Vacation Rental FAQ
Check out policies should be part of the instructions you were provided. Cleaning standards vary depending on the host, it is important to know how much the owners expect you to clean up prior to your check-out. At minimum, the rental should be always be left tidy.
When you are ready to leave, the owner of the property or their representative of the property should check you out of the property, and assuming no damage was left behind, will refund your security deposit, on the spot or within a couple of weeks.
It is in your best interest and the host’s interest to fix and alleviate any problems immediately. Contact information for the owner or their local representative should be included in instructions and posted in the rental. The person you have been directed to contact will be your best resource to quickly resolve any issues you may come across during your vacation.
Within the listing, rental agreement or lease you can expect to find terms to check-in and checkout times, maximum occupancy, pet policies, cancellation conditions, and maintenance of the rental.
The cancellation policy associated with your specific host should clearly communicate penalties associated with canceling your contract. Some host charge no cancellation fee if its cancelled within a reasonable amount of time before arrival. Others charge 10%-50% of booking costs. Note that cancellations due to weather conditions are not usually permitted unless specified in the rental agreement.
Some owners send you a key in advance, some hosts actually live on site and will meet you, some arrange for their representative to meet you at the property, while some will have passcode locks and just send you a pin through email. Make sure you are given details of some one you can contact if something goes wrong. If for any reason you are delayed, it is courteous to always inform the owner.
If you’re searching for the perfect vacation rental, look no further! LodgeSmarter offers the best place for travelers and homeowners to connect to book up homeowners idle days and last minute cancellations. Our website features privately owned vacation rentals throughout Ontario, Quebec, Michigan and Florida. We offer a variety of options to help refine your search to find the special vacation rental that meets all of your relaxation needs.
Here’s how to get started!
1. Go to www.lodgesmarter.com and use the location links to find your region of interest.
2. Choose from several options on the left side of the Search Results page to find properties with specific rates or amenities, such pet friendly.
3. Once you find a rental that interests you, click the thumbnail photo for more details.
4. Simply click the “book now” button or reach out to the host and inquire about the listing to find out more info.
Once you contact the host directly via inquiry or private messaging through the LodgeSmarter platform, you should hear back from them shortly. As always, we highly recommend that you speak to the owner or property manager before sending payment for a booking.
Once you send payment LodgeSmarter holds that money until 24 hours after guest check-in. This insures the guest is happy with the vacation home upon arrival and that its the same property as advertised. 24 hours after guest check-in we release the money to the host.
Vacation rental “home” refers to traditional vacation rentals such as houses, condos, cottages, cabins and villas. However, more creative properties have been being used as vacation rentals in recent years such as barns, boats, bungalows, castles, chalets, chateaux, estates, mansions, yachts, yurts and many other structures travelers may want to rent on vacation.
It’s simple — you can rent a whole house for less than the cost of a hotel. Aside from the affordability, vacation rentals come complete with additional space and amenities such as fully-equipped kitchens, so friends and families can relax and have a more memorable vacation experience while feeling like a local.
Over the years, LodgeSmarter co-founder Michael Citron rented a variety of ski and beach homes, enjoying the space, availability of having his own kitchen and flexibility to invite others on vacation. However, he found that finding and booking a property at a reasonable price online in the highly-fragmented vacation rental industry was far more complicated than booking a hotel. Michael got to talking to vacation rental owners and found that a lot of them had trouble filling their occupancy rates. It was from this knowledge he realized the opportunity to transform the vacation rental industry and build the world’s leading marketplace platform that solely focuses on last minute online vacation rental booking. LodgeSmarter was founded by Michael Citron, Duane Hasse and Bryan Arbour in May 2016.
LodgeSmarter, based in Windsor, Ontario. We help owners and property managers offer an extensive selection of vacation homes that provide travelers with memorable experiences and benefits, including more room to relax and added privacy, all at a discounted rate. The company’s main objective is to make it easy for vacation rental owners and property managers to advertise their properties and manage bookings that are coming up within a 4 week time frame online ultimately increasing their occupancy rates.
Our guests are charged a 5%-12% service fee depending on the number of days booked. If one day is booked guests are charged a 12% service fee. If seven days are booked guests are charged a 5% service fee.
LodgeSmarter charges hosts a 3% service fee when their property gets booked through the LodgeSmarter platform.
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