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Lynnbrook Group user here. Just a heads up that "Access to Lynnbrook Group's Guest ID program is automatic, so there is no need to activate anything." is incorrect as noted above. Users have to reach out to Lynnbrook to request that this feature be activated. Also, here are the details I've learned which may be useful to someone else as well: This feature is offered for free for direct bookings with check-in 7 days or less from their booked date. (AKA, only for last-minute direct bookings.) To apply the same protection features to bookings with arrivals 8+ days in the future, it will cost you $1/booking.
Happy Valentine’s Day! Today is the perfect day to reflect on love, connection, and all the unique ways people celebrate. But beyond the red roses and chocolate-covered strawberries, there’s quite a bit happening in the vacation rental world this week. So, let’s take a look.
Evermore Orlando Resort and Hilton Honors just made a perfect match! Hilton Honors members can now earn and redeem points at the beautiful Evermore Orlando Resort, which offers everything from cozy villas to massive vacation homes. This collaboration allows guests to book stays through Hilton’s channels, enhancing the flexibility and benefits for Hilton Honors members. This partnership is like a sweet romance between hotels and vacation rentals, creating the ultimate vacation experience for travel lovers. Guests will get the best of both worlds with hotel perks in a vacation rental atmosphere.
Airbnb is basking in the love of travelers, claiming to have gained market share over hotels in 2024. The company reported a net income of $461 million, a significant improvement from a $349 million loss during the same period the previous year. The company attributed this positive performance to strong travel demand and enhancements in its product offerings, attracting typical hotel users. CEO Brian Chesky has hinted at an exhilarating future for Airbnb, where the platform could expand to embrace a wide range of third-party services. This innovative move has the potential to revolutionize the travel experience, making it even more seamless and enjoyable for users.
The year-long love-hate saga over vacation rental regulations in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida, will continue for the foreseeable future, with no clear resolution in sight. City commissioners have postponed a decisive vote on vacation rental restrictions, opting to conduct a workshop to discuss the matter further. Community members remain divided on the issue. Some residents are “falling out of love” with the noise and parking issues, while others believe short-term rentals are essential for tourism and property income. The date for the workshop is still undecided, but we can certainly hope that city commissioners will find a solution that creates unity in a divided community.
That’s all we have for today unless you’re curious to see eight vacation rentals with heart-shaped bathtubs. This California honeymoon suite is giving all the Valentine’s Day vibes.
(Hicksville Pines-The Honeymoon Suite)
Be sure to visit our blog every Friday for more Industry News!
Great Shawn, thanks!
Hi Scott - this is coming in a future update with some other Inbox additions we're working on.
Just like you now have a link to the booking of a text or channel chat, there needs to be links to the channel inquiry and quote.
Without these, I to click around on other OwnerRez pages to find the channel's profile of the inquirer, rendering the inbox a nuisance rather than a convenience.
Very happy to have the opt-in language added! It's necessary now with the new regulations
It would be helpful for the transactional SMS checkbox to be pre-checked and for us to have access to modify the copy that's visible to guests in that section. The way it's worded now is not very inviting and I can't imagine many people would check the box. As we rely on the transactional SMS triggers for a multitude of crucial communications with our guests, we'd want to convey that more clearly and warmly so as to garner their openness to receiving them. Without the ability to update the text or pre-select that box, this new feature remains unusable to us.
I want to clarify that guests who opt-out of Transactional SMS will not receive SMS triggers. The trigger may still fire, but the SMS message will show a failure explaining that the user has opt-ed out. We do not count failed SMS messages against credit usage.
We implemented it this way because Triggers should only be used for transactional messaging (e.g. messages about transactions the user has completed with you). Marketing SMS is not something we currently support.
Thanks for the amazing updates. I don't think I understand the SMS opt-in and how I can use it in my messaging. I thought I'd try to set up an automated trigger using this information, but I did not see the SMS opt-in as a "condition." If I had an automated transactional SMS, I figured I would only send it to people who hadn't opted out. Am I misunderstanding how this new opt-in feature is intended to be used? Thanks!
Chelsea,
The SMS Messaging Preferences are not part of any trigger conditions, so that's why you didn't find it there. When enabled by you in-app, those guest opt-ins are surfaced on your hosted website or booking widget during the guest booking process. If you want to reach out to your current or upcoming guests who have booked prior to this release, you can create a template with the same questions and then manually apply their responses to their associated bookings. Hope this helps!
Anne
Thanks for the amazing updates. I don't think I understand the SMS opt-in and how I can use it in my messaging. I thought I'd try to set up an automated trigger using this information, but I did not see the SMS opt-in as a "condition." If I had an automated transactional SMS, I figured I would only send it to people who hadn't opted out. Am I misunderstanding how this new opt-in feature is intended to be used? Thanks!
