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As I had mentioned, I had a Booking.com person requested a check in 5 or 6 hours early. He is from an hour away. I didn't respond, so he used my 4-Hour free cancellation feature. Probably a good thing that he canceled.

Anyway, my second booking.com person who now is in the no cancellation period, texted to see if he could check in two to three hours early. I declined and said I need the time for cleaning. In the future, I would plan to respond with an hourly charge if not same day turn over, and "no" if it is.

Two bookings, too early check-in requests. My check-in is 6 p.m., but with 7 units I need time between check-out and check-in. I just did not anticipate that high a frequency early on.

It seems fine now but I was experiencing on Chrome

Strange. Not happening here. I checked a number of sites, both as logged out/in user. Everything seems fine. What page are you looking at?

Went on website and widgets are not painting. Anyone else?

Well, one thing that may make it easier is our new HomeAway API integration. With that, HomeAway passes across the guest credit cards to us and we run them on your processor, so that should help with the volume.

Lynnbrook Group is our go-to processor: https://app.ownerrez.com/lynnbrookmerchapps/add -- they know vacation rentals, have good support, and will get you a better rate than Stripe. They do have a small monthly fee, but that will be balanced out by the better rate (and better policies like fees on refunds).

Thank you, I would appreciate your recommendations. While I can't anticipate how much direct booking I'll get initially, I do six figures worth of booking through the various platforms and hope to transition a good percentage to direct. A processor who is easy to work with and offers protection against frivolous chargebacks would be appreciated!

Awesome! Yep, booking.com can result in cancellations, but we try to make those as automated and painless as possible.

As long as you've got strict policies set, the bookings that do stick are worth it.

This is an unfortunate limitation of Stripe. They do not allow Void at all, only refund (so the Void button will always be disabled). And they also don't return fees on refunds like most processors do.

We support Stripe and they can be good for small amounts of processing, but given your volume my recommendation would be to switch to a processor with better policies. We support many and can recommend some specific ones if you're interested.

I finally found it - under Transactions then click on the Payment link. But now it's been too long to void, so that just cost me $16.

Please update your documentation to reflect this important and expensive detail, and perhaps also the fact that it's very time-sensitive - a total of about 15 minutes elapsed between booking and my finally finding the correct option, at which point it was too late. It's not something I could have identified beforehand, as I had no existing payments in the system. I am Unhappy.

Hello! As recommended on the Payment Methods section, I have successfully run a test booking using my credit card, woohoo! But now I have a booking and I cannot find the "Void and Delete" option cited on this page. I am not sure if this is the same as canceling the booking (it seems like it is not), and I'd really love to not actually have the $500+ charge go through. :p

"Once [the payment] goes through successfully, open the new booking, open the payment and use the Void & Delete option to void the credit card payment."

I go to Bookings, select the new booking, and I get stuck on "open the payment". There is no Payment tab, and I have been through every available tab and see no sign of a Void & Delete option. Help!

Got a 2-day booking from booking.com that hasn't canceled yet. Bit of a shock, I clicked on a story about that girl who cannot be found in Utah and there was my property "most important vacation rental in the USA in the booking.com ad!

well I guess you dont know much about that market. Most cabins are in so called "resorts" cookie cutter builder grade situtated 5-8' from one to the next (no privacy) exact same perched on 40' drop off (meaning no room to walk, parking for 1-2 cars at most when a cabin claims to sleep 10-12..and no place for kids to play safely (as mentioned, steep drop offs). Ours is family market. Means kids, kids want to play.

Not sire what you mean by that. I cannot put all pictures on the page. There has to be a photo gallery that they can view if they wish.

I am not that desperate to turn my upscale custom finished cabins into a sty. Sorry but pet friendly cabins are usually a mess. I had prior PM allow guests to slip the pet in. results- scratched wood doors (I guess they left dog inside and went somewhere) and poo on the rug. NO THANKS.

Did you look on desktop or moble? remember on mobile there is no room to keep everything on top.

Isnt Tumblr some dating app? why would I add that? Have no idea what snapchat is. I do use Buffer (which is like hootsuite) but what does it have to do with icons? I have a FB page that is updated regularly with posts, for every cabin, Instagram., Pinterest, twitter. Not sure how Buffer (or hootsuite) relates to icons on the website.

what is not clickable? That is a label. The calendar and the OR quote form is below.

Top 10 attractions or things to do in the area. Very visited page by the way.

have no idea what are u talking about.

why? no one will ever use them. There is a local site visitmysmokies that drives a ton of traffic. I can never compete with that. I know many ppl think (Like that Vacation Soup owner) that adding all that "stuff" to one's website drives traffic - it does not, just makes it cluttered. if people want weather,. they go to weather.com, not my site. If they want Dollywood tickets, they will go to Dollywood.com, not my site

Did you notice I have a blog? and vacation guide? and the top 10 page with attractions and things to do? covered already.

it means no service fee as VRBO or Airbnb charge.

