Interfaces To The Most Important Vacation Rental Booking Portals
When choosing a vacation rental Channel Manager, you should make sure that it has interfaces to the most important booking platforms. If, for example, Airbnb or Booking.com or VRBO as a portal are not connected via an interface, overbookings are pre-programmed.
With Smoobu, for example, you can connect your properties to large international portals such as Airbnb, Booking.com,VRBO, Expedia, Agoda, Trip.com and others. In addition, there are still synchronization to niche portals that specialize in certain target groups or booking portals that are relevant in other parts of the world.
Choosing The Best Channel Manager For Vacation Rentals
How can you choose the best channel manager for your vacation rental business? How do you know which option is right for your business?
By using an online vacation rental channel manager, property managers, and hosts can simplify their lives. A channel manager can help manage listings across multiple platforms and synchronize your calendars and bookable dates.
Let’s have a look at the benefits of a channel manager and find out how it works and how it can simplify your management process.
Airbnb Channel Managers: The 2021 Updated List For Vacation Rentals
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The time-intense and nerve-wracking repetition of managing your listings manually across multiple channels?
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Feeling overwhelmed and triple-checking everything to avoid making a mistake?
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Constantly stressing about updating your availability to prevent double bookings?
Were all human and mistakes happen all the time. But getting a double booking, messing up your dates or confusing a guests name is an important indicator that you need help managing your listings.
Dont let double bookings cancel out the hard work and time youve invested into your business. Theres a simple way to sort this all out – and most successful short-term rental hosts are already doing it.
So how can you become a more efficient host too? By automating your Airbnb and using a channel manager.
Channel managers let you synchronize your listings across all the booking sites youre listed on, saving you time, preventing double bookings and earning you more money.
Displaying your real-time availability on all your channels is extremely important. So lets look at how channel managers work and how they can help you keep your calendars up-to-date!
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No More Double Bookings
Especially for these short-term rental hosts, its a nightmare if their vacation rental is accidentally double-booked. After all, the apartment or house only exists once and alternative rooms are usually not available. Double bookings or double reservations not only lead to dissatisfaction for the guest, who has to look for new accommodation. For the host, too, they mean stress, additional costs and, in the worst case, negative reviews.
A good Channel Manager helps you to avoid exactly that and you even save on average 3 hours of working time per week. Moreover, a reliable Channel Manager lets you sleep peacefully. Even when bookings arrive at night, availability is updated in real time.
How Can A Channel Manager Save You Time
Property managers who list their rentals on multiple channels will have a very hard time keeping up with their tasks without the help of a vacation rental channel manager. They will need to spend hours of their workweek logging into each channel independently in order to publish new listings, update existing listings and block off unavailable dates that were booked on other channels.
A channel manager gives you one central location from which you can add and update listings and it will then push that information to each of your channels. Likewise, it will pull reservations from your channels and sync all of your individual calendars so that only available dates are bookable through each channel.
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What To Look For In A Vacation Rental Channel Manager
Channel managers were originally built for hotels to be able to sell rooms on multiple booking sites at the same time. But as the vacation rental industry has exploded, theres now an increasing number of companies offering channel managers for vacation rentals to meet the demand.
A vacation rental channel manager is software that will automatically distribute your property listings across multiple booking channels. Depending on the software, this means you can sync calendar availability, rates, and other property details.
There are dozens of vacation rental channel managers you could choose from, and more popping up all the time. It can be a bit overwhelming, really.
But not to worry. Weve done the research for you, as part of our ongoing effort to be able to make the best, most informed software recommendations to our clients. Before we get into our reviews of the best channel managers for vacation rentals, here are a few things to keep in mind while deciding.
With these in mind, lets get into our reviews and comparisons of the best vacation rental channel managers on the market today.
Channel Manager For Vacation Rental Owners Landlords And Hosts
Channel Managers have been used in the hotel sector for many years and even the larger agencies work with Channel Manager software solutions. Unfortunately, these are often very complicated and very expensive and therefore not suitable for the typical vacation rental host with one or a few accommodations.
Meanwhile, there are inexpensive vacation rental Channel Managers like Smoobu, which are perfect for private and semi-professional hosts of vacation rental homes, cottages, apartments and other type of accommodations. For these hosts it is even more important to advertize on as many booking platforms as possible. Because only in this way they remain independent and only in this way they can achieve a higher occupancy rate.
