If you are a newbie in all these, just put the kettle on, we are ready to set you up! Your space is listed and running, but this doesn’t mean you need to run with it, especially if this comes as a side business to offer you an extra income. There are indeed lots of procedures to follow up and you can easily risk maintaining the rest of your life when trying to organize the operations around an Airbnb listing. From check-in to check-out, cleaning, and answering inquiries, hosts seek ways to make the most out of it for their guests, whilst saving time, money and effort.
If not automations, then what?
Firstly, start by recording the tasks you spend most of your time on. Is it communication with your guests, overall operations or bookings that get complicated and time-consuming? If you are not into technology, you will probably follow the easy way of setting your space up with a management company to handle all this on your behalf for a proportion of your profits. On the contrary, if you decide to run this business yourself, you better let technology work for you. To do so, we decided to share with you, our hosts’ top three automations for a guaranteed hassle-free hosting:
1. Hosthub – Synchronizes your Bookings across Channels!
Formerly knows as Syncbnb, Hosthub is a channel manager & PMS for short term rentals, and can connect your lodgings listings on multiple travel booking sites. Whilst Airbnb is without question the dominant of the market, hosts need to thrive for maximum visibility of their property to reach the so wanted high occupancy rate and thus higher earnings. To achieve this, synchronisation is essential to avoid double bookings and this is where Hosthub is unbeatable and comes as a lifesaver. With the power to synchronise your listings across more than 200 channels with 100% success rate, you will get the maximum of bookings with no fear to overlap and failing to deliver a great experience to your guests. Just think of the benefits of its Advanced AI, easy set-up and support to include your own website or post your property on websites that you are not yet live. Are you still not convinced? Icing on the cake, Hosthub comes at a fixed price per month and a free 14-day trial for all new joiners.
2. Hospitable – Automates your Communication!
Formerly known as Smartbnb, Hospitable helps you automate messaging, team, and operations management, and run all your Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo properties from one convenient dashboard. There are great features both for property owners and property managers including:
- Automated conversations in your own voice
- Centralised Inbox
- Instant protection from double-bookings
- Pricing updates, all implemented from one place
- Manage your team on one platform
- Assign tasks to your team automatically
The price is fixed on a monthly basis and there is a complimentary 2 wee trial, so you can decide if this is the right tool for you.
3. August – Makes Checking-in Plain and Simple!
In the era of technology, smart locks exist to simplify your guests’ checking in and your hosting experience. We cannot agree more that August comes as a troubleshooting solution to the distribution of physical keys or lockbox codes that hosts use in order to give access to their guests until recently. With direct integration to your Airbnb listing and the ability to generate codes, valid for set days and times (or even forever), secure hosting and remote management are guaranteed. Total control through an app? We definitely vote for that!
What’s Next?
Voice search emerges and with a recent study claiming that 1 out of 5 Americans owns a smart speaker, this is definitely a key trend to follow in 2019. Smart homes will definitely be a thing of the future to serve the guests’ demands and simplify the whole experience when staying at a vacation rental property. Voice assistants connected with locks, TVs, thermostats and your smartphone will be the digital concierges to control your home and drive your business to a more guest-focused experience. If you are ready to follow and become an early adopter of the idea, just make sure you invest into integrated solutions that will make the trends work for you.
