Software Archives - Enso Connect Inc. Guest experience redefined Wed, 23 Oct 2024 21:09:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://ensoconnect.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-Img2_Favicon-32x32.png Software Archives - Enso Connect Inc. 32 32 The Fullest List of Top AI Tools for Short Term Rentals https://ensoconnect.com/blog/top-ai-tools-for-short-term-rentals/ Tue, 16 Apr 2024 05:10:25 +0000 https://ensoconnect.com/?p=45625 The post The Fullest List of Top AI Tools for Short Term Rentals appeared first on Enso Connect Inc..

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If you’re looking to implement AI tools in your hospitality business, our comprehensive guide is here to help. With the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, there are now numerous tools available that can enhance guest experiences, streamline operations, and improve overall efficiency. Whether you’re managing a boutique hotel, a vacation rental, or a larger property portfolio, AI can revolutionize how you run your business.

We’ve thoroughly examined the AI features provided by top industry vendors, comparing everything from automated guest communication systems to AI-powered pricing and booking engines. Additionally, we surveyed experienced vacation rental managers to gain insight into the specific AI tools they are using and the tangible benefits they’ve seen in their operations.

Our guide provides a detailed overview of the most effective AI options available today, offering you a complete toolkit to choose from. These tools range from chatbots that assist with 24/7 guest inquiries and smart home technologies that enhance in-room experiences, to AI-driven marketing tools that help boost direct bookings and personalized offers.

Why Hospitality Professionals Are Not Leveraging AI to the Fullest?

We know that the hospitality industry as a whole has been cautious about adopting AI, and rightfully so.

Some of the key barriers, mentioned by the industry operators are:

  • Highly personalized nature of hospitality services that AI can’t replicate – “Don’t want to over-automate”
  • A lack of technical expertise and resources – “Don’t know how to start”
  • Uncertainty about return on investment – “Not sure if it’s worth it”
  • Resistance to change within organizational cultures – “Consider AI to be just a hype or concern over being replaced by AI”

In the fragmented short-term rental market it’s hard to collect enough data to make AI work well. This makes it expensive to get the needed technology and expertise. On the other hand, bigger companies can use their size to adopt AI more easily and affordably.

Why Do You Need to Start Using AI Today?

With understandable barriers, we are convinced that you need to start using AI ASAP if you want to stay on top of the game. Why?

Because AI can and will automate repetitive tasks. Sam Altman’s suggestion that AI could handle up to 95% of marketers’, strategists’ and creatives’ tasks has stirred a debate.

While hospitality heavily relies on human interaction, we can still use the unparalleled efficiency, speed, and precision, provided by AI. Vertical AI disruptions are already transforming entire industries, and the short-term rental space is ripe for this kind of innovation. If you don’t adopt AI, your competitors will, and you risk losing your edge. The time to act is now. Vacation rental professionals who incorporate AI into their workflows today will be well-positioned to thrive in the future.

Many affordable AI tools are available today for you to start using in your daily operations. We’re sure you can find something that is a good fit for your hospitality business right now.

AI Tools Map for Short Term Rentals and Vacation Rentals

How We Did It: The Mapping Process

Before sharing more about the different companies in the space, we would like to mention that there are a variety of different types of AI. The most commonly known today is LLM, that stand for large language models, but many companies use machine learning models, or other types. This map combines the most common used technologies that leverage AI in the vacation rental and boutique hotel sector, but it should be noted that all of these systems use a different model for unique cases.

Our journey involved exploring numerous software with AI features, ChatGPT “wrapper” apps, and products fully built on AI and machine learning. We chose to include any tools mentioned by hospitality professionals that incorporate AI, so you can benefit from them too.

The mapping was based on an anonymous survey distributed through internal platforms, LinkedIn, and Facebook groups. Additional data were gathered from searches on Quora and Reddit.

Stay Updated

We regularly update this list with new tools and technologies as we discover them. Our goal is to provide STR professionals with the most effective and affordable AI solutions available. As the AI landscape continues to evolve rapidly, we encourage you to check back often for the latest updates, innovations, and industry trends. If you come across any new, useful, and inexpensive AI tools that aren’t yet featured on our list, we’d love to hear from you! Your recommendations can help us keep this resource relevant and valuable to the entire STR community.

Additionally, if you offer AI-powered software specifically designed to enhance short-term rental operations, we want to know about it. Whether your tool helps automate property management, improve guest communication, optimize pricing, or streamline operations, we’re eager to see how it fits into the evolving needs of the STR industry. To be considered for inclusion on our map, please reach out and tell us how your AI solution benefits STR professionals. Be sure to highlight key features, pricing, and real-world use cases that demonstrate its impact.

By continuously updating this list and collaborating with industry innovators, we aim to create the ultimate resource for AI tools that empower hosts, property managers, and other STR stakeholders to operate more efficiently and deliver exceptional guest experiences.

The Ultimate AI Toolkit for Short-Term Rental Professionals

We’ve outlined key areas where artificial intelligence can optimize operations, enhance customer experience, and streamline management processes. This map will cover various stages of the STR lifecycle, from property listing and booking to customer service, property management and guest engagement and satisfaction.

Guest Messaging

AI tool types: AI chatbots, guest messaging tools with AI features

Applications: Automating, personalizing, translating and in some cases unifying responses to common guest inquiries, ensuring quick and accurate information delivery.

Tools: Enso Connect, HostAI, Sojern, Yada.ai, Besty AI, Akia, Easyway by Duve, Hostaway

Pricing Optimization

AI Tool Types: Machine Learning algorithms, Dynamic Pricing tools.

Applications: Analyzing market trends, demand forecasting, setting competitive prices, and adjusting rates in real-time based on factors such as seasonality, local events, and booking patterns.

Tools:

Beyond Pricing uses dynamic pricing algorithms to adjust rental rates daily based on market data.

PriceLabs offers revenue management and dynamic pricing based on demand forecasting and market trends.

Wheelhouse provides market insights and customizable pricing strategies to maximize revenue.

Property Listing Optimization

AI Tool Types: Natural Language Generation (NLG) engines, Image Enhancement tools.

Applications: Automatically generating compelling property descriptions, enhancing property photos for clarity and appeal, and optimizing listings for search visibility across rental platforms.

Tools:

Hostaway: Enhances property photos and listings using AI-driven tools for a more appealing presentation.

ChatGPT – property managers can build custom GPTs to create optimized listings, based on the information from the previously successful listings.

Airbnb Description Generator – Many vacation rental tech vendors, such as PriceLabs, HostAI, AutoMate, offer Airbnb description generator tools.

Image enhancers: While not exclusively for rentals, AI-enhanced features in Canva, Adobe Firefly, Styldod can be used for creating visually appealing property listings.

Predictive Analytics

AI Tool Types: Market insights and business intelligence tools

Applications: forecast demand, identify trends, and guide marketing strategies

Tools: Lighthouse (previously Transparent), AllTheRooms

If you have datasets, you can use ChatGPT for advanced data analysis. It can provide summaries and interpretations, identify trends in the historical data, and visualize the process in charts.

Customer Experience Personalization

AI Tool Types: Recommendation Systems, Personalization Engines.

Applications: Offering personalized recommendations for guests based on their preferences and past behaviors, such as relevant listings, local experiences, restaurants, and activities.

These category can be divided into two stages: pre-booking (marketing) and post-booking (guest experience).

  1. Pre-booking – the research, awareness and consideration stages of the customer journey.

Applications: Customizing the direct booking website visitor experience to increase bookings

Tools: Aidaptive

b. Post-booking – the guest experience at the pre-arrival, check-in, during stay, checkout and post stay stages.

Applications: Customizing the guest experience to enhance guest satisfaction.

Tools: Enso Connect

Booking and Reservations Management

AI Tool Types: Website Chatbots and Assistants, Automated Booking Systems.

Applications: Streamlining the booking process through intelligent chatbots that answer inquiries, assist with bookings, and handle prospect questions 24/7. Automating reservation scheduling and management.

Tools: PolyAI, Up Market, Hostaway, Guesty, Lodgify

Property Care and Operations AI Enhancements

AI Tool Types: AI enhancements to property care and operations platform

Applications: combining deep property profiles with the generative AI power of ChatGPT.

Tools: Breezeway

Guest Screening and Security

AI Tool Types: AI-driven Verification Systems, Behavior Analysis tools.

Applications: Screening potential guests to ensure safety and compliance with rental policies. Using behavior analysis to detect and prevent potential fraud or security risks.

Tools: Autohost, Superhog, Trustd

Review and Reputation Management

AI Tool Types: Sentiment Analysis tools, Automated Response Systems.

Applications: Analyzing guest reviews to gauge sentiment and identify areas for improvement. Automating responses to reviews to maintain engagement and address any issues highlighted by guests.

Tools: Enso Connect, Trust You, Mara AI

Interior Design and Furnishing

AI Tool Types: Virtual Reality (VR) for immersive design experiences, Augmented Reality (AR) for real-time furniture placement and visualization, Machine Learning (ML) for style and layout recommendations, and 3D Modeling software for accurate space planning and design.

Applications: These tools help in creating visually appealing and functional interior spaces tailored to enhance the guest experience.

Tools: Ludwig by FullHouse, HomeDesignsAI, REimagineHome

Content Creation

AI Tool Types: LLM chats, AI voice generator, text to speech, text to video, video generators, Ad creative generators

Application: Automating and enhancing the creation of text, images, videos, and other content forms to increase efficiency and creativity, especially for marketing and customer support purposes.

Tools: Chat GPT (Open AI), Claude 3 Opus (Anthropic), Gemini (Google), or you can get all three through Invisibility. Another great AI research tool is Perplexity AI.  AI video creation and Ad creative tools: HeyGen, InVideo, AdCreative.ai. AI text-to-speech voice generators – ElevenLabs, Murf, Video editing and content repurposing: Descript, Opus Clip, etc.

Productivity

AI Tool Types: Project management tools, virtual assistants, AI transcription and note taking,

Application: Optimize planning, automate task assignment, monitor progress in real-time,

Tools: Notion AI, ClickUp Brain, Glyphic, Otter, Fireflies

AI Trip Planning

AI Tool Types: travel itinerary planners, AI-powered platforms for trip planning and scheduling, LLM chats

Application: Building and offering personalized itineraries, optimizing schedules, providing real-time updates, facilitating cultural understanding, ensuring cost efficiency, and enhancing overall travel experiences.

Tools: Layla (former RoamAround), Wonderplan, Trip Planner AI

Sustainability and Eco-friendliness Initiatives

AI Tool Types: AI-based Energy Management Systems, Waste Reduction tools.

Applications: Leveraging AI to optimize energy consumption, reduce waste, and promote sustainable practices within rental properties, contributing to environmental conservation efforts and cost savings.

Tools:

  • EcoStay: An AI-driven tool for monitoring and reducing energy consumption in rental properties.
  • Enertiv: Specializes in energy management and operational efficiency for buildings, using AI to optimize energy use.

Conclusion

Short-term rental professionals who incorporate AI into their workflows today will be well-positioned to thrive in the future. Leverage the comprehensive AI toolkit outlined in this guide to streamline operations, boost efficiency, and deliver exceptional guest experience.

We hope this will provide a great jump start for short-term rental professionals, like you, looking to leverage AI. If you find it useful – let us know. And if you discover a new AI tool that helps you achieve your business goals – make sure to share it with us. We’ll keep updating this list for the good of the entire hospitality industry. Next stage is to add practical case studies and application workshops. 

The post The Fullest List of Top AI Tools for Short Term Rentals appeared first on Enso Connect Inc..

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How to Build Your Tech Stack For Vacation Rental Managers https://ensoconnect.com/blog/build-your-vacation-rental-tech-stack/ Tue, 14 Nov 2023 16:56:14 +0000 https://ensoconnect.com/?p=33044 The post How to Build Your Tech Stack For Vacation Rental Managers appeared first on Enso Connect Inc..

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What tools in a vacation rental tech stack do you need to successfully run a short-term rental property?

Well, successful vacation rental management includes:

  • Excellent customer service, for both guests and owners
  • Efficient operational processes
  • Clear communication 
  • Effective marketing strategies
  • Dynamic pricing strategies
  • Regular property maintenance
  • Adherence to legal compliance
  • Accurate accounting and financial management, and more.

While it sounds like a lot, with skilled teams and the right digital tools it’s definitely achievable. But what technologies are even out there, and is there one system that can power them all? 

Choosing the right technology can feel like solving a complex puzzle. Each piece promises to be the one that completes the picture. The modern vacation rental manager is facing an overwhelming array of choices, offering to streamline operations, enhance experience, or boost bookings. The graph below, created by AJL Atelier in January 2023, vividly illustrates the fragmentation of the short-term rental technology landscape.

Short Term Rental Tech Landscape by AJL Atelier

The graph’s quadrants are crowded with logos, each representing a solution, showing the complexity of the tech options available. The variety of Property Management Systems (PMS), Distribution Channels, Operational Tools, and Guest Experience Enhancers is innovative but also overwhelming. The challenge is: How do YOU choose the right combination of tools that fit together and propel YOUR business forward?

In this blog we will try to simplify the complex world of short-term rental technology. We’ll explore the nuances that make different services a better fit for one business rather than the others. The goal is to navigate this complex map, choosing tech that fits your business, leading to smooth and profitable operations. Join us as we decode the Short-Term Rental Technology Landscape, and add some clarity into building a hospitality tech stack.

We’ve listed the most popular options in each category, but we knowledge that there are more out there. We suggest doing your own research and also recommend Wheelhouse’s vacation rental tech review as additional source of information.

