By Arami VHR Team · Updated November 2026 · 4 min read
Before interviewing a Dubai holiday-home management company, prepare the same brief for every candidate. Include your building, layout, current condition, available furnishings and dates you expect to use the home yourself. Explain whether the apartment is empty, occupied or already managed. This guide is an interview framework, not a ranked list of operators or a claim that one company suits every owner.
Write down what you want to delegate and which decisions you want to retain. For example, ask separately about guest communication, pricing, repairs and reporting. Request a proposal based on the home you actually own, not a comparison with an apartment whose view, layout or operating costs differ. Keep unanswered questions visible rather than filling the gaps with assumptions.
Ask what happens from an enquiry through arrival, an in-stay problem and departure. Who answers the guest, checks readiness and coordinates cleaning? Which tasks are included in the proposal, and which require another provider or an extra charge? Request a named responsibility for each step instead of treating the phrase full management as a complete service description.
Use a practical scenario during the meeting: a guest reports that an appliance is not working while you are unavailable. Ask who assesses the problem, how spending is authorised and how completion is recorded. The answer is not a service guarantee unless it appears in the agreed terms. Ask the candidate to explain its proposed process without requesting private details from another owner's bookings.
Request the assumptions behind the estimate: available dates, expected booking mix, achieved rates used for comparison and included expenses. Ask what would cause the result to differ. An attractive annual total is not enough to compare proposals if one assumes more bookable nights or leaves costs outside the calculation. Review the same period and apartment details with each candidate.
Discuss how pricing decisions will be reviewed after management starts. Ask what information you receive when the manager recommends a change and how owner-use dates affect the plan. According to Arami VHR's supplied service information, revenue sharing or guaranteed rent is available in selected buildings. Ask whether either arrangement applies to your apartment and request its separate written terms.
Ask for a demonstration or an anonymised reporting example. Can you distinguish reservations, owner-use dates, maintenance blocks, charges and payouts? Ask when records are updated and how a disputed entry is investigated. A dashboard image alone does not explain the financial calculation or the process for correcting a mistake.
Confirm your day-to-day contact, the way important decisions are documented and how an unresolved question is escalated. If you live abroad, discuss time zones and urgent communication separately. Keep the answers with the proposed agreement so you can review the service against a written starting point rather than relying on recollections of the sales meeting.
For each candidate, record the included services, retained costs, decision rights, reporting, payment terms and handover process. Highlight any answer that remains verbal or unclear. Ask for current registration arrangements to be explained and confirm regulatory questions with DET, property-related questions with DLD and contractual questions with a lawyer as appropriate. This checklist does not establish licensing requirements.
Choose the proposal whose responsibilities and assumptions you understand, rather than declaring a winner from the highest forecast or lowest headline fee. If you are moving from another operator, review existing commitments before agreeing a start date. Use an AI earnings estimate to begin the discussion, then request a property-management proposal that can be reviewed on its own terms.
Give each company the same apartment brief and compare written service scope, income assumptions, retained costs, reporting, repair approvals and contract terms. This guide does not rank operators.
Ask how each estimate was built and compare the same available dates and included costs. An estimate is not a promise of bookings or a substitute for reviewing the agreement.
Request a written proposal, a reporting demonstration, named responsibilities and an explanation of payment and exit terms. Confirm regulatory questions with DET or DLD and unclear contractual terms with a lawyer.