Before you read on, just for fun, take 30 seconds and see how many of the Top 5 you can guess!
#5 - Show up late (but not later than you said you would be)
Well this one definitely needs explanation! In small businesses, quite often the receptionist, the cleaner, the bookkeeper, and the maintenance worker are all the same person. This means that there is a lot to do and the best time to get things done is in between check out and check in. No one would want you to alter your plans to do so but arriving later in the evening can be a wonderful relief for staff. The most important thing is to communicate about your expected arrival and provide updates if/when that changes. In a small establishment it's very possible that you are the only arrival that day and you don't want them to be waiting for you two hours after they expected you.
#4 - Be helped
People in hospitality are usually in it because they love to help. Therefore, don't be shy. If you need help, have a question, or if they offer you something, be free to ask for assistance or accept their offer. There's a very good chance that you are making them feel good by doing so.
#3 - Share, share, share, share!
As mentioned earlier, small businesses are often run by a few people who do a wide variety of tasks and unfortunately, marketing is most often something that hospitality operators struggle with. If you received remarkable service and an excellent experience, one of the best things you can do is to tell the world! How can you do this? Here are a few ways: 1) Copy and Paste Reviews: You have most likely written a review already but you can expand its reach. It only takes a few minutes to copy and paste your review to pages like Trip Advisor, Google, & Facebook. 2) Social Media: You probably already plan to post those amazing photos and reels that you captured during your travels. Tagging & mentioning the name of where you stayed is amazing! 3) Good ol' word of mouth. Just telling a friend where you were and if you recommend it really goes along way. 4) Emailing photos to the business is unbelievably helpful to assist a small business in content creation. You can even ask that they tag you which can result in more followers for you too. It's a win-win!
#2 - No need to clean :)
Leaving a room/suite/cabin tidy is amazing and is very much appreciated, however doing a thorough cleaning may not be as helpful as you'd think. Cleaning staff are required to clean and disinfect things regardless of how clean it looks so you can skip the cleaning and use that extra time to sleep in! Stripping beds or putting things away in incorrect places can in some cases actually create more work for cleaners. These however are secondary to what's most important; how you feel. I guarantee that any hotel/motel/bnb/vacation rental wants you to come back and if you feel like you have to scrub the place before you leave, you're less likely to return. So... take it easy. Leave the place tidy but no need to go the extra mile. You are on vacation after all :)
#1 - Tell staff that you are happy
This is certainly my best tip for being an epic guest. If you're staying at any accommodation provider that is worth staying at, the staff and owners have probably poured themselves into giving you a great experience. And now they wait and wonder, but you can do one simple thing to make them love you. Just send them a simple note after the first night. It doesn't have to be much, just something short like "We love being here. Thank you for your warm welcome" or "We're so happy that we chose to come here. We can see why you have good reviews". I promise you that this tiny act will mean the world to them. This will put their minds at ease knowing that they accomplished their goal which was just to please you.
Did these tips match what you were thinking? If not please share in the comments other tips that could be added to this list. We look forward to hearing your thoughts!