Aiming to make vacation home rentals easier
A luxury vacation home concierge service is making life easier for Bermuda homeowners and their guests.
Crown Point — Luxury Vacation Homes Concierge has grown in the past few years as more homeowners have opted to rent out studios, apartments and homes on a short-term basis to holidaymakers.
A trend for more intimate and casual vacation experiences has been reflected in an explosion in popularity for accommodation listing sites, such as Airbnb, Vrbo and Bermuda’s own White Roof B&B.
Crown Point has positioned itself as a service “catering exclusively to beautiful vacation homes and their guests”.
It is not a listing site, but offers a variety of services to homeowners who rent out vacation accommodation, and to guests coming to Bermuda.
Those services range from offering guidance for homeowners to prepare a listing and showing them where it can be advertised, to fulfilling more duties, such as handling the booking enquiries and daily housekeeping.
For guests, the concierge team can answer questions about suitable things to do, arrange grocery shopping, private dining and local experiences.
Next month a dedicated Crown Point website will be launched with password access to additional benefits, such as special discounts and offers from on-island vendors and suppliers for guests staying with a Crown Point client.
The concierge enterprise started by chance when, five years ago, Tiara Wilson was asked if she could help put together a listing and assist with the formalities.
“I guess I did a good job because through word of mouth more people asked me to do the same,” she said.
Ms Wilson is an agent and owner of Crown Point. She pointed out the company is not seeking to be a competitor to listing sites, but rather a complementary service provider.
“We are reaching out, we are going to be another platform.”
Crown Point will help homeowners who rent vacation accommodation in a number of ways. These include writing up a property listing — including interesting details about the neighbourhood, local amenities, bus routes and alike — having professional photos taken to appear with the listing, and helping the homeowner navigate the various listing sites.
Services can also include assistance on the administration side, such as drawing up short-term rental agreements and handling the booking process for homeowners.
“It’s about making life easier for the vacation homeowner,” said Ms Wilson.
For the visitors, the concierge service gives advice, answers questions, assists with vacation planning and can handle other requests, including grocery shopping and private dining.
“Often we are in communication with the guests up to a year in advance, and for those coming for the first time they have questions about where to go, where to eat, what to see.”
The Crown Point concierge team can provide guidance on things such as restaurants that would be more suitable for a family with children, or assist when special gifts or flowers are requested.
Final adjustments are being done to the new website, which is expected to go live next month. It will act as a portal where holidaymakers can look through properties and click through to the relevant booking site.
It is intended that homeowners using Crown Point will be able to supply their guests with a password that will give them access to links where they can access special offers to enhance their stay in Bermuda.
Homeowners who sign up with Crown Point will pay a small monthly fee for the many services and benefits, and also have options to boost the visibility of their accommodation to potential holidaymakers.
Ms Wilson said the Crown Point team, who are BTA tourism ambassadors, are committed to “high quality and a high standard of service”.
She also said it was pleasing to see a move back towards vacation home rentals that once played an important role within the island’s tourism sector.
“It is like the 1970s when people would stay in vacation homes and get a chance to experience Bermudian hospitality more closely.”
Crown Point can be contacted through its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/crownpointlvh