What We Learned (and the Tools We Trust) to Run Things Smoothly
When we first started hosting, we had zero experience running a short-term rental—let alone two. Like many owner-operators, we learned everything on the fly, juggled cleaning schedules with work and parenting, and slowly built systems to keep things running smoothly (and guests happy).
While we run the business as a team, this side of the operation is very much Bobby’s thing. He’s the behind-the-scenes wizard who keeps the lights on (literally) and figures out which tools actually make our lives easier. Over time, he’s refined a tech stack that balances automation with the personal touch.
If you’re thinking about getting into vacation rentals (especially self-managing it) or trying to streamline your current setup, we hope this peek behind the curtain helps you find what works for you, minus some of the trial and error.
OwnerRez – vacation rental software!
This is our property management software (PMS) that handles all the backend booking processes and serves as our payment portal. Ownerrez ensures that all our calendars talk to each other and avoid the dreaded double booking (!!). This is critical because we list our cabins on our own direct booking website, Airbnb, VRBO, HomeToGo, etc.
Ownerrez also handles most of our automatic messaging related to billing and the initial welcome message. It also lets us create discount codes, send custom price quotes, and manage security deposits. Honestly, Ownerrez is our tech’s backbone and makes everything else work smoothly.
Touchstay Guidebook
Touchstay is the digital guidebook platform we use to create our that guests receive when they book with us. While we still have the binder in the cabins, the digital guide is now the go-to for amenities, instructions, and recommendations. We have had lots of compliments from guests about how useful the guidebook is for them.
Direct Booking Website
Most cabin owners don’t create their own websites. We (Bobby!) have invested much time learning to manage, update, and improve our website and blog. The website is an excellent way for us to make it easy for people to book directly with us and to showcase our cabins, the area, and ourselves in a way that we could never do on a VRBO listing.
While we understand there are many options for website platforms (Wix, Squarespace, etc.) we use WordPress to create and update the site. There is certainly a learning curve, but it hasn’t been overwhelming. We like having the flexibility of the DIY approach and we reach out to pro’s when we need to.
Smart Home Automation
After years of testing and trial and error, we’ve found a system that works. We use a Homey smart hub (having just transitioned from Smartthings) to manage our door locks, security cameras, thermostats, and lights. The smart thermostats help us conserve electricity and gas while keeping the cabins comfortable for you. And we’ve figured out how to manage all of our lock codes so that your codes are programmed, activated, de-activated, and erased, all automatically!
Update: We are now using a new company for our door code automations. It is called RentalHomeAutomater and so far, it has been great! If you have Zwave locks, you should check them out.
Pricelabs Dynamic Pricing
Pricing is a touchy subject to be transparent about, but you can handle it! It is tough to know how to price a vacation rental. If you price it too low, you can’t come close to covering the high home maintenance costs. If you price it too high, you become unaffordable, and people won’t book!
Pricelabs helps us price our nightly rates depending on season and local market demand. Our prices are higher in the high season and lower in the off-season. We could try to do this manually, but this software does a lot of the heavy lifting, and we can tweak it from there.
Tidy – Cleaning Scheduling App
Our cleaners use the Tidy app to help them organize their work. It is integrated with our booking calendar and tells them when their cleans are scheduled, allows them to communicate any issues with the cabin to us, and helps them track inventory so we know when to, for example, buy more coffee! ☕
We thought it might be nice to share a bit of the behind-the-scenes tools we use to keep you safe, comfortable, and enjoying your vacation without a hitch. A good vacation rental tech stack doesn’t replace our real human hospitality, friendliness, and welcoming attitude. I think we’ve managed to become good at both, so people keep returning year after year!