Key Short-Term Rental Tech Categories – Find What You Need

Property Management and Distribution

PMS

OTA

Channel Managers

Finance & Accounting

Pricing & Revenue Management

Data

Accounting Software

Guest Experience

Guest Communication & CRM

Guest Verification

Access Management & Smart Locks

Upsells

Digital Guidebooks

Operations & Maintenance

Cleaning Operations

Maintenance

Sensors

Project Management

Data Centralization

Team Communication

Project Management

Relationship Management

CRM

Owner Portal

Marketing Systems

How to Build Your Tech Stack For Vacation Rental Managers

A robust tech stack is essential for vacation rental managers to become successful in their roles. There are different opinions on whether all-in-one tech solutions exist in the vacation rental industry. There is also a debate about existing all-in-one solutions solving the hospitality tech fragmentation issue. Most short-term rental managers and owners agree: as their business grows, so does the complexity of their needs and operations. 

What You Need To Know:

What is a Vacation Rental Tech Stack?

A tech stack for vacation rental management is a set of technologies you use in your hospitality business to make your job easier and achieve your goals. These are digital tools and software used together to manage, market, and operate vacation rental properties.

This stack can include:

The aim is to efficiently organize operations, make guests happier, and maximize revenue through efficient management and targeted marketing efforts. 

Automating common tasks like booking, check-ins, and maintenance scheduling saves time and minimizes mistakes. Tech stacks collect valuable data for a better understanding of business performance and guest preferences, helping make informed decisions for properties and guests.

A tech stack is the family of software, used to run every aspect of your short-term rental business effectively. And if we are looking at what property manager needs to do, it's everything from making sure that guests are welcome, getting them to the front door, to distribute the property across different market places, etc. So we are talking about the rage of products that you might employ to run or scale your business.

Just a decade ago almost everything in the industry was done manually. And now we live in a world, when travellers are looking for a place to stay on their mobile and want see 300 photos before they make a decision. And all of a sudden there is an opportunity in this fast moving complicated world to leverage technology for the better. So builders in the industry started asking: what problems are you looking to solve? And they developed solutions, leading to more effective vacation rental businesses. Consequently, major players like Vacasa and VTrips have emerged, with increasing numbers of operators turning to technology for efficiency and expansion."

Andrew Kitchell, CEO and Founder of Wheelhouse | Passionate About Helping Entrepreneurs & Builders

Why Vacation Rental Businesses Need Tailored Tech Stacks?

Finding one software that solves all your hospitality business needs is challenging. Every short-term rental business is unique, with it’s specific operations, market nuances and target audiences. 

Custom tech stacks can evolve with the business, ensuring scalability and adaptability. They ensure better integration with various tools and platforms already used by the business.

Tailored technology solutions can better support targeted marketing strategies and efficient distribution across various booking platforms. They can be more cost-effective in the long run, as they are designed to meet specific needs without unnecessary features.

Tailored tech stacks allow vacation rental businesses to operate more efficiently, provide better guest experience, scale effectively, and remain competitive in a dynamic market.

Each management company’s operations are unique because there is no formal education on operating a short-term rental business. So, a tool that may be perfect for one operator can be terrible for another operator. The fragmentation is positive in that there are a lot of different options for each unique operator to select from."

John An, CEO of TechTape

Which Manual Tasks Can Be Automated With Technology in Short-Term Rentals?

When a property manager grows beyond 3-5 listings, there is a need for software that helps automating main task. The main tasks that can and should be automated for efficiency and better guest experience are: 

  • Listings Distribution
  • Booking and Reservations
  • Guest Communication
  • Pricing Adjustments
  • Guest Screening
  • Check-In/Check-Out Processes
  • Access Management
  • Upselling
  • Maintenance and Housekeeping
  • Review Requests and Management and more.

Automation not only saves time but also reduces errors, enhances guest satisfaction, and ultimately, could lead to increased revenue. 

By automating routine operations, property operators free up the time to focus on more strategic aspects of their business.

What Technology Do I Need In My Hospitality Business Today?

“Every software decision you make, should be guided by whether it saves time, increases profit, or makes a greater impact”, says Andrew Kitchell, CEO of Wheelhouse and an experienced industry expert.

When property managers start with a couple of properties, they might not need complex systems at first place. However with growth and professionalization of the business comes the need to employ technology that will be a foundation for further expansion.

There are property management systems that cater to operators under 5 listings, like Guesty for Hosts. Those, growing beyond 10 will have different needs and will be researching other PMS options.

Professional hospitality businesses aim to diversify distribution by advertising properties across various listing platforms, like Airbnb, VRBO, etc. To do this at scale you’ll need a channel manager. Many PMS vendors have channel manager functionality included.

There is a growing trend of driving direct bookings, and operators are investing in their own websites. Terry Whyte, aka Vacation Rental Software Guy advices property managers to get their website off property management platform.

Additionally, businesses focusing on profitability will benefit from using revenue management software for optimizing revenue and occupancy.

It is also worth to think through the hardware you are bringing in your tech stack from the very beginning. For example starting with smart locks that can easily integrate with other systems is important. Otherwise this can limit your growth and cause issues in the future.

Case Studies to Prove The Power of Having The Right Tech Stack

Dive into the case studies, showcasing short-term rental professionals, who have built tailored tech stack for high performance. Read how companies streamlined operations, elevated guest experience, increased revenue, reduced costs and grew their business with customized technology. 

Grew the business from 5 to 180 in 3 years

Minty Living combined extended stay and traditional Airbnb models in Atlanta, growing from 5 to 180 units in three years. They build a great connection to film and production industry in Atlanta.

Growth: Remarkable 3500% growth, adding 3-5 units monthly.

Customer Satisfaction: Achieved a 77% Net Promoter Score and a 4.5-star rating on Google from 200 reviews.

Performance Metrics: Reported a 20% increase in Revenue per Available Room (Rep PAR), with an 80% occupancy rate.

Direct Bookings: Secured 70% direct bookings, mainly from the film and production industry in Atlanta.

Industry Recognition: Awarded “Best Urban Operator” at The Shortyz Awards 2023.

Minty Living’s unique model and focused growth strategy led to significant success in urban hospitality, demonstrating the power of innovative approaches in a competitive market.

Achieved a 7x ROI With Guest Experience Tech

Urban Stay, a growing short-term rental company, faced operational challenges due to limited resources. The goal: Expand their business without overwhelming the existing setup. 

By integrating Enso Connect, they streamlined guest communications and upsells, reducing manual efforts. Urban Stay experienced: 

  • 7x more return on investment (ROI)
  • 9% monthly growth in upsell revenue
  • Projected $50,000 revenue from upsells by year-end. 

Through Enso’s automated features, Urban Stay not only enhanced operational efficiency but also increased its revenue, demonstrating a practical way to achieve more with less.

Solving Tech Fragmentation

Pocono Rentals & Management aimed to provide exceptional rental services and expand listings. They integrated Enso Connect for centralized guest services like rental agreements and digital guidebooks. This led to:

  • 69% automation in interactions
  • 1040 successful check-ins via Boarding Pass in 6 months
  • 38% growth in listings over 6 months

Enso Connect completed their tech stack fragmentation gap and improved guest satisfaction and operational efficiency, helping Pocono Rentals to stand out among competitors, and paving the way for revenue growth and market expansion.

Managing and Monetizing Guest Interactions

McGowan Scott Properties, a digitally-run vacation home in Upstate New York, aimed to offer a unique local experience at affordable prices.

Integrating Enso Connect, they automated and personalized guest services, significantly boosting revenue through upsells like early check-ins and boat rentals. Results included:

  • 30% additional revenue per booking
  • Increased guest satisfaction with seamless digital interactions
  • Implemented a much-needed User Verification Process

Through Enso’s technology, McGowan Scott Properties improved guest experience and revenue, showcasing the potential of technology in scaling hospitality services without losing a personal touch.

PMS

OTA

Channel Managers

PMS: the Central Nervous System of Your Business Operations

Are you a vacation rental manager or owner with one of these property management systems? Here’s how they can work with Enso Connect to improve your vacation rental tech stack for managing rental properties and guest experiences.

Streamline PMS

Supported User Size: Medium & Big

Streamline Vacation Rental Software, is a comprehensive and customizable property management platform for professional vacation rental property managers and owners. This software suite is tailored to streamline various aspects of managing vacation rentals, enhancing guest experience, and boosting revenue.

Major Features

  1. Property Management Made Easy: The core of Streamline is its user-friendly interface, designed to simplify property management tasks like property listings, reservations, maintenance, and housekeeping.
  2. Dynamic Pricing and Revenue Optimization: It includes dynamic pricing tools that utilize real-time data and market insights to optimize rates, thus maximizing revenue while remaining attractive to potential guests.
  3. Integration and Customization: Streamline’s software is highly customizable and integrates with various third-party tools and services, allowing each vacation rental manager to tailor the platform to their specific needs and workflows

Track PMS

Supported User Size: Medium & Big

Track PMS (Property Management Software) is an enterprise software solution designed for mid to large scale vacation rental and short-term property management companies. It’s tailored to scale operations, automate workflows, and integrate various aspects of property management into a single platform.

Main Features of Track PMS

  1. Integrated Applications: Track PMS integrates various applications for increased efficiency and financial savings, eliminating the need for many 3rd party non-integrated applications.
  2. Complete Property Care Management: The software offers tools for managing homeowner assets, including a vendor portal, automated communications, workflow automation, work order management, an owner portal, integrated vendor billing, and a housekeeping dashboard​​.
  3. Direct Channel Distribution: It allows for publishing properties directly to top channels like Homeaway, Vrbo, and Airbnb.

Guesty

Supported User Size: Small, Medium & Large

Guesty is the all-in-one platform for automating and optimizing every aspect of your hospitality operations. With advanced technology, industry-wide expertise, and a team of 200+ engineers, Guesty saves time, maximizes revenue, and keeps your business ahead of the curve. 

Main Features of Guesty

  1. Channel Manager allows property managers to manage their listings across multiple channels, including Airbnb, Booking.com, and HomeAway, from a single dashboard. This feature helps increase visibility, bookings, and revenue without the need for multiple dashboards.
  2. Unified Messaging lets property managers view and respond to all messages, including email, SMS, WhatsApp, and OTA, in one place.
  3. Multi-Calendar eliminates double bookings and syncs across channels. It gives property managers the big picture, allowing them to track and manage all reservations in one place.
  4. Automation Tools boost efficiency for property managers by handling routine tasks like guest communication and pricing.
  5. Mobile Management App allows property managers to manage reservations, sync their tasks, and stay connected no matter where they are.

In addition to these features, Guesty provides task management, reporting, analytics, and secure payment processing. It also offers 24/7 guest communication services for more enjoyable stays.

Hostaway

Supported User Size: Small & Medium

Hostaway vacation rental software and Airbnb management system that helps property managers grow their business. It automates and streamlines every aspect of the business across Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Expedia, and others.

Main Features of Hostaway

  1. Channel Manager llowins users to manage listings across multiple platforms like Airbnb, Booking.com, and VRBO. This feature helps in synchronizing calendars, rates, and reservations, reducing the risk of double bookings.
  2. Centralized Reservation System for managing all reservations, making it easier to track bookings, guest information, and payment details.
  3. Automated Messaging enables property managers to send pre-arranged messages to guests at specific times.
  4. Revenue Management includes dynamic pricing tools for optimizing rental income based on market demand and other variables.
  5. Reporting and Analytics features, giving property managers insights into their business performance, occupancy rates, and financial metrics.
  6. Task and Maintenance Management, ensuring that properties are well-maintained and guest-ready.
  7. Mobile App, offering property managers the flexibility to manage their properties on the go.
  8. Customizable Websites for direct booking, reducing reliance on third-party booking platforms.

Hostfully PMS

Supported User Size: Small & Medium

Hostfully PMS is a leading platform in the vacation rental industry, designed to automate operations, reduce repetitive tasks, minimize errors, and allow customization to suit specific business needs.

Main Features of Hostfully PMS

  1. Automation: Hostfully PMS offers robust automation capabilities, helping to eliminate repetitive tasks and reduce mistakes. This includes automated booking reminders, directions, payment requests, and more, all based on easy-to-create rules​​.
  2. Channel Manager: The software includes a channel manager that allows property managers to list and synchronize their properties on major platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and others. It ensures direct, reliable, and fast integrations, including support for iCal

Lodgify

Supported User Size: Small & Medium

Lodgify is a vacation rental software that allows owners and property managers to create their own rental websites, manage reservations, and sync data across booking channels. It aims to simplify management and boost online bookings, catering to both individual owners and large property managers.

Main Benefits of Lodgify:

  • Easy to set up and change to meet different needs.
  • Works well on mobile devices for a smooth user experience.
  • With Enso Connect, it makes the guest experience better and can help make more money through guest interactions.
  • Good solution for managers with few properties or limited experience managing a robust PMS.

BookingSync

Supported User Size: Small, Medium & Large

BookingSync is an online property management system to help owners and managers of vacation rentals with their daily tasks. It is known for being able to work well with other software due to its strong developer support. This helps in easily connecting with Enso Connect to give a better experience to both managers and guests.

Main Features of BookingSync

  • Professional Website Creation: BookingSync enables users to create professional websites for their vacation rental businesses quickly and efficiently. This feature allows property managers to attract customers and grow their business with a standout online presence​​.
  • Channel Manager: It offers a channel manager that connects with over 100 channels worldwide, including Airbnb, Booking.com, HomeAway, and TripAdvisor. This extensive network and preferred partnerships with leading platforms facilitate wider exposure and easier management of listings across multiple channels

Mews

Supported User Size: Medium & Large

Mews is a comprehensive property management system designed to cater to the modern needs of hoteliers and their guests. It streamlines the process from the booking engine to check-out, encompassing front desk operations to revenue management.

Main Features of Mews:

  • Mews covers many hotel management operations,  making it a single go-to platform for many tasks.
  • The built-in payment system makes transactions smooth and secure.
  • When used with Enso Connect, it helps in providing a better, personalized experience for guests.

Hostify

Supported User Size: Small & Medium

Hostify Vacation Rental Software, created by property managers, is a smart and modern tool for streamlining operations and boosting profits. With over a decade of innovation, Hostify has become a leader in property management technology, offering more than just software but a comprehensive business solution tailored to the evolving needs of property managers.