I did so over a year ago: https://www.ownerrez.com/forums/requests/add-safely-to-damage-protection-integrationsettings
Thank you for pointing that out. You're way ahead of me, Alece! 😁
I did so over a year ago: https://www.ownerrez.com/forums/requests/add-safely-to-damage-protection-integrationsettings
Thank you for these great updates!
It would be very beneficial if the native Damage Protection options could be applied to more than just Rental Guardian. As mentioned above, you have other integrated protection partners, one of which I utilize. However, you restrict all the built-in DP capabilities to only Rental Guardian. As long as we're with one of your integrated partners, we should be able to configure those capabilities to work with the protection vendor of our choice.
It's our pleasure, Alece! That's a great idea, and we encourage you to submit it as a Feature Request.
Thank you for these great updates!
It would be very beneficial if the native Damage Protection options could be applied to more than just Rental Guardian. As mentioned above, you have other integrated protection partners, one of which I utilize. However, you restrict all the built-in DP capabilities to only Rental Guardian. As long as we're with one of your integrated partners, we should be able to configure those capabilities to work with the protection vendor of our choice.
I am wondering why I need this when OR does all of these items natively.
A guidebook would be nice but not if it comes with all of this other duplicative stuff.
I want OR to do it all and not have to bolt on all of these other apps.
I wonder if OR just wants to check another box (integrations) at the expense of really evaluating whether the App integration can enhance the PM business.
We tried Host.co for about a year on all 7 properties in Hawaii and San Diego which are always full and we never got one Sale. We let all out guests in as soon as the cleaners are done to get great reviews so we are not interested in upselling the Early or Late Check-ins. We are very busy so the only things we would be interested in are upselling Fishing Trips, All the Theme park tickets, and all the things there are to do in Hawaii and San Diego but no sales at all in over a year. This looks like Host.co same 2 items Gourmet in Room Messages and Dinners which never sold since Great and Michelin Star restaurants surround us. I know in other countries they do a Great job of upselling all the local attractions why are these companies so bad at this end of the business?
I looked at Happy Guest last week. I would like if the integration allowed me to control the security hold through OR, right now it sounds like I have to login to stripe (their payment processor of choice) and control from there.
Will any upselling items be flagged on the OwnerRez calendar, similar to how early check-ins are shown, or are owners responsible for checking each booking to see if a guest has purchased anything?
Hello everyone, Happy OR user here! We use Dynamic Pricing, but not AI buddy (or equivalent) for items mentioned in this week’s article regarding industry news. I do have “standard replies” go out regarding check-in info etc, and have been asked a few times: “We thought this was only AI, and wanted to reach out to see if there’s actually anyone there”. Does anyone that uses AI to directly communicate with renters have any good feedback on this? I like the concept, but wouldn’t mind here from an actual PM that is using it.
Thanks as always!
Harald
fostershaegetaways.com
Thanks.
Is there a field code that includes the "statement description" for each payment account (the identifying name that appears on the guest's bank statement for the payment that they made through the owner's credit card processing account)? That is the part of the {BBINFO} custom field that I am hoping to use.
Valerie,
Perhaps the {PCCSTEXT} Credit Card Statement Text or the text shown on the guest's credit card statement is what you are looking for? If not, please contact us so we can help you more directly. All the best.
Anne
Happy Friday!
It’s been a while since we posted a piece of industry news, but we are thrilled to announce that we will be providing you with an industry news blog every Friday. We mean it, EVERY Friday. So, let’s dive into it.
Friday vibes are in full swing here at OwnerRez, and so is our excitement for the new unified inbox we released last week. Have you had a chance to check it out? Discover the remarkable features that make it stand out—find out more here.
Hawaii is heated this week, and we aren’t talking about weather conditions. Hawaii short-term rental operators are facing an uncertain future, causing travelers to worry about their upcoming accommodations. Hawaii’s vacation rentals have been experiencing a decline in occupancy at 52%. To make matters worse, Maui County is considering shutting down 7,000 vacation rentals, specifically ones in apartment-zoned areas. Visitors are already adjusting plans and booking hotel stays due to the uncertainty of vacation rentals. Hotels are stoked and enjoying the wave of increased bookings (no surprise there), while many short-term rental operators intend to ride out this wave. In an effort to entice visitors, some operators are decreasing their rates, while others are standing firm in hopes that they will stay in business. The County Council is currently reviewing a 2024 economic impact study, which has yet to be released to the public. While the results of the study are being considered, the proposed bill is on hold.
