How to Make Your Vacation Rental Stand Out in Palm Springs

Palm Springs is one of California’s most popular vacation spots that embodies the perfect balance of outdoor recreation and a luxury lifestyle. Tourism is Palm Springs’ leading industry, attracting over 14 million visitors annually—and nearly half stay overnight in Greater Palm Springs. The City of Palm Springs estimates approximately 600,000 visitors choose to stay in non-hotel accommodation in Palm Springs each year, so in our eyes, that’s 600,000 potential guests! 

Palm Springs is recognized as one of the most successful and profitable destinations to invest in short-term rentals in the United States. The demand and occupancy are high—but so is the competition. There are over 4,000 active short-term rentals in Palm Springs that are currently promoting and marketing to the same audience as you. 

Here are some great tips to transform your home from ordinary to extraordinary, so you can make your vacation rental stand out in Palm Springs.  

Choose a Convenient Location

Location, location, location is a common mantra but plays a significant role in having a successful and standout vacation rental in Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. Choose to invest in a property located in a desirable neighborhood, close to popular attractions, shopping, restaurants, and outdoor activities and festivals that draw visitors year-round to Palm Springs.

The right home in the right location will automatically attract a consistent flow of guests. If you’re in the early stages of the purchase, get all the up-to-date information on buying an investment property in Palm Springs in Savvy VRM’s Guide to Buying a Vacation Rental Property. 

Choose High-Quality, Functional Furnishings

Whether investing in an affordable condo unit or converting your luxury family home into a lucrative Airbnb, interior design is key to ensuring your rental home stands out from the crowd and attracts high-quality guests. Be intentional with your home décor, balancing your taste with functional, good-quality furnishings built to withstand a high turnover of guests.

Define your style, and then design and decorate the home with your guests’ vacation in mind, keeping it minimalistic, clutter-free, and easy to clean for quick and stress-free turnovers. Consider comfort, convenience, and capacity. If the rental sleeps eight guests, the home should comfortably accommodate eight people in the living area, dining area, and bedrooms. 

The work from anywhere model means a dedicated workspace is essential for both business travelers and families who are blending work with leisure. If your rental caters to larger groups, flexible sleeping arrangements with the option of a twin or king are a bonus when promoting your home. 

Be Generous with Essentials

We’ll start with the kitchen—the main reason travelers choose a vacation home over a traditional hotel. High-end appliances are essential, but you should go above and beyond with kitchen essentials to ensure a hassle-free getaway. Include cookware and bakeware, complete cutlery sets, glassware and dinnerware, and the basics like spices, tea, and coffee. Be generous with luxury extras like juicers, coffee tables, or perhaps a classic mid-century cocktail cabinet!

Turn each bedroom into a sleep sanctuary with a high-quality mattress, luxury linens, homey creature comforts, and aromatic bathroom essentials. Provide plenty of bath towels, extra linens and blankets, fluffy robes and slippers, hairdryers, straighteners, curling irons, garment steamers, and more! Every item that makes your guests feel at home makes your vacation rental property stand out. Be generous!

Dazzle Your Guests with Amenities

Now it’s time to go the extra mile and add unique amenities guests love to set themselves apart from the competition and add value to their trip. While the amenities depend highly on your property type and your budget, the goal is to enhance the guest experience with lifestyle amenities beyond their expectations.

Every amenity you invest in adds value to the experience and the rental property, increasing the ADR (average daily rate) and maximizing your rental profits. First, consider your target guests. Are you catering to families of a wide range of ages, groups of golfers, corporate or business travelers, honeymooners on a romantic retreat, or all the above? Now, decide what added vacation amenities would enhance every experience.

Generally speaking, the best features to attract guests include smart home appliances, home theaters, streaming music systems, fun game rooms, keyless entry for hands-free access, and, of course, a hot tub!

Create a Private Palm Springs Backyard Oasis

Palm Springs is California’s quintessential outdoor destination, and many guests visit Palm Springs to experience the laid-back Palm Springs lifestyle. Creating enticing outdoor living spaces for guests to relax, unwind, and soak up the sunshine is essential for vacation homes in Palm Springs!

If your home features a sparkling pool and hot tub, this will be a huge selling point for bookings. You can also accentuate the swimming pool by creating a resort-style backyard with yard games, sun loungers, umbrellas, hammocks, rocking chairs, ambient night lighting, a fire pit, and dedicated space for alfresco dining.

If space permits, outdoor kitchens are one of the most sought-after outdoor amenities for 2022, taking your rental to the next level of Palm Springs luxury.

Prepare to Market Your Palm Springs Rental Property

Once the home is rental-ready, it’s time to market your Palm Springs rental. One of the best investments you can make when marketing your house is hiring a professional photographer with real estate experience. Yes, it can be costly, but the return on investment in professional photography is high—you’ll be able to rent your house in no time!

First impressions count, and with thousands of vacation rentals in Palm Springs, professional property images with good lighting (and a killer hero image!) will make your house eye-catching to vacationers. Use your pictures to highlight the ambiance of the entire home—where they’ll eat, sleep, and play on their vacation to Palm Springs.

Create a captivating property description that entices high-quality guests, highlights the unique selling points of your home, and answers all their questions about the property’s location, amenities, and features upfront. A well-curated description is a perfect place to set the tone for the entire experience that sets your rental apart.

Be a Savvy Owner

The Palm Springs vacation rental market is lucrative, but it’s also demanding. Even managing one rental requires a lot of work. Aside from the day-to-day operations of marketing and managing the home, responding promptly to new inquiries, communicating with guests, cleaning and maintenance, and quickly turning over houses, there’s the complexity of staying on trend and up to date with Palm Springs Airbnb Rules for short-term vacation rentals.

Be a savvy owner and make your home stand out with Savvy Vacation Rental Management, the most trusted vacation home rental agency in the Coachella Valley. Savvy’s full-service property management solutions take care of everything for you. When we say we “take care of everything,” we mean everything. All you do is pay the mortgage and keep the lights on, and our services take care of the rest.

Being a savvy owner means working smart, not hard! Call our team at (760) 227-5377 or schedule a meeting with a Savvy representative today!