Make Your Vacation Rental Process Efficient

What makes a great vacation rental property?

• Location
• Safety
• Clean accommodations
• Comfortable
• Spacious
• Lighting
• Appliances
• Beds

The list goes on.  You get the picture. It needs to be clean, safe, comfortable with all the amenities you have at home - the location, attractions, or a beautiful place to lay back and relax - something special.  After a day of exploring, enjoying what the area has to offer; you want to get back home, to refuel, relax take in some entertainment. A vacation rental property should be that place you look forward to getting back to — our safe space our comfort place.

In the vacation rental business, after you have the property all set-up the focus turns to get travelers to stay at your place.  How do you do that?  One way of doing this is by creating a website.  This will allow you to market your vacation rental property with the world.  Let everyone know how great it is, how much you enjoy the area, and how much you want to share it with everyone looking for a place to spend their vacation time. 

Now you need to build a website and include information about the rental property and all the location has to offer - transportation, restaurants, beaches, shopping, and tours to mention a few. Within the website organize the information in a way that is easy to maneuver and pleasing to the eye. We call this a people-friendly website.

So what are the two essential things required to get your guest booking your great rental described on your website?

Availability Calendar, travelers need to know at a glance when your property is available. We are in the information age, and a website without an availability calendar is failing. People like to see a phone number, an email, but those require them to take time out of their busy day to call. If you don't answer, things start to change, they may go "NEXT!" The same thing with an email address it's a great form of communication that requires time and effort. The availability calendar is the fastest most convenient way to get your availability to them. Now they know and start planning to get to your great rental. Now they need to communicate with you; so you need to make it easy. How do you accomplish this?

A Reservation Inquiry Form on your website is the second most valuable form of communication for all the same reasons your calendar is. The reservation inquiry form has all the information fields you need to communicate with the prospective client.  Set-up an email template so that you can copy and paste the information from the form, and adjust it for any questions or request they added in the comments field. Include rates, fees, dates, pertinent information needed for the rental and send it to the prospective client. This is the first step in setting up a booking.  Next, follow-up with a call and seal the deal! Now, what do you do with all this information? 

An availability calendar and reservation inquiry form are efficient ways for the potential guest to communicate with you.  This is where they give you information on arrival and departure dates, guest count – how many adults and children, email information, telephone numbers, any questions or concerns they may have, and the best time for you to call them.  This information will be needed for the reservation along with price, fees, cleaning day, task, payment tracking, reminders, reservation, confirmation directions, email, key code, Wi-Fi password, etc.

How should you organize this information and make it useful?

You need to put a management process in place to ensure things work as planned.  NO excel spreadsheet you create will work. I guess it could work, but is it efficient? Everyone else wants and demands efficiency, and so should you. Don't become a slave to your rental management process.

You start to get the picture of why an excel spreadsheet will not work efficiently.

Without spending a lot of money and time, what is the solution that is going to work for you?  How do you stay organize and have an efficient management process for your rental property?

Stay tuned for part two and three to find out the answer to all these questions.

I am not going to make you wait; that would be cruel and I am not that person.

Rentalbot.com is the solution. How to proceed...

Rentalbot.com offers you a FREE sixty-day trial subscription to try their solution.

You do not need a credit card for the FREE sixty-day trial or setup.

Once you have set-up your property; send rentalbot.com the property ID# assigned to your listing. Rentalbot will extend your sixty-day subscription for an additional thirty days. That means you have ninety days to kick the tires, take it on a speed run, and have fun creating a new and efficient way to manage your rental property.

Here is the URL link to the website’s sign-up; to get you started,.. Rentalbot.com

Next blog, we will cover all the reasons this online application is the best vacation property management system on the market to date 

As a preview; the number one reason is the price; ONLY *$79.00 a year!

That is value, a steal for all you get out of it; hurry back to learn WHY in the next blog, The Set-up!

Villas de Costa Mar

*Rentalbot reserves the right at any time to change its prices, terms, discounts and any other pricing provision for tools and services they provide.

#rentalbotFree Rentalbot Free Ninety Days Trial Subscription

Rentalbot.com Vacation Property Management Tools and Services has improved their back office support applications and moved their site to a more secure hosting service.

As part of their celebration, to increase their subscription community; they are continuing with their sixty days free trial period of their property management tools and services for new subscribership. Once you have joined and setup your account you can record and email them your property ID# and they will extend the subscription period for an additional thirty days; for a grand total of ninety free subscription services time.