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What Are The Benefits Of Vacation Rental Software
Although property management systems do come with a subscription fee or commission, that fee is far less than what it costs vacation rental managers in time and lost bookings when trying to complete those same tasks without them. From the moment you set up your system and sync all of your channels, you can rest assured that you wont receive a double booking or lose a reservation in the shuffle. These systems also allow vacation rental owners to automate many operational tasks from bookings to guest experience. For example, you can configure check-in templates to be sent automatically before arrival. You could also set up automated text messages for your cleaning staff to alert them when you need a new cleaning. Many property management systems also offer a booking engine, which lets you easily accept direct bookings with major credit cards and other mainstream payment methods to rely less on the online travel agencies.
Access 100+ Integrated Partners To Help Grow Your Str Business
Hostaway is integrated with the biggest and boldest tools in the vacation rental industry including Airbnb, VRBO, PriceLabs, Operto, Breezeway, and more! Don’t have the connection you need? Connect Hostaway with Zapier to access 3,000+ additional connections or consider building your own with Hostaway’s open API!
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Why Dosuccessfulproperty Managerstrusthostaway
“Our customers’ success is our success”! This is our core value at Hostaway and this is what everyone who joins Hostaway team learns on day one! Our experts hold your hands since day one and help you with your success. Don’t take our word for it though, check out our reviews on Capterra, Trustpilot and G2!
Hostaway is a unique PMS and Channel Manager because unlike any other software, it scales up with your success. Each module and service is designed to ensure you can grow from 5 to 20, from 50 to 200 and from 5000 to 20000 properties. We offer an Open API and even build custom solutions. Contact sales to find out more!
The vacation rental industry is unique and has a wide variety of technology solutions. We partner with the brightest stars and our marketplace has over 100 integrated software partners! If you are using a system outside of your current PMS, you can continue using it with Hostaway!
Take Pricing Into Consideration
One important feature before deciding on a channel manager is its pricing. Take note, the pricing model differs according to the channel management provider. Some may require a commission-based fee whereas others can price separately for each channel.
Nevertheless, select a pricing model that offers a flat fee that is ideally charged monthly. Doing so will not let you go over the budget and avoid unforeseen spikes.
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How To Tell If Your Channel Manager Has Updated Api Connections
OTAs are laser-focused on conversions and how to generate higher quality ones. They are constantly developing new tools and services for property managers to help them market their properties better.
For you to be able to take advantages of these new tools and services, the API connections that your Channel Manager uses to connect with OTAs must be up-to-date, too. It takes a professional and dedicated Channel Manager to always keep up with the changes OTAs make yearly.
So if youre already using a Channel Manager, check if you have access to the following:
If the answers to these questions are no, theres a good chance that your API connections are not up-to-date.
Management Of Multiple Accounts
As a short-term rental manager, you might know how frustrating and time-consuming switching between multiple accounts can be. Particularly when you are managing properties for other vacation rental investors. With iGMS vacation rental software, you can manage all accounts from a single interface. So, whether you have multiple accounts of your own, or you manage numerous listings for vacation rental property investors, life suddenly gets a lot easier!
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Trustedby Thousands Of Successful Property Managersglobally
We found Hostaway to be the perfect option for our property management side of the business. Hostaway team went above and beyond meeting with us to get us started and through the first few months of operation. Now we deal primarily with the customer service via the app, and they get back to us immediately. They will either fix the issue we’re having or we dialogue and troubleshoot to fix. They are constantly working to streamline the program for property managers in terms of calendar updates, updating listings etc. We host between 20-30 properties and they’ve been great to work with. Highly recommend.
The software solves a lot of issues for me, but three core problems were solved because of Hostaway. 1) Channel distribution, 2) Automated guest communication, 3) Cleaning/task coordination.
Hostaway has been a great company to work with. Great customer service and everything is as promised and advertised.
Should You Use A Channel Manager
- Do you own a vacation rental that you rent out through multiple booking portals?
- Have you ever had a double booking or an overbooking?
- Do you want to save time managing your vacation rental?
- Do you want to automate as much as possible when renting out?
- Do you want to improve revenue, turnover and occupancy of your vacation home?
A Channel Manager is an absolute must for every vacation rental landlord or short-term rental host. Only this way he/she can advertize on many booking channels at the same time without double bookings. No matter if one accommodation or 100, without management software renting quickly becomes confusing and error-prone.
Even if you only offer your accommodation on one platform such as Airbnb and your own website with direct bookings, double bookings can quickly occur. This can be easily prevented with a Channel Manager. With it, your availability calendar is automatically updated with every booking. You have an overview of all bookings and your customers always see the prices and availability in real time.
Channel Managers like Smoobu also offer many opportunities for automation and are ideal for private owners who have little time and do not live close to their properties.
