Scavenger Hunts for Vacation Rentals
Give guests something to do in the gap between check-in and dinner. A hunt around your rental teaches them where everything is, points them at the places you would send a friend, and hands you a much better moment to ask for the review.
Why hosts are building hunts into the stay
The welcome binder is the least-read document in hospitality. A hunt is the same information, except guests choose to go through it.
The house manual, but people read it
Guests text you at 11pm because they cannot find the thermostat. Turn the manual into missions and they learn the house on day one, by playing it.
A listing that stands out
Plenty of rentals have a hot tub. Far fewer come with a scavenger hunt for the kids on the first rainy afternoon — and that is the line guests quote in the review.
Photos and reviews without asking twice
A hunt ends with a leaderboard and a feed full of the guests' own photos. That is a far better moment to ask for a review than a checkout text.
Rental mission ideas you can copy
Written for a real property. Swap the specifics for your own and the hunt works for every booking after.
The welcome hunt
Twenty minutes after check-in. It doubles as the house tour you would otherwise have to write out.
- photo Find the welcome binder and photograph the page with the wifi password on it.
- trivia Which cupboard holds the coffee, and what kind of machine is on the counter?
- photo Photograph where the spare towels live. You will want to know by day three.
- gps Check in at the parking spot that belongs to this unit — not the neighbour's.
- trivia Which day does the trash go out, and where does the bin live in between?
The neighbourhood loop
Send guests to the places you would send a friend. Local businesses tend to love being on the list.
- gps Check in at the taco place two blocks over — the good one, with no sign out front.
- photo Photograph the view from the end of the pier at sunset.
- gps Check in at the trailhead. The first half mile is the steep part; it is worth it.
- photo Order something from the bakery and photograph it before anyone takes a bite.
- trivia What year does the plaque on the lighthouse say it was built?
The rainy-day hunt
For the afternoon the forecast ruins. Costs you nothing and saves the day.
- photo Find the board game with a piece missing and photograph the box.
- video Ten seconds of a dramatic weather report, filmed from the window.
- photo Find something in this house older than your parents.
- trivia How many stairs are there between the front door and the top floor?
- photo Build the tallest thing you can out of cushions and photograph it before it falls.
Missions for your kind of property
The details that make your place yours, which no generic guidebook can cover.
- gps Lake house: check in at the end of the dock at sunrise. Someone has to be up for it.
- photo Ski cabin: photograph the boot dryer and the drying rack. Learning these on night one saves the week.
- photo Beach house: find the outdoor shower and the hook where the beach towels belong.
- video Farm stay: get fifteen seconds of the goats. They will not cooperate.
- trivia City apartment: which line gets you downtown without changing, and where is the nearest entrance?
How a hunt fits into a three-night stay
Most hosts build one hunt with a few sections rather than three separate ones. Guests dip in when it suits them.
The link is already waiting
Put the invite link in your check-in message and on a card by the door. Guests join before they have finished unpacking.
The welcome missions
Twenty minutes of finding the towels, the coffee, the parking spot and the bin day — the questions that otherwise arrive as texts to you.
The neighbourhood loop
GPS check-ins at your favourite spots turn your recommendations into an itinerary the group actually follows.
The indoor section earns its keep
The afternoon the weather turns is the moment a hunt pays for itself, especially with kids in the house.
Ask while they are still smiling
Show the leaderboard, thank the winning team, and ask for the review then — not from a text message two days later.
Setting one up for your property
Build it once. It works for every booking after that, because the house does not move.
Walk your own property
Do a lap with your phone and write a mission for everything a guest normally has to ask about. That list is your welcome hunt.
Add the town
Pick five or six places you genuinely recommend and add a GPS check-in or a photo mission for each. This is the section guests thank you for.
Share the link at check-in
Message it, print it on a card, or put it in the binder. Guests play in the free app and it costs them nothing.
Questions hosts ask
Guests join from an invite link — in the welcome binder, on a card by the door, or in your check-in message — and play in the free Scavvy app on iOS or Android. Playing never costs the guest anything.
Yes, and that is what makes it worth building. The house does not move and the good taco place does not move, so the hunt you write this spring works for every guest after it.
Kids are the easiest sell, but the neighbourhood loop is usually the section adults finish. Couples treat it as a curated to-do list; groups of friends treat it as a competition.
Write around it. Plenty of hosts keep GPS check-ins to town, where reception is reliable, and use photo and trivia missions for the parts of the property where it drops out.
One-time pricing by player count starts at $7.99 for up to 10 players, which covers most bookings. Hosts with several properties or back-to-back stays usually prefer the $99.99 unlimited monthly plan — see pricing.
Make the first afternoon the one they write about
Build a hunt for your property once and hand it to every guest who books. Free to try, and always free for guests to play.