Help4Hosts
Maximizing bookings and streamlining operations: A guide to automating your holiday rental.
Who am I?
Just another holiday let owner
When I started running my holiday let I had an advantage over some others. I had spent the previous 30 years in various sales and marketing roles. It was a steep learning curve to understand the industry but a lot of the skills that I needed I had been trained to do already.
I started out listing on Airbnb, but quickly realised that putting all of my eggs in one basket wasn’t wise, especially in a volatile marketplace. I then quickly launched my own website, listed on Booking.com and VRBO. In my first year I was 93% Airbnb, 5% Direct, and 2% Booking.com. This year (so far) I am 38% Direct, 36% Booking.com, 21% Airbnb and 5% VRBO. I’m a Superhost on Airbnb 4.95*, my business has a traveller award and is rated Exceptional 9.8 on Booking.com. I am registered as an Exerienced Co-Host on Airbnb
1. An agency – great if you want nothing to do with the property. They will run everything but will take a handsome chunk of your profits. You don’t really have to do a thing. As long as they get you bookings it makes sense for some people. I’d always advise a smaller local one if you can.
2. Run it all yourself – You may live nearby so can keep a close watch on your property and guests. You can clean it, maintain it, repair it, advertise it, communicate with guests and you can do this well enough to keep bookings nice and healthy.
3. A hybrid model – Somewhere in between the two previous models. You might get a cleaner in to do the cleaning, a gardener to do the garden, a handyman to do the repairs. Anything and everything that you can’t do yourself or don’t have the time for.
What I have noticed is that many people who could operate a hybrid model with a small bit of help have been nudged down the full agency route. Some get on well with it, but others struggle and don’t get the service that they require. What’s worse is they they find themselves trapped in 12 month contracts. Some of these people don’t need to be surrender 20% of their profits to a big agency and with a bit of help they could operate a hybrid model.