Vacation rental software: Five key features to consider 

For the majority of travelers, hotels are still the preferred choice of stay. But with time, dynamics are changing. Now people are seriously considering alternative accommodations. A booking.com survey cites that as many as 40 percent of people booked alternative accommodation in the surveyed quarter of 2020. Another travel major Expedia also published a steep rise in vacation rentals. Alternative accommodations are giving tough competition to conventional hotels by offering a home-like environment to business as well as leisure travelers.  

However, from the supply side, managing alternative accommodation is trickier than conventional hotels. You need efficient vacation rental software that supports the smooth integration of APIs. 

As accommodation rental offerings are relatively new for the travel market, making a choice on software that manages these could be challenging. So here in this post, we will expound on what vacation rentals are – what they offer and extend suggestions on features that you should look for before signing up with one. 

What does a vacation rental software do?   

Vacation rental software or vacation rental property management software enables you to administer and process reservations for short-term rental properties. The functioning of vacation rental software is not much different from a hotel property management system. With vacation rental software, you can easily sync all your properties and accounts in real time.  Whether you are a multi-property manager who lists properties on multiple online travel agencies or someone who sells select housing properties on select alternative accommodation portals, you need a centrally managed system that communicates with guests and manages reservations and payments in real-time. A vacation rental software does all this for you with minimal human intervention. 

To get a better understanding of this tool. And to be in a position where you can take a call on this software, you must dig into features. 

Five key features of vacation rental software 

Typically, the modules and functionalities you get from a vacation rental property management system would vary from provider to provider. But there are some modules that are nonnegotiable for every vacation rental management system, following is the breakdown of same.  

1. Website Builder 

Your website forms the base of your brand and marketing efforts, and a website builder makes your job easier by enabling low code website building. That’s why it’s one of the core features of a vacation property management system. If you are a starter, then it becomes even more crucial; you need a launchpad; that’s when these template-based website builders come in handy. You can select a template that aligns with your niche and build your website from there. 

2. Reservation Management System 

Irrespective of the number of properties you manage, you need a reservation management system in your vacation rental software. It’s a prerequisite because it allows you to manage the core functions of your business, which are approve/disapprove bookings, blocking calendars, creating custom quotations, and, more importantly, the data it provides for analyzing these functions. 

3. Channel Manager 

It’s an extremely specific feature; when it comes to vacation rental software, not many tools will have it, but it’s crucial for your business. The channel manager lets you integrate third-party listings and all other data into your calendar. You certainly don’t want a situation where a customer books a room on your platform and, at the time checking in, finds out someone else also has the booking for the same room from another vendor. It’s an embarrassing situation; the channel manager reduces that risk.  

Pro Tip: To eliminate the risk completely, use a room mapping tool 

4. Revenue Management 

It’s also a feature that you won’t find easily in most vacation rental software, and you might have to dig deep because your business needs it in concurrent travel market. Revenue management software gives you insight into rate trends and market variables so you can forecast demand and set competitive rates for your rentals. The revenue management models use machine learning models that consider thousands of market variables that help you with rate recommendations. 

5. Third-Party Integrations 

Last but not least, you need software that easily integrates with tools you already use. It not only saves you time but is also a significant cost-cutting measure. As you scale, you will need many API integrations like dynamic pricing tools, keyless system access, social media, and many other integrations.  

As more and more travelers move towards alternative accommodation, the industry also needs to be ready. And Vacation Rental Software, with the features we highlighted, indeed prepares you for that opportunity.