Tag: OLR

What are the channels and why do you must get on as many as you can ?

Ok. Channels. Airbnb is a channel. It is a website that brings plenty of potential guests who are looking for a place to stay. There are quite a few channels out there. Airbnb is one of the industry leaders, but there are other “monsters” out of there such as Booking.com, Homeway/VRBO, TripAdvisor (and other sites that they own), Expedia, etc.

Some guests like Airbnb and some are using Booking.com. In order to get as many bookings as possible we want to be on all major and also niche (if applicable to our market segment) channels as well.

More channels for your listings means more potential bookings -> more income.

In the same time, more channels translates to more problems, which needs to be addressed or/and resolved: synchronizations of the calendars, booking tracking and follow up, different pricing entry points (each channel has their own fees and other trickery). Don’t fret, this is our job, as well as getting your properties to all major channels to bring you more wonderful guests and additional revenue.

We have selected our primary software provider and we are pretty happy about it.

After a month and a half of research, 200+ emails, 20+ conference calls and conversations with experts on the subject matter we have decided on a software package to use for our business. Hooray ! Champagne to everyone !

What we wanted is an all in one solution, which wasn’t easy to find at all. Some vendors provide a solid PMS system, other offer Channel Manager services which can connect to anything or good looking websites. So, we digged more, because we were sure there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

We are pretty happy with our selection so far. Channels – check. Slick interface – check check. Modern and fast website – check and mate. Did we mention awesome customer service and user manuals ? No ? Oh, yes, we got that too.

Ok, time to run to learn the system and configure the same and make our owners and guests proud and happy. Thank you !

Oh, almost forgot. Here is our new website: www.oneloverentals.com

Please let us know if you have  any suggestions or ideas. We are here for you.

We want Property Management Software (PMS), Channel Manager (CM), Modern website.

It is clear that all software is already written. Trust us, we know, we have 16+ years of experience in software development.

There is no point to attempt to write something from scratch. So, our goal is define what we need and select the best of the best.

We need features, we need top notch customer support, and don’t want to pay an arm-and-leg and a first born child for the system either.

List of requirements (short version):

We want to manage all our properties in one place;

We want channels, more channels is better for our owners;

Automatic sync of the calendars is a must, ideally via API (direct connection, instant feedback), not iCAL (surprisingly buggy/unreliable technology from Apple, delay with changes, potential issues such as double booking);

Fast and SEO friendly website ? Yes, please;

Payment gateway integration;

Automation ? We would like that too;

We are in the process of selecting a set of software tools for our property management business. Stay tuned !

Do you have a suggestion ? We have some ideas as well… Let’s crack a few Red Stripes open and talk some.

Top