Main Features of Hostify PMS

Hostify is appreciated for its ease of use, efficiency in automating various tasks like payments, communications, and reviews. Its effectiveness in managing a large volume of properties is mentioned in user reviews. Users also commend its direct booking engine, channel management capabilities, and the support provided by the Hostify team.

LMPM

Supported User Size: Medium & Large

LMPM is software that helps manage vacation rentals. It’s good for both small companies and big ones with many properties. The software stands out for its modern interface, speed, and the level of customization it offers to its users.

Main Benefits of LMPM

  • Adapts to different needs, whether you have a few or many properties.
  • Designed with a modern, intuitive interface that simplifies the learning curve, allowing users to get acquainted with the system quickly.
  • Syncs important info easily with Enso Connect, helping manage guest experiences better.

Owner Rez

Supported User Size: Small & Medium

OwnerRez PMS is a vacation rental software tailored for both small homeowners and large property managers, offering a range of features to streamline rental operations and enhance guest experiences.

Main Features of OwnerRez PMS

  1. Channel Management: OwnerRez has direct partnerships with major channels, providing lightning-fast connections that are clean and simple. This feature allows users to sync everything, book from within OwnerRez, and manage all listings from one dashboard.
  2. Messaging: The software includes comprehensive messaging tools, enabling the creation of custom templates and configuration of triggers for automated communications.
  3. Websites: OwnerRez provides a website builder, allowing property managers to build their own brand rather than relying solely on third-party channels for bookings. The websites created with OwnerRez are designed to be speedy, precise, and focused on best web practices.

Ciirus

Supported User Size: Small & Medium

Ciirus PMS is a vacation rental software offering a comprehensive set of features designed to streamline the management of rental properties and enhance guest experiences.

Main Features of Ciirus PMS

  1. PMS Back-Office: The Ciirus PMS interface includes three iterations: the Ciirus Desktop app, which provides a powerful user experience drawing directly from the computer’s OS; the Ciirus Mobile App, delivering core features through the smartphone’s OS; and the Ciirus One interface, a fully scalable, mobile-responsive interface accessible on any web-enabled device.
  2. Task Manager: This feature integrates the workflow between management software and housekeeping, maintenance, and inspection platforms into a seamlessly integrated suite. It encompasses scheduling, checklisting, dispatch, onsite reporting, issue resolution, and accounting.
  3. Booking Website: Ciirus provides fully mobile-responsive website designs for all accounts, with several dynamic themes or custom build options available through their in-house development team.

PMS

OTA

Channel Managers

Maximizing Your Reach With Online Travel Agencies

An online travel agency (OTA) is a website that acts as a search engine for travel. It connects providers across the travel industry to help travelers easily plan their trips. On OTA sites, travelers can often access deals with accommodations, airfare, cruises, car rentals, and more.

While many short-term rental professionals use OTAs for distribution, there’s a growing trend towards direct bookings. Companies are creating their own websites to attract travelers, encouraging them to book rentals directly.

Airbnb

Airbnb’s key features include a messaging system that allows guests and hosts to communicate, a review system that allows guests to rate their stays, and a secure payment system that ensures safe transactions.

Main Features of Airbnb for Property Managers

  1. Global Reach: Airbnb has a vast, international user base, providing property managers with access to a wide audience of potential guests from around the world.
  2. User-Friendly Listing Creation: The platform allows for easy creation and customization of property listings, including detailed descriptions, high-quality photos, and unique selling points of each property.
  3. Dynamic Pricing Tools: Airbnb offers tools that help in setting competitive and dynamic pricing based on market trends, demand, and seasonality.
  4. Integrated Booking and Calendar Management: The platform provides a seamless booking experience with an integrated calendar to manage reservations, prevent double bookings, and keep track of guest stays.
  5. Automated Messaging: Airbnb facilitates communication with guests through automated messaging features, enhancing guest interaction and providing timely responses.
  6. Review System: The platform’s review system encourages transparency and trust, allowing both guests and hosts to leave reviews, thereby building credibility and reputation.
  7. Analytics and Insights: Airbnb offers analytics tools that provide valuable insights into booking trends, guest demographics, and revenue, aiding in informed decision-making.

VRBO

VRBO specializes in vacation rentals, offering features and benefits tailored to this market segment.

Main Features of VRBO for Property Managers

  1. Targeted Audience: VRBO caters specifically to vacation rentals, attracting guests looking for unique and localized stay experiences, differing from broader platforms like Airbnb.
  2. Listing Management: The platform allows for detailed property listings, including comprehensive descriptions, photos, and amenities, which are key for vacation properties.
  3. Reservation and Calendar Management: VRBO provides an integrated system for managing bookings and calendars, helping to synchronize reservations and avoid double bookings.
  4. Customizable Pricing Options: Property managers can set and adjust pricing based on various factors like seasonality, demand, and special events.
  5. Secure Payment Processing: The platform handles all payment transactions, offering secure processing and timely payouts to property owners.
  6. Review and Rating System: Like Airbnb, VRBO has a review system that helps build trust and credibility among users.
  7. Owner Dashboard: VRBO offers a user-friendly dashboard for tracking reservations, earnings, and guest communications.

Booking.com

Booking.com is known for its vast, global reach and user-friendly interface, catering to a wide range of accommodation types, including vacation rentals, hotels, and apartments.

Main Features of Booking.com for Property Managers

  1. Global Reach: Booking.com is one of the world’s largest online travel agencies, offering extensive global exposure to properties listed on the platform.
  2. Diverse Audience: The platform attracts a wide variety of travelers, from business to leisure, providing a diverse customer base.
  3. User-Friendly Listing Process: It allows for detailed property listings, including descriptions, high-quality photos, and available amenities, making it easier to attract potential guests.
  4. Integrated Reservation System: Booking.com provides a centralized system for managing bookings, ensuring that reservations are tracked and managed efficiently.
  5. Dynamic Pricing Capabilities: The platform offers dynamic pricing tools, enabling property managers to adjust rates based on demand, seasonality, and market trends.
  6. Analytics and Reporting: Access to booking analytics and performance reports helps property managers make data-driven decisions.
  7. Customer Reviews: Booking.com’s review system helps build credibility and trust, allowing guests to leave feedback after their stay.
  8. 24/7 Customer Support: The platform offers round-the-clock support for both guests and property managers, aiding in resolving any issues promptly.

PMS

OTA

Channel Managers

Maximize Your Bookings: Channel Managers in Short-Term Rentals

Hospitality professionals need channel managers to streamline the management of their rental listings across multiple online booking platforms. The primary function of a channel manager is to synchronize availability, rates, and booking information in real-time across various channels. This synchronization helps in preventing double bookings, saving time, and maximizing the occupancy and revenue potential of the properties.

Key functions of a channel manager:

  • Real-time Synchronization: Updates availability and rates across all connected channels instantly when a booking is made or canceled.
  • Centralized Control: Allows property managers to manage all their listings from a single interface, reducing the complexity of handling multiple platforms.
  • Automated Updates: Automates updates of rates, availability, and booking conditions, ensuring consistency across channels.

Some of the biggest and most well-known channel managers in the short-term rental industry are Rentals United, Guesty, BookingSync, etc.

Pricing & Revenue Management

Data

Accounting Software

Your Revenue Strategy Must Include Revenue Management Software

Revenue management of your vacation rental involves strategies to maximize income, optimizing listing descriptions, and utilizing data to make informed decisions.

You have to consider factors like seasonal demand, competitor pricing, and local events to set the right price at the right time.

Revenue Management Software

Software like Wheelhouse, Beyond, or Price Labs is designed to automate much of the revenue management process. The main features of these platforms include:

  • Dynamic Pricing: Utilize algorithms to set optimal prices to maximize revenue or occupancy based on the manager’s strategy. Adjust prices based on demand, seasonality, and other market factors in real time.
  • Market Analysis: Analyze market trends and competitor pricing to help set competitive rates.
  • Forecasting: Predict demand to help plan pricing strategies for different scenarios to help in decision-making.
  • Performance Monitoring: Track performance metrics like revenue and occupancy rates. Provide data analysis to understand past performance and areas of improvement.
  • Automation: Automate pricing updates and report generation across various booking channels.
  • Integration: Integrates with property management systems and booking channels for seamless operations.
  • Customization: Set custom pricing rules and strategies as needed based on individual business goals and market conditions.
  • Reporting and Analytics: Generate reports to evaluate revenue performance and actionable insights to improve pricing strategies and overall revenue management.
ai pricing software that can drive more revenue for your vacation rental

Top Revenue Management Software

Each of these platforms has its own set of features and capabilities that can cater to the varying needs of vacation rental managers.

Wheelhouse

Wheelhouse is a dynamic pricing platform that assists vacation rental owners and managers in maximizing their revenues by providing real-time pricing recommendations based on market trends, local demand, and other data-driven factors.

Main Features

  • Wheelhouse allows users to set pricing strategies based on their unique business goals and market conditions.
  • Provides insights into local demand, events, and other factors that may affect pricing, helping users make informed pricing decisions.
  • The dashboard is simple and intuitive, making it easy for users to manage pricing across multiple listings.

Beyond Pricing

Beyond Pricing is a revenue management solution designed to optimize pricing for vacation rental owners and managers. It utilizes data analytics to provide dynamic pricing recommendations, helping users maximize their revenue potential. 

Main Features 

  • Dynamic pricing recommendations to maximize revenue.
  • Automated pricing updates based on real-time market conditions.
  • Scalable as one user reported satisfactory use from 3 to over 40 properties.

Price Labs

Price Labs is a revenue management and dynamic pricing software that caters to vacation rentals, hotels, and other types of accommodation providers. 

Main Features 

  • Data-driven pricing recommendations for informed pricing decisions.
  • Helps in managing rates and minimum stay requirements.
  • Provides market dashboards for a better understanding of the competition.

Pricing & Revenue Management

Data

Accounting Software

Analytical Tools Can Help Provide Market Data and Listing Optimization

Softwares like Airdna, Keydata, and AllTheRooms can help vacation rental operators gather valuable data about certain markets, specific listings, and even what amenities are producing the best revenues. They can use this data to optimize pricing, or easily integrate these platforms with property management systems for automation.

AIRDNA

AirDNA specializes in vacation rental data and analytics, providing insights for hosts, property managers, and investors. It leverages data taken daily from Airbnb and Vrbo, combined with data from partners and subscribers, to offer comprehensive market analysis.

Main Features: 

  • Collects extensive data daily from Airbnb and Vrbo.
  • Offers deep insights into market trends and rental performance.
  • Recognizes when properties are listed on more than one platform.

KeyData

KeyData provides performance analytics and comparative data dashboards, aggregating real-time, historical, and predictive data for vacation rental managers and organizations directly from short-term rental and hotel sources.

Main Features: 

  • Provides actual up-to-date reservation data.
  • Seamlessly integrates with property management systems for seamless analytics.
  • Automates data compilation that would otherwise be manual.

AllTheRooms

AllTheRooms offers analytics for short-term rental hosts and investors, providing market data across the globe with features for historical and future data analysis.

Main Features:

  • Analyzes data from markets all over the world.
  • Provides predicted forecasts of future market trends.
  • Tracks detailed financial performance indicators.

Pricing & Revenue Management

Data

Accounting Software

Does Your Vacation Rental Tech Stack Include Accounting Software?

Having reliable and efficient accounting software like QuickBooks, Xero, or others in the tech stack is essential for managing the financial aspects of a vacation rental business.

Top Accounting Software for Short-Term Rentals

QuickBooks

QuickBooks is a popular accounting software used by small to medium-sized businesses to manage their finances. It helps in tracking income and expenses, creating and sending invoices, managing taxes, and handling various other accounting tasks.

Pros:

  • Easy to navigate Intuitive interface for those without much accounting knowledge.
  • Has a variety of features like expense tracking, invoicing, and tax preparation.
  • Has cloud-based access allowing finances to be managed from anywhere.

Cons:

  • It can be more on the expensive side, especially for small businesses or startups.
  • While it’s user-friendly, the vast number of features can be overwhelming for some users.
  • Some users find that the customization options are limited.

Ximplify

Ximplify aids in making accounting easier for vacation rental managers and those in the hospitality industry. It uses a tool that can link property management systems to accounting software like QuickBooks, making the financial side of things simpler and more automated.

Pros:

  • Eliminates tedious data entry tasks, making the accounting process more efficient.
  • Integrates with several property management systems and accounting platforms, allowing for a streamlined flow of financial data.
  • Specially made for vacation rental, hospitality, and real estate businesses.

Cons:

  • As of now, integration is available with a select number of property management systems.
  • The services are subscription-based, which could be costly for small businesses or tight budgets.

Xero

Xero is an online accounting software designed for small to medium-sized businesses. It helps manage invoices, bank reconciliation, bookkeeping and more.

Pros:

  • Simplifies financial management and automates many day-to-day administrative tasks.
  • Can connect with over 1000 third-party apps for a more streamlined business solution.
  • Has real-time cashflow tracking to help make better financial decisions for your vacation rental.

Cons:

  • The monthly subscription cost may be a hurdle for very small businesses or startups.
  • It might not offer as much customization as some other accounting software.

Guest Communication & CRM

Guest Verification

Access Management & Smart Locks

Upsells

Digital Guidebooks

The Right Guest Experience Software Improves Every Department

Guest Experience Software for short-term rentals is a set of tools for enhancing the service they provide to their guests. It can handle guest communication, streamline check-ins and check-outs and offer extra services or information guests need during their stay.

Guest experience software helps make guests happy by providing a smooth and personalized service. It also makes operations easier for staff and can help you earn more money by offering extra services.

Why Do You Need Guest Experience Software in Your Vacation Rental Tech Stack?

Guest experience software has an important place in the vacation rental tech stack, because it elevates your guests’ stay. This type of software streamlines communication between guests and hosts, offering a more personalized and responsive service. It can automate essential processes like check-ins, guidebook access, recommendations, ensuring guests have the information they need at their fingertips. Moreover, guest experience software often includes features for collecting data, enabling vacation rental managers to personalize and improve their service. Incorporating this technology not only enhances guest satisfaction but also positions you as a professional and guest-centric operator. This unlocks more bookings and positive reviews for your hospitality business.