Speaking of waves, let’s discuss the tsunami of AI-powered travel trends and the future of vacation rentals. While some hosts are experiencing a drop in bookings, others are flourishing by adopting AI-powered tools. An Arizona-based boutique mini-resort achieved a 90% occupancy rate in its early months by implementing AI-powered pricing strategies like “Name Your Price” and “Price Alert”. The owner of this boutique resort claims that operators using direct booking strategies and AI-driven tools are outperforming the industry average by 20%. So, what AI tools are fueling this smart-bot tsunami? Tools such as 24/7 virtual concierge, dynamic pricing, AI gap scheduling software, and AI scheduling software for housekeeping. Seem like a bit much here? After all, we are in the hospitality business, and AI will never replace genuine hospitality. However, we can agree that artificial intelligence is simply enhancing the business. This article claims that hosts integrating AI are boosting revenue by 15%. That’s a plus! Are you riding the AI wave? It looks like most OwnerRez users are already halfway there because the vast majority utilize one of our dynamic pricing integrations. Let us know in the comments how you’re implementing AI in your business.
Check back next Friday for another industry news update!
Thanks.
Is there a field code that includes the "statement description" for each payment account (the identifying name that appears on the guest's bank statement for the payment that they made through the owner's credit card processing account)? That is the part of the {BBINFO} custom field that I am hoping to use.
Hi Val,
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. It seems that line "An electronically-signed copy..." was not removed from everywhere it should have been. I've opened a card with our dev team to get that addressed as soon as we can.
While that specific field {BBINFO} cannot be customized, you always have the option of creating your own Custom Fields! https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/custom-fields
As we enter the final stretch of winter in the northern hemisphere, take a look at our February Product Update. It highlights updates to the Unified Inbox, Internationalization preferences for users and guests alike, Vrbo RTB defaults, Airbnb pet surcharge handling improvements, and well,... see for yourself below!
OwnerRez's new Unified Inbox centralizes your communication across platforms and continues to be refined to enhance its functionality. February saw OwnerRez make some updates to help users settle in with the new functionality.
Since the booking charges were already available by expanding the charges section displayed on the Unified Inbox Guest Information context panel, we changed the Charges button to be a link to more easily access the Booking in our February 12th release.
Previously, when users received a new booking or inquiry, the Unified Inbox message pane would remain blank until a guest message was initiated. With our February 12th release, message placeholders of "Booking or Inquiry received" now appear immediately going forward with this release in the message pane upon receiving a Vrbo booking or inquiry. We'll be updating this further next month!
The ability to select different templates in the Unified Inbox ensures consistent messaging and streamlines your workflow, thereby improving your guests' experience.
But what if you have multiple bookings, inquiries, or quotes for a single guest at different properties? The ability to appropriately apply the correct template has been possible on the Guest Conversation View. With our February 19th release, we brought the same ability to the new Unified Inbox.
The mobile-responsive Unified Inbox got a small but valuable update in our February 19th release. The previous symbol displayed was not super intuitive and too small to use effectively. OwnerRez updated the button to be clear you can expand for more info. The symbol is now a double-down arrow.
Explore all the dynamic Messaging options available in OwnerRez.
OwnerRez understands that not all users are based in the United States or speak English. With the release on February 19th, we have introduced localization options in the Preferences section of the app. Users can now select their preferred culture and date formats for display inside OwnerRez.
To configure your user preferences, navigate to your Account > Preferences > Localization.
Once configured, your booking calendars, charges, transactions, property management commissions, and quotes will reflect your preferences.
Individual booking will also reflect your preferences in localization settings.
Wondering about currencies? Your account settling currency is configured in your payment processor integration (Settings > Financial > Payment Methods > your Payment Method > Change > Currency), and guest-facing currencies are configured in Settings > Branding & Legal > Guest Culture.
Because localization was expanded and moved to user Preferences, the account settings area for culture needed a few updates to align.
If you've been following along, OwnerRez has made great strides over the last year with guest internationalization. As part of our February 19th release, we've updated the Guest Culture section to align what settings are "guest-facing." Let's review the updates.
First, we renamed Culture to Guest Culture (Settings > Branding & Legal > Guest Culture) to clarify that changes made in this section are guest-facing only.
The in-app informational text displayed to guide users at the top has been updated, and the Currency Example has been added to the Guest Culture Settings page.
When you click on Change, you'll note that we've added additional information text and default currency and language options.
Guest-facing forms now have improved guest language display and inputs.
Please note: Currency is tied to the account and reflected at the quote and booking levels, so user preferences cannot dictate currency display.
