Managing short-term rentals can be complex, especially when you have to juggle entire units and sub-units. Fortunately, there are vacation rental management software packages that can help you avoid these problems. Find out in this article how to ensure smooth management of your whole units and sub-units using software.
Vacation rentals: what are whole units and sub-units?
Let’s start with a few definitions. Whole units are defined as properties rented in their entirety. They can be houses, apartments, gites or villas, for example.
Sub-units, on the other hand, are parts of properties that can be rented independently. In the case of a villa, each floor or room can be rented separately by different travelers.
Why rent your property as a whole and in sub-units?
There are several reasons why you might want to offer your vacation rental in different formats: whole or in sub-units.
Target audience
Your vacation rental is not exclusive to one target audience, but can target several groups. You could target families, couples or groups of friends. These travelers can leave either in small groups or in larger ones. So offering multiple rental options is good for your business, and for keeping your booking calendar full.
Seasonality
Depending on the location of your short-term rental, seasonality can have an impact on your bookings. Perhaps your beach house will be booked by a group in summer, but sub-units will be booked in winter for a romantic weekend by the sea.
Additional capacity
By offering the possibility of renting your property as a whole or in part, you position yourself in different markets and can therefore target different categories of traveler. This gives you the opportunity to offer additional accommodation capacity, which may be sought after by certain groups of travelers.
Events
Events taking place around your property (sports, concerts, festivals, congresses) can also influence interest in your vacation rental and its flexible capacity. So can your travelers’ intimate events: weddings, for example.
All these factors can influence your rental business.
How can you ensure smooth management of your entire rental or sub-units?
It can be complicated to ensure smooth management of your entire rental and its sub-units. An oversight in synchronization can quickly lead to too many travelers and too many reservations for a given period. So how can you easily remedy these potential problems?
The answer is to use vacation rental management software. By using Smoobu, for example, you’ll gain access to a number of advantages.
1. Connect your sub-units and whole units
You can connect your different listings to Smoobu. For example, if you have a villa by the sea, you can connect your different sub-units: Villa Sea, Villa Garden, and Villa with View. You can also connect the entire villa: Villa.
If travelers book Villa Garden, which is a sub-unit of your villa, then Villa will be unavailable.
If travelers book Villa, then Villa Garden, Villa Sea and Villa with View will also be unavailable.
Smoobu synchronizes your reservations and updates your availability automatically, so you avoid double bookings. A comma here makes more sense than a new sentence
2. Communicate easily with your travelers
Communication is essential to enhancing the traveler experience. With Smoobu, you can define your message templates for each of your sub-units and your main unit, and trigger them automatically via time markers. This way your guests will always have the right information at the right time.
3. Boost your productivity
By using vacation rental management software, you save precious time and ensure :
- Simplified rental management
- A positive traveler experience
- Automatically updated reservation calendars
In a nutshell: simplify your vacation rental management.
Managing entire units and sub-units in vacation rentals can seem daunting, but by using software tailored to your needs, you can simplify and optimize this process.
Try Smoobu, the complete short-term rental management software, free for 14 days and boost your business.