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The Role of Communication Tools in Short-Term Rental Experience

Guest communication tools are a cornerstone of guest experience technology for holiday rentals. These tools facilitate seamless interaction between property managers and guests throughout the entire booking process and stay. From initial inquiry to post-departure feedback, they enable prompt and efficient communication, often through automated messages, chatbots, and integrated messaging platforms. These tools offer guests instant answers, check-in and checkout instructions, local recommendations, and support throughout their stay. Clear and consistent communication via these tools enhances guest experience and streamlines operations. They reduce misunderstandings and foster trust and satisfaction. This, in turn, can lead to better reviews and repeat bookings, crucial elements for success in the short-term rental industry.

Enso Connect

Enso Connect’s Unified Inbox stands out as one of the premier solutions for guest communication in the vacation rental industry. This innovative tool centralizes all guest interactions into a single, easy-to-navigate platform. Whether messages come from emails, SMS, WhatsApp, or Airbnb, the Unified Inbox consolidates them, ensuring no communication is overlooked. The platform employs AI to recognize guest sentiment, craft immediate replies to queries and translate communication into any language. It also works with “if this then that” capabilities, allowing condition based automation of all guest interactions.

Main Features:

  • Automated responses
  • ChatGPT integration
  • “If this then that” capabilities
  • Sentiment Recognition
  • Personalization with data collected about the guest

Yada.ai

Automated AI guest messaging tool designed, offering a blend of automation and personalization to enhance guest communication. It leverages artificial intelligence to streamline the interaction process between property managers and guests, ensuring efficient and responsive communication.

Main Features: 

  • Multi-channel Inbox
  • Auto Translate 
  • Analytics
  • Customizable Widget

AI Chat Bestie

Enhanced UI for ChatGPT with faster responses, always available histories, searchable chats, and persistent connectivity.

Guest Communication & CRM

Guest Verification

Access Management & Smart Locks

Upsells

Digital Guidebooks

Guest Verification Software: Solution To Asset and Reputation Protection

Incorporating guest verification software to your vacation rental tech stack is a strategic move to reduce rental risks.

Systems like Autohost and Superhog, can help thoroughly screen and verify guests. This can be done as a standalone process or can be integrated into your digital guest journey through Enso Connect. The Enso Connect platform also offers a manual verification processes. Without it, operators risk hosting fraudsters, sex offenders, and guests likely to be harmful for property, neighbors, and the community.

Top Guest Verification Solutions

Autohost

Autohost offers an automated guest screening solution that uses AI-based identity verification to streamline the check-in process. It’s designed to help property managers avoid issues such as parties, property damage, and chargebacks due to fraudulent bookings​.

Main Features:

  • Uses advanced AI to assess risk and verify guests automatically.
  • Provides comprehensive screening including background checks and sex offender searches.
  • Automates the entire guest check-in process, enhancing efficiency.

Superhog

Superhog, known as Know Your Guest, offers a verification process that captures the guest’s identity through a simple three-step procedure: receiving a verification link, inputting personal information, and uploading a government ID along with a selfie.

Main Features: 

  • Offers a simple three-step online verification process, including biometric checks.
  • Saves property managers time by automating the screening process.
  • Integrates easily with numerous property management systems for streamlined operations.
  • Provides Host Guarantee, a damage protection up to $5,000,000

Guest Ranger

Guest Ranger leverages the power of data using established databases and artificial intelligence to empower property managers to prevent fraud. It also minimize the bookings of difficult guests. The software suite offers various tools to combat fraud, including complex geometric facial pattern recognition. Additionally, it employs identity verification algorithms to accurately detect potential fraud.

Guest Ranger removes the need for both manual verification and possible liability such as credit card charge backs and more. Their guest review database helps hosts avoid bookings from bad guests, that could result in property damage or legal liability.

Guest Communication & CRM

Guest Verification

Access Management & Smart Locks

Upsells

Digital Guidebooks

Enhance Security With Access Management and Smart Locks

Smart locks for vacation rentals represent a significant advancement in both security and guest convenience. By eliminating traditional keys, which can be easily lost or duplicated, these digital locks enhance safety by offering customizable, time-sensitive access codes. This not only reduces the risk of unauthorized entry but also allows property owners to control access remotely, ensuring that only verified guests can enter during their booked stay.

The integration of smart locks with property management systems can further automate guest communication, sending access codes directly to guests’ smartphones. This integration not only elevates the guest experience but also reduces the workload for property managers, making it a valuable asset in the modern vacation rental industry.

Best Smart Lock Connectivity Systems

Enso Connect

Enso Connect stands out as a versatile and efficient platform for property managers, seamlessly integrating with leading smart lock brands such as Schlage, Yale, and Salto. This integration streamlines the process of managing vacation rentals or hospitality properties by simplifying access control.

With Enso Connect, property owners can effortlessly set up guest verification processes, ensuring that only verified guests can access the property. Additionally, the platform allows for easy updating of door codes between guest stays, enhancing security and convenience. The user-friendly dashboard provided by Enso Connect centralizes control, enabling property managers to restrict and manage access with just a few clicks.

Features and Benefits of Enso Connect

  • Seamless Integration: Works effortlessly with top smart lock brands like Schlage, Yale, and Salto.
  • Guest Verification Processes: Enables secure verification of guests before granting access.
  • Automated Door Code Management: Allows for the automatic updating of door codes between guest stays, enhancing security.
  • Centralized Dashboard: Offers a single, easy-to-use platform for managing all access control features.
  • Improved Security: Ensures that only verified guests can access the property, reducing the risk of unauthorized entry.
  • Operational Efficiency: Streamlines the process of managing access, saving time and resources.
  • Enhanced Guest Experience: Provides guests with a smooth, hassle-free check-in process.

RemoteLock

RemoteLock is one of the leading solutions in the field of smart lock connectivity for vacation rentals. It offers a robust and versatile system designed to enhance property security and management efficiency.

Key Features of RemoteLock:

  1. Centralized Access Control: RemoteLock allows property managers to control access to their properties from anywhere, using an internet-based platform. This feature is particularly beneficial for managing multiple properties remotely.
  2. Multiple Lock Compatibility: The system is compatible with a wide range of smart locks, offering flexibility in choosing hardware that fits specific needs and existing setups.
  3. Guest Code Generation: RemoteLock enables the creation of unique, time-sensitive access codes for guests. This enhances security as each guest receives a distinct code that expires at the end of their stay.
  4. Integration with Booking Platforms: The software seamlessly integrates with popular vacation rental booking platforms, automating the process of code generation and distribution when a booking is confirmed.
  5. Real-Time Monitoring: Property managers can monitor access in real-time, tracking who enters and exits the property, which is essential for security and managing guest check-ins and check-outs.
  6. Customizable Access Schedules: It allows for the creation of custom access schedules, granting or restricting access as needed, which is useful for managing cleaning and maintenance services.

Lynx

Lynx is a notable solution in the smart lock connectivity arena for vacation rentals, emphasizing seamless integration and enhanced guest experience. Lynx’s approach is to simplify property access management through smart technology, making it easier for vacation rental managers to secure and streamline their properties.

Key Features of Lynx:

  1. Easy Integration with Existing Locks: Lynx is designed to work with existing smart locks, allowing for easy integration without the need for extensive hardware changes.
  2. Automated Access Code Generation: The system automatically generates unique access codes for guests, aligned with their reservation dates and times, ensuring secure and hassle-free check-ins and check-outs.
  3. Direct Integration with Booking Platforms: Lynx directly integrates with popular booking platforms. This integration automates the distribution of access codes upon booking confirmation, linking reservations to access control seamlessly.
  4. Real-Time Access Monitoring: Property managers can monitor access to their properties in real time, keeping track of who enters and exits, which enhances security and operational oversight.
  5. Customizable Access Permissions: Lynx allows vacation rental managers to create and manage custom access permissions for guests, cleaning services, and maintenance personnel, offering flexibility and control.

Guest Communication & CRM

Guest Verification

Access Management & Smart Locks

Upsells

Digital Guidebooks

Increase Revenue Per Guest With Upsells

Upselling in the short-term rental industry is a strategic approach to enhance guest experiences while increasing revenue. This practice involves offering guests additional services or upgrades, such as early check-ins, late check-outs. This can also include special amenities like spa packages, or local experiences. To effectively manage and automate this process, many property managers turn to specialized software solutions. These tools present offers to guests in a timely and appealing manner and track the success of such offers. This approach leads to a more personalized guest experience and increased booking value, benefiting both guests and property managers.

Most Popular Upselling Solutions for Vacation Rentals

Enso Connect

Enso Connect’s Upsell feature stands out as a leading solution for upselling in the short-term rental industry. This innovative feature is specifically designed to enhance the revenue generation capabilities of property managers while enriching the guest experience.

Key Aspects of Enso Connect’s Upsell Feature:

  1. Customizable Offers: Property managers can create and customize a variety of upsell options tailored to their guests’ needs. This could include anything from early check-ins, late check-outs, to special amenities like spa services or local experiences.
  2. Seamless Integration: The Upsell feature integrates smoothly into the booking process, presenting guests with attractive offers at the optimal time, increasing the likelihood of acceptance.
  3. Automated System: Enso Connect automates the upselling process, which not only saves time for property managers but also ensures that guests receive these offers without any manual intervention.
  4. Real-Time Tracking: The feature provides real-time insights and analytics on the performance of upsell offers, allowing managers to adjust their strategy based on what’s most effective.
  5. Enhanced Guest Experience: By offering personalized and relevant upsell options, guests feel a sense of added value to their stay, enhancing overall satisfaction.
  6. Increased Revenue: The primary advantage is the potential for increased revenue per booking, as guests opt for these additional paid services.

The Host Co

The Host Co emerges as one of the premier solutions for upselling in the short-term rental industry. Catering specifically to the needs of property managers and hosts, The Host Co’s platform is designed to enhance guest experiences while boosting revenue through thoughtful and effective upselling strategies.

Key Features of The Host Co:

  1. Personalized Upsell Marketplace: The Host Co offers a unique marketplace feature where property managers can list various upsell items and experiences. These can range from local artisan products to unique local experiences, giving guests the opportunity to enhance their stay.
  2. Seamless Integration: The platform integrates effortlessly with the property’s existing booking system, allowing guests to browse and purchase upsell items as part of their booking experience.
  3. Customizable Offerings: Property managers have the flexibility to customize their upsell offerings, tailoring them to match the uniqueness of their property and the preferences of their target guests.
  4. Guest Convenience: The platform makes it convenient for guests to purchase these additional offerings, adding to their overall experience and satisfaction.
  5. Real-Time Analytics: The Host Co provides valuable insights into the performance of upsell items, helping hosts to understand guest preferences and adjust their offerings accordingly.
  6. Increased Revenue Potential: By providing an avenue for additional sales, The Host Co helps property managers to increase their average booking value significantly.

Mount

Mount positions itself as a standout solution for upselling in the short-term rental industry, offering a unique and innovative approach to enhancing guest experiences and increasing revenue for property managers.

Key Features of Mount:

  1. Diverse Upsell Opportunities: Mount specializes in providing a wide range of upsell options, from traditional amenities like early check-ins and late check-outs to more unique experiences like local tours and activities.
  2. Easy Integration: The platform is designed for easy integration with existing property management systems, ensuring a seamless experience for both hosts and guests.
  3. Guest-Centric Approach: Mount focuses on enhancing the guest experience by offering relevant and personalized upsell options that cater to the interests and needs of each guest.
  4. Automated Upselling Process: The system automates the upselling process, presenting guests with attractive offers at optimal times throughout their booking journey.
  5. Real-Time Analytics and Reporting: Mount provides real-time insights into upsell performance, allowing property managers to adjust their offerings based on data-driven insights.
  6. Enhanced Guest Experience: By offering unique, local experiences and conveniences, Mount significantly enriches the guest’s stay.

Guest Communication & CRM

Guest Verification

Access Management & Smart Locks

Upsells

Digital Guidebooks

Enhancing Guest Experience With Digital Guidebooks

Digital guidebooks is a modern and efficient way for hosts to provide guests with essential information and enhance their experience. These guidebooks, accessible via smartphones or computers, contain a wealth of information about the rental property. This often includes Wi-Fi passwords, operating instructions for appliances, check-in and check-out procedures, and house rules. Beyond basics, they often offer valuable local insights such as recommendations for restaurants, attractions, and activities, adding a personalized touch. Digital guidebooks also streamline communication, reducing the need for guests to contact hosts for common queries. They present an eco-friendly alternative to traditional paper guides, aligning with the growing trend of sustainability in travel. Digital guidebooks help hosts display hospitality and attention to detail, enhancing guest satisfaction and possibly improving reviews.

Top Digital Guidebook Solutions for Short-Term Rentals

Enso Connect

Enso Connect’s digital guidebook feature stands out as one of the top solutions in the vacation rental industry, offering a sophisticated and user-friendly way to enhance the guest experience. This feature allows hosts to create comprehensive, interactive, and visually appealing digital guidebooks that can be easily accessed by guests.

Key Features of Enso Connect’s Digital Guidebooks:

  1. Rich Content Capabilities: Hosts can include a wide range of information in their guidebooks, from basic property details and house rules to recommendations for local dining, entertainment, and attractions.
  2. Customizable Design: The guidebooks are highly customizable, enabling hosts to tailor the look and content to match their brand and property style.
  3. Interactive Elements: Enso Connect’s guidebooks can include interactive elements like maps, links, and multimedia content, making them more engaging and useful for guests.
  4. Easy Access for Guests: Guests can access these guidebooks on various devices, providing them with vital information at their fingertips, anytime and anywhere.
  5. Updates in Real-Time: Hosts can update their guidebooks in real-time, ensuring that guests always have the most current information.
  6. Enhanced Guest Experience: By providing detailed and helpful information, these guidebooks enhance the overall guest experience, making stays more enjoyable and stress-free.