Vrbo's Partner-initiated Cancellation Policy allows hosts to maintain control over their properties while fostering guest trust through standardized cancellation procedures. However, Vrbo Request to Book (RTB) pending bookings run the risk of potential host cancellation fees and possible temporary suspensions, which could affect your profits and flexibility if your Vrbo RTB settings were configured over 24 hours.
With our February 12th release, OwnerRez has updated the Vrbo API connection, setting the Vrbo RTB to a default of 24 pending hours. This change ensures compliance with Vrbo's penalty-free owner cancellation window and includes improved in-app help language display.Discover all of OwnerRez's channel integrations.
Vrbo deprecated some amenities and COVID-related health and safety details, prompting OwnerRez to update our Vrbo channel integration. As part of our February 5th release, we will no longer pass those deprecated amenities and health and safety details to Vrbo. Deprecated Vrbo amenities and health and safety details include the following.
Although we are no longer passing these amenities and health and safety details to Vrbo, they are still available for users to include in their property listings. If selected, these property details will be displayed on their hosted or integrated websites and other listing channels that continue to include those amenities or health and safety details.
You can review your property's Amenities or Health and Safety Details in-app by navigating to Properties > your Property > Listing Content > and selecting either Amenities or Health & Safety.
Thinking about expanding your marketing? Check out all of OwnerRez's channel integrations.
Charging a pet fee or surcharge on Airbnb helps cover additional cleaning costs and attracts responsible pet owners, making your pet-friendly rental more profitable. Configuring your Airbnb pet surcharges used to be somewhat challenging due to the Category and Multiplier options. To help users, OwnerRez has restricted the Multiplier choices to either None or Pet when the Airbnb surcharge Pet Fee Category is selected, as implemented in our release on February 12th.
Configuring your conditions to respond to specific events or scheduled times can streamline processes in your vacation rental business. This reduces errors and improves efficiency, minimizing the need for manual intervention and allowing you to focus on more important business activities. Date conditions or criteria offer maximum flexibility by enabling the addition of numerous extra conditions.
OwnerRez has updated the in-app terminology for bookings, blocked-off time, quotes, and inquiry date conditions. The term "Originated" has been replaced with more intuitive labels: "Booked On," "Quoted On," and "Received On," respectively. This change applies to Triggers, Discounts, Surcharges, and Tag Automations, and will take effect with our release on February 12th.
Users should be aware that this in-app change may make many Support Center screenshots outdated, and we will work to update them as soon as possible.
Including inactive or disabled properties in OwnerRez reports provides a fuller picture of your portfolio, tracks performance history, highlights trends, and empowers you to make informed decisions for your vacation rental business, especially as you prepare your 2024 taxes. Following our December 2024 release of Disabled Properties Available in Reports, we wanted to take it one step further by adding the ability to Group By your Active/Disabled Property Statuses in the Group By dropdown list for most OwnerRez Reports in our February 12th release.
OwnerRez listens to you. Our community of property managers and vacation rental owners shapes our development by proposing and upvoting Feature Requests that solve real hosting challenges—from automated guest messaging to advanced pricing rules—creating a roadmap driven by your real-world hosting needs.
As part of our February 5th release, OwnerRez has added a new filter status filter to include the Requested, Planned, In Development, Released, and Closed statuses to the Feature Requests forum.
The default Active status includes the Requested, In Development, and Planned statuses, but you can easily select the Released and Closed statuses too. Share your Feature Requests or cast your votes for others' suggestions.
OwnerRez's Schlage direct lock integration just got better with our February 12th release. Since our Schlage API integration does not allow multiple OwnerRez accounts to connect to the same Schlage account, we now prevent additional OwnerRez accounts from connecting to Schlage.
OwnerRez's Property Management (PM) premium feature allows you to calculate your commission and expenses and generate customized Owner Statement Views and monthly statements for your owners quickly and easily. New users and those who have joined the private beta have been using the PMv2 version of PM. As PMv2 is intended to simplify understanding of how Owner Statements present to both PMs and Owners, we added a couple of enhancements to aid in this.
Property Managers can now choose to display or hide booking and expense subtotals on Owner Statement Views, a feature introduced in our February 12th release.
The option to Show booking and expense subtotals is not selected and will be hidden on Owner Statement Views by default, but you can easily change that setting by navigating to PM > Settings > Statement Views > and either editing a Statement View or clicking on + Create View > Layout > Total > and selecting "Show booking and expense subtotals" to display those booking and expense subtotals on your Owner Statement View.
Some PMv2 users may choose to use this new setting to help with numbers that do not match in the top section of the Owner Statement with the Statement Totals. This can happen if the PM is hiding certain expenses.
