7 Features That Will Make Your Rental Recreational Property Stand Out

Cottage memories are made around the campfire, so building out an area where people can practice their marshmallow-roasting skills is a no-brainer. Also, by providing a safe, consciously constructed (read: fully insured) fire pit means people won’t be tempted to build their own willy-nilly along the beach or in the forest.

If the stereo system at your cottage still holds your Dirty Dancing cassette tape from 1987, it’s time for an upgrade. When it comes to choosing portable Bluetooth speakers and mini sound systems, there are a ton of affordable designs out there that simply link up to guests’ smartphones and laptops – some are even solar powered and splash proof, making them totally dock-ready.

For most cottage goers, a dock is a must when it comes to choosing a property to rent, but you can stick out from the shore-side crowd with some cool dock add-ons. Think multi-level water slide, floating Ping-Pong table or water-top Twister – each one of these would up the water-entertainment ante in a big way.

Meals bring families together and summer is all about outdoor eating, ergo your rental property must have a great grill. While charcoal barbecues tend to be cheaper upfront, providing briquettes to burn (and cleaning them up afterwards) is a messy business, so propane is probably the way to go. If there’s budget to create a cool outdoor food-prep area, even better.

Movies are magical but when watched under the stars while munching on salty stovetop popcorn, their magical powers grow into favourite-moment-of-the-summer memories. You can find at-home media projectors that play movies through Blu-Ray players, laptops and memory sticks for a couple hundred dollars – it’s an investment that pays out huge in nighttime diversion dividends.

While providing a jet-ski-equipped powerboat may be out of the budget (and a possible liability issue), loading up the dock with a flotilla of fun paddle-powered boats is a smart move. Paddleboards, kayaks and canoes, anything that requires a bit of muscle to get moving will not only attract outdoor enthusiasts but it will also tempt landlubbers to finally give it a go.

After a long day of barbecuing, paddleboarding and playing floating Ping-Pong, guests are looking for a serene spot for a snooze…give them what they’re looking for with a sturdy, extra-wide hammock (or hanging bed) stocked with super-soft pillows and a weather-resistant side table for their Kobo and siesta sangria. With a rental recreational property kitted out with these little luxuries, people will be lining up to call it theirs for a week (or four).