Hostfully

In addition to Hostfully’s PMS capabilities, the company is renowned for its guidebooks as a standalone product. The guidebooks have comprehensive features and user-friendly design. Hostfully’s guidebooks elevate guest experience, offering detailed and personalized information about the rental property and its surroundings.

Key Features of Hostfully Guidebooks:

  1. Extensive Customization: Hosts can fully customize their guidebooks, adding personal touches and detailed information that align with their specific property and brand.
  2. Local Recommendations: Hostfully allows hosts to include a wealth of local knowledge, from dining spots and tourist attractions to hidden gems in the area, enriching the guest’s travel experience.
  3. Interactive and Accessible: The guidebooks are interactive, featuring maps and links, and are accessible on multiple devices, ensuring guests have easy access to information at all times.
  4. Integration Capabilities: These guidebooks can be seamlessly integrated with booking systems, allowing guests to access them as soon as they confirm their reservation.
  5. Real-Time Updates: Hosts can update their guidebooks in real-time, providing guests with the most current and relevant information.
  6. Multi-Language Support: To cater to a diverse range of guests, Hostfully’s guidebooks support multiple languages, enhancing accessibility for international travelers.

Touch Stay

Touch Stay is a prominent digital guidebook solution in the vacation rental industry, known for enhancing guest experiences through its intuitive and feature-rich platform. Touch Stay offers a streamlined way to provide guests with all the necessary information about their stay and the local area.

Key Features of Touch Stay:

  1. Comprehensive Information Delivery: Touch Stay enables hosts to compile detailed information about their property, including check-in procedures, house rules, Wi-Fi instructions, and appliance usage guidelines.
  2. Local Area Insights: The platform allows hosts to go beyond the property itself by including recommendations for local restaurants, attractions, and activities, providing guests with a comprehensive travel guide.
  3. User-Friendly Interface: Designed with a focus on user experience, Touch Stay’s guidebooks are easy to navigate, ensuring that guests of all tech-savviness levels can access the information effortlessly.
  4. Personalization and Branding: Hosts can customize their guidebooks to reflect their brand, adding a personal touch that resonates with guests and enhances brand identity.
  5. Mobile Accessibility: Guests can access these guidebooks on their mobile devices, providing convenient and instant information from the moment they book their stay.
  6. Offline Availability: A notable feature of Touch Stay is the ability for guests to download the guidebook for offline use, ensuring access even in areas with limited internet connectivity.

Cleaning Operations

Maintenance

Sensors

Optimizing Operations with Cleaning and Maintenance Tech Solutions

The industry’s profitability is increasingly tied to operational efficiency. With the market facing consolidation, hospitality operators are under pressure to maintain profitability. Efficient operations help in reducing overheads and maximizing returns, especially in a competitive market.

Cleaning and maintenance software are crucial tools for effectively managing short-term rental operations. This type of software streamlines the process of scheduling and tracking cleaning tasks, ensuring that each property is properly prepared for new guests. It often includes features for assigning tasks to cleaning staff, with real-time updates and checklists to guarantee thoroughness and efficiency. Maintenance management is critical, allowing property managers to swiftly address repairs and upkeep, minimizing downtime and enhancing guest satisfaction. The software typically integrates operational tasks such as inventory management, ensuring that all necessary supplies are well-stocked. Software that automates and streamlines these tasks, saves time and enhances guest experience in the competitive short-term rental market.

Why Do You Need Cleaning Software In Your Short-Term Rental Tech Stack?

Cleaning is one of the most complex operations in the short-term rental industry. Ensuring that each property is spotless and ready for new guests is a logistical challenge. From coordinating schedules to maintaining high standards of cleanliness, it’s hard to keep it under control without dedicated  resources.  Cleaning software streamlines these processes, offering features like automated scheduling, detailed checklists, and real-time updates. It simplifies the coordination between property managers and cleaning staff and ensures a consistently high-quality guest experience. Housekeeping software significantly streamlines vacation rental operations, ensuring success through efficient cleaning management.

Top Cleaning Software for Vacation Rental Industry

There are various options, offering to solve the complexity of housekeeping operations in the industry.

Turno

Turno is a software that allows vacation rental owners to create automated cleaning schedules and enjoy hands-free management. They offer turnover scheduling, maintenance tracking, quality assurance, and inventory management to simplify housekeeping in vacation rentals.

Some of the main features of Turno are:

  • Auto scheduling: create automated cleaning schedules, which saves time and effort.
  • Auto payment: automate the payment process, so you don’t have to pay cleaners manually.
  • Photo checklists: create photo checklists to ensure that cleaners complete all tasks to your satisfaction.
  • Problem reporting: get problem reports from your cleaning team, so you can address them promptly.
  • Inventory management: keep track of inventory, so you can restock supplies as needed.

Properly

Properly is a cleaning and quality management app specifically designed for short-term rental properties.

The main features of Properly are:

  1. Visual Checklists: Allows property managers to create detailed, visual cleaning and setup checklists for each property, ensuring that cleaners know exactly what tasks need to be completed.
  2. Scheduling: Offers a scheduling tool to arrange cleaning sessions based on the rental calendar, ensuring that properties are cleaned and prepared in time for guest arrivals.
  3. Quality Control: Includes features for remote inspection and quality control, enabling property managers to verify that cleaning and setup tasks have been completed to their standards.
  4. Real-time Communication: Facilitates real-time communication between property managers and cleaners, allowing for quick updates, feedback, and resolution of any issues.
  5. Photo-Based Reporting: Cleaners can use the app to send photos of completed tasks, providing visual proof of work and allowing for immediate oversight.
  6. Marketplace for Service Providers: Some versions of the app offer access to a marketplace of service providers, making it easier for property managers to find and hire qualified cleaners and maintenance staff.

Cleaning Operations

Maintenance

Sensors

Top Maintenance Software for Vacation Rental Industry

We’ve mapped out the top solutions, short-term rental professionals use for maintenance.

Breezeway

Breezeway stands out in the industry for its comprehensive approach to property care. The company offers a suite of tools that streamline and enhance various aspects of rental maintenance.

Key features of Breezeway include:

  1. Robust tools for scheduling, tracking, and managing maintenance tasks, ensuring that properties are always in top condition.
  2. Advanced scheduling capabilities for cleaning tasks, along with detailed checklists and QA processes to maintain high standards of cleanliness.
  3. Customizable checklists for thorough property inspections, helping to identify and address issues before they impact guests.
  4. Automated Workflows related to cleaning, maintenance, and inspections, saving time and reducing the likelihood of human error.
  5. Communication features that enable seamless coordination between property managers, maintenance staff, and cleaning teams.
  6. Analytics and reporting tools, giving insights into the performance of property operations for making informed decisions.

EZcare

EZcare is focusing on streamlining back-office operations for vacation rentals. It offers a robust platform that encompasses housekeeping, maintenance, inspection, inventory, and guest services management.

Key features of EZcare include:

  1. Tools for scheduling and managing cleaning tasks, ensuring properties are always guest-ready.
  2. Functionalities for maintenance and property inspections, helping to maintain high standards and address issues promptly.
  3. Tracking and managing inventory capabilities, crucial for maintaining supplies and equipment needed for property upkeep.
  4. Features for guest services coordination, such as managing guest requests and services.
  5. Customizable Workflows to suit the specific needs of different properties.
  6. Seamless communication between property managers, maintenance staff, and cleaning teams.
  7. Detailed reporting and analytics for better insight into operational efficiency and property management.
  8. Multi-property management, making it suitable for property managers with diverse portfolios.

Cleaning Operations

Maintenance

Sensors

Why Do You Need Smart Sensors In Your Vacation Rentals?

Smart sensors significantly enhance property management. They monitor property conditions like noise, smoke, humidity, etc., ensuring comfort and safety for your guests and neighbors. They enable prompt responses to alarming conditions, preventing damage or inconvenience. Non intrusive occupancy-based sensors keep you in control of your properties without disturbing your guests or surroundings.

Best Smart Sensors for Short-Term Rentals

Here is a couple of smart sensors professional hospitality operators recommend.

Minut

Minut smart sensors are designed for the short-term rental market. They combine features of home security, like motion and glass break sensing, with environmental monitoring such as temperature, humidity, and mold detection. They also make your smoke alarms smart. Minut monitors noise levels and notifies you when it detects loud sounds, based on your own thresholds. It can also alert you when the number of mobile devices in the property increases, indicating a potential gathering. Additionally, it can send text messages or automated phone calls to guests when noise is detected. Minut prioritizes privacy, as it does not have a camera, does not record conversations, and does not store personal data of guests.

NoiseAware

NoiseAware smart sensors are designed to monitor noise levels in your property and alert you when the noise levels go over your set thresholds. The sensors are easy to install and can be used both indoors and outdoors. The indoor sensor is discreet and has no flashing lights, alarms, or batteries required. The outdoor sensor is weatherproof and can withstand the elements, including rain, snow, pool splash, and the occasional beer spray. NoiseAware monitors volume levels, not dialogue or specific sounds, making it 100% privacy-safe. You can set your own quiet hours and get notified when noise is too loud, protecting your neighbors and your properties. NoiseAware also offers an AutoResolve guest messaging feature that solves 90% of noise problems in under 30 minutes, most of those with just one text. CrowdControl occupancy monitoring is another optional feature that lets you find out when occupancy is on the rise at your property and prevent occupancy violations.

Data Centralization

Team Communication

Project Management

Centralize Your Data For Your Company’s Single Source Of Truth

Data centralization tools help you build a unified repository for all critical information, ranging from, instructions, amenities, pricing, etc. Centralizing data streamlines access, boosts efficiency and decision-making, and ensures consistent, accurate information management. Having all data in one place improves team communication, reduces miscommunication and errors. This is crucial in the dynamic, customer-centric short-term rental industry.

Best Data Centralization Tools For Vacation Rental Managers

These tools help you gather all data the company generates into an enterprise database, recently known as a data warehouse.

Notion

Notion is a versatile data centralization software that stands out for its comprehensive and flexible features. It combines notes, databases, kanban boards, wikis, and calendars in one unified workspace, catering to a wide range of organizational needs.

Key features include:

  1. Customizable Templates: Notion offers a variety of templates for different use cases, allowing users to tailor their workspace to specific needs.
  2. Integrated Databases: Users can create and manage databases with powerful filtering, sorting, and searching capabilities, ideal for tracking projects, tasks, and schedules.
  3. Rich Text Editing: Notion supports rich text editing, enabling users to create detailed documents with multimedia content, hyperlinks, and code blocks.
  4. Collaborative Workspace: Teams can collaborate in real-time, with options for sharing pages, assigning tasks, and leaving comments.
  5. Kanban Boards and Calendars: For project management, Notion provides kanban boards and calendar views, helping teams visualize progress and deadlines.
  6. Integration Capabilities: It integrates with other tools and services, enhancing workflow automation and data synchronization.

Airtable

Airtable offers an efficient way to centralize company information. It uniquely blends the features of a database with the user-friendly interface of a spreadsheet. It’s particularly popular for its versatility and ease of use in managing and organizing data.

Key features include:

  1. Customizable Views: Airtable allows users to view data in various formats, including grid, calendar, kanban, gallery, and form views, catering to different preferences and needs.
  2. Robust Database Functionality: While it operates like a spreadsheet, Airtable offers deeper database functionalities like linking records between tables, which is essential for relational data management.
  3. Rich Field Types: Users can input a range of data types, from text and numbers to attachments and checkboxes, making it suitable for diverse data collection.
  4. Collaboration Tools: Airtable supports real-time collaboration, allowing multiple users to edit and comment simultaneously, with changes instantly visible to all collaborators.
  5. Automation and Integration: It offers automation features to streamline workflows and integrates with numerous other apps and services for extended functionality.
  6. Templates and Blocks: Airtable provides a variety of pre-built templates for different industries and use cases. Its “blocks” feature adds extended functionalities like Gantt charts, pivot tables, and more.

Clickup

ClickUp is a productivity software that has gained popularity for its flexibility and wide array of features. It’s designed to cater to various organizational needs, making it an excellent tool for managing complex tasks and projects.

Key features of ClickUp include:

  1. Customizable Task Management: Users can customize tasks with statuses, priorities, and tags, making it easy to track and manage work according to specific needs.
  2. Multiple Views: ClickUp offers several views like List, Board (Kanban), Calendar, Gantt, and Box views, providing different perspectives for managing projects and tasks.
  3. Document and Wiki Creation: It allows for the creation of documents and wikis within the platform, facilitating centralized documentation and knowledge sharing.
  4. Collaboration and Communication Tools: The platform supports real-time collaboration with features like comments, shared views, and assigned comments, enhancing team communication.
  5. Advanced Reporting: ClickUp provides detailed reporting and analytics tools, which help in monitoring project progress, team productivity, and time tracking.
  6. Integration Capabilities: It integrates with a wide range of other tools and apps, allowing for streamlined workflows and data synchronization across platforms.
  7. Automation Features: ClickUp includes automation features to reduce repetitive tasks, streamline processes, and improve efficiency.
  8. Customizable Dashboards: Users can create fully customizable dashboards to get an overview of tasks, projects, and team performance.

Data Centralization

Team Communication

Project Management

Enhance Efficiency With Team Communication Systems

Internal Communication Systems (ICS) are platforms used within a vacation rental company to connect vacation rental managers, property owners, maintenance, and all those who make the short-term property successful. 

They make sharing information, discussing projects, and coordinating tasks easier. By using ICS, everyone in the company can stay updated, work better together, and make sure they are all on the same page regarding tasks and goals. 

ICS can include:

  • Messaging apps like Slack or Microsoft Teams
  • Intranet systems 
  • Email platforms like Microsoft Outlook or Gmail
  • Other communication tools that help in sharing information
  • Document-sharing platforms like Google Drive or Dropbox
  • Updates and feedback within the team or across different departments
  • Video conferencing tools like Zoom 

These tools help keep communication smooth, organized, and accessible to everyone within the organization, which is crucial for successful project execution and overall productivity.

