vacation rental software

Quiz: What Kind of Vacation Rental Host Are You?

Ever wondered what kind of host you are? Ever had the feeling that something is missing in your vacation rental business?

Answer the following questions about your rental, and we’ll reveal which type of host you are and what you need in your business.

You’ll see your results at the end of this quiz.

Compare yourself to other hosts 

Knowing what kind of vacation rental host you are can help pinpoint reoccurring issues or even uncover strengths that can be amplified. Even when your business is running smoothly and you feel like you’ve hit the jackpot, there’s always room for improvement. 

That said, we’ve gathered data from all the participants of our Vacation Rental Host Quiz to give some insight into specific trends and tendencies. To get a clearer picture, it’s important to know that 58.3% of these hosts own a single property, 34% own less than 10 properties, and 7.8% own between 10-50 properties. 

This is how hosts describe themselves 

Participants were given four choices when asked to describe themselves. 61% identified themselves as a “Rentalpreneur Boss”, a person who feels like they’ve got everything under control. 19% responded that they are sensitive, meaning that they sometimes take complaints and negative reviews personally. 11% answered that they feel anxious, often worrying about making their investment profitable in order to pay back their mortgage. 9% see themselves as investors and work with property managers to take care of their bookings. 

Vacation Rental Host Quiz

What to do when you’re not getting enough bookings

It can be extremely discouraging when you’ve put in all the hard work and end up not receiving as many bookings as expected. Instead of feeling hopeless, these are actually opportunities in which you can improve your business in the long-term. 

When asked what their game plan would be in this situation, 45.1% of hosts responded that they would run a marketing campaign with special offers to attract last-minute guests and off-season stays. 23.5% said they would analyze what their local competitors were doing, 16.7% believe they would work harder and stay positive, and 14.7% said they would spruce up their rental by renovating it and redecorating the interior. 

Vacation Rental Host Quiz

Building your own website with property management software

Participants were asked if they advertise their property on any listings sites. 46.6% responded that they advertise on a few listing sites, 26.2% responded that they only use one listing site, 17.5% replied that they advertise on listing sites but also have their own vacation rental website, and 9.7% said that they don’t because they have their own website. 

When starting out in the vacation rental industry, listing sites like Airbnb and Vrbo can be a lifesaver. However, as your business grows, you shouldn’t rely fully on these OTAs. Getting your own vacation rental website and being self-sufficient is key as you begin to establish your community of guests.  

Vacation Rental Host Quiz

Using a channel manager for listing sites

If you don’t have a channel manager, juggling several listing sites can be a nightmare. Every time you receive a booking or make changes to your rates, you have to go through the time-consuming process of updating each channel. What a channel manager does is automatically sync your bookings, calendars, and rates from the top OTAs and your vacation rental website onto one centralized dashboard. 

Participants were then asked which listing site they currently advertise their vacation rental on. 86.4% responded with Airbnb, 53.4% said HomeAway, 45.6% replied that they have their own website, 35% said they use Booking.com, and 18.4% said Expedia. With a channel manager, you can have your cake and eat it too!

Vacation Rental Host Quiz

Putting yourself in the shoes of your guests

Being a vacation rental host has a lot to do with empathy. As a host, you are essentially putting yourself in the shoes of your target audience and providing an experience that you think they want. 

This mindset should be consistent in all aspects of your business, not just the physical experience of being in the property. Customer service, amenities, the booking process, and your vacation rental website all play a big role in the way your guests will perceive you. 

Participants were faced with the following question: Imagine you’re a guest browsing a vacation rental website, what would bother you the most? 

32% responded that they’d be thrown off if there weren’t enough pictures. This is an obvious one – if your vacation rental doesn’t have a variety of high-quality photographs, guests are unlikely to book. 25.2% said they would be bothered if the website were outdated and 22.3% wouldn’t book a property with no reviews. Last but not least, 10.7% of participants said they’d be annoyed if the booking process were slow and payment options were limited and 9.7% replied that they would want instant reservation options. 

Vacation Rental Host Quiz

Being in the vacation rental industry is a constant learning process in which you rebuild your strengths and weaknesses. So, what kind of vacation rental host are you? Take the quiz and find out! 


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