Accessory dwelling units are separate tiny homes that you create on the same property lot as the main residence. Some of them share the wall with the owner's house, and some of them stand completely alone. Homeowners choose to build these multi-faceted structures for extra space, rental income, increasing property value, and housing guests.
If you're a fan of big companies or friends and the idea of accommodating relatives, pals from other cities, and neighbors for a few days or weeks seems appealing to you, a comfy guest house ADU with all amenities is what you need!
In this article, we will focus on creating a memorable experience for guests that makes them feel valued and leaves a great first impression!
The importance of a warm welcome is undeniable. When travelers arrive at the threshold of a destination ADU, the task for your family is to treat them to a homey environment and individual greetings to show how much you appreciate their presence.
There are a few ways to do that, including:
These are greeting letters or cards that you set on visible spots in the rooms. They may include the guest's names, personal lines (sentimental or funny, if your relationships are close), a little bit of information about upcoming events (like a grill party), and any other warm words you find appropriate.
As a sign of hospitality in both senses, this interior feature will definitely enhance their guest experiences. It will show them that you cared enough to prepare for their arrival. Also, it adds a flair of festiveness to the mood, as it's usually an element of parties.
But nothing shows your intentions better than practical actions. Therefore, food preparation appliances, made-up beds, and a clean pool with inflatable mattresses that are ready and waiting for consumers to use are another telling way to show appreciation.
Unlike hotels that have bigger resources to explore different decor options, you don't expect ADU owners to provide a full-fledged service. However, they can still do a couple of magic tricks with decor to impress guests and create memorable photos together.
If you can't afford to pay for sea-themed chandeliers, focus on smaller details. Search Pinterest or other website options that offer design ideas to glean unique ideas.
Here are a few appealing decor concepts that are easy to implement into your ADU design and that don't require full refurbishment:
To create a summer mood, set a vase with sunflowers on the table, arrange garden furniture and hammocks, and add garden lights all over your site for cozy summer evenings. If it's Halloween, carve evil pumpkins (or, better, offer to do it together), and put paper bats, artificial spiders, and cobwebs inside the ADU.
Create wow moments by surprising your guests with an insight into their culture if they have an interest in or ties to other countries of the world. An excellent example is Chinese lanterns and small decorative elephants or tableware and tablecloths in Italian flag colors.
Many hotels use this feature to create memorable guest experiences, so you can try it to some extent as well. From historical themes with royal fabrics and exquisite decorations to more modern themes fanned by an aura of chic "Great Gatsby" style ambiance, you will not leave your guests impartial.
Local recommendations for dining, entertainment, and activities
An irreplaceable component of memorable activities is gathering your guests' company and bringing them to local community sights. These can be literally architectural landmarks, cultural festivals and fairs, sports competitions and places to watch games, outdoor activities like hiking and fishing, or interior places like art galleries and movie theaters.
As for local diners, restaurants, and pubs, your guests are not locals, so they will be more interested in the cuisine that they haven't tried before. So if there's some weird dish that people in your community are specifically fond of, ask the diner employees to serve it.
Also, after a good meal, you can walk an extra mile through a picturesque park, around natural ponds and groves. Enjoying the environment and showing guests your favorite places in the community is not only helpful for newcomers who don't know the way to all these destination places but also gives off a sense of hospitality and care.
What constitutes a positive experience is different for every single person. The more you know about your temporary ADU dweller, the better and more memorable their guest experience will be.
First of all, you can rely on any information about your guest's hobbies. Thus, there are several things you can do with this knowledge:
Hotels and other institutions in the hospitality industry have long since realized that small details do the greatest job of finishing the picture of a satisfying customer experience. The reason for this is that they demonstrate that hotel employees keep clients in mind at every single moment.
If you're an ADU owner who rents it out for a short term or invites guests for the weekends, you can consider these small, kind gestures as well. They can include gifts, especially local-themed souvenirs. Simple, cheap snacks bought specially for your guest with the pure intention of leaving a warm memory of this journey will certainly make them feel good.
And if they're not just friends but customers, leave good reviews!
We can divide all activities for creating memorable guest experiences into two big categories: indoor and outdoor activities.
Indoor activities and games that you can play without leaving your comfy ADU include many party games. We can mention some of them below:
The choice of outdoor activities severely depends on the weather. For poor weather, we'll recommend going to the town's museum, an aquarium, a bowling alley, or a cafe, where there's a roof above your head.
