Pick Your Seat: A Guide for Seating in Vacation Rentals

When preparing your property as a vacation rental property at the Lake of the Ozarks, seating is something that can often get overlooked. Proper seating can play a major role in attracting guests to your property and promoting return visits. A lack of seating can really be a negative, especially when it comes to guest experience and online reviews. Keep reading to learn about Lake of the Ozarks vacation rental seating and how to incorporate the right amount into your home or condo.

Dining Chairs and Deck Seating

This may seem like common sense to most people, but you should have dining seating and deck seating for the numbers of guests that your property sleeps. For instance, if you have a two bedroom condo and it sleeps 6 guests total, then you should have dining seating (including the breakfast bar) for a total of 6 guests. If you have a large home that sleeps 16, then you need dining seating for 16 guests. In this case, it could be a combination of tables and a breakfast bar.

The same goes for the deck. At the lake, guests love to relax outside by the water or on a deck overlooking the water. You should have plenty of deck seating, a table and a few lounge chairs that together will seat at least the numbers of guests that your home or condo will sleep.

You would not believe the number of larger homes or condos that we have seen in the past 15+ years that did not have adequate dining or deck seating. Picture yourself arriving to a three bedroom home with your eight guests and you walk in to find the home has no dining table and only 3-4 bar stools at the breakfast bar. In this real-life situation, we had to persuade the owner of the home that he really needed a table, in addition to his current breakfast bar. His family only had 4 people and it never really occurred to him that he needed extra seating for his rental guests.

Living Rooms and Family Rooms

This same thought process should also extend to the living room or family room areas. You should be able to seat most of your guests in those areas. If you sleep eight, then you need to think about seating at least 5-6 guests in the living area. If your living area doesn’t look inviting and is not able to accommodate the number of guests that could potentially stay in your home or condo at the Lake of the Ozarks, then your potential guest may look for a property that has more seating so that they will feel more comfortable.

Guests like to dine and relax together, and you need to ensure that this item has not been overlooked. Having the proper seating arrangements can give you the edge over your competitors. One final thought… make sure that your seating options match. Nothing looks worse than mismatched barstools, dining chairs or deck chairs. It sends a message to the guest that you just don’t care.

If you have more questions about how to make your Lake of the Ozarks vacation rental property more desirable for guests, feel free to give our office a call at 573-365-3367. We have years of experience in this industry and can help you understand what works and what doesn’t for a vacation rental.