What do you look for in a vacation rental?

[Mrs. B]

Spare key hidden outside in secret location

 

[ibj40]

More generally--and I can only speak for my wife and me--we look for a place with good cooking facilities and an outdoor area to eat and relax. That's probably a given for Curacao. By the way, our Number One irritant with rental unit kitchens is a dull or flimsy kitchen knife ("chef's knife"). A few times we have brought our own freshly-sharpened knife, and of course doing so guarantees the rental unit's knife will be okay. Ikea has knives that would be suited for a rental unit.

My wife and I stayed in the same condo, sometimes a couple of times a year. It got to the point that we brought down or bought locally some of our own kitchen stuff (cutting board and mandolin and a couple of other items) and "hid" them behind some pots and pans clutter (I'd say Number Two irritant is a bunch of used up, scratched, peeling "non-stick" cookware) that we noticed never changed places between visits. We would also bring our own knives, but take them back with us each time.

 

[Mrs. B]

We house traded our place on Hawaii for a place in the south of France (I’m not complaining) but it was hilarious when we got there because the pool was drainwd and there were clothes on the clothesline that had been there for years

They gave us a Renault to use so I was flexible
but man, you might have mentioned nobody had been there for a few years

 

[Damselfish]

We don't do the shore diving around the island thing (Curacao or anywhere) and would prefer to keep main gear with/at some op, so don't care so much about taking care of gear at a rental. (Though stuff like drying racks/lines are always good for the final cleanup/pack.)

Location is important to us. We like to see the water, and want to be convienient to a good dive op, but those are difficult to change.

Easily configurable beds are important. If we rent a place it is often with another couple, and I don't want to flip a coin over who gets stuck with the "kids" room.

If I'm staying someplace with a kitchen I like it to be clean and tidy and well stocked with cooking basics in good shape, and some non-basics are nice too. A non-stick pan or 2 in good condition. Basic consumables like detergent, a new scrubbie sponge. Some open counter space!

Washer and dryer are great to have. Even better if there is detergent to use.

 

[drrich2]

Location is important to us. We like to see the water, and want to be convienient to a good dive op, but those are difficult to change.

True, but good pre-existing 'selling points' are easy to advertise! If I were looking at this offering, given that I'm mainly a hotel or dive resort guy and would maybe be bringing wife, daughter & maybe mother-in-law and looking to keep costs down, I'd look for...

1.) Comfortable looking. Show me interior shots that look like a comfy place to hang out with couple of big beds. Tell me how many people can stay there.

2.) If there's a pool available on-site, say so & show photos. Got a little kid...

3.) If the neighborhood is 'safe' and good, say so and show some pics not just of the building exterior, but maybe up and down the road a bit? Just so I can see if it feels urban or suburban.

4.) Starter pack of simple groceries (e.g.: loaf of bread, peanut butter, jelly, some eggs, coffee) might be nice; people are usually flying in, and could arrive late. This is more about getting people to rate your offering better on their reviews.

5.) Name & give walking or drive time to two nearby nice grocery stores to stock up at.

6.) Work to get several great reviews. If you don't have at least 4/5, preferably higher, and at least a dozen reviews, I'm not gonna take a chance on you.

7.) Mention nearby family attractions. If you're near the ocean, Sea Aquarium, Mambo Beach, Willemstad, etc..., mention that and how far a drive.

8.) If there's wireless internet provided, great. Cable or satellite t.v. matters to some.

9.) You might mention nearby reputable dive shops and shore diving sites.

Richard.

 

[KathyV]

Central air conditioning, some places that advertise AC only have units in the bedrooms. That's not unique to a specific Caribbean destination, you may see it in a number of locations.

 

[diversteve]

There (Curacao) you could arrange for diving services to be provided for your guests. I'm pretty sure some Marazul condo owners offer tank delivery thru a shop nearby on request. I've read of several other houses in Coral Estates that do also but their tanks are coming from the shop down the hill at the ex-Habitat (now condos) resort..

It shouldn't be too hard to find out who i is doing it - maybe Relaxed Guided Dives? Talk to Bas Harts Diving also - they do guided dives with some pickup options.

Where's the house? How close is the nearest dive site?

A rinse tank with running water is a good option. I don't have much use for drying racks - most are too flimsy to hold dive gear. Plus there (and anywhere ground level) I don't leave my gear out to dry if I'm not there. I'd provide good but not great wetsuit hangers or people will steal them.They're thicker than normal to reduce stress on the shoulder seams.

There's a couple of good Curacao dive site maps and Trunk Divers at Trunk Bay/Kokomo sells a Curacao shore dive book you could provide for your guests use.

I rented a condo in Piscadera and someone had taken a dive site map and added personal comments to it about the sites and directions.

We like it a lot (I traveled with a grouo) when a music system is provided that we can jack/bluetooth our devices into..

 

[JamesBon92007]

I'd like to set up my Curacao vacation property to better suit the needs of the diving community (I am also not yet a diver but hope to be soon) and I was wondering what sorts of amenities would you like to have in the place where you are staying? Are scuba specific drying racks for equipment of value, large tubs to clean gear in, outdoor showers, specialized equipment to carry\move your scuba gear from home to dive site?

Do any of these things add to your experience when diving during your vacation.

Would appreciate any and all feedback from the community.

Thank You,

Fil

Specifically, where diving is concerned, I look for a place where I can rinse my gear and leave it out to dry, out of the sun, where it is unlikely to disappear. A rinse tank is preferred but not essential. A convenient location is also important--not too far from groceries, restaurants, a convenience store, and the dive boat. A swimming pool is always nice too but not a deal-breaker. One place I stay at just has a large bucket and a hose to fill it and it's big enough to get most of my gear into for a thorough rinse.

 

[Trailboss123]

When I read your post, my thoughts turned specifically to the types of amenities that would facilitate a better shore "diving" vacation experience, specifically. The benchmark for me was a waterfront villa I stayed at in Bonaire. It had its own steps down into the water and entered into a great dive site. The owner installed a bright flood light on top of the retaining wall that pointed out to sea. We would turn it on when entering the water for night or dawn dives. It facilitated entry and exit. The owner had built an outdoor shower for rinsing oneself off. He had two side by side rinse tanks that we could drain and refill as needed. We used one for our neoprene (booties and wetsuits) and the other for BC's, masks, regs, etc. Adjacent to the rinse tanks was a row of 6 foot tall lockers with hangars inside to hang up all of our gear after rinsing and the lockers came equipped with padlocks for security. Adjacent to the lockers was a gear up bench with bungies to secure tanks and for easy donning and doffing of ones gear when returning from diving on site or gearing up for a dive on site. There was also an additional outdoor rack for drying gear during the day, prior to securing for the night.
Since all of our diving was shore diving, it was great to return back to the villa after a day of diving and come in the side entrance and be able to rinse our gear, hang it up to dry and secure it for the night and rinse off before entering the house.

Seafront Villa with Beautiful Tropical Gard... - VRBO

 

[arew+4]

A few more things,

A midvweek leaning as an option.
Contact info for a reliable/trustworthy personal chef for a night or two