Marketing
Signature Experiences: Make Your Vacation Rental Unforgettable
By Jillian Mood5 min read
Guests rarely tell their friends about the thread count. They tell them about the picnic by the lake with the backpack they found waiting by the door, or the stone stairs in the backyard that led to a secret seat in the forest. Those stories are what I call signature experiences, and every home has a few waiting to be found.
Why experiences, not just amenities
In 1998, B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore published Welcome to the Experience Economy in Harvard Business Review. They traced how economic value climbs from commodities to goods to services to experiences, using the birthday cake as their example: from baking with raw ingredients, to boxed mixes, to bakery cakes, to parents paying a venue to stage the whole party. The experience is worth the most and is remembered the longest.
Travel has been moving the same way. When Airbnb relaunched Experiences in its 2025 Summer Release, CEO Brian Chesky put it this way: "A great trip is about more than the home you stay in." And in Expedia and Vrbo's Unpack '25 trend report, 62% of travelers said that JOMO-style getaways (the joy of missing out, spent in a private rental) reduce stress and anxiety. That is survey data, so treat it as a signal and not a forecast.
Many guests want to stay put and still come home with stories. So the home itself can supply the stories. The listing for Villa Foresta says it in one line: "The house is part of the adventure."
What it looks like at Villa Foresta
The Lac Lyster picnic. The beach at Lac Lyster is less than five minutes from the villa. The Eastern Townships tourism office describes it as more than 200 metres of shoreline with a view of Mont Pinacle, with picnic tables on site. So the house supplies a picnic backpack and beach cruiser bikes. Guests do not have to plan anything. The day trip is sitting by the door.
S'mores at the fire pit. The fire pit is an amenity. The s'mores supplies waiting next to it are an experience, because nobody has to drive to a store at 8 p.m. to make it happen.
Fondue night and movie night. Fondue gear and a popcorn maker turn a rainy evening into the plan, not the backup plan. So do the new and retro board games.
Watching the woods. A pair of binoculars by the window costs very little and changes how guests look at the view.
And in Southborough
The secret rock seat. My photo caption reads: "Secret backyard stairs to secret rock seat in the forest." Giving a landscape feature a name turns it into a small quest, the kind children (and most adults) cannot resist.
Cinema night. A media room with a 100-inch projector makes a movie an event for the whole group.
The library and the quiet circuit. A custom-built library with more than 1,000 books, walking paths inspired by Japanese garden design, a glass conservatory that doubles as a meditation room, and a chess table by a window onto the forest. For guests who came for serenity, this is the itinerary.
An amenity is a thing the house has. A signature experience is a thing guests do.
A method for finding yours
1. Map the five-minute radius. Walk or drive out from your front door. What is close enough that a guest could go on a whim? Confirm access rules and seasons on official sources before you recommend anything.
2. Inventory what the house already has. A big table, a fireplace, a telescope in a closet, a strange and wonderful corner of the yard. Many signature experiences are already there and only need a name.
3. Ask what guests would photograph. If a moment would earn a place in someone's camera roll, it is a candidate.
4. Remove the friction. This is the heart of the method. For each candidate, list everything a guest would need to do it, then supply it: the backpack for the picnic, the sticks for the walk, the marshmallows for the fire, the instructions for the projector. An experience that requires a shopping trip usually does not happen.
5. Name it and place it. Give each experience a short, playful name. Put it in the listing description, in a photo caption and in the house manual, which should suggest how to enjoy the home as well as explain it.
6. Keep it easy to maintain. Choose experiences your cleaners can reset in minutes: restock the s'mores supplies, check that the binoculars are back by the window, count the game pieces.
Two filters before you commit
- Is it true to the place? Maple treats and local Québec art belong at Villa Foresta. They would make less sense in a beach condo.
- Is it safe and permitted? Check with your insurer and your municipality for anything involving water, fire or gatherings.
The payoff
Signature experiences give your listing photos nobody else has, give your description something specific to say, and give guests a story to repeat. Finding them is some of my favorite work as an Experience Director, and it is what I do for the owners I partner with: walk the property with fresh eyes, find what makes it singular, then set it up so every guest gets to live it.
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Want this done for your home?
Everything in this article is part of what Jillian does for the homes she hosts. Tell her about yours and she will tell you, honestly, what she would do with it.
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