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The Difference Is Our Direct Connections
MyVR offers full, direct integrations with leading listing sites such as HomeAway, VRBO, TripAdvisor, Booking.com, Expedia and Airbnb. This means you can focus on your business strategy while we do the hard work behind the scenes to keep everything in real-time sync to avoid double bookings and duplicate entry.
- Real-time availability calendar
- Manage your listings from one centralized dashboard
- Eliminate the need for multiple channel logins
- Update your listings once and seamlessly distribute to your channel partners
- List and manage representative unit-type inventory like 1 or 2 bedroom apartments, across multiple channels
Integrate with the channels that perform
- Direct connections to the 5 major brands and their 70+ listing sites
- Scale your business across channels from one unified dashboard
- Maximize performance with automation and proprietary industry insights
MyVR’s Global Distribution System
- MyVR’s Global Distribution System connects you to more than 600,000 travel agencies around the world. Giving you access to agents who use a ‘GD’ chain code to search for units and rooms.
- Reach the worlds top travel management companies previously only accessible to Fortune 500 companies and other corporations.
- Consolidate and market your listings for multiple units into one unit-type listing to increase search rankings on travel sites. Connect with business travelers via the GDS and other channels built around unit-types.
Channel-preferred software
Gaining A Larger Audience
Channel Managers help you reach a wider audience of travelers. You need a limited amount of time and resources to push your inventory to a new booking site because it’s relatively easy to connect. The property manager can now access new, global markets and segments through the management of channels that were previously hard to reach manually. Multiple booking channels mean increased visibility ââ¬â and subsequently, more bookings. In times of low demand, this leads to higher occupancy rates.
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What Is An Airbnb Channel Manager
Vacation rental channel managers are software solutions that allow you to:
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Manage all your listings and bookings from one place.
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Synchronize your calendars across all the channels you advertise on.
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Automatically update your availability every time you get a new booking.
Channel managers retrieve booking data from online travel agencies like Airbnb and Vrbo through API integrations. Thanks to this connectivity, all your information gets updated instantly, in real-time. Most channel managers let you manage at least two or three of the major booking sites.
This means you dont need to log in to each of your accounts separately every time you need to access a booking, respond to a message or check your calendar. Everything is centralized in a single platform.
Just imagine how much easier and more efficient managing your bookings is when you have a unified inbox and synced calendars! Try Host Tools for free.
Another way that channel managers can retrieve information from booking sites is through iCal links.
iCal is a standard calendar format that most rental platforms support. If your channel manager doesnt have a direct API integration with a specific booking site, you can export your calendar from that booking site and import it into your channel manager. The only requirement is that your channel manager supports iCal import.
The Zeevou Channel Manager
Zeevou is an award-winning Channel Manager, Property Management System and Booking Engine that automates almost all areas of your short-term rental business, optimises processes, and minimises human error.
Synchronisation/Connections: Over 200 Channels : Rates & Availability from Zeevou to All Channels and Booking Import to Zeevou. Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, Homeaway, TripAdvisor, VRBO, Zeevou Direct, Here to Help, Speedybooker, Agoda, Ctrip, Google Hotel, Traveloka, Hotelscombined, SilverDoor, Situ, Homelike and a lot more.
Synchronisation Update Speed: Real-time Synchronisation Onboarding Duration: If the organisation set-up is completed, creating a property takes 1-2 minute and mapping another few minutes.
Onboarding Training: Onboarding sessions are conducted online, one-to-one with screen sharing for free.
Support:
- Free committed partner ticketing system within the system
- Online chat via website, Facebook, and Whatsapp
- Webinars every three weeks to update Partner Hosts on new optimisations and additions to the system and to receive feedback in a friendly atmosphere. We consult with Zeevous Partner
- Hosts to plan the development of the features most required.
Additional Property/Reservation Management Services:
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The Cost Of Vacation Rental Software
Most products in the market are priced on a monthly basis. Pricing can be divided into three pricing tiers based on their starting price:
Price ranges*:
- $21 – $99
- $99+
*The pricing included is for the entry-level/lowest-priced offering found on vendor websites on Feb. 27, 2020. These ranges correspond to the 25th, 75th, and 100th percentiles of pricing information gathered from vendor websites of sample products.
Top 7 Best Vacation Rental Channel Managers In 2021
As a property manager or Airbnb host, you can simplify your life by using a vacation rental channel manager. But with so many options, how do you know which ones best for your business?
Weve created this overview of the best vacation rental channel managers to help you decide. After hours of research, reading hundreds of forum threads and customer reviews, and speaking with many of these companies, we have our list of top picks and recommendations. We also included a comparison table of their pricing and features, to help you compare and find the one that best fits your needs and budget.
Here are our top picks:
Disclosure: Contents
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