With subtotals disabled/hidden:
In our February 26th release, OwnerRez added relevant booking information to the Expenses sections on PMv2 Owner Statements. If you, as the PM, are including expenses from a booking but that booking has no realized revenue, on Preview you will now see those bookings included. Once the Statement is generated, the $0 bookings (peach color rows) will not be visible.
Are you starting to manage or cohost bookings on behalf of other owners? Discover how OwnerRez's Property Management premium feature can help you with that.
Importing your property listing content from Airbnb directly into OwnerRez is convenient and efficient. Following our December 2024 Airbnb Listing Import rebuild, even more Airbnb property listing details are imported into OwnerRez. The details of the additions are:
Explore all of OwnerRez's channel integrations.
Whether an instant booking, request to book, reservation request, or an Airbnb special offer, knowing the channel booking mode is valuable information for short-term vacation rental owners and property managers. OwnerRez has added the Booking Mode display for channel bookings as part of the February 26th release.
This new Booking Mode display is shown on channel bookings in the General Info section on the Overview tab of the booking.
Looking to amp up your marketing? Discover all of OwnerRez's channel integrations.
OwnerRez has a robust built-in system of system messages sent automatically for routine situations, such as payment receipts, payment requests, quotes, date changes, and more. In our release on February 19th, we converted the last two system alerts that were previously sent automatically under the hood to be fully visible to users as System Messages. These two new system messages are the Send First Payment Failed to Guest, notifying the guest that their first payment has failed, and the Send Travel Insurance Failed to Guest, which notifies guests that their travel insurance purchase has failed.
By exposing these system messages, users can customize them to their liking by navigating to Settings > Messaging > System Messages >, clicking on the Action dropdown button next to the message they want to change, and selecting Change Message.
Explore all of OwnerRez's dynamic messaging options.
Some listing channels offer optional surcharges or additional services that guests can choose to add to their booking for an extra fee. These are typically presented during the checkout process as upsell opportunities that provide extra value or peace of mind for travelers and are collected directly by the listing channel.
As part of our February 26th release, OwnerRez has added the ability for listing channel integrations to access optional channel surcharges in the feeds sent from OwnerRez. Those listing channel integrations include Glamping Hub, Houfy, Whimstay, Hopper Homes, Got2Go, LocalOTA, and Avanti Florida Villas. The display of those depends on the channel partner.
Offering travel insurance to guests benefits hosts by reducing cancellation disputes, protecting against guest financial losses, and minimizing refund demands when legitimate cancellations occur. With our February 12th release, OwnerRez has revised the logic and messaging regarding when guests can purchase travel insurance, both in-app for users and on the guest Booking Travel Insurance form, for better clarity.
Guests can now buy Standard Travel Insurance for five days after booking if their arrival date is within 30 days. This revised travel insurance deadline language is displayed on the individual bookings > Insurance > Travel Insurance tab.
The guest Booking Travel Insurance form also displays the revised language.
Understanding the conditions that apply to surcharges and triggers at a glance is essential. OwnerRez previously displayed the Listing Site and Property columns on the surcharge and trigger grids, but both were removed in a prior release as the info was consolidated. With our February 19th release, the Listing Site and Property columns on the surcharge and trigger grids were made standalone once again.What if the field is blank in those columns? A blank field means the surcharge or trigger applies to all properties or listing sites.
OwnerRez's Guest system allows you to link the same guest to multiple inquiries, quotes, and bookings, making it easier to identify repeat guests. You also have the option to separate or merge guest records. However, it's essential to be cautious when merging guests, as some users may do so a little too hastily. For this reason, as a part of our February 19th release, we've added an extra step asking you to validate your choice to merge guest records by checking the "Yes. Proceed with merging..." checkbox during the Merge Guest process.
Fix Booking.com Availability Push. The Booking.com (BDC) availability push encountered failures, so OR resolved the issue so that it is running smoothly again.
Fix Disappearing QuickBooks Sync Button After Importing Deposit from Airbnb. After importing a deposit from Airbnb, the "Sync Now" option in the Action dropdown list was incorrectly no longer available. We fixed this glitch, and the "Sync Now" option in the Action dropdown list has been restored.
Fix Error When Attempting to Import Bookings Without Address Information. Users encountered errors when attempting to import bookings with the Import Booking tool without guest address information. We corrected this issue so bookings can be imported with the Import Booking tool without guest address information.
Fix Error When Importing Airbnb Property That Has an Undocumented Locale. Airbnb properties with undocumented locales encountered errors during the Airbnb Listing Import process. OR resolved this glitch so that Airbnb properties with undocumented locales can be correctly imported into OwnerRez using the Airbnb Listing Import process.