If we assume the weather is good enough, a walk around the neighborhood area or through the park, amusement parks and fairs, open zoos, and kids' playgrounds all seem like good options.
The fact that feeling VIP increases customer satisfaction doesn't even require proof. Experiencing the moments when you are privy to something that the general public cannot easily obtain makes you feel special and appreciated.
But what exclusive events can you visit in your city or a small community? This can be anything unique to your area. For example, memorable experiences may include private tours in places where other tourists can't get them without special permission, invitations to rare events that take place only in your neighborhood, or services that local businesses provide to only those customers they know personally (like a passage to a limited-access club).
Creating a memorable guest experience is not actually something hard. Even if your neighborhood is well-known for the biggest pumpkin fair, it still counts as a unique experience!
In the context of ADU owners making their property a hospitality business, it makes sense to apply hospitality marketing strategies as well. You can increase customer loyalty by encouraging them to apply for your services again. This is achievable by luring them back with special discounts for devoted guests.
What might these perks and advantages be? They can encompass such offers as:
Your regular guests will certainly not remain indifferent to reduced prices. If you hesitate to lower the price because you'll get less, think about it this way: you lose a little money now, but you'll get a bigger reward in the future. Because they will return again and again and hopefully recommend such excellent customer service to their friends.
It's impossible to resist when someone offers a promising customer experience for free, even if it's a small gesture. Many hotels make their Wi-Fi free, but to highlight regular customers with special attention, you can offer a bit more. For instance, if they cooked their own food on a previous visit, you can offer them a free dinner every two days, free spirits, free tickets to an event, or something similar.
Increase service quality by providing access to sun beds, a Jacuzzi, the golf course, and entertainment devices like a projector or ADU home artificial intelligence that can turn on music. That is, of course, if you have such things at your disposal.
Any business, especially in the hospitality industry, is aware of the importance of feedback. The fact is that to improve customer satisfaction, you have to know the good and bad of their representative customer experience. Only this way can you analyze your customers' concerns and improve the service.
So, how do you collect this feedback? After their arrival at the destination place and during the whole time of their visit, you can just check on them and ask them leading questions. Or, the more popular option for many businesses is to leave a physical comment card or to ask them to leave reviews on the website.
To make the stay unforgettable, enrich the guest experience by anticipating your friend-guests or customers' needs and by offering them something unexpected!
Here are a few ideas on how to surprise them:
Be it a tube of sunblock if your ADU location is in the coastal area or a small chocolate bar after dinner, small gestures of care and courtesy make people happier.
To build stronger relationships, you might want to ask guests about their special needs or congratulate them on special dates. Thus, if there's a guest couple in your ADU, you can leave them a congratulatory card for Valentine's Day. Or give a customer a complimentary bottle of wine on their birthday.
Not every customer may want company, but you can offer to spend a memorable moment with them. Making a small excursion through the town and showing them hot spots to visit – all these actions demonstrate a conscientious attitude toward the customers.
A more conventional way to delight customers is to offer room service (food or drinks) or to invite them to an interesting local event where they can have fun and take memorable photos.
If you want to create a unique atmosphere that lures friends and customers back, adorn your ADU according to guest preferences and engage them in the community's fun activities that they will miss!
In terms of configuration and square footage, ADUs can be attached and detached, full-sized, or JADUs. The size of a junior ADU must not exceed 500 sq. ft. Actually, size doesn't matter much; people may want to book a small ADU as often as a big one. Moreover, smaller ones are also easier to clean.
The most suitable for guests' accommodation is a freestanding detached ADU because it provides a sufficient amount of privacy to guests. It also creates an experience that more closely resembles hotel service: an enclosed room with its own amenities.
Listing your ADU for short-term rentals can be very lucrative. First of all, it will usually cost more because, aside from the place to live, the homeowner also has to keep the place tidy and pay utility costs. By renting out your small ADU house to different guests each week, you can generally earn more than one month's rent.
Also, not every local place has good enough hotels, and hotels don't typically have small kitchens to prepare food. Comfort and practicality, coupled with a cozy small house appearance, promise a guest experience that customers will not overlook.
Besides housing guests during hot travel seasons, you can quickly refit your accessory dwelling unit for other purposes. For instance, you can use free space to create a resting zone for yourself and your family. Or take up a couple of rooms to practice your hobbies.
Finally, if you do remote work, getting away from noisy housemates will help you concentrate. And when the new travel season comes, you can clean up and adjust the place for guests again!