I did. Don't want to.

ok on on button, have no idea what sales funnels. New buzzword of the day? I thought landing page is the page user sees when they search and 1st open my site. The page they 1st open is a landing page. At least according to GA.

I almost bought a house in Sevierville before moving back north. A good market, but there are thousands of properties Speaking critically:

The property is nice but I don't see how it stands out from the other large Sevier County large cabins.

The scrolling pictures at the bottom are not favorable. Maybe when each one is clicked, but the scrolling pictures cropping comes across as shot by an amateur. Many pictures are not well staged. Pictures are everything.

No pets sounds nice, but in the shoulder or off season, maybe consider relaxing that to increase bookings.

The "Tell your friends about us" at bottom is faint. Copy this in front of the social media links at top, to make them more prominent.

I don't like your social media icons. Use the real ones that everyone else uses, not these "share" icon look. Add several more icons - SnapChat, Pinterest, Youtube, Tumblr, etc. You can use something like HootSuite, and put out something going on in your area

See Availability. Get a Quick Quote. This line isn't clickable??

No idea what "Top 10 list" on button bar is at top. I would move to the More dropdown and replace it with the FAQs option.

Why are there two phone pics on top right?

There is funky empty grey area going on around/below the credit card icons?? (chrome).

Add the video cameras such as on the Titanic museum

Add a widget for local weather and local events. Become the place to find out about Sevier/Smoky park happenings.

No extra service fees? Don't you charge for cleaning?

Take AMEX. When I asked, he said it was 20% of credit card usage. And chargebacks were not higher. The wealthier tend to favor it.

You need a Book Now button at top and bottom. That is the most important element on the page. Sales funnel, landing page(s), call to action. yada yada...

see if this looks bland to you https://www.smoky-mountains-cabin.com/ridgeviewlodge

The above are a few suggestions I have garnered from multiple business seminars in the hospitality industry.

Your VRs may not be commodities to you, but how well you present your VR units and how well you present/sell them to past guests and online profiles is what may determine whether your guests view yours as a commodity. Around here, most of the VR listings on airbnb/vrbo/etc look pretty similar. Mostly bland.

Your cleaners can refresh your cards.

I am pressed for time, but some answers.

-- ours is tourist area and most people come on vacation . can be variations (family reunion,. attend a wedding ). But mostly multigen families vacationing. My places sleep 10, 12 and 16 people so that is kind of my typical clientele; Vacation with family. There isnrt any busines stravel etc.

-- yes I know it is LT business. been in it since 2011. I am on all sites plus some

-- well mine aren't exactly commodities in a typical sense. Maybe a condo building with 200 exact same units only distinguished by carpet color are that. I have 3 unique custom builds, all different architecture and vibe, all set in acres of nature with amenities like seclusion, firepits, pool tables, hot tubs etc. Handmade rustic furniture (not rooms to go stuff) etc. The biggest thing is that none of them is in any cookie cutter "subdivision" or "resort". You can actually see starts at night and roast marshmallows on a campfire. You get the idea.

-- I do not get to see my guests so I cannot "hand" the business cards to them. Business cards are oin console table but I replenish them only when i am there.

My #1 goal is to stop instant bookers (especially new to a listing site) from dialing me up to confirm or "have a nice chat" or to complain about trivial things. I aint a bed and breakfast, and I dont want to get random calls - I already am hesitant answering due to robocalls and being at work or asleep.

I was surprised by Booking.com in giving out a phone number. I ONLY want to talk "through the AirBnB/VRBO/Booking.com" communication channel. I stayed at 3 b.coms last year, and I never called the host - we texted I believe. What gives with calling me 1 minute after he instant booked??? When someone calls, I have NO idea which property they booked or what days or what they did or who they are.

Otherwise, instant booking does not have value to me. 1 booking, 1 guy wanting to chat up what he had just done and then he cancelled in two hours. Text me, guy!!!

This is an area I have some research knowledge. Thoughts:

--- most of the value of an email list is during shoulder or off season. You need to target offers to fill those dates mostly.

--- a generic email list may not cause much activity. Do you request and record special events or events in their lives? Why did they stay with you? The one booking I accidentally got said they fell in love in my town. I would have recorded that in a "reason for coming" column. Birthdays. Weddings. Family Reunions. Whatever. Is your list go our with their name

--- it may be worthwhile investing in a brilliant email template from some vendor, if you can find it. Content, email subject, timing are all important. Does your email go out the week of Mothers Day? Valentines Day? Holidays?

--- people with hospitality businesses - VRs, B&Bs, tours,etc - do social media/blogging updates (campaigns) which rarely appear to result in bookings. But it keeps your name in front of them. This might indirectly cause future repeats or referrals on your website.