Fix Error When Publishing Tax and Fee Information to Google Vacation Rentals. Some errors occurred when publishing tax and fee information to Google Vacation Rentals (GVR). We fixed this bug to ensure that tax and fee information is pushed correctly to GVR.
Fix Javascript Error in Conversation View. Some users encountered Javascript errors while viewing the guest conversation view. OR corrected this glitch, and the guest conversation view is working properly.
Fix Non-U.S. Phone Numbers Being Added as U.S. Phone Numbers. Some non-U.S. phone numbers were incorrectly added and stored as U.S. formatted phone numbers. We fixed this bug to accurately add and store non-U.S. phone numbers in the correct format.
Fix Not Showing Emails When Paging in Conversation View. Some emails failed to display in the guest conversation view when paging. OR corrected this glitch, and emails are now displayed correctly in the guest conversation view.
Fix to Show Discount Broken Out From Total in Charges Grid for Airbnb Bookings. Airbnb discounts were not consistently displayed in the Booking > Charges line items. We resolved this issue by calculating the approximate discount amount from the Airbnb charges information and displaying that in the Booking > Charges line items.
Fix Showing Gap Error on Booking or Quote When it Should be a Minimum or Maximum Error. OwnerRez user-initiated bookings or quotes incorrectly displayed property rule gap error messages rather than the correct minimum or maximum night rule error message. OR corrected this glitch to display the correct gap night error message.
Include Tax in Availability Search Widget Totals. Expected taxes were not included in the Availability Search Widget totals, resulting in incorrect booking totals. We fixed this bug, and the Availability Search Widget totals. will include taxes as expected
New Unified Inbox Updates:Send Google Analytics Correct Data When Multiple Widgets are Hosted on the Same Site Page. When multiple widgets were hosted on the same page, a missing portion of data sent to Google Analytics prevented users from fully tracking reservation sources. We corrected this issue to ensure that the data sent to Google Analytics will correctly track reservation sources.
Add Booking Availability Picker Assumes Wrong Century. Although the booking was created for the correct year, the + Create Booking availability calendar picker incorrectly displayed the wrong century (e.g., 1925 instead of 2025), resulting in dates showing the wrong day and causing confusion. We fixed this bug to ensure the + Create Booking availability calendar picker displays the correct century.
Attempt to Void Lynnbrook Payment if Non-voidable/Non-refundable. On rare occasions, Lynnbrook payments are reported to OwnerRez as "non-refundable or non-voidable," which we interpreted to mean we should not try to refund or void the payment. This resulted in an error occurring on such payments. However, Lynnbrook indicated that we can still attempt to void or refund the payment if we need to, so OR resolved this issue by attempting to void Lynnbrook payments reported to OwnerRez as "non-refundable or non-voidable."
Exclude Child Rates During New Booking.com Connections. Users were mistakenly able to select Booking.com (BDC) Child Rate plans during the BDC API connection process, resulting in errors. We addressed this obstacle by removing Child Rate plans from the BDC API connection process.
Fix Incorrect Amounts for "Already Remitted" & "Can Remit" on Booking PM Tab Profit Section. Despite PM v2 remitted expenses being included on PM statements, the "Already Remitted" & "Can Remit" on the booking PM tab profit section rendered and displayed incorrect amounts. OR corrected this issue so that the "Already Remitted" & "Can Remit" on the booking PM tab profit section will render and display the correct amounts.
Fix Merging of Guests Resulting in Broken Email Links. If a guest was merged, guest ID links displayed in system notification emails already sent no longer worked correctly. We resolved this bug, and merged guest links will work correctly in system notification emails.
Fix Owner Excel Import Crash. The Import Owners default Excel template caused errors when used for the Import Owners process. OR fixed the template so that the process would run correctly.
Fix Vrbo Channel Bridge Booking Downloads. Due to changes on the Vrbo side, the OwnerRez Channel Bridge tool could not download Vrbo bookings correctly. We fixed the Channel Bridge tool to ensure users can download Vrbo bookings correctly.
Fix Vrbo Listing Import Failures and Not Pulling in Beds/Baths. The Vrbo Listing Import tool could not import beds and baths and also experienced general import failures. OR resolved this issue, and the Vrbo Listing Import tool is working again.
Gap Rule is Applied When There is No Booking. This edge case occurred when changeover gap rules were incorrectly applied to a canceled booking. We corrected this glitch so that changeover gap rules are not applied to canceled bookings.
Handle Missing Guest Name in Airbnb Response. Occasionally, Airbnb booking responses don't include the guest's name. OR fixed this bug to better handle Airbnb Booking Added responses to ensure guest names are correctly imported.
