11 Oct Vacation rental website Review: Lodgify

Choosing the right vacation rental website for your property is one the most important decisions you will make.  To successfully run a vacation rental business you need to find a catch-all system that meets your requirements. This is where vacation rental websites such as Lodgify excel.

As your business grows and your income increases so do the amount you end up paying in service fees. At this point, it can be tempting to move away from traditional platforms and branch out on your own.  We take a deeper look at the realities of a bespoke website such as Lodgify versus a self-built site.

Pro-tip: I recommend you to explore these options when you have 5+ properties.

Lodgify vacation rental website vs a self-built site

A tailored rental website such as Lodgify is custom built to serve the needs of the property rental market.  These websites offer a unique set of services designed for your needs. Features such as templates crafted to showcase properties through visually engaging layouts. Centralized reservation systems that instantly synchronize with rental sites such as Airbnb and Booking.com. Online booking systems that are transparent and secure.  

Websites created through WordPress and Wix are generic and need to be upgraded by downloading plugins. Essentially you take a website and patch on features until you have a modified site that may or may not meet your needs. The use of multiple plugins is notoriously unreliable. These websites usually require manual uploading of properties and synchronizing of calendars across platforms. They offer little in the way of customization. Simply put generic websites aren’t built for you, the property rental manager, whereas sites like Lodgify are.

Bespoke tailored website built to showcase properties

Lodgify understands that your website is the first interaction your customers have with your brand.  We know the importance of a great first impression.

Lodgify offers customers over 30 beautiful website templates which can be chosen to fit your brand. Designed to showcase the best parts of your properties you can add unlimited photos and descriptions. The site allows you to add in rates, maps and information on local amenities and events.

Bespoke Channel Manager

Beauty aside, the most important aspect of your website is functionality. Here is where vacation rental websites come into their own. Lodgify uses a centralized channel booking system, so whether you have one property or 20 you can manage them all from one principal resource.

Any changes you make will be reflected across all booking systems including Airbnb, Booking.com and more.

Synchronization across calendars

Lodgify’s Channel Management system connects with Airbnb and Booking.com’s APIs. This allows you to instantly update calendars and rates across all your listings. You will never have to worry about double bookings again.

In addition, all your reservations are viewable from the Channel Management system. Emails, bookings, and vacancies are all centralized. Simply log on and get an instant overview of your availability for all your properties from one place.

Streamlined customer booking

All templates include an online booking system for easy and safe transactions. Lodgify accepts payments from credit cards and in all currencies, even via bank transfer or check. The transparent system delivers a quote for customers inclusive of any fees or taxes you may have pre-set.

The booking system is instantaneous. You are offering your customers a highly efficient way to pay and a streamlined customer booking process for your business.

Highly secure

All Lodgify sites use SSL and HTTPS encryption technology.  This ensures that the booking and payment processes are bulletproof and your customer’s information is safe at all times.

Promotions and Add-ons

Use Lodgify to promote your business with early booking codes or discounts. You could also consider adding extras such as meals, pet allowance or even a mini bar. Use Lodgify to think beyond just hiring a space and create an all-round service offering. Input anything you choose into the system and add it to your customer’s final quote.

Search Engine Optimization

You could have the best property portfolio in the world but if your potential customers can’t find it then you won’t receive any bookings. Lodgify vacation rental website walks you through the minefield that is SEO. With clever use of keywords, you can ensure that your properties are ranked highly within search engines.

Having your property at the top of Google listings is the best marketing there is. You could spend a fortune in both time and money trying to recreate a website that does exactly what the Lodgify vacation rental website does. Save yourself a headache and leave the hard work to the team at Lodgify.  Buy into a management system that is designed specifically for you.

If you have 5+ properties, we recommend taking a look at Lodgify.

They charge a flat $109 a month for 6-15 properties, which is better than Guesty’s variable cost per listing.

The math would look like this:

5 repeat customers paying an average of $150 per night with an average stay of 7 days.

5 * $150 * 7 = $5250.

5250 * 3% (Airbnb fees) =$157.

$157 > $109 = $48. This is just 1 repeat customer for 1 of your properties per month.

If you have more than 5 properties, you can see quickly how Lodgify will save you costs in the long run.

Are you currently using Lodgify? Comment below and let us know your experience so far.