Choosing your Vacation Rental Tech Stack

Thanks to the constant growth in technology, property management companies are able to take their businesses to new heights. Today, there are numerous different software platforms that can be used by property managers in moving their businesses forward. Before deciding what software should a vacation rental property manager use to run their business, think about what should be included every day and specialized technology solutions that work efficiently hand in hand. Ask yourself first when building your vacation rental tech stack:

• What are the core functions?
• Does your tech stack technology solution include critical features for your business?
• Will it continue to perform as the company grows?
• Does the company have a 5-star rated support team to help with your inquiries?

By all means, Hostaway, the leading all-in-one vacation rental software, will take your vacation rental business to greater heights than you could even imagine. Not only do you save time and cost by just making the process efficient, you can also automate nearly all aspects of your day-to-day operations, marketing, and distribution.

Did you know Hostaway software is different from every other Property Management System and Channel Manager? It is flexible, customizable, and helps you grow your business successfully. Not to mention, it is also the largest marketplace for vacation rental software and tools featuring over 100 solutions. Hostaway’s amazing support team can recommend solutions to every imaginable problem.

Let’s get right to it then! If you are looking to update your tech stack, here are the best tools for your vacation rental business:

• Channel Managers Software (CMS)
• Property Management Software (PMS)
• Revenue Management Software
• Customer Management Software (CMS)
• Accounting Software

Channel Manager Software (CMS)

It is a tool essential for all property managers no matter the size of their vacation rental portfolio. When listing several properties on multiple booking sites, a channel manager is needed to ease the time and energy strain of managing multiple bookings. Hence, avoid double bookings and flexibility in availability in your property management system, efficiently distributing all your listings across all distribution channels, to synchronize rates, availability, and keep calendars up-to-date, and manage them all in one place.

Benefits of Using a Channel Manager

1. Increased Visibility

Using a Channel Manager attracts international guests that automatically distribute your listing to multiple global and niche booking platforms. The more potential guests that see your listing, the higher chances of more bookings, translating to higher occupancy of your vacation rental property, hence an increase in revenues.

2. Avoid double bookings

Channel managers avoid the risk of having double bookings. The Hostaway multi-calendar and cross-listing feature enable all reservations from all channels for all your listings to be viewable in one central calendar.

It also integrates and allows property managers to manage listings across all channels from one place. When you receive a new booking, it instantly updates your calendar across all channels by connecting to listing sites with the use of a channel manager.

3. Saves Time

When managing several properties, it’s time-consuming to manually update your vacation rental listings without making mistakes. However, the use of a channel manager allows you to automate efficiently your listings across all distribution channels that permit you to focus on other tasks at hand.

Property Management Software (PMS)

It is a tool that focuses on facilitating and automating your day-to-day operations in managing your vacation rental properties. In other words, PMS makes your day-to-day life easy. Learn more on how to evaluate vacation rental property management systems (PMS).

With that said, most property managers ideally use a specialized Channel Manager integrated with Property Management System, two platforms used together without any issue. The benefit of having a PMS is that it allows property managers:

• manage both properties and bookings
• schedule cleanings
• assign the task to the staff
• send automated messages to guests
• create invoices, reports, and more

Hostaway’s PMS is built in-house. It is an inclusive and easy-to-use tool for vacation rentals as it manages inquiries, recurring guests, distribution channels, owners, and staff all in one place. Not only does it balance your business as it grows, but also allows you to configure the platform to your needs and trains staff and property managers on all the features with the help of our support team.

Hostaway PMS features:

1. Reservation Manager- keep track of your bookings
2. Performance Dashboard- everything you need to know all in one place

Revenue Management Software

It is a tool that optimizes performance; broken into two categories: pricing (also known as dynamic pricing) and market data integrated with maximizing profits. In other words, revenue management systems involve using analytics and available data in predicting the market demand, making strategic pricing decisions, and maximizing revenues. To summarize, selling the right short-term rental property to the right customer, at the right time for the right price through the right distribution channel with the best cost efficiency.

Revenue Management System also helps to find the ideal prices for your listing, hence giving you a competitive edge over other vacation rental properties. It is a great pricing tool; making frequent or automated changes in adjusting discounts, special offers, daily rates based on data insights and market demand. Not to mention, it allows you to set up check-in/check-out dates with fast and easy bulk edits in maximizing revenues on both high and low peak seasons. With that said, dynamic pricing tools help you find the best rates throughout the year, hence increasing profits while lessening the time spent in adjusting prices.

Here are some of our ultimate dynamic pricing tools recommendations:·

• Beyond Pricing
• WheelHouse
• PriceLabs

Take note, the above-mentioned pricing tools are integrated with Hostaway’s Channel Manager meaning you are permitted to make changes in rates and automatically update them on all your distribution channels via Hostaway.

Customer Management Software (CMS)

It is a tool that allows storing guests and property owner information such as preferences, upselling opportunities, and contact details. To simplify, after a booking is made, the guest details are stored, allowing you to communicate with them before arrival, when they are on the property, and after they depart.

CRM also re-engages with previous guests, markets guests with customized coupons, hence ensuring guests wanting to book again. In other words, CRM solves and nurtures marketing challenges by being more personalized in building relationships and automating gestures that generate more sales.

The advantages of using CRM software are:

1. Enhances better customer service
2. Facilitates the discovery of new guests/property owners
3. Increases revenues
4. Simplifies and optimizes sales and marketing process
5. Improves guest’s loyalty

Learn more about Hostaway CRM partners below:

• HubSpot
• Monday.com
• Asana
• Google Sheets
• Salesforce
• Pipedrive

Accounting Software

With the nature of business, dealing with sums of money daily could be a hassle. Though with the use of accounting software, it simplifies financial transactions with ease by offering solutions in managing your vacation rental finances.

To simplify, the process of a bookkeeping system is that it records all financial transactions performed, sends invoices to guests, evaluates and measures revenues earned from your vacation rental, tracks monthly, quarterly, or yearly profits and losses with regards to the business. And with that said, it changes the way you manage your bookkeeping.

Here are some of our recommendations:

• Ximplifi
• Booking Trust
• Google Sheets