--- This is why you need to be on all the listing sites. There is apparently about a 7% billboard effect, where people see you on B.com, VRBO, AirBnB, Flipkey, etc. Your listing titles need to be clearly related to your properties on your website so they can find you. I have Founder's Home on OTA, and that is the name of the property on my website.

--- VRs are actually a longterm business. Perhaps they will come back in 9 years, Perhaps they refer someone you weren't aware of because they werent in your past guest list.

--- VRs are a commodity business. You need to make it clear why they should be booking with YOU over the cabins down the road. Are you brilliantly themed?

--- Salons/spas try to rebook people before they leave from their appointment. Repeats: Perhaps leave some biz cards - with an offer "A Special Offer for You" or "Come Back and See Us Next Year". Referrals: Give each guest 5 business cards to hand out with a line for their own name. They put their name on it and if they refer someone successfully, they get 10% off a future booking of their own (perhaps put 1 year time limit on it).

Anyone using constant contact, mailchimp or similar to email your past guests (or inqures) to send them "newsletters" specials etc.

Any success with that? I have been doing this since 2016. I send maybe once a month. Over 1600 addresses on my mail list. I can trace maybe 2 repeat bookings to it.
I would say this is pathetically low response rate. Either I am bad at composing these emails (and I try to write about local attractions coming up - not just about my cabins), or it does not work in my market and my size of cabins. But every time I send I just get a few unsubscribes, few opens, and fewer clicks on links. My list is replenished by mail sign up popup on my website and I get a few sign-ups a week. If someone has a sample of their successful email campaign ( that generated at least inquiries if not bookings) , can you send a copy to mybluemountainlodge@gmail.com. TIA

Exactly like Google Voice. You can port the number, yes. You'd port it out of Google Voice and into our VOIP provider (Twilio) and we'd then have to map it for you. I confirmed that Twilio does support porting.

Some of our users have access to something called Call Center which is a virtual dialer (with your own custom phone number in your area code) that lets you make calls from OwnerRez. We've been sitting on it for a long time. In the near future, when SMS is released, everyone will have access to it. Not only can you register your own business virtual number, you can receive SMS in/out of it and you can set voicemail, After Hours forwards and more. I hate to tease people by mentioning this early but couldn't resist.

If you mean the main email (that you login with and/or get notifications at) do that under the Account > Profile page. That's the top right button, then Profile. There are many other "email" settings in the system though, so let me know if you meant something else. Theming, etc.

1) that is why I started with payments by booking.com, I ain't collecting at the door. I went payments already have been made

2) I both got somebody who's willing to change a property name to what I wanted, and someone who told me the 25-character max. You may have to send in emails a few time to get somebody will help you

3) great idea on the Google Voice. Truthfully, the concept of instant booking is to not have to talk to everyone except for problems. I got a booking,, and they called me a minute later to chat. They booked one night, they wanted to check in 6 hours early, and then they used the early cancellation. I wasn't really ready for clients, but due to booking.com confusing setup I set one property to live trying to figure out how to do things. I don't want to chat. The voicemail with text sounds great. Thanx.

Sort of the opposite of Airbnb and HomeAway try not to give you the contact information when you want it . Why can't these listing sites just find a simple and logical way that doesn't make life miserable?

4)

IT DEPENDS.

1. In my case, it defaulted to saying that I will collect deposit in "Cash" at check in( which I never do - I am 700 miles away), and I had to explain to each of the 3 renters that secdep will be by credit card.

2. Every time I need to change something like property headline I need to call them. And forget any meaningful property description - there isn't any except for some crude concoction created by some computer algorithm from amenities.
Crazy.

3. Phone number - non issue. I have Google Voice number that is specifically for my rental business. I can set it up to go to voice mail between X and Y hours of day. If they leave a message , it transcribes it and send to my email. I can text them back or call back at my convenience. That is for ALL bookings, not just B.com

4. yes , agreed. confusing

5. Biggest one of all (pun intended) no bookings form Booking dot com.

How do we change our email within the OR system?

Good: There's a lot about booking.com that gives you much more direct control and Airbnb or HomeAway does. A real security deposit, unlike Airbnb with their synthetic deposit. Immediate changes to my profile stuff and amenities and they even call me to confirm and see if there's anything else they can do for me

Bad: guests get my phone number. Like, they think I am going to chat with guests at work??? My exact address is listed on the search results. Security issue. They definitely have a hotel mentality.

Ugly. Confusing when you first start trying to thread a property into the system. Nothing is obvious and it does peculiar things you don't anticipate

That is why I'm going to let booking.com collect the payments. There's no way in the world I want to try to get money from people at the door. I want them to pay well before they show up

Hi Michael,

No, that is not possible currently. Thanks for the suggestion though!

Yes, but only if they authorize you for passing guest cards over to OwnerRez. You typically have to call Booking.com and talk them into it these days unless you have established reputation. It used to be that everyone got that by default. I think a few bad apples spoiled it for everyone.