This month marks the first year anniversary that we have had our apartment in Collioure. It is hard to believe that last time this year we were excitedly decorating and preparing a welcoming space, creating marketing material including a website, finalizing contracts and an information binder and posting our place on multiple vacation rental websites. Once everything was set and the flurry of work was completed in early January, we sat back to watch and wait. It turns out our wait wasn’t very long since we had our first guests stay in February. The initial feedback was excellent and it was official – we had a functioning rental property in France!
To us, customer service has and always will be key. We kept in touch with guests during their stay and always asked for feedback. As a result we made a few tweaks here and there as we realized things along the way. There have definitely been some learning curves as we were enlightened about what is important to certain people and we also know now that we won’t make absolutely everyone happy, all of the time. We are aiming for consistency and providing a welcoming and comfortable place for people to enjoy while on holiday. As a result, the vast majority of people who have visited the apartment have been very pleased with their choice. As we hit our groove and the summer months filled to capacity, we knew we were doing something right!
This past year we have had 37 different families or couples stay at our apartment. They have come from a variety of countries – India, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, USA, Canada, Spain, U.K, Germany, Russia and of course from various cities within France. They have ranged from 2 nights to 6 weeks and everything in between. It has been a pleasure welcoming people from different areas and helping them to have a wonderful vacation in Collioure.
There were many people who have provided insight and help since we are not physically present in Collioure - including our real estate agent Neil from Paradise Rental Agency, Véronique our wonderful housekeeper and Andy our trusty handyman. All of these people make this venture possible and we are incredibly grateful to each of them.
We feel very blessed to have had such a successful first year. It is wonderful to realize that after having the initial idea and working through the stressful purchase right through to preparing to accept guests, that our vision was correct. This crazy idea will work and in the end we will have a wonderful place to call home in the future. (Can’t wait until we get to that point.) For now we are happy to have other people enjoy our place and experience all that charming Collioure has to offer.
We would like to wish all the very best to our family, colleagues, friends and guests during this upcoming holiday season.
Kim & Denis
To us, customer service has and always will be key. We kept in touch with guests during their stay and always asked for feedback. As a result we made a few tweaks here and there as we realized things along the way. There have definitely been some learning curves as we were enlightened about what is important to certain people and we also know now that we won’t make absolutely everyone happy, all of the time. We are aiming for consistency and providing a welcoming and comfortable place for people to enjoy while on holiday. As a result, the vast majority of people who have visited the apartment have been very pleased with their choice. As we hit our groove and the summer months filled to capacity, we knew we were doing something right!
This past year we have had 37 different families or couples stay at our apartment. They have come from a variety of countries – India, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, USA, Canada, Spain, U.K, Germany, Russia and of course from various cities within France. They have ranged from 2 nights to 6 weeks and everything in between. It has been a pleasure welcoming people from different areas and helping them to have a wonderful vacation in Collioure.
There were many people who have provided insight and help since we are not physically present in Collioure - including our real estate agent Neil from Paradise Rental Agency, Véronique our wonderful housekeeper and Andy our trusty handyman. All of these people make this venture possible and we are incredibly grateful to each of them.
We feel very blessed to have had such a successful first year. It is wonderful to realize that after having the initial idea and working through the stressful purchase right through to preparing to accept guests, that our vision was correct. This crazy idea will work and in the end we will have a wonderful place to call home in the future. (Can’t wait until we get to that point.) For now we are happy to have other people enjoy our place and experience all that charming Collioure has to offer.
We would like to wish all the very best to our family, colleagues, friends and guests during this upcoming holiday season.
Kim & Denis
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