Minimising Guest Contact Over Christmas: A Holiday Home Manager’s Guide

With high occupancy and guests eager to enjoy their break, it also brings a challenge: how do you maintain great service while reducing unnecessary contact, especially over Christmas and New Year?

Here’s a practical guide from Retreats Tasmania to help you prepare your properties, streamline communication, and safeguard your well-being without compromising guest satisfaction.

Communicate Early and Clearly

A key part of holiday rental management is setting expectations before guests arrive. Provide comprehensive arrival details well ahead of check-in:

• Pre-arrival emails with check-in instructions, Wi-Fi login, house rules, and local tips reduces last-minute queries.
• Holiday-specific notes explaining your reduced availability help guests plan ahead. Don’t be afraid to set the boundaries.

Create a Detailed Guest Manual

A well-crafted home manual is one of the best tools to minimise calls and messages:

• Include instructions for appliances, heating/cooling, parking, rubbish collection, and local emergency numbers.
• Add troubleshooting tips (e.g. ‘if the Wi-Fi drops, try rebooting here’).

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Guests often message property managers for small operational questions - a robust manual significantly cuts these, not just over the holiday period, but for the whole year.

Set Expectations Around Availability‍

Christmas is not business as usual. Let your guests know in advance:

• Your holiday response hours
• When your office is closed
• Who covers emergencies in your absence, or what constitutes a reason to be contacted.

Use auto-reply emails that automatically direct guests to emergency contacts or support services. Preparing guests ahead of time reduces surprise frustrations when you delay replies (which are inevitable over the holidays).

Delegate & Outsource Before You Go

If you plan to take time off:

• Engage a local team member or trusted contractor to handle urgent guest issues.
• Arrange for a backup contact who can respond quickly on your behalf for emergencies.

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This doesn’t mean outsourcing everything - just ensuring that critical communication doesn’t fall on you while you’re offline.

A dedicated on-call solution, whether a staff member/trusted friend or via a service partner, is common practice for property managers to ensure guest needs are met without constant owner involvement.

Use Technology to Your Advantage

Modern property management platforms offer key features that help:

• Unified inboxes that consolidate guest messages across Airbnb, Booking.com, SMS, and email - reducing distractions from multiple apps.
• Automated messaging for routine information like check-in instructions or reminders
• Rule-based calendar settings that can block check-in/out on specific days (e.g., no arrivals on Christmas Eve) to ease turnover pressures.

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Technology lets you automate the repetitive, so you only engage on the unusual.

Empower Guests with Local Resources

Don’t underestimate the power of local guidance:

• Provide a list of nearby shops, medical facilities, pharmacies, and emergency services.
• Highlight community events or support options during public holidays.

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This not only enhances the guest experience but also means they know where to turn for non-property questions.

Final Thought‍

The goal isn’t to avoid guests - it’s to equip them with what they need and manage expectations around communication. With proactive messaging, smart automation, and a solid support plan in place, you can enjoy the festive season too - knowing guests are taken care of.

Holiday home management is all about striking balance between service excellence and sustainable workload - and the Christmas period is the perfect time to refine that balance.

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