Property Excel Import Does Not Overwrite Listing Number. Previously imported Property Import Excel files that included the listing number received import errors when users attempted to reimport with the "Overwrite" option selected. We corrected this glitch to ensure that Property Import Excel files that include the listing number will be imported correctly.
SMS Template "To" With Whitespace Delimited Numbers Causes Errors in Trigger Sender. SMS templates that use blank spaces to separate the phone numbers or field codes in the "To" field cause errors in the trigger sender. OR resolved this issue by merging the field codes and phone numbers and appending a semi-colon (;) after the merge codes to separate them.
Support Spot Rate Gap Required Rule on Mutual Blocks. Spot rate changeover gap rules were not properly applied to mutually blocked properties. We fixed this bug to ensure that spot rate changeover gap rules are correctly applied to mutually blocked properties.
Unified Inbox:Add Forum Name to Watch this Topic Notifications. Forum names were not included in Watch This Topic email notifications, leading to some confusion. We fixed this issue, and the forum name will be included in Watch This Topic email notifications.
Display Correct "Element" on LQA for Discount Items Instead of Surcharge. Some discounts were incorrectly displayed as Surcharges in the Element column of the Listing Quality Analyzer (LQA). OR resolved this glitch to display "Discounts" in the Element column of the LQA correctly.
Don't Display Derived Description Field in Airbnb Listing Status Check Locked Attributes. Derived description fields were displayed in the OwnerRez Airbnb listing status Locked Attributes. These fields are derived, and therefore, any Lock status on the field is immaterial. We adjusted the behavior to display only the non-derived description fields in the OwnerRez Airbnb listing status Locked Attributes list.
Fix Auto PM Lock for PMv2 Statement Generation. Some fully paid bookings inadvertently were not automatically PM locked as expected when a PMv2 statement was generated. OR resolved this issue to ensure that fully paid bookings are automatically PM locked as expected when a PMv2 statement is generated.
Fix Rentalz Listing Links. The listing links displayed on the in-app Rentalz integration pages were incorrect, so we have corrected them.
Fix Vrbo Listing Import to Pull in Beds/Baths. The Vrbo Listing Import tool failed to import beds and baths correctly. We fixed this bug, and the Vrbo Listing Import tool will import beds and baths correctly.
Improve Hosted Website Browser Accessibility (e.g., screenreader). Some browser accessibility attributes or labels were missing from hosted websites, rendering them less accessible than expected, so we have optimized browser accessibility attributes or labels for improved accessibility.
Improve Hosted Website Photo Gallery Defaults. We have improved the hosted website's photo gallery. The "Rooms" tab has been renamed "Photo Gallery," and exterior photos will now be included in this list. Additionally, if more than 80% of the photos are associated with specific rooms, the individual tabs will not be displayed, and the view will default to the photo gallery.
Increase Protection Limit for Damage Protection Platinum Enhanced to $25k. Since the Damage Protection Platinum Enhanced protection limit has been raised to $25,000, we have updated that amount in-app on the Damage Protection page.
Match Vrbo Channel Bridge Linen Fee to Surcharge. Some Vrbo Linen fee surcharges were not correctly matched to bookings during the Channel Bridge process. OR resolved this glitch, and Vrbo Linen fee surcharges will be correctly matched to bookings during the Channel Bridge process.
Show Other Surcharges in Booking Update Service for HA-XML Channel Integrations. Optional surcharges were inadvertently hidden from the Booking Update Service for Channel Integration. We fixed this bug to include optional surcharges in the Booking Update Service for Channel Integration.
Order Email Communication History Activity Groups by Last Occurrence Date Instead of First. In-app Communication History Activity displayed email action history in incorrect order. OR corrected this issue, and the in-app Communication History Activity will display the history in the correct descending order.
Skip Disabled Properties on Excel Custom Fields Import. Importing Custom Fields Excel files that contained disabled properties that had duplicate internal codes with active properties resulted in import errors. We resolved this glitch by skipping disabled properties in the Custom Fields Import process.
Unified Inbox:
Fix Displaying of Error if a Deposit is Blank. If a QuickBooks Online integration was configured, blank deposits incorrectly displayed errors. We resolved this glitch by allowing blank deposits for QuickBooks Online integrations.
Fix Hosted Site Amenity Filter Dropdown Scrollbar From Appearing Unnecessarily. The Amenity filter dropdown list scrollbar was displayed incorrectly when no properties were in the search results. OR fixed this bug, and the Amenity filter dropdown list scrollbar will not be displayed when no properties are in the search results.
