Since summer is the busiest season for travel, we unfortunately hear a lot of stories about travel nightmares from guests staying in non-SoDak Stays short-term rental properties, Airbnbs, and hotels here in South Dakota and across the country.
In many cases, these bad rental experiences could be completely avoided by thoroughly reviewing a property’s listing before you book.
The catch is you need to know what to look out for to avoid a travel nightmare. Before you book your next property, look out for these red flags.
🚩 Overwhelmingly negative recent reviews
Reading through reviews on a property is an absolute must before you book, paying special attention to the most recent guest feedback. If you notice reviews from the past six months that are overwhelmingly negative, you shouldn’t expect to have a good experience during your stay.
We aren’t saying that if a property had one negative review three years ago you shouldn’t go through with booking it. However, it’s always a good idea to do your research.
And if after booking you notice new negative reviews come through, you can always message the host to ask about the issues you’d like addressed before your stay. And if you really have bad vibes about the entire property, you can often get a full or partial refund if you cancel before a certain date.
🚩 Misleading photos or few photos
Beware of properties that have photos that are inconsistent with other photos in the listing. If one photo looks heavily edited with massively different lighting or just simply looks fake, this is a sign to stay away. What else could they be lying about?!
Also pay close attention to the number of rooms that are photographed. If a listing says you’ll have access to four bedrooms but only includes photos of two of the bedrooms, you’re taking a few risks that a) the non-photographed bedrooms actually exist, and b) the bed size, room layout, etc. will work for your particular situation.
🚩 Lack of amenities
Ensure the property you’re interested in booking has all of the amenities you’ll need. Wi-Fi, central air conditioning, and a washer/dryer aren’t always guaranteed.
Make sure the amenities you want are specifically mentioned in the listing before you book.
Avoid the red flags altogether when you choose SoDak Stays
There are other red flags to watch out for than what we listed above, but we don’t want to make this blog post longer than it already is. 🙂 Moral of the story is to take the extra 15 minutes to thoroughly review a property before you book.
Thankfully, guests that stay in our properties have some of the best experiences (just take a look at our Google reviews).
If you or someone you know is searching for a place to stay in Sioux Falls, we have more than 20 properties that can accommodate 1 to 20 guests.