They are also offering all existing members an additional ninety days subscription extension for every new subscription member they introduce to the tools and services subscription membership.

Villas de Costa Mar is a subscription member since 2005; we  use the rentalbot.com property management tools and services to successfully manage our two beachfront vacation rentals in Dorado, Puerto Rico.

To all Owner/Managers; head over to rentalbot.com/?villasdecostamar to get your free sixty/ninety days subscription trial of this great property management tools and services today!
No Credit Card information needed to signup for the sixty days free subscription trial! #vacationrentalsmanagement

We are offering everyone who uses our link to claim their ninety days free trial subscription service a 10% discount on any six or more nights rental for bookings until Nov. 30th 2020

Villas de Costa Mar
Your Family and You Deserve It!

El Yunque National Rain Forest

El Yunque

El Yunque is the only “Tropical” Rain Forest in the U.S. formerly known as the Luquillo National Forest. El Yunque, which may be attributed to either a Spanish approximation of the aboriginal Taíno word yu-ke which means "white lands", or the word "anvil," which is yunque in Spanish.
Location, Puerto Rico, Nearest city Río Grande

Coordinates: 18°19′00″N 65°47′00″W, Area 28,434 acres (115.07 km2) [1] , Established January 17, 1903

A visit to the El Yunque National Forest is a special experience. Only in El Yunque can you see the giant tree ferns and tropical birds such as the Puerto Rican Parrot. You can you enjoy vistas of both the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea on a clear day.

About 1,250,000 people visit the forest a year. About half of the visitors are Puerto Ricans, including many school children and family groups. The rest are visitors from all over the world.

Water Fall

Islanders typically visit the forest in the hot summer months of July and August when they take advantage of the cool river pools and shady picnic areas. Most of our off-island visitors come during the winter and early spring months. Many cruise ship passengers take advantage of their day in Puerto Rico to take a tour into the heart of the forest.

Our quiet times are mid-April through mid-June and September through October. But whatever time of the year you visit our scenic roadways, picnic areas, nature trails, and the El Portal Rain Forest Center, we will be open and ready for your enjoyment.

Great day trip, pack a lunch, wear sneakers and do bring the beach shoes if you want to go in the pools and water falls as the rocks are slippery.

For more information on what is happening, alerts, passes, permits, land, and resource management and learning center visit the USDA, El Yunque National Forest website.

El Toro Wilderness is a 10,000-acre (40.5 km2) National Wilderness Preservation System located partly within El Yunque National Forest (formerly the Caribbean National Forest) on the island of Puerto Rico. El Toro, named after the highest peak in the forest at 3,524 feet (1,074 m), is the only tropical wilderness in the United States National Forest System.[1]

El Toro is home to a variety of wildlife, including the critically endangered Puerto Rican Parrot.
In descending order of land area the wilderness is located in parts of the municipalities of Río Grande, Naguabo, Las Piedras, and Canóvanas.

Stay with us at Villas de Costa Mar for clean, safe, secure, comfortable accommodations in Dorado Puerto Rico and do day trips to anywhere in the island. Directions and instructions in our rentals and on our website... 
VillasdeCostamar.com

Recurrent Events in Puerto Rico

Art in the Plaza

Saturdays and Sundays  

Info: 787-480-2910 9:00am to 5:00pmPlaza de Armas,
Old San Juan

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Adoquin Jammin Nights

Fridays, 7:30pm

Plaza and Callejones of Old San Juan
Info: 787-480-3530

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Adoquin en el Parque

Luis Muñoz Marín Park, San Juan
Saturdays, 4:00pm to 6:00pm
Info: 787-725-7912

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Flamenco Show and Dinner

Fridays and Saturdays, 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Barrachina Restaurant, San Juan
Book by calling 787-294-5513

Info. Barrachina----------------------------------------------------------------

Trio Romantic Voices with Dinner

Sundays, 4:30pm to 8:00pm
Barrachina Restaurant, San Juan
Book by calling 787-294-5513

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Flamenco Show

Thursdays and Sundays, 8:30pm
Bar Gitano, Condado, San Juan
Info: 787-294-5513

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Latin Nights at Blue Martini

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4:00pm
Blue Martini en Paseo Caribe, San Juan
Info: 787-653-6900





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Castillo San Cristobal, Old San Juan

