3 vacation rental luggage storage solutions

Here’s an Airbnb or any vacation rental luggage storage situation many travelers will relate to:

1. Arrival is at 8am, check-in time is 3pm
2. Or the other way around: check-out at 10am, with a flight / train around 5pm

Vacation rental guests are enjoying the comfort of homes, local neighborhood exploration and contactless interactions. However when it comes to specific situations like luggage storage, many short-term rental operators might ‘lose points’ against hotel amenities. 

The luggage storage problem

Most short-term rental property managers and companies don’t have space for storing items, like hotels do. Most of the inventory are individual homes that are not meant to have these amenities. This is why operators are oftentimes not able to fulfill guest requests for luggage storage solutions. 

This can cause disappointment and reflect on the entire guest’s satisfaction with the stay. Travelers, especially in expensive tourist destinations, like Paris, want to go out and explore hands-free right on arrival. 

Why vacation rental operators should offer luggage storage solutions to guests

To create a remarkable experience, hospitality operators want to be the local experience curators and go-to experts for their customers. Here’s 5 reasons why you should give a thought to the options you can offer to your guests when they ask where they can store their luggage.

1. Meeting guest expectations

Thanks to the growing popularity of short-term rentals, many travelers are switching from hotels to home-away-from-home options. They book vacation rentals expecting the same level of service as they had in hotels. The big task of the entire STR industry is to leave up to these expectations and keep the guests within the space. 

When guests ask to store their luggage before or after stay, like they would do in a hotel, you want to say yes. Due to the specifics of short-term rentals doing it the same way hotels store luggage is rarely possible. However, offering a solution for ‘the luggage problem’, even at price, will be more helpful than just saying no. It will help create this hotel-like experience, the new guests are looking in vacation rentals.

2. Less requests to deal with

Let’s look at the operational side of things. As we know, the ‘luggage problem’ is pretty common for travelers, and guests will always look for solutions. They will ask about luggage storage options even if they know it’s unlikely. 

What if you could prevent these requests by providing luggage storage options even before people ask for it? Including available solutions into digital guidebooks or other info lists provided to guests, you could avoid luggage-related questions. [As many other questions too].

3. Upsell opportunity

When offering paid solutions you can earn money from affiliate programs of partnership agreements. People are willing to pay a premium for convenience and you can get a cut. 

Another upsell opportunity can be offering an extra convenience with early check-in or late checkout offer. Guests might appreciate the opportunity to not only store luggage but use a shower or rest in the property for another couple of hours.

4. A way to stand out from competition

When it comes to choosing an accommodation, people compare many details. The more ‘points’ you have against competition, the higher is the possibility to ‘win’ these bookings. Having luggage storage solutions available in your listing can be that one advantage over other similar competing listings.

5. Elevated guest experience

Would you agree that rejecting a request does not create a great experience for guests? Even though you have all the reasons to say no, your guests might be disappointed because they didn’t get a solution.

If you do provide luggage storage options, even as add-ons, this will be perceived as helpful service. Which trickles down to higher guest satisfaction, positive reviews, loyalty, word of mouth and returning guests. This is the goal of every hospitality business.

What are the vacation rental luggage storage solutions you can offer to your guests

Here’s the list of our favorites: 

1. Your in-house upsells: late checkout and early check-in

This might seem like an upsell overkill, but provide your guests an option and let them decide whether it works for them. Many people are ready to pay more for the convenience of having the property available for another couple of hours. 

In slower times it can be worthwhile to even offer a discount on those add-ons, to have happy guests and still earn additional income.

2. The luggage solution apps

There are many luggage solutions out there. We really like the unique concept of luggage delivery that the team in Alfred offers to travelers. 

Meet Alfred, the luggage delivery and storage app. They can become the travel companion of the first and last day of your guests in town. The Alfred team aims to help anyone coming to Paris to enjoy their trip from the first to the very last minute.

3. Including available storage solutions in your digital guidebooks

There are many options to store luggage in every city with high traffic of visitors.

You can be this local expert by doing the research for your guests. Of course they can always Google “luggage storage near me”, however you are the one who really knows what’s around. What options are the cheapest, most convenient, and are open early/late, etc.   

Lockers at transit stations, luggage store services, cloakrooms of museums, etc. Build a helpful up-to-date list of options in your digital guidebook.

Have we convinced you to provide luggage storage solutions for your guests? We hope so.