Frequently Asked Questions

Short stay, or short term holiday accommodation as it is sometimes known as, is an alternative accommodation market to hotels and motels. An easy way to define it is fully furnished accommodation where guests stay in a property for up to 3 months

• Potential to earn a higher return from your capital investment when comared to normal long term rental returns
• Flexibility of use – we welcome ‘owner bookings’ (up to 12 weeks per year)
• Property is cleaned regularly
• Property is kept in excellent condition and is viewed weekly by cleaners (so no nasty surprises like you can get with a long term rental when no one is viewing the property for 6 months at a time)

• Holiday visitors to Melbourne
• Corporate visitors
• Individuals or families that have temporarily relocated for work
• Families relocating from interstate / overseas
• Individuals or families that need temporary accommodation whilst insurance repairs or renovations are made to their own homes

• Relocation companies
• Insurance companies
• Film companies
• Theatre companies
• The list goes on....

• More spacious
• Full kitchen facilities
• Washing machine and dryers
• Comfortable home away from home
• Outdoor areas with BBQ facilities
• Pet Friendly
• More privacy

While hotels and motels have existed forever, the opportunity for guests to stay in a fully furnished home owned by an individual is a relatively new concept. The marketplace is growing at a fast rate due to the benefits of staying in a self contained property over staying in a hotel room, especially if guests need a base for themselves for a mid length stay.

We anticipate you seeing an increased NET return substantially over and above the standard rental market and at the same time, your property is professionally maintained to a high standard

• Boutique Stays will provide you with a highly detailed estimated returns spreadsheet after viewing your property
• Weekly rental rates will be substantially higher than the standard long term rental market.

• We specialise in the short term sector and are not distracted by other sectors of the rental market
• We are a proactive company that endeavours to go over and beyond what most other companies offer, and we deliver on this month after month, year after year.

• Extensive experience in the short stay accommodation sector
• Professional business with integrity
• Exclusive management of the property on your behalf
• We offer ‘hands off’ management solutions
• We work hard at knowing, understanding and reacting to market forces and hence this results in our success.
• We are on call until 9pm every day for guests

Our guests’ place of origin varies quite a lot with a quite a number of overseas visitors (mainly from the NZ, UK, US and South Africa), while we are also very popular with guests from around Australia.

We have a dedicated marketing team that works on marketing your property through advertising on websites, direct mail outs and other initiatives..

Boutique Stays operates in the 4+ star accommodation sector so we are looking for quality apartments or houses to join our portfolio. It is extremely important that all Boutique Stays property owners support or philosophy of exceeding guests expectations therefore this needs to be reflected in the quality of the building and furnishings. Each property is chosen for its distinctive appeal.

1, 2 or 3 bedrooms.

• Air conditioning is a great selling point for a property in the summer
• Heating is essential
• Modern kitchen and bathrooms are very appealing
• Being located close to public transport / shopping area is a benefit for guests
• Comfortable, quality furnishings
• Quality beds with comfort being a high priority
• All properties must meet standards to be rated as 4+ stars by AAA Tourism (we provide you a list of your requirements)
• Small courtyard or balcony area is a strong selling point

We find our guests have quite different requirements when it comes to location so don’t hesitate to give us a call and we can discuss your Melbourne property and its location.

At this point in time Boutique Stays is concentrating on our core business, which is managing properties in the Melbourne Metro area. In the future we may expand to take on other areas.... keep checking back for more information on this in the future.

No.

• Properties in the normal long term rental pool are often only checked by an agent every 6 – 12 months therefore if mishandling of the property has taken place or maintenance issues haven't been addressed, it can be many months before they are noticed and actioned, which can mean higher repair bills.
• With Boutique Stays, all the properties in our portfolio are cleaned regularly (when occupied), and as well as doing a thorough clean, the cleaners have a maintenance checklist to follow.
• Guests are also encouraged to give feedback on the properties therefore this is a handy tool for keeping the property in tip top shape at all times.

Your property will need to be set up like a ‘home’. Upon joining Boutique Stays we will provide you with a full list of items you will need to supply. We have many contacts so we can help you with this should you need assistance.

Please always consult us before purchasing beds for your property. We will advise on the bed configuration to get the maximum utilisation of your property. We can also help you purchase beds at well below the RRP.

Our occupancy results have been very steady since the day we started. Give our Business Development department a call on (03) 9645 5577 to discuss our portfolio and the results we have delivered to our clients.

No, we arrange all of this on your behalf. All you have to do is meet with the cleaner initially to advise any special requirements your property might have in regards to cleaning (eg. Parquetry floors), and then you can leave the rest to us.

When accessing properties for our portfolio, we have to consider quite a few factors including, but not limited to, potential target audience (ie guests), location, how accommodating it will be for guests booking and whether the owners support our philosophy of exceeding guest expectations. Not all properties are suited to our accommodation sector so we will give you feedback on this.

We only take on new properties that are available for guests on an ongoing basis and do not operate properties on our portfolio that are available for only a few months.

We represent quite a few owners who live either interstate or overseas. One of the benefits we offer to our property owners is the option to have ‘owner bookings’, which suits a wide range of clients especially out of town owners who visit Melbourne occasionally and want to stay in their own property.

Don’t wait, give us a call now and we can discuss potential returns and start dates. We need to market the property prior to it being ‘guest ready’.

The more notice we have to market your property the better results you can expect in the initial months. Marketing can start nearly straight away.

We seek owners that are looking for mid – long term options for their properties to join our portfolio. This is to ensure continuity in our accommodation portfolio that is offered to corporate and leisure guests. Therefore our management agreement is for a fixed term period of 1 year, with a requirement of 3 months notice after this date.

Boutique Stays only accepts properties under exclusive management rights in its portfolio.

Payments will be made monthly into your nominated bank account and you will receive a statement by email.

If you are interested in Boutique Stays managing your property please don’t hesitate to ring or email our Business Development department (03 9645 5577) to find out how to proceed from here.