Daily guidance talks at 10:00am
Saturdays and Sundays, 10:00am
Saturdays: Guided tours of the exterior defenses: 2:30 pm
Sundays: Guided tours of the tunnels: 10:30 am
Info: 787-729-6754


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Castillo San Felipe del Morro, Old San Juan

Daily guidance talks at 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:00pm, 3:00pm and 4:00pm
Saturdays and Sundays, 10:00am
Saturdays: Guided tour: 10:30 am
Sundays: Guided tour: 2:30 pm
Third Sunday of the month: join the Society of Friends of the history of P.R. Who will be telling stories for the children and also demonstrations of gunfire.
Info: 787-729-6777
More info
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Green Cinema in the Estuary

Second and fourth Saturdays of the month, 7:00pm
Jaime Benitez Park of the Laguna del Condado, Calle Viques, Condado
Info: 787-725-8165
More info

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Cinema Bar 1950, History of Puerto Rico in 30 min

Wednesday and Saturday
1950s Cinema Bar, Old San Juan
Book by calling 787-708-6113 / 787-510-9070
More info



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Circo Paseo de Educare

First Saturday of each month, 11:00am to 1:00pm
Paseo de Diego, Esq. Calle Ferrocarril, San Juan
Info: 787-480-3530
More info



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Salsa Nights, Salsa Classes

Tuesdays, 7:30pm to 8:15pm

Code Bar & Lounge, Roosevelt Ave. Hato Rey
Info: 787-225-5568





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Condado in Concert

Second Sunday of each month, 6:00pm to 8:00pm
Plaza Antonia Quiñones, Condado
Info: 787-480-3530





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Concerts at the Conservatory of Music of PR

For the schedule of activities call or enter the web
Conservatiorio de Música de PR, San Juan
Info: 787-751-0160
More info





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Stay with us at Villas de Costa Mar for clean, safe, secure, comfortable accommodations in Dorado Puerto Rico and do day trips to anywhere in the island. Directions and instructions in our rentals and on our website... 
VillasdeCostamar.com

Forget the Resolutions; set Fun Goals; Enjoy what Life has to Offer!

January; it’s a New Year, we hope you enjoyed the holidays; so guess what's Next?

No not resolution’s time; resolutions get broken way before they even get started and most are not much fun to keep in the first place so let’s toss them and move on to something new for some; yet very familiar for most. Vacation Planning Time. It’s going to get cold for all of you in the cold winter states. So planning a nice week or two vacation on a tropical island is a great Goal. OK so instead of resolutions let’s do some Goal setting. Goals that we achieve help us move forward in our lives and setting realistic Goals is the best way to succeed.

My goal is to take two weeks and head to a nice tropical island (Home for us), see and do as much as we   can in the time we spent there. So let’s plan it out. We get 10 working days; more if we leave on a Friday; that gives us two days to travel and if we leave really early we can do three Friday vacation days depending on travel distance. Ours is a little under four hours in the air.

OK two weeks, one personal day to travel; leave on a Thursday morning; early arrival by midday and get that extra Friday vacation day. So what else? Plan ahead and let’s take advantage of the whole trip, plan what we want to do every day leaving the last two days to relax, contemplate our adventures and prepare for the trip back home. So the Goal is a great vacation to make adventures, shopping, dancing, clubbing, cultural day trips, dining and two days to relax on the beach and enjoy life! A yearly vacation is the most important goal you and your family can sit down and plan together. We all need to get away, re-energize, enjoy what life has to offer. We work all year so let’s play a little and enjoy each other’s company in a new relaxed environment where we can share adventures and life together; your familia and you deserve it!

So take day to sit the whole family down set the goal to get away, plan the whole experience maybe over lunch or dinner. Find-out what each member wants to do, where they would want to go and see! If you come up with more than one place or country to visit than great; get the majority decision for this year’s trip and set goals for future trips until we visit and do what everyone wants to do, see and experience.

How about living like the locals in another country? It’s better to get a vacation rental home or condo with enough room for everyone; a new home away from home that we look forward to getting there after a fun day or night out. We all know the feeling of arriving home to a familiar place to relax and reenergize. So that would be a vacation rental home; live like the locals with all the comforts of home.

Vacation rentals can be found in every country these days, so do your homework and learn the dos’ and don’ts of renting a vacation home for a totally new experience in vacation travel accommodations. Get the kids evolved and have them do some researching online.

