When using your property for serviced accommodation, it is important to ensure that it is easy to find online.
But where can you advertise your holiday lets/serviced accommodation how do you manage it all?
Choosing a Chanel Manager
It may be that to get the most exposure you decide to advertise on lots of different online travel agent websites. If this is the case you need to ensure that you have a channel manager.
A channel manager is a platform you can use to manage all of your bookings from different websites in one place. It ensures that if your property gets booked on one website, your calendar is blocked on the others. You can also set up automated messages and take payments amongst many other features depending on which channel manager you use.
There are many channel managers to choose from such as Tokeet, Kigo, Guesty and Zeevo but it is definitely worth doing your research as all of them have different features and come at very different prices. Be aware that some may seem reasonable but additional useful features may cost substantially more! It is also worth considering your technical ability as some require some fiddling around with integrations and APIs.
Airbnb is a hugely popular platform and is very user friendly for both guests and hosts. You can easily amend/change bookings and the app is also very good for handling enquiries on the go. You can set long term discounts easily and win business from guests travelling for both business and leisure.
Booking.com is a great platform for finding business guests (although also good for leisure guests too)! Whilst you are up against more competition with hotels and B&Bs advertising along side you, it is still a great platform and relatively user friendly for both hosts and guests. They offer a variety of different options for taking payment and running promotions to make your property more appealing. You can even choose to pay a higher commission to be boosted up the rankings!
Other Options
There are lots of other platforms to consider such as Expedia, Vrbo (previously Home Away), Agoda, Group Accommodation (for larger groups)
But of course... advertising on these websites does come at a hefty price. They tend to charge around 15% of the booking price as commission. This might seem unfair but you are effectively paying someone to market your property on the internet, allowing people all over the world to find you with clever marketing and high traffic to their sites. It is worthwhile.
The best bookings though come directly. No commission and the money is 100% your own. Direct bookings can be won by doing simple things such as putting business cards in the properties and following up with previous guests to win repeat business. You can also ensure your properties are listed on your website and that you can be found easily using SEO techniques.
Once you are live on these platforms, ensure the bookings keep coming by getting great reviews! - Find out how to get 5 star reviews here!
Serviced Accommodation Management
Here at Hygge Homes we provide Bespoke Serviced Accommodation Management Solutions in Chester and the surrounding area.
Learn how you can:
Increase your monthly income
Free up your time by allowing us to fully manage your properties
Receive a bespoke service tailored to suit your needs
Create another revenue stream providing beautiful accommodation for customers
Click here to find out more.
Jen & Blake