Parties have been a steadily growing challenge for professional short-term rental operators. However, as colleges release students for spring break, the challenge is exacerbated with tens of thousands of young adults looking to blow off steam.
As COVID restrictions begin to loosen, there is massive pent-up demand for social interactions. Already there have been several high visibility media reports about students on spring break gathering in large numbers from Miami to Texas. Are you ready for spring break this year? Is your short term rental business prepared for an influx of college students looking for a good time?
Well managed operators have implemented a few simple tactics to reduce their risks. The blunt force approach (and the one that Airbnb has implemented with limited success), is to limit rentals to those over the age of 25 years old. Unlike the rental car business, this is, in practice, really hard to enforce. What’s more, by implementing a hard age limit restriction, operators are limiting their potential customer base! Most renters under the age of 25 are, in fact, responsible and are not looking to throw wild parties. How can you rent to the responsible customer while avoiding the less responsible ones?
With Party Squasher in place you can rent to this demographic with peace of mind knowing you are protected. A simple workflow might look like:
- Set clear occupancy limits in your marketing and in your user agreements – this will set expectations up front and clarify responsibilities.
- Make it clear that Party Squasher is installed on premises – this will discourage customers who simply want a party house and is a simple proven deterrent.
- Monitor the property and when occupancy thresholds are exceeded, warn the customer. If the party continues, cancel the reservation.
- Consider notifying the OTA and sharing the Party Squasher occupancy data with the OTA and local authorities.
Read the free Party Squasher ebook for more tips and tricks on how to protect your property from party disasters, or order a Party Squasher unit today with a six-month money-back satisfaction guarantee.
Credit: Photo by Cassie Gallegos on Unsplash