Read our other articles to help get you started, visit our website for tons of information and if your vacation goal is to visit Puerto Rico give us a call for best pricing and to get all your questions or concerns answered…

Villas de Costa Mar for clean, safe, secure, comfortable accommodations in Dorado Puerto Rico and do day trips to anywhere in the island. Directions and instructions in our rentals and on our website... 
VillasdeCostaMar.com

Something for Everyone...

Hop on a flight for a few hours to warmer weather to a tropical island that has something for everyone… No passport needed, same old U.S. dollar, most of the same restaurants, shops and businesses you find on the main land all with a tropical flair.

So what floats your boat?
In alphabetical order; just to keep it simple for you to find yours…

Art

Visit Casa Caracoles, for the Shell of It
Some people are collect unique things, and are very passionate about their collection. The owner of Casa Caracoles has taken his fascination with seashells and turned his house into an unusual tourist attraction, read more…

Nature & Art Collide in “Puerto Rican Light (Cueva Vientos)”
I am always interested in art, and I appreciate the impact it has different people. And all of our regular readers know how much I love nature. So a trip to see Puerto Rican Light (Cueva Vientos) was a must, read more…

Recycled Garden in Utuado
File this under “just for fun”. This is not really a “day trip” … but worth a quick stop if you find yourself in the area; read more…

Visit Loiza for Some Authentic Hand-Crafted Souvenirs
The town of Loiza has a long and interesting history. The African heritage of the area is seen all around town — in the music, dance and art, read more…

Casa Cortés ChocoBar: Indulge Your Senses

Fine chocolate and fine art … what is not to love? Casa Cortés ChocoBar is a restaurant & art gallery in Old San Juan operated by the Cortés family, read more…

Lions on Display in Ponce
Roaring Lions … not part of a circus, but a colorful, outdoor art exhibit in Ponce, read more…

Art Museums in Bayamón If you are an art fan, Bayamón should be on your list of places to visit, read more…

Things to See in the Capital District of Old San Juan
I am always surprised at the new things we find to do in Old San Juan, read more…

Three Kings Museum in Juana Diaz
While most Anglo-Saxon cultures celebrate Christmas with Santa Claus (or Father Christmas) and his reindeer, Latin cultures celebrate the Epiphany with the Three Kings, read more…

Santuario de la Virgen de la Providencia
Every once in a while I get surprised by some of our explorations. The Santuario de la Virgen de la Providencia in Trujillo Alto is one of those surprises.

Relish the Ponce Museum of Art
"A thing of beauty is a joy forever." Read more…

A Visit to the Little Museum on Campus
I have known about the museum on the University of Puerto Rico’s Rio Piedras campus for quite some time, and I have wanted to visit it, but, read more…

Open Your Mind at an Art Museum in San Juan
Are you looking for a little quiet culture in the heart of San Juan? Read more…

Follow La Ruta del Corazón Criollo in Caguas
Caguas is a wonderful small city, just 20 minutes south of San Juan that offers many things to do for visitors, read more…

Something for Everyone in the Town of Luquillo

When looking for day trips to do, I sometimes forget to look at places close to home, read more…

Discover Your Inner Artist in the Rain Forest
I love art. I am in awe of people that can take a blank canvas and make something so beautiful, read more…

Outdoor Art in Old San Juan: It’s All Around You
Old San Juan is a 400 year old city that has come into the modern age, read more…

Visit the Museums of Old San Juan
The typical visitor to Old San Juan visits the major "touristy" historical sites; but there are a number of smaller museums in Old San Juan that are really enjoyable, read more…

Self-Guided Walking Tour of Old San Juan – Part 1
So you decided to spend some time exploring Old San Juan? You will not be disappointed!

Self-Guided Walking Tour of Old San Juan – Part 2
Part 1 started at the Visitor’s Center and ended just as we approached El Morro Fort. This article will pick up where the prior one left off, read more…

Self-Guided Walking Tour of Old San Juan – Part 3
Part 2 started at El Morro and ended back at La Casita. This article will pick up where the prior one left off.

Old San Juan 101 – Basic Info to Know Before You Go
Ask anyone about what they consider a “Must See” while visiting Puerto Rico and they will most likely say Old San Juan. We go to Puerto Rico almost every year and always spend a day touring Old San Juan! Read more…

I say if you visit the island and only have a few days or only one day; you need to spend it in Old San Juan!