Vacation Rental Owners Can Learn From the 100 Best Hotels
July 21, 2006. We are always eager to read the annual World’s Best Awards by Travel + Leisure Magazine, an American Express publication, each year. Although the magazine’s evaluation of the 100 best hotels in the world and in several continents does not deal with vacation rentals, there are many lessons to be from gained by vacation rental owners in examining what made these few hotels the best.
When last year’s list came out, we commented that there was one thing common in the winners where we had stayed—their uniqueness. This seems to be the case again this year. Anyone who has visited Vancouver Island knows that it is a unique environment. This small island leads the list of Top 100 Hotels in Continental U.S. and Canada, winning three of the top five rankings. The Aerie, which made its World’s Best debut, only last year, is No. 1; Sooke Harbour House follows just behind in second place; and Wickaninnish Inn is No. 5. It is significant that none of these three properties is larger than 50 rooms. In fact, small, intimate hotels with fewer than 100 rooms occupy all but one of the top 10 spots and make up 48 percent of the entire list of 100.
Ritz-Carlton leads the list of the larger hotel chains, with nine hotels in the top 100. This luxury brand of the Marriott Corporation again displayed why Marriott’s management is so good. As we discussed in the June edition of the Vacation Rentals Newsletter, Marriott’s core values and superior service enables it to be a leader in whatever category it competes in.
We at VacationRentals.org have always stressed the importance of going the extra mile to make your vacation rental unique. The latest Travel + Leisure awards demonstrate that uniqueness pays off in the hotel industry. We believe it pays off in all kinds of lodging, especially vacation rentals