5 Benefits of Internal Communication Systems

  1. Faster Responses: Helps staff answer guest requests quickly, making guests happier.
  2. Immediate Work Order Execution: When a work order comes in, relevant staff are notified instantly for quicker action.
  3. Real-Time Information: Everyone stays updated on ongoing tasks in real-time, aiding coordinated efforts for timely responses to guests.
  4. Boosted Efficiency: ICS cuts down time normally spent on phone calls or searching for team members, leading to smoother operations.
  5. Documented Communications: With an ICS, all communications are archived which is useful for clarity and accountability among the team, ensuring everyone is on the same page regarding tasks.

Useful Team Communication Systems For Vacation Rental Managers

These tools enhance internal communication by providing platforms for instant messaging, video conferencing, file sharing, and more.

Slack

An intuitive messaging app for teams that makes it easy to communicate in real time and collaborate with everyone on the team.

  • Pros: Provides channels for topic-specific discussions, integrates with numerous other apps, and supports file sharing.
  • Cons: Can become cluttered for larger teams, the search function could be improved, and may require a paid plan for extensive usage.

Microsoft Teams

A collaboration tool integrating with Microsoft 365 suite, providing chat, video meetings, and file storage.

  • Pros: Features like scheduling assistance, note-taking, desktop sharing, and a robust set of integrations.
  • Cons: Can be complex for new users, performance issues on slower networks, and can get expensive with additional features.

Zoom

A platform offering video conferencing, messaging, and file sharing, facilitating virtual meetings and collaborations.

  • Pros: High-quality video and audio, ease of use, and cross-platform compatibility.
  • Cons: Security concerns, subscription can be costly for additional features.

Data Centralization

Team Communication

Project Management

Ensure Efficient Task Completion With Project Management Software

Project management software centralizes tracking, task assignment, and deadlines, essential for fast-paced short-term rental environments. Additionally, these solutions enhance team collaboration and communication, reducing the likelihood of errors or oversights. Integrating project management tools boosts service quality, optimizes resources, and enhances guest satisfaction in short-term rentals.

Useful Project Management Software For Vacation Rental Managers

These tools help professional property managers track projects, create and assign tasks, set deadlines and track completion. 

Trello

A project management tool that uses a card and board system to visually organize tasks, deadlines, and projects.

  • Pros:  Intuitive design, various integration options, and a free option available.
  • Cons: Lacks advanced project management features, and may not scale well for larger projects.

Asana

A comprehensive tool for planning, organizing, and tracking work and projects.

  • Pros: Extensive features, integrates with many apps, and provides different views (list, board, timeline).
  • Cons: Can be overwhelming for new users, premium features require a subscription.

Monday

Monday.com is a comprehensive project management tool. 

  • Pros: A highly intuitive interface and extensive customization options, enhancing project management and team collaboration.
  • Cons: Its premium pricing and complex advanced features may present challenges for smaller teams or budget-conscious businesses.

Foster Deep Relationships in Your Hospitality Business

In hospitality, fostering strong relationships with guests, owners, industry peers, and local communities is key to success. Good guest relations enhance loyalty and advocacy, while solid partnerships with property owners ensure trust and long-term collaboration. Networking with industry peers provides valuable insights and shared resources. Positive community engagement supports sustainable operations and enhances the brand’s reputation. Growth-oriented companies are prioritizing these relationships and leveraging technology to nurture them effectively at scale.

CRM

Owner Portal

Marketing Systems

Strengthening Guest Connections with Vacation Rental CRM Tools

By consolidating guest information and preferences, CRM tools enable personalized service, fostering repeat bookings and customer loyalty. Effective CRM integration helps in efficiently interacting with guests, tracking satisfaction, and nurturing future bookings. This not only enhances the guest experience but also provides valuable insights for business improvements.

CRM Software for Short-Term Rentals 

Here are a couple of the most popular solutions short-term rental managers are using to manage customer relations. 

Hubspot

Property managers can effectively use HubSpot to manage relationships with their guests:

  1. Centralized Guest Information: Store and organize all guest information in one place. This includes contact details, booking history, preferences, communication logs, enabling a more personalized approach to guest interactions.
  2. Automations: Automate marketing and communication emails.
  3. Marketing Campaigns: Create targeted email campaigns, social media posts, and advertisements, helping to attract new guests and encourage repeat bookings.
  4. Feedback Collection and Management: Automate feedback requests post-stay and collect reviews, which is crucial for reputation management and service improvement.
  5. Data Analysis and Reporting: Get insights into guest behavior, booking trends, and overall business performance with analytics and reporting tools.

Salesforce

Salesforce, is a professional complex software with high functionality and premium pricing. Professional property management companies use the following features:

  1. Advanced Analytics and Reporting: In-depth insights into guest behavior and booking trends, crucial for strategic decision-making.
  2. Robust Marketing Tools: Targeted marketing campaigns and personalized guest communications, essential for attracting and retaining guests.
  3. Comprehensive Guest Data Management: Centralized detailed guest profiles, booking histories, and preferences, allowing for tailored guest experiences.
  4. Integration Capabilities: Seamless integrations with existing property management systems, ensuring efficient operation and data consistency.

Enso Connect (Beta)

Enso Connect stands out in hospitality tech with its AI Unified Inbox, Smart Automations, Boarding Pass app, and Upselling capabilities. Built on advanced data collection tools and conditional logic, it personalizes and automates guest interactions throughout their stay. This includes messaging, check-in, in-stay experiences, and post-stay communication like review requests and anniversary messages.

The main CRM functionality of Enso Connect includes:

  • Advanced Form Builder for guest data collection
  • AI Sentiment Recognition
  • “If this than that” logic, used in automated communications through Unified Inbox
  • Tagging abilities to better segment your guest contacts
  • Ability to export your data in CSV format

Cultivating Lasting Partnerships with Short-term Rental Property Owners

In the vacation rental management business, maintaining a cohesive system that delivers on property owners’ experience is crucial. Property managers need to ensure that their owners’ needs are properly addressed and met.

CRM

Owner Portal

Marketing Systems

Owner Relationships Software for Short-Term Rentals

Many Property Management Software (PMS) providers offer Owner Portal for their users to manage owner relationships. However, vacation rental professionals, like Rebecca Cribbin, note a lack of technology for effectively managing owners’ experience. Among Enso-connected hospitality professionals popular tools for managing owner relationships include ClickUp, Notion, and Airtable.

Unlike real estate agents, rental companies are here in a long game. We need to make sure that our property owners, the people who we actually work for, are our advocates and stay with us throughout the years. There is not enough technology to manage owners’ experience. We must manage the relationships from the initial meeting, through the years we want to keep them onboard and happy. Establishing trust and transparency with the owners is the goal of all hospitality professionals with this business model. The expectations of the owners are high, as well as their mortgages. They still expect the “post-Covid frenzy” returns, while the market is back to the 2019 performance.
Short-term rental accommodation owners want to be hands-off but also to have good visibility on their properties’ performance. It is a challenge to keep them engaged and understanding what actually is done to keep their investments profitable.

Rebecca CribbinOwner and Founder of Holiday Rental Specialists

CRM

Owner Portal

Marketing Systems

Best Email Marketing Tools for Short-Term Rentals

When discussing technology for relationship building, we can’t avoid mentioning email marketing software as a distinct category. While many operators may not have a CRM with built-in email marketing tools, they all engage in email campaigns. The most popular email marketing software among Enso-connected professionals includes MailChimp, Constant Contact, and Klaviyo.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Enso Connect make managing vacation rentals easier?

Enso Connect streamlines the vacation rental management process by offering an all-in-one guest experience platform that integrates with property management software and major OTA, Airbnb. It features a unified inbox for all guest communications, automated check-ins and check-outs through smart lock connectivity and personalized guest journeys.

How does EnsoAI’s messaging automation work to improve guest communication?

Enso Connect’s AI messaging utilizes machine learning to provide timely and personalized communication with guests. It can automate responses to common inquiries, confirm bookings, and provide guests with essential information like check-in instructions or local recommendations. Custom automation allows property managers to set up specific triggers for messages, ensuring guests receive the right information at the right time.

How does Enso Connect handle guest verification and security?

Enso Connect handles guest verification and security by offering a white-labelled guest verification process that can be customized according to the property manager’s requirements. This process ensures that guests are who they say they are, adding a layer of security to the booking process. Additionally, the platform supports the management of security deposits and damage waivers to protect property owners from potential losses due to guest actions.

How does Enso Connect elevate the guest experience?

Enso Connect enhances the guest experience by providing a range of features designed to make their stay more convenient and personalized. Guests can benefit from contactless access, AI-driven messaging for instant support, digital guidebooks with property and local area information, and the ability to easily purchase upsells and additional services through the platform. These features contribute to a seamless, comfortable, and memorable stay for guests.

What can Enso Connect automate for rental property managers?

With Enso Connect, you can expect automation in various aspects of managing your rental property. This includes automated guest communications, contactless check-ins and check-outs via smart locks, scheduling of maintenance and cleaning through digital coordination, and the ability to offer and manage upsells and additional services. These automated processes help to save time, reduce errors, and improve guest satisfaction.

Book A Demo With Enso Connect

Running a successful short-term rental property requires a blend of excellent service, efficient operations, and strategic use of technology. While a universal all-in-one software solution doesn’t exist, a well-curated tech stack, including tools like Enso Connect, can significantly enhance management efficiency, guest satisfaction, and profitability.

For vacation rental managers using systems like Streamline, Track, and Hostfully, Enso Connect can seamlessly augment your tech stack, providing a unified inbox, upselling opportunities, and automation tools.

TALK TO OUR TEAM

Download our Tech Stack Checklist!

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The Best GuestView Guide Alternative to Switch To https://ensoconnect.com/blog/the-best-guestview-guide-alternative/ Tue, 10 Oct 2023 03:21:45 +0000 https://ensoconnect.com/?p=32069 The post The Best GuestView Guide Alternative to Switch To appeared first on Enso Connect Inc..

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In the dynamic world of hospitality technology, staying updated with the best tools is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge. GuestView Guide has long been recognized for its digital concierge display, offering vacation homes a streamlined way to enhance guest experiences. However, with its recent discontinuation, many property managers and hospitality professionals are on the lookout for a worthy alternative that can deliver the same level of excellence and innovation.

Enter Enso Connect—a platform that not only serves as a viable replacement for GuestView Guide but also offers advanced features that set it apart. Enso Connect is designed to meet the evolving needs of modern hospitality, providing a comprehensive suite of tools that enhance guest interaction and streamline property management.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the key features and benefits of both GuestView Guide and Enso Connect. We will delve into how Enso Connect’s advanced functionalities, user-friendly interface, and integration capabilities make it an ideal choice for forward-thinking hospitality professionals. From its seamless digital concierge services to its innovative guest communication tools, Enso Connect represents a significant step forward in hospitality technology.

By understanding the advantages of Enso Connect, property managers and hoteliers can make informed decisions about upgrading their technology stack to better meet the demands of today’s travelers and improve overall operational efficiency. This guide will highlight why Enso Connect is not just an alternative but a superior choice for those looking to elevate their guest experience and stay ahead in the competitive hospitality landscape.

What is GuestView Guide?

GuestView Guide offers digital concierge services, a display that can be mounted on walls within vacation rental properties.

This display provides guests with an easy way to communicate and obtain additional information about the property and its location.

The goal of the GuestView Guide is to personalize the experience for guests, making their stay more informative and convenient.

GuestView Guide screen in a short-term rental unit

Why Consider an Alternative to GuestView?

Main reasons users seek alternatives to software solutions are cost, features, user experience or support. In this case the reason is different. GuestView Guide have customers who are advocating for the company and their solution. However, the company is discontinuing service next year, with no new subscribers to Guest Guide.

If you are a user of this product, looking for the best alternative to GuestView Guide, consider Enso Connect. In this article we will explain why Enso Connect stands out as the best alternative to GuestView Guide you can find.

Why GuestViewGuide is being discontinued?

GuestView Guide’s parent company, Sharp NEC Display Solutions has announced that the product will be discontinued in October, 2024. They explain closure of the business by the need to align with Sharp NEC’s broader vision for the future.

Sharp NEC Display Solutions is a well known manufacturer of computer monitors and large-screen public-information displays. The company is a leader in interactive display technology with over 100 years of innovation and experience. We didn’t find any official clarifications from the company about this change.

GuestView Guide Features

Here are the main features of GuestView Guide, aimed to enhance guest experience, streamline operations, and boost revenue through upselling and promotions.

Personalized Local Experience

Welcome Screen

A personalized welcome screen greets guests upon arrival.

Check-in Survey

Collects guests’ first impressions of the property, allowing for immediate feedback and issue resolution.

Home Screen

Provides guests with weather updates, how-to videos on amenities (e.g., home entertainment system), and local area suggestions.

Delighted Guests

Local Recommendations

Curated list of recommended local restaurants and businesses, complemented by personalized comments.

Local Activities

Suggestions for local activities to offer guests a genuine local experience.

Slideshows

When not in use, the GuestView Guide displays local art and images, serving as a digital gallery that complements the property’s décor.

Reduced Questions Asked

How-To Property Information

Videos that provide basic information, such as WiFi code access, TV usage, or hot tub unlocking procedures.

Just-in-Time Guest Communication

Enables real-time communication or scheduled guest messages, such as trash day reminders.

Interactive Guest Checkout

Provides guests with a checkout checklist and notifies the property manager and team upon guest checkout.

Revenue Generation

Add-on Services

Upsell services like late checkout or mid-stay cleaning directly through the display.

Digital Billboard

Promote services, activities, and even cross-promote other properties to enhance the guest experience and generate additional revenue.

Rebooking

Promotes and facilitates direct bookings in-stay, with the option to use promotional codes as incentives.

The Best Alternative to GuestView Guide

How much does GuestView Guide Cost?

The cost of GuestView Guide starts from $39.99 per month for one guide, with a minimum commitment of one year.

