, 5 movers and 7 staff members for two days straight to complete. It required a tremendous amount of organization, planning and long hours to make it happen. With 8 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms, making sure everything went to the right location was the first step. We drew upon Leigh’s past experience opening two Marriott hotels and ensured that each room had a number, description and checklist of items with pictures provided for efficiency. Due to their size, we even built a few items on-site, such as the bunk beds and ping pong table.
Then came the steaming, ironing and fine tuning of 8 bedrooms and 9 living areas. All the small things that we are used to doing in staging, such as protecting floors with felt feet on all furniture, adding light bulbs to lamps, only MULTIPLIED BY 10. Taking it a step further, we ensured both pantries and kitchens were well organized and had all paper products, cleaning supplies and bathroom amenities in place.
Once the rooms were set up, we verified that the owners had an easy system to follow for the re-order of items and organized the set up for storing multiple sets of bedding, linens and towels, etc.
The level of detail needed to successfully establish a Short-Term Rental can be intimidating. If you are overwhelmed with the idea of setting up and furnishing your Short-Term rental, our team of experts are here to help ensure you create a memorable home away from home for your clients to return to year after year. We have many options depending upon whether this is a first time set up, a “refresh” of an existing space, or simply a consultation to determine what are the most cost-effective renovation solutions for the home.
Don’t let your concerns about your massive “to do” list or supply chain issues overwhelm you. We are here to help make the process manageable. Let us do the heavy lifting-literally!
We offer the following services to help you either establish or “refresh” your STR.
· Short Term Rental Property Consultation (for new or existing STR’s)
· Proposal for Property Styling Including Furniture Purchase
· “Refresh” of existing rental to replace worn or dated spaces
· Turnkey set up (with or without furniture) for soft goods and amenities
To book your consultation or free quote, just visit our website for further information.
Let us shine a spotlight on your home!