Fix Hosted Site Blog Category Page to Include the Category Name in the Page Title. On the hosted website blog category pages, blog post categories failed to be displayed in the post title. We resolved this glitch so that blog post categories are displayed in the post title.
Fix Hosted Site Property Page Photo Link. Hosted website property page photo links didn't open correctly. OR corrected this bug and hosted website property page photo links open correctly.
Fix Outdated Listing URLs on Channel Integration. Some HA-XML listing channel property listing links were incorrect. We resolved this issue to ensure all HA-XML listing channel property listing links are correct.
Various Internationalization Fixes: Widgets, Validation, Display Currency With Account vs. Team Access. Following the Guest Culture release earlier in February, OwnerRez has fixed various internationalization bugs affecting widgets, validation, and currency display settings for primary accounts vs. Team Access accounts.
Update Schlage Lock Integration to Handle More Failure Cases. Some Schlage door lock integrations received confusing failure messages from Schlage that OwnerRez passed to users. OR updated the OwnerRez Schlage door lock integration to handle more door lock failure cases, which will improve user door lock failure messages.
We are pleased to announce our partnership with Avanti Florida Villas as a new first-class channel partner!
Avanti Florida Villas has been a leader in the vacation rental industry for over 25 years, specializing in wholesale bookings for travel groups and agents in the UK and Ireland. By listing your property with Avanti, you’ll gain exposure to thousands of travel agents and package-tour operators across the UK and Europe, receive full payment before guests arrive, and be part of the UK’s fastest-growing wholesale supplier of Florida vacation rentals.
Travel professionals trust Avanti Florida Villas for their advanced web tools, making it easy to find the perfect vacation home for their clients. Homeowners and property managers who partner with Avanti enjoy seamless communication, prompt payments, and a trustworthy, hassle-free experience.
Avanti Florida Villas is actively expanding and welcomes partnerships with reliable, responsive homeowners and property managers across Florida—especially in the Gulf Coast and Miami areas. If you’re looking for a reputable partner to maximize your rental’s potential, Avanti Florida Villas is the perfect choice.
Avanti Florida Villas acts as the Merchant of Records (MOR). They work with whatever rates you set for your home, and you get paid according to those rates; in other words, there are no channel fees!
Learn more about Avanti Florida Villas by visiting here and checking out the OwnerRez support article for integrating OwnerRez with Avanti Florida Villas.
Love is in the air this month (Valentine’s Day is the 14th—just in case you forgot! 😜), and so is the perfect chance to sharpen your OwnerRez skills!
This month, we're offering weekly demos, live Q&As, and an in-depth focus session on renter agreements! Be sure to register early to secure your spot and join us live. You can also catch up on past sessions on our webinar page here.
Join us for a live demo of OwnerRez! Our client engagement team will give a high-level demonstration of how OwnerRez looks across all of its menus and features.
Join us for a live Q&A! Steve, from our Engagement Team, will be answering your questions. Please write in questions prior to the webinar and we'll start off by answering those.
Join us for a live demo of OwnerRez! Our client engagement team will give a high-level demonstration of how OwnerRez looks across all of its menus and features.
Join us for a live demo of OwnerRez! Our client engagement team will give a high-level demonstration of how OwnerRez looks across all of its menus and features.
Join Adrielle from our Onboarding Team for a look at the Renter Agreement available in OwnerRez. We'll cover where to find it, how to make changes and how to send to your guests.
Join us for a live demo of OwnerRez! Our client engagement team will give a high-level demonstration of how OwnerRez looks across all of its menus and features.
I was searching in the Support area to see if I could find out if it is possible to edit or modify the information that is included on the {BBINFO} field code and came across this blog update from a year ago. It says that the sentence "An electronically-signed copy of the renter agreement will be emailed to you." was removed from that field code, yet, I am still seeing it included when the field code is used.
I've added the {BBINFO} field code to the payment receipt system template because I think it is a good idea to tell the guest what information will be on their bank or credit card statement to identify who the payment was made to, in order to help avoid any confusion on the part of the guest when they can't remember making the payment or when a scheduled payment has been made.
Can someone please look into this and see if 1) the mention of the renter agreement can actually be removed or 2) is it possible for us to edit the information in this field code or 3) is there is a field code for the payment account's statement description that we can use in the payment receipt template? I know I can create my own payment receipt templates to include each client's specific statement descriptor, but it would be so much easier if there is a field code that would customize that information in one payment receipt template depending on whose payment account was receiving the payment.
🙏
(FYI - hours as in Thursday, not tomorrow)
Hey Paul, I think of the unified box as a CRM if that means, which I have understood it mean, from where all communications with guests are contained and managed.
Hours from now sounds pretty sweet!
