Lotlot Hadjilaya has been my short-let rental cleaner for almost three years now. I first met Lotlot during my time running Airbnb management companies in Brisbane, Queensland. From my rough calculations, Lotlot has done over 2,000 short-let change-over cleans, all of which gained 5-star reviews. Her talent and experience are incredibly valuable, and something that shows just as much value is Lotlot's story. With the current struggles in our industry, I believe Lotlot's story shows how important our industry is and the kind of brilliant people it creates. Hi, my name is Lotlot, born and rais ..read more

Pricing your short-term rental is essential, but it can be difficult if you're not familiar with the process. It is a balancing act of trying to get the best possible occupancy rate, and not leaving money on the table. There are lots of pricing software available in the market that you can use to help you figure out what's right. We've found that most pricing software these days are high quality (my personal favourite would be PriceLabs). The issue is, given the present circumstance when the market is still in recovery mode from COVID-19, pricing software can be expensive and rather advanced ..read more

Short-term rental owners and managers have always been self-reliant, and oftentimes it leads to being known as an industry that fails to share and help each other. In fact, we can be quite vicious amongst our own. From my own experience, I have witnessed some intense behaviour, some of the worst being competing STR hosts removing lockboxes with bolt cutters, dobbing each other into the council, and even staying at competing properties to be able to write bad reviews. It could be suggested that if some STR owners and managers spent as much time on positive customer-focused solutions as they do ..read more

If you haven’t read Part I or Part II, we strongly suggest reading them first to get the best start at auditing your property by testing your check-in process, as well as finding and fixing potential issues that are harder to spot. Welcome to Part III of this series, where we'll show you how to do a thorough check of your whole property with The Ultimate Maintenance Checklist 2020. We created this checklist to give property owners and professional servicers in the short-term rental industry a detailed, easy-to-use guide that will leave your property at the highest possible standard of upkeep ..read more

Airbnb would have to be at least in the top 5 of multinational businesses affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Despite raising US$1 billion in a new round of funding only a few days ago, COVID-19 has undoubtedly been devastating to Airbnb's economics, and a controversial handling of the situation will cause years of rebuilding as scorned hosts