Do you know how in the real estate business they say that there are three things that you simply must get right to succeed: location, location, location? Well, in the vacation rental business, finding the right vacation rental software is just as important as having the right properties in all the right locations.
Once you have decided to take your “bed and breakfast” business professional, you will need a tool to help you manage all that comes with going professional. That’s where the right vacation rental software comes into play.
What to Look for in the Best Vacation Rental Software
When managing a single bed and breakfast, there really isn’t much to do. You only need to:
- Communicate with the potential guests and let them know when a vacancy is available.
- Find a way to make it possible for these guests to pay you.
- Schedule daily tasks such as cleaning, repairs, and other necessary aspects of running an attractive bed and breakfast.
While this can be simple enough when you have only one property, things get very complicated when you run more than one in a different location. Say, for example you have another house in France and you would like to have that listed on Airbnb.
If you are based in Hawaii (you have vacation houses for rent there too) and you realize that running a house in France, one in England, another in Kenya, and maybe just a few more in exotic places like the Bahamas makes more financial sense than just running one home. You will need a way to keep all these locations organized. Bear in mind that you won’t be on the ground.
The right vacation rental software allows you to do several things:
- Centralize all your operations:You get to view all the data from every single one of your properties on one portal (dashboard, if you will).
- Allow for easy payment methods:Customers from these different locations have their own preferred modes of payments, and the right vacation rental software makes those options available.
- Automate day-to-day tasks:Cleaning, yard maintenance, repairs and even grocery shopping for all these locations will take some degree of organization. With the right tool, you can automate all this to ensure that your guests always have what they need.
- Marketing portal:You will need a way to advertise all these properties to the right clients.
- Channel managers:If you have these properties listed on various platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com, you will need one central location to manage all these channels.
What you are basically looking for in the right vacation rental software is a tool that will make the management of all your properties as seamless and as efficient as possible from one central location.
The Best Vacation Rental Software Reviewed
Here are some of the best vacation rental software on the market today that allow you to do all that and more:
1. Lodgify
There is a very good chance that your vacation rental business models call for a software that will allow you to market your properties across different platforms (channels) as well as one that will allow you to schedule and automate day-to-day tasks to keep these properties well managed even in your absence.
Lodgify is a highly responsive and well-designed vacation rental software that also doubles as a website builder as well as a booking management system. As a web-based software, Lodgify is perfectly suited for people who own or manage 1-5 vacation rental properties. To help with that, it has a robust channel manager that allows you to run your sites on platforms such as Booking.com and Airbnb.
Key Features:
- Payment Processing
- Reservations Management
- Maintenance Management
- Marketing Management
- Property Database
- Point of Sale (POS)
Pros:
- It’s very user-friendly and doesn’t require a lot of time to learn
- It comes with a website builder
- The channel manager is a plus
- It’s a feature-rich software that offers you extreme flexibility
Cons:
- Doesn’t have a very mobile-friendly interface
- It’s compatible with only a small selection of vacation rental websites
This is an easy to learn software and is perfect for people who own or manage a few properties online.
2. Vreasy
This is an all-in-one vacation rental software that is advertised as a SaaS property management system. Vreasy is designed to help an independent property owner or manager to smoothly run multiple properties online. The best part about Vreasy is that it’s compatible with multiple and the most popular channels such as Airbnb, HomeAway, Booking.com and TripAdvisor among many others.
Features:
- Payment Processing
- Housekeeping Management
- Online Booking
- Reviews Management
- Maintenance Management
- Expense Management
Pros:
- It has automated SMS reminders to keep you up to date
- It comes with a free demo to help you learn how to use the dashboard faster
- It’s feature-rich software that can help manage your properties smoothly
Cons:
- Doesn’t have a mobile app
- Some features may be limited depending on your location
- It has a big learning curve
If you are prepared to learn and use a software that is specifically designed to help individual property owners and managers to run their business smoothly, then this is the software for you.
3. Kigo
Kigo is a highly recognized name in the vacation rental management software business. Offered as SaaS (Software as a Service) on subscription basis, Kigo allows you to expand your business effortlessly online.
When used properly, it can help you drive more revenue by reaching more guests through the highly robust channel manager, market your business better through the inbuilt website builder and generally make your property management life that much easier thanks to the myriad of available features.
Features:
- Property Database
- Reservations Management
- Owner Statements
- Housekeeping Management
- Payment Processing
- Vendor Management
Pros:
- It’s very easy to use
- Has a small learning curve
- It comes with a highly responsive mobile app
Cons:
- It charges commissions
- It’s a bit more expensive than most other vacation rental management software
- It comes with a setup fee
Kigo is one of the best-known vacation rental software in the market. Being so popular means that it has a highly responsive and helpful customer support department when you need it.
4. Guesty
Guesty is one of the industries leading short term rental property management software. They provide a platform that allows for automation, streamlining, and simplifying more complex and time-consuming tasks.
Features
- Channel manager
- Payment processing
- Owners portal
- Reporting tools
- Revenue management
- Task management
- Unified inbox
- 24/7 Guest communication services
Pros
- Easy to use
- Great customer service
- Good pricing
- Makes it easy to manage bookings
Cons
- They do not provide live support
- Lacks integrated website customization
Guesty has continuously ranked highly when it comes to customer service and ease of use, making it one of the leaders in the best vacation rental software available for short term rental properties.
5. LiveRez
LiveRez is one of the industry’s most popular vacation rental software solutions because they are an all-in-one, cloud-based platform. They provide you with everything that you need to run your business and it is all offered in one convenient place.
Features
- Commission management
- Guest communications
- Guest experience management
- Reservations management
- Work order management
- Payment processing
Pros
- Good channel management
- Simplifies housekeeping procedures
- Adequate level of support
- Easy to set up
Cons
- Doesn’t keep up with the changing needs of a business
- CRM is limited
- Sometimes slow and lags at times
LiveRez is ideal for smaller startups to larger management companies. They offer amazing support and intuitive software.
Benefits of the Best Vacation Rental Software
Vacation rental management isn’t always an easy task, especially if you don’t have the best vacation rental software solution to help. Here are a few reasons to find the best and run a more successful business.
Allows You to Create a Professional Vacation Rental Website
Many of the best vacation rental software solutions come with a website builder. This allows you to create a professional website easily. It also allows you to create a custom domain, have unlimited hosting and SSL certification. The website will be optimized for your industry.
Achieve Direct Booking
Sites like Airbnb and Vrbo help to diversify bookings, but a direct booking is always going to be good for avoiding listing site fees. Pick a software provider that allows you to accept online bookings on your website.
Save Time
The right vacation rental software can also save you time when it comes to managing multiple rental properties. You can automate any and all repetitive tasks and focus on the guest experience and faster response times.
Stay Organized
It also allows you to stay organized and on top of your booking channels, calendar, inquiries, and even messages. Everything is synchronized and you get a centralized inbox so you can run your vacation rental property business more effectively.
VRScheduler is another vacation rental software solution to help you stay on track. We help you get organized, teach you how to schedule more effectively, and consolidate issues, to name a few. Contact us today for your free 14-day trial.
If you are serious about running your vacation rental business as a professional outfit, then you will need one of these vacation rental management software to make that possible. Any one of these will work perfectly fine depending on the number of properties you own/manage and the kind of features you need.
