The Future of Hosting: Trends and Innovations
It seems crazy that I’ve been doing this long enough to talk about trends but here we are! I think this is a HUGE piece of the value I bring to the table as a property manager. Managing one home while working another job makes it really difficult to see things like trends across your market. I manage homes all in the Grand Traverse region but there are micro markets and changing ways that people travel. Now that I have a variety of properties I can see these things in real time, provide insight to my owners, and offer recommendations to capture the market.
Taylor Brown Photo
Family Travel - this is always a huge one and I think it’s become a bigger market share as hotels and rentals try to outcompete each other. Hotels are trying to undercut short term rentals in price, adding amenities, and focusing on design. One area they just can’t compete is in space. Families always choose rentals because they have access to a kitchen, a backyard, and multiple bedrooms. If you are a condo owner competing with hotels you have to be in the top of your market, especially in the off season when hotels are dirt cheap. If you can cater to families, do it. If you can’t or don’t want to, know that hotels are your competition (not rental houses) and find a way to provide what they cannot.
Shorter Lead Time - This year compared to the previous years I am noticing a huge decrease in the amount of last minute bookings I’m getting. I am booking the same amount as previous years but instead of getting my summer filled up in February, I still have availability in July and August. This could partially be due to my pricing structure, but shortened lead times has been supported by AirDNA data. People are still traveling but they aren’t planning as far in advance. Make sure that your listing settings support short lead times and allows guests to book last minute. I personally have my listing set to allow direct bookings up until the morning of check in but a guest can still request to stay up to and after check in time.
Amenities - amenities are not an added perk, they are now a requirement of travel. My market is a travel destination and there are a lot of hosts on the top of their game. Professional photography is a must, design is required, and now amenities is the way to make your rental stand out. I put my amenities at my properties into 3 categories; location, consumable, and permanent. Location would include things like lakefrontage or being directly above a diner. These are things you think about when you buy the property but can’t add afterwards. Consumable amenities are providing a welcome gift, shampoo, extra toothbrushes. To me this is a non negotiable and all my properties have these things to some degree depending on the demographic. The last is permanent amenities which to me is something you can add to property but isn’t consumed by guest use. Adding things like yard games, hot tubs, beach toys, even another bathroom or game room. This is where I am putting my focus as a host to try to elevate my properties. Rental platforms don’t do a great job of allowing you quantify all the amenities you off (airbnb does okay but you really have to search through all the options at a home) so I think the way guests see this is through reviews. The best review I get is when a guest says I thought of EVERYTHING - because that is what I’m trying to do!
Unique Stays - this is a trend being pushed hard on the Airbnb platform. You can search for treehouses, domes, or farmstays. This one is really hard to do once you’ve purchased a home and you’re trying to upgrade the experience. It is definitely something to think about when you are purchasing a home. If you can buy land a build a tree house versus a standard home in a neighborhood I would try and be bold. You will get more views and if you build a brand you could be looking at a top rental stay versus a standard stay.
Flexible Travel and Short Stays - this is one trend I cannot get behind but wanted to share. Guests are looking for one night stays and easy cancellation so they can make flexible travel plans. In some markets this might make sense and is standard among hosts. In my market, 1 night stays equal local parties on the beach and lost income when your week long fourth of July stay that has been booked for 6 months cancels last minute. I think this comes down to if you’re a travel destination versus a working destination. This is why knowing your market is so key to deciding whether following trends makes sense to your property.
Tech - this is another area that a lot of companies in the rental space want to trend. I think tech can be both good and bad. My guest profile is often the matriarch of the family planning a multi generational vacation so having a welcome book only be available through an online portal is going to be a bad experience for that guest. I like smart locks and smart thermostats in that they allow me to manage my listings remotely and tend to be fairly user friendly. I don’t like the idea of making the process so tech heavy that it deters an older population who feels like they can’t access the information they need.
I think the best way to summarize trends in the rental space is to know your market, know your guest, and make your decisions based on those factors, not what everyone else is doing!
