Listing your property on multiple sites is a fabulous way to maximize rental revenue through greater exposure. This success comes at a price, though, as you now must update several sites and be sure to update your reservations so you can avoid double bookings. Using a channel manager is the solution. You will reap the benefits of your successful rental business while reducing your workload. Lodgify is one of the industry leaders in vacation rental website design and channel manager integration.
We have been using Lodgify personally in our vacation property rental business for several years now. We tell you this now to be confident that we understand its ins and outs and have actual hands-on experience with the product.
Here you will find our honest review of Lodgify and why we believe that they should play a key role in your STR (short-term rental) success.
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Company Overview
Lodgify was founded in 2012 in Barcelona, Spain. Their company mission is to help vacation rental owners and managers grow their accommodation business by empowering them with great technology accessible and affordable for everyone.
Lodgify is an all-in-one SaaS solution that helps vacation rental owners and property managers to manage and market their accommodation business. It is a rental marketing software that simplifies vacation rental marketing.
The software allows both vacation rental owners and property managers to create their mobile-friendly website with a "Book Now" function, manage reservations and availabilities efficiently, and instantly synchronize property information with listings on multiple external vacation rental portals.
By creating your short term rental website, you can avoid paying the commission fees to list sites, which can be up to %15 or more of your rental income.
Accolades and Media
News - Aug 13, 2020
Travel Daily News International — 7 reasons why Lodgify is the best website builder for vacation rentals
News - Aug 21, 2019
Lodgify was the Vacation Rental Property platform featured in the Netflix Reality TV Series Stay Here, starring Genevieve Gorder and Peter Lorimer.
Vacation Rental Savant Official Review - Lodgify
Website Builder
The Lodgify vacation rental platform includes an easy to use website builder. Some of our favorite features include:
User-friendly website builder, no technical skills are needed.
They offer fully customizable designs with multiple template choices.
The online booking engine accepts credit card payments.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) enabled to increase your Google traffic.
The websites are mobile-friendly and include an app.
It can be used for any number of properties to satisfy private owners and property management companies' needs.
24/7 customer support. Friendly, knowledgeable folks that answer your requests promptly.
Online tutorials and help guides to guide you through set up.
It features a secure booking and payment platform.
Easy guest communication.
The webpages are available in over 30 languages for international travelers.
Collect guest reviews.
Here is a link to one of our Lodgify websites if you would like to check it out.
Channel Manager
A channel manager acts as the brains for your rental operation. It automatically performs many of your day to day rental tasks. It connects
all of your external listings and your website with its's property management software.
This deep connectivity will enable your bookings, calendars, and rates to be automatically synchronized and updated across all top channels – without manually editing each calendar individually. This means that when a guest books their stay on one listing site, the inventory will update on all the others.
Lodgify utilizes two different types of integrations. API integrations allow you to synchronize your listing sites fully. Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, and Expedia are API sites. iCal integrations synchronize calendar data and unit availability. Included iCal sites include TripAdvisor, Hotels.com, Trivago, Flipkey, and many others.
Some of the advantages of using a channel manager include:
Automatic calendar updates eliminate double-bookings.
Save up to 20 hours per week by automating short term rental management tasks.
Maximize rental income. Use the vacation rental channel manager to mark up base rates on specific external portals to cover any fees or commission.
Increase your brand visibility by listing on more sites. Reducing the time spent on mundane tasks provides an opportunity to optimize listings and market presence.
Booking System Websites created using the Lodgify system come with a built-in rental reservation system. Instantly receive bookings and online payments. You will maximize your vacation rental profits with commission-free bookings. Some of the top features include:
Multiple guest payment options. Payment gateways include PayPal and Stripe to accept Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. Manual payment methods are also supported, such as cash, checks, and bank transfers.
Online payments are secure and SSL-protected. Credit card payments are accepted in all currencies to attract international guests.
Promotions and coupon codes are available. Many listing sites do not offer this option.
Add-on services can be added to the booking process to maximize income.
Easy guest payment requests.
Funds deposited directly into host's bank account.
Simple four-step booking process:
The potential guest enters the dates of their desired stay. The vacation rental booking engine instantly checks availability and calculates the final price.
The guest enters their credit card details securely and submits the booking.
The host can review the booking and guest details before accepting any payment. You can also choose to accept the booking instantly without review.
Lodgify charges the reservation deposit to the guest's credit card and directly sends the funds to the host bank account. Lodgify also automatically sends a confirmation email to the guest and updates the availability calendar.
Negative Features
There is not a lot to find fault in with the Lodgify platform. Our biggest gripe previously was the lack of integration with VRBO for owners with less than five properties. Lodgify eliminated this issue in September of 2020. The other problem that we have is the cost of the service. It is a little above the industry median for the Professional and Ultimate packages. The Starter package is reasonable and is sufficient for most private property owners.
Lodgify pricing starts at $11 per month and varies depending on the total number of rentals and features. You can test the product free for seven days before buying a subscription. Below we have provided in-depth pricing details.
Good discounts are available for longer subscriptions. Overall the value of the product is high as the package contains a lot of features not found in competitor products.
Wrap Up
The combination of fantastic features, ease of use, and high site traffic make Lodgify a top choice for Vacation Rental Owners. We highly recommend that you utilize Lodgify as the brains of your short term rental business. Go ahead and try the product risk-free for seven days. We are confident that you will agree that Lodgify is an invaluable asset and that it will provide you years of satisfaction.
For related reading, please see: Vacation Rental Owner Strategies: You Need a Channel Manager.