5 Things to Make Your Vacation Rental Property Safer

When it comes to safety, there are several simple things you can do to make your vacation rental property safer for your guests.  Check out these ideas to help your guests enjoy your beach home or condo while staying safe. And we’re happy to report that some of these ideas are very low cost and easy for you to install or do!  We encourage you to review your vacation rental condo or home to help make sure your guests stay safe while enjoying a vacation at the beach!

Safety Tip #1 Switch your ceiling fans in bunk rooms of your vacation rental property to a safer choice

This is not the safest approach for a bunk bed in a rental property. The fan blades are too close to the upper bunk.

This fan has enclosed blades and is a much safer choice to install above bunk beds.

Many of the homes and condos in Panama City Beach and the 30A area have bunk rooms.  These rooms are great for the kids to enjoy while you are on your beach vacation.  However, ceiling fans in bunk rooms can create a hazard if a child on the top bunk can reach the fan blades. To keep kids safe while on vacation, you should remove the fan and replace with a fan that has blades contained in a housing like this one at Lowe’s.   Or you can ditch the fan all together and just use a simple light fixture without any blades.  You should make sure your replacement fan has very small openings to prevent little fingers from being able to reach in.

Safety Tip #2 Tube TV’s are not just old and ugly but they are unsafe too in vacation rental properties

Old tube TV’s need to be upgraded in your beach rental property.

It may seem hard to believe but many people see their vacation rental property as an opportunity to recycle some old items from their home after they upgrade.  This can lead to a condo or home looking more like a thrift store than a luxury beach vacation rental.  Case in point:  we still see the old tube TVs in rental properties from time to time.  These old TV’s are these ugly and outdated looking.  Worse than that, heavy TV’s can be pulled over by small children pulling on the furniture holding the TV.  You should replace these with lighter TV’s, or even better, with wall-mounted TV’s. Lighter TV’s are so reasonably priced that there is no reason to put off that replacement any longer for an item which poses such a safety risk.  Plus, outdated TV’s can make potential renters move on to the next beach condo or home.  If even the donation centers don’t want those old TV’s anymore, why would your guests want them in their rental?

Flameless candles are a much safer alternative to real candles.

Safety Tip #3 Open flames with candles are not a safe choice in your vacation rental property

Candles or anything with an open flame are too risky to leave in a vacation rental condo or beach house. It’s too easy for them to get knocked over, especially in beachfront properties where a “wind tunnel” effect if created when the front door and balcony door is open at the same time.  To improve safety, you should replace any candles in your beach home or condo with battery powered look-a-likes or just get rid of them all together.

Secure furniture that can be easily pulled over using wall anchors for a safer vacation rental.

Safety Tip #4  Watch for tipping hazards with heavy furniture

You need to remember that families with kids of all ages could be the guests in your vacation rental home or condo.  Tall, heavy pieces of furniture in your vacation property can be pulled over by small children, especially if they have drawers that a child can use like a ladder to climb up. A safer approach is to attach anti-tip restraints to anchor the furniture to walls to prevent accidental injuries.  These safety devices are a low cost way to make your condo or beach house much safer and they are easy to install.

Composite chairs are heavier and harder for small children to move right next to railings.

Safety Tip #5 Help improve your balcony safety in your beachfront condo or beach house

Balconies can be dangerous for small children, especially in unattended. For safety, you need to spend some time to keep your balcony door locks in good working order.  This is especially true if you don’t have heavy doors that are hard for small kids to open.  Salt can corrode lock parts and cause them to quit working.  Locks need to be cleaned, tested and treated with a good lock lubricant periodically.   Also, you should try to keep furniture positioned away from railings.  This will prevent children from climbing up and falling over.  You might consider purchasing composite furniture.  It is much heavier making it harder for small children to move.  Also, you get the added benefit of more durability and rust-resistance.  Parents have the ultimate responsibility for keeping a close watch on their children while on vacation, but anything you can do to keep your vacation rental property safer is always a good idea!

We hope this has been helpful with ideas on how you can make your vacation rental safer.  We’d love to hear your suggestions as well!

Want to know more about me and why I believe investing in a home or condo on the beach is a great idea?  I’d love to talk to you more so give me a call at 850.290.2901.