GuestView Guide, offered by SHARP NEC, operates on a subscription basis with both initial and recurring payment features. The subscription entails a 1-year initial contract, after which it defaults to a month-to-month basis. Payments can be made monthly or annually, and the subscription auto-renews unless canceled with a 5-day notice. SHARP NEC retains ownership of the GuestView Guide Display, which is leased to users during the subscription period. If canceled, the display must be returned, and failure to do so incurs charges. The device collects anonymized guest interaction data, which SHARP NEC owns but licenses to subscribers. In case of device malfunction, users must report within 14 days, and any breaches in the agreement can lead to termination and associated penalties.

Why users love GuestView Guide?

Julia Rossi from Grey Domain/McKenzie Corner, using GuestView Guide in her vacation rental business shared why she loves it. GuestView Guide offers a comprehensive, interactive, and personalized experience, enhancing guest stay, provides local insights, offers upselling and rebooking opportunities.

Personalized Experience

GuestView Guide offers a tailored experience designed to make guests feel welcomed and appreciated throughout their stay. One notable feature is the customizable tablet display, which can cycle through a variety of images and messages to create a personalized touch. For instance, the tablet can prominently feature a slide that says “Welcome” along with a warm photo of the host’s family. This personal touch helps to create a friendly, inviting atmosphere right from the moment guests arrive.

Additionally, GuestView Guide allows property managers to showcase personalized messages, local recommendations, and custom content that reflects the unique character of the property. This level of customization not only enhances the guest experience but also reinforces the host’s commitment to providing a memorable and engaging stay.

By incorporating such personalized elements, GuestView Guide helps to foster a sense of connection and hospitality, making guests feel valued and cared for. This personalized approach can lead to higher guest satisfaction, positive reviews, and repeat bookings, ultimately contributing to the overall success and reputation of the rental property.

Local Insights

The guide provides valuable insights into local experiences, offering guests a curated view of what to do during their stay. It serves as a comprehensive resource, highlighting various local events, restaurants, attractions, and unique activities tailored specifically to the property’s location.

For instance, guests can easily access information about upcoming festivals, farmers’ markets, or cultural events happening in the area. Recommendations for popular dining spots, hidden gem restaurants, and must-visit attractions are prominently featured, helping guests make informed decisions about how to spend their time.

The guide can also include personalized suggestions based on the property’s location and the guest’s preferences, such as outdoor adventures, historical sites, or family-friendly activities. By providing this curated content, the guide enhances the guest experience by offering a local perspective and making it easier for visitors to explore and enjoy the destination.

Additionally, the ability to update and refresh the guide’s content ensures that guests receive the most current information, which can be particularly valuable for new or seasonal attractions. This dynamic approach not only enriches the guest experience but also helps property managers showcase their knowledge and passion for the local area.

Upsell Opportunities

The guide offers a range of additional service opportunities, providing a platform to promote local experiences and encourage guests to rebook for their next vacation. Through its user-friendly interface, the guide can seamlessly highlight local tours, special events, and exclusive activities, enhancing the overall guest experience without being intrusive.

For example, property managers can feature tailored recommendations for local attractions, such as guided city tours, cooking classes, or outdoor adventures, directly on the guide. This not only adds value to the guest’s stay but also creates additional revenue streams through potential partnerships with local businesses.

Furthermore, the guide can subtly encourage guests to consider future stays by showcasing promotions, special offers, or loyalty programs. By integrating a gentle call-to-action or offering a special discount for repeat bookings, property managers can effectively promote future reservations while maintaining a respectful and non-intrusive approach.

This strategic use of the guide ensures that promotional efforts are well-integrated into the guest experience, providing relevant information at the right moments and fostering a sense of appreciation and connection. As a result, guests are more likely to leave with positive impressions and consider rebooking or recommending the property to others.

Just-in-Time Communication

The guide facilitates just-in-time communication, enabling property managers to send timely announcements and promotions directly to guests during their stay. This feature enhances the guest experience by keeping them informed about real-time opportunities and events that they might otherwise miss.

For instance, if a local event, concert, or festival is taking place, the guide can promptly notify guests, ensuring they’re aware of exciting happenings in the area. This real-time information allows guests to make spontaneous plans and fully enjoy their destination.

Additionally, the guide can offer exclusive rates or special access to tickets for these local events, creating added value for guests and enhancing their overall experience. Property managers can leverage this feature to form partnerships with local event organizers or businesses, potentially earning commissions or fostering goodwill within the community.

By utilizing just-in-time communication, property managers can also provide essential updates or changes, such as adjustments to check-out times or maintenance schedules, ensuring that guests are always in the loop. This proactive approach not only improves guest satisfaction but also streamlines property management, allowing for a smoother and more enjoyable stay for everyone involved.

Affiliate Marketing with Local Businesses

GuestView Guide excels in affiliate marketing, allowing property managers to broker deals with local businesses and promote them on the guide. This not only enhances the guest experience but also provides additional revenue opportunities for hospitality operators.

Rebooking Incentives

One of the most loved capabilities is the ability to encourage guests to rebook while they are still at the property. By offering incentives or discounts for future stays, property managers can secure future bookings and enhance guest loyalty.

Interactive and Engaging

The tablet is more than just a static display. It’s interactive, allowing guests to explore, make bookings, and engage with the content. This makes their stay more enjoyable and informative.

Promotional Real Estate

The guide offers valuable promotional real estate. Between slides showcasing the property or welcoming guests, there’s room for advertisements from local businesses or partners. This not only provides additional revenue opportunities but also enhances the guest experience by offering them curated recommendations.

Alternatives to GuestView Guide: guest apps and digital guides

While GuestView Guide has made a significant mark in the rental industry, digital alternatives are gaining popularity among hospitality professionals. Digital guides and guidebook apps have emerged as essential tools for property managers. While there’re options like Hostfully guidebooks, Touch Stay and Hellohere app, for advanced functionality and seamless tech integration, consider Enso Connect.

What is a digital guidebook?

The digital welcome book or guidebook serves as a one-stop-shop for guests, providing them with essential information and recommendations. They include everything from house rules, property and amenity manuals, check-in and checkout instructions to neighbourhood guides and local attractions. The globally renowned guest experience innovator, Airbnb, defines Airbnb guidebook in this manner: “Can’t be there to give your guests the local tour? Take a few minutes to create a guidebook—it’s a great way to win over travelers. You can suggest your favorite restaurants, stores, parks, and attractions.”

What is a guest app?

guest app is a specialized digital tool used in hospitality, offering guests a single platform to access essential accommodation details, local guides, and service requests. It facilitates direct communication with property management, enables digital check-in/check-out processes, and often includes features for booking, promotions, and loyalty program tracking. By integrating various functionalities, the app significantly enhances the guest experience, streamlines property operations, and fosters a stronger guest-property relationship.

The best alternative to GuestView Guide: Enso Connect

Guest-centric hospitality professionals, using or considering GuestView Guide for their businesses will benefit from Enso Connect. It is a dynamic guest experience platform empowering vacation rentals and boutique hotels to connect, configure and monetize their guest interactions. Beyond digital guidebooks and upselling features, Enso-connected users benefit from a plethora of capabilities, streamlining interactions throughout the guest journey:

An AI-powered Unified Inbox with email, SMS messages, WhatsApp and Airbnb guest messaging;

The Boarding Pass guest web app, that serves as your property’s virtual boarding pass, reminiscent of airline flight passes;

Custom workflows and automations;

Guest data collection and guest verification;

Configuration capabilities with “if this then that” conditions throughout the entire platform;

Custom upsells, affiliate marketing and local partnerships tools;

Online check-in and checkout with step-by-step instructions;

Smart home connectivity: contactless access with smart locks and noise control with sensors;

and more.

Enso Connect VS GuestView: Pros and cons comparison summary

GuestView Guide
Enso Connect

Personalized Experience

Welcome Screen
A personalized welcome screen greets guests upon arrival.
Guests receive the Boarding Pass link after booking. The greeting message can be personalized and customized according to needs of every individual hospitality business.
Check-in Survey
Collects guests’ first impressions of the property, allowing for immediate feedback and issue resolution.
There are “Support” button in the Boarding Pass, that is available to guests 24/7 after verification. They can report any issues within the Boarding Pass or find needed answers in the property guidebooks.
Home Screen
Provides guests with weather updates, how-to videos on amenities (e.g., home entertainment system), and local area suggestions.
The Boarding Pass features weather in local address, and the guidebooks can be created and adjusted to any need: from house rules to neighbourhood restaurants list.

Happy Guests

Local Recommendations
Curated list of recommended local restaurants and businesses, complemented by personalized comments.
Enso Connect guidebooks allow creating any lists of recommendations, directions and demonstrations, accompanied wit links, images, videos, etc.
Local Activities
Suggestions for local activities to offer guests a genuine local experience.
In the Boarding Pass, the guests are prompted to customize their stay with upsells and activities. Many operators add their affiliate links when offering these.
Slideshows
When not in use, the GuestView Guide displays local art and images, serving as a digital gallery that complements the property’s décor.
No slide shows in the Boarding Pass

Reduced Questions Asked - Operational Efficiency

How-To Property Information
Videos that provide basic information, such as Wi-Fi access, TV usage, or hot tub unlocking procedures.
Enso Connect's guidebooks allow creating guides about anything, including videos, links, images, etc. EnsoAl will help writing these guides in seconds.
Just-in-Time Guest Communication
Enables real-time communication with guests or scheduled messages, such as trash day reminders.
With Enso Connect you can schedule reminders or any messages you need to send to your guests anytime. It is the best guest communication tool for vacation rentals.
Interactive Guest Check-in
The screen is in the unit, so interaction is not available before the guest actually gets inside.
Provides guests with step-by-step check-in instructions and • notifies short-term rental managers upon guest check-in
Interactive Guest Checkout
Provides guests with a checkout checklist and notifies the property manager and team upon guest checkout.
Provides guests with step-by-step checkout instructions and notifies rental property managers upon guest checkout. Automatically send guest reviews request to only happy guests, boosting the likelihood of receiving positive reviews.

Revenue Generation

Add-on Services
Upsell services like late checkout or mid-stay cleaning directly through the display. The early check-in or any pre-stay extra services and communication unavailable.
The users can add and customize any upsells they want to offer to their guests.
Digital Billboard
Promote services, activities, and even cross-promote other properties to enhance the guest experience and generate additional revenue.
No digital billboard is available. However the Boarding Pass app is at the guests' fingertips anytime anywhere - in their smartphones.
Rebooking
Promotes and facilitates direct bookings in-stay, with the option to use promotional codes as incentives.
Prompting guests to rebook their stay as part of the checkout process.

Pricing and available plans

Enso Connect’s pricing is available on the website. Visitors are asked to provide information about their location, number of properties managed and Property Management Software used. After including these details, hospitality professionals get instant price quote that is tailored for their needs.

Factors to Consider When Switching

Data migration and integration capabilities

Enso Connect seamlessly integrates with leading property management systems for short-term rentals and boutique hotels. While each integration offers varying degrees of two-way synchronization, all maintain high-quality API connections. See the full list of available PMS integrations here.

Set up and onboarding process

We pride ourselves on having one of the swiftest onboarding processes in the sector. Our Guest Journey Editor facilitates a speedy setup, without compromising quality. All new customers have at least two onboarding sessions with our team, that is also available for following questions.

Customer support

Our customer testimonials frequently highlight the Enso Connect support team. This recognition is well-deserved, as we prioritize providing attentive, human-centric support, ensuring timely and optimal solutions for our users.

Compatibility with existing systems and tools

Enso Connect has many partnerships and third-party integrations with best-in-class hospitality tech tools. This is why we are known to be the “Zapier of hospitality” and will help you connect any powerful tool that you already use. Check the details with the Enso Connect team to receive the exact plan for compatibility.

Conclusion

While the discontinuation of GuestView Guide is unfortunate, it opens doors to explore more advanced platforms like Enso Connect. With its plethora of features, integrations, and top-notch support, Enso Connect is set to redefine the hospitality tech landscape. If you’re considering making the switch, now is the time. Elevate your overall guest experience, boost revenue and reduce operational costs to grow your business efficiently with Enso Connect.

Reach out to see Enso Connect in action

BOOK A DEMO

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What is price optimization? https://ensoconnect.com/blog/what-is-price-optimization/ https://ensoconnect.com/blog/what-is-price-optimization/#respond Wed, 07 Jul 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://ensoconnect.com/what-is-price-optimization/ Enso Connect has integrated with Wheelhouse to help with price optimization for your vacation rentals

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Price Optimization Wheelhouse

Maximizing your profits

Like everything else involved in running your vacation rental business, things can be optimized to be more efficient and produce better results. The pricing of your listing is one of the most important things to optimize as it can greatly increase your take home profit. Price optimization, in a few words, is adjusting the price to stay at your property depending on the external factors surrounding your property. These external factors include, but are not limited to: season, location, and events that are happening nearby. Think of the car sharing platform Uber, they are notorious for offering surge pricing during peak hours — that is, they increase the price to ride when many customers are looking for rides.

This same process applies to your business. If you modify the pricing structure to take into consideration the different factors, your take home pay will undoubtedly be much higher than usual. Situations like New Years Eve, or a fan expo near you are great times to hike up the prices so that you get the most money out of your property. Manually modifying your pricing can be quite arduous and leave you feeling overwhelmed which is why there are many dynamic pricing tools available that can help.

We’ve integrated with Wheelhouse, a dynamic pricing tool that aims to remove all of the guessing when it comes to pricing your property. Wheelhouse uses unique algorithms and past reservation history to determine what the best price is for your property given that day, time, and location. This can not only increase your revenue but will also give you peace of mind.

Dynamic pricing tools are a great way of quickly boosting your revenue as the tool does all the work for you. If you have any questions regarding pricing tools or whether or not it’s the right fit for you, feel free to email us at contact@ensoconnect.com

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What software can help guest comfort levels https://ensoconnect.com/blog/what-software-can-help-guest-comfort-levels/ https://ensoconnect.com/blog/what-software-can-help-guest-comfort-levels/#respond Fri, 02 Apr 2021 15:00:00 +0000 https://ensoconnect.com/what-software-can-help-guest-comfort-levels/ There is an increasing need for software for guest comfort in today's vacation rental industry

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With the ease of restrictions in some areas around the world it is becoming increasingly more important to figure out what can ease the minds of your future guests so that they will want to stay with you again. With the increased importance of maintaining distance and having contactless solutions, the way you operate your Short Term Rental has to shift towards that same ideology. Gone are the days of in-person check-ins and many other physical aspects of the rental industry. Property technology has seen massive growth throughout the pandemic, as hosts and guests are relying on these remote and contactless solutions to increase their comfort level for the virus. The real question is, what software is needed to increase guest comfort?

What you need for your STR

Contactless Check-in

For many guests, they would prefer to not meet with anyone or talk to anyone when trying to check-in to their stay. Services like August Locks can help with giving guests contactless check-in; with smart locks, guests are able to access the rental without anyone interfering with them.

Smart Home Devices

One of the lesser thought about solutions is the plethora of smart home devices that can minimize common touchpoints in a rental. Such products like Google Home and Amazon Alexa can automate certain tasks and answers that guests might have as well as connecting to other smart enabled products in the home. Connecting your devices and switching over to smart enabled devices ensures that guests can operate them by voice instead of physically touching them. Removing the touchpoints can ensure a lower transmission rate by contact.

Automated Service Cleanings

There are several property management softwares out there that can automate your room cleanings. Cleanliness is now of paramount importance for guest and host safety, and the ability to automate this task can save you time as well as give you and your guests peace of mind.

There are many other services that can help with comforting guests, but these are your top three solutions that can help right now. If you have any questions about how any of these services work, or have any solutions of your own, feel free to email us at contact@ensoconnect.com.

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Dealing with guest communications https://ensoconnect.com/blog/dealing-with-guest-communications/ https://ensoconnect.com/blog/dealing-with-guest-communications/#respond Tue, 02 Feb 2021 14:00:00 +0000 https://ensoconnect.com/dealing-with-guest-communications/ Trying to balance every aspect of your rental property can be quite difficult. Figuring out ways to save time is easier than expected.

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Importance of communicating with your guests

Orchestrating a trip can prove to be quite strenuous, especially if you are traveling somewhere you’ve never been before. Organizing your accommodations can sometimes be the most challenging aspect of the entire process. Deciding where to stay might be straightforward, but booking the right place can often become a headache. Communication with your host can be a mixed bag: they might be highly responsive, completely unresponsive, or even disappear after you’ve made the booking.

As a host of a vacation home, short-term rental, or even when having friends stay over, it is your responsibility to ensure that your guests are well taken care of and that any inquiries are addressed promptly. Effective communication is crucial; when questions go unanswered, guests are often left to resolve issues on their own. This can lead to frustration and, depending on the nature of the issue, potentially result in property damage or dissatisfaction. Ensuring that you are readily available to answer questions and provide support is essential for maintaining a positive guest experience and protecting your property.

Communicating with guests takes time

Being a property manager or a vacation home operator, you may find that guests routinely ask the same questions, making your answers and the whole experience feel monotonous. This monotony mixed with the sheer number of guests, may end up making you overwhelmed and just respond to the most pressing questions. Part of being a good host is being there for your guests and being able to answer even the most rudimentary questions. If you are feeling that you receive too many messages/texts/emails from guests or are having trouble finding messages among them all, you’re not alone.

Enso Connect conducted some exploratory research targeting hosts and guests alike in part to determine what aspects of short term rentals and short term stays are a pain point. What we found is that communication was the prominent pain point among both guests and hosts. Having questions answered on time was especially important for guests, and being able to answer every question was seemingly quite difficult for very busy hosts. When trying to streamline your communication with guests, there are tools out there that can help you.

Using smart features and software can help with time

New software for hosts can help with streamlining communication with unified inboxes, automated messages, message templates, and scheduled messages. If you find that you like to give every guest a personalized touch when communicating, you don’t have to use the automated features but instead take advantage of the unified inbox. Where previously old messages could be lost in the sea of other messages, you can easily see what messages are unanswered and who they’re from. If you are looking to fully simplify your communication, automated messages and the other features mentioned above, can easily cut down time spent messaging guests the same message you’ve sent before.

As guest communication is such a crucial aspect of the short let environment, being able to stay ahead and be able to reach out to everyone is something that guests will appreciate. Determining whether or not you need communication software may seem like an arduous process, but if you’re having trouble, reach out to us at contact@ensoconnect.com for more information.

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Being a remote host https://ensoconnect.com/blog/being-a-remote-host/ https://ensoconnect.com/blog/being-a-remote-host/#respond Thu, 07 Jan 2021 14:00:00 +0000 https://ensoconnect.com/being-a-remote-host/ Becoming a remote host may prove to be difficult, but there are several solutions that can help you succeed with your rental business.

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If you’ve been in the short term rental market for a while, you may have noticed that it has taken up a fair chunk of your free time. If property management is your full time source of income, then you’ll definitely know what I mean. Managing properties can be quite a time and energy consuming activity, as it requires your brain to always be on and ready for any hiccup that may come your way. If you are managing many guests on a regular basis, I can guarantee you’ve thought about different strategies to minimize time spent on each guest, while also maximizing the quality and income of your rental. One strategy that is sure to help is becoming a remote host for your properties.

Becoming a remote host involves leveraging technology and systems to manage your properties from a distance. This approach can significantly reduce the time and effort required for on-site management, allowing you to oversee multiple properties more efficiently. By utilizing automated systems for booking management, guest communication, and maintenance requests, you can ensure smooth operations without being physically present.

For example, remote hosting can involve setting up automated messaging for guest inquiries, using smart home devices to monitor and control property conditions, and employing virtual concierge services to handle guest needs. Additionally, implementing comprehensive property management software can centralize all your tasks and provide real-time updates on bookings, maintenance, and guest interactions.

By embracing remote hosting, you can optimize your workflow, reduce the likelihood of burnout, and focus on strategic growth opportunities. This approach not only enhances your operational efficiency but also provides a better balance between work and personal life. With the right tools and strategies in place, managing your properties remotely can become a seamless and effective solution to meet the demands of the short-term rental market.

Being able to remotely manage your property

What’s involved in becoming a remote host

For those of you who are new to the short-term rental space, a remote host is essentially a host who manages their property from a distance. This model allows you to oversee all aspects of your rental business without the need to be physically present at the property. As you embark on your new business venture, you might find that it becomes challenging to separate your home life from your work life. This blending of personal and professional spaces can lead to burnout and a lack of balance.

Being able to distinguish between your home life and your business life is crucial for maintaining both personal well-being and professional effectiveness. By adopting a remote hosting strategy, you create clear boundaries between your work and personal time. This separation not only enhances your home life but also provides you with a greater sense of control over your environment. It allows you to step away from the constant demands of property management, giving your mind the opportunity to rest and recharge.

Remote hosting can also lead to increased productivity and better decision-making. With the right tools and systems in place, you can manage bookings, communicate with guests, and address maintenance issues efficiently without being tied to a specific location. This flexibility enables you to enjoy your personal time more fully, knowing that your property is being managed effectively from afar.

Using software for your properties can help

Obviously distancing yourself from your property seems like a great idea, but what’s the catch? Well, in order to become a remote host, you are going to need some sort of framework that you can depend on to take care of things so you don’t have to. The easiest way in my opinion is to use property management software. As mentioned in other articles, PMS can drastically reduce time spent dealing with the small things that take up the most time. If you find you are spending a lot of time communicating with your guests about trivial things, PMS can actually help you. Some software’s offer scheduled messages for check in, checkout, and anything in between. Other software’s take it even one step further and offer message templates or even automated replies! Just like that, you’ve carved out some time for yourself.

With PMS, you can save time with guest communication and many other areas. Another tricky spot could be the optimization of rental pricing or your rental data. If you’re trying to determine rental prices by hand, and tabulating how well your business did, you’re wasting your time. Property management software’s can automatically do this for you, and even set rental prices to competitive amounts depending on location and events that are happening (think New Years Eve or Labour Day).

If you’re not currently at the stage of thinking about becoming a remote host, or you really prefer to still have a hands on approach, that is totally up to you. But one thing is for sure, and that is property management software can drastically reduce time spent on the small things, while also improving the overall efficiency of your rental business. As always, if you have any questions regarding becoming a remote host or anything else, feel free to reach out to contact@ensoconnect.com.

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Why a Property Management Software Is Needed for Your STR https://ensoconnect.com/blog/why-a-property-management-software-is-needed-for-your-str/ https://ensoconnect.com/blog/why-a-property-management-software-is-needed-for-your-str/#respond Thu, 15 Oct 2020 13:00:00 +0000 https://ensoconnect.com/why-a-property-management-software-is-needed-for-your-str/ Managing a rental is a lot of work and requires a lot of boring tasks. Using a property management software will help your rental business.

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There’s no denying that as lucrative as a short term rental (STR) property can be (depending on the location), it’s not the easiest source of income to manage. In fact, there are a fair amount of moving parts, a lot of client management, and even the slightest oversight or misstep can have an impact on a host’s ratings and host status.

On one hand, opening up a home or a room via a rental platform such as Airbnb, VRBO and the like can enable a potential host to reap financial rewards and possibly allow them to invest in other properties to build a diverse portfolio of rental income. To someone just starting off in the short term rental business, it seems like using rental platforms can permit a host some measure of passive income and allow them to work at their own convenience. But those in the know understand that this is far from true. In fact, managing a rental business, whether it’s one property or several, can actually be a full-time job.

Managing an Airbnb business is tedious and time consuming, as it is a service business. A host needs to deal with all manner of vacationers. You, as the host, need to deal with people, be attuned to all of their needs, answer all of their questions, and be ready to jump in to manage something or another. And that is on top of the regular maintenance of the property, ensuring that it’s clean and sanitized between reservations, and having a solid access management plan in place to let guests in, but also ensure that your property is secured at all times.

But, if you want to increase your guest turnover and occupancy rate, and increase your ratings and average cost/night, then you need to go above and beyond to ensure you offer the best customer service experience possible. This is why a Property Management Software service is a must have for your rental.

 

It’s Your Very Own Personal Assistant

A Property Management Software is the best way to maximize your revenue and enhance your guest’s experience and overall service, and allows you to be as hands off as you need to be. Its core benefit is to automate and mitigate all the mundane tasks such as answering questions, keeping track of your reviews, updating your listings page, managing keys and access and keeping all of your guest contacts organized across multiple booking platforms.

Here’s how the right service can streamline your rental management and save you a significant amount of time:

 

1. It’s Convenient and Practical

A PMS can offer a stress free experience when renting short term

Every service has its own perks and benefits, but the majority of them work across your multiple platforms and consolidates everything into one dashboard. With one click, you can see all of your reservations, check ins and outs, and can update your listings once and push it out to your different booking platforms.

This also applies to your inbox. Most services offer a unified inbox so that you can keep track of all guest communications in one place, as well as manage your vendors and whatnot.

 

2. It Offers Flexibility

Smartlocks offer flexibility and convenience

Utilizing a PMS means you don’t have to be at your rental as often, or at all. In fact, you can manage it remotely. By relying on your software, as well as introducing automation and smart technology, you can manage every facet of your rental from a birds-eye-view.

For example, introducing smart locks, smart thermostats, noise sensors, and other smart tech allows you to offer access remotely, as well as monitor your property’s security and integrity. Some services, such as the one that Enso Connect provides, offer an AI-enabled concierge that can answer the common questions that hosts are tired of answering. It can also send out booking confirmations, greetings and reminders of what to do upon check out, and to leave a review.

It can also then inform the cleaning staff when a reservation ends and the next is to begin, so they can get in and sanitize.

 

3. It Can Optimize Your Pricing

 

There are major cost benefits to relying on a PMS after the initial investment, and one of them is dynamic pricing. The software can look at the market and rely on its algorithms to optimize based on peak and low seasons, surrounding availability and help you maximize your earning potential and total profits across all your listings.

That said, no system and machine learning is perfect. Letting the software manage your pricing dynamically is a good starting point and something that you can let run automatically most times, but as a word of advice, it’s a good idea to sometimes go in yourself and play with the numbers manually to boost your listing intentionally.

 

4. It Can Help With Your Marketing Strategy

 

When it comes to managing your rental property firsthand, there is a lot of input required from a host to best manage their listings. One such way is keeping your listing updated, changing the verbiage from time to time to freshen it up, and most importantly, managing and giving reviews. As mentioned above, the key to a good review is reliable and consistent communication with your guests. This is one of the largest pain points for most Airbnb veterans – hosts that are incommunicado, so being available is key to getting those good reviews and word of mouth. Hence, an inbox that has all of your communication in one place, in both email and direct message format, makes this a lot easier.

As well, a lot of PMS services integrate with social media, which helps promote your listing organically via your guests comments and photos on their personal feeds.

 

5. It Allows for Superior Guest Service and Operations

Technology can help run your short term rental

The key to having a successful rental property is offering that unparalleled service. Travellers have plenty of options when choosing a rental or Airbnb, so you need to lean on your PMS to take care of the little stuff, so you can focus on the bigger picture – offering a memorable stay. Automating tasks means that your attention is focused on your guests and what they want out of their time in your home.

From an operational standpoint, once you streamline everything (the cleaning, any repairs, the management of the physical space itself via smart technology), you’ll only see better guest reviews, more occupancy, and watch costs go down, while profits go up.

 

It Helps More Than You Know

As counterintuitive as it seems, running a rental business via Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, or any other site, is a customer-facing and hospitality-focused business. That’s how you succeed. And as with any other business, there are efficiencies to be found, and ways to rely on technology to do a lot of the heavy lifting, so that you can offer your best self as a host to your guests.

Reach out to us at Enso Connect to learn more about how we can make your home smarter and work for you, rather than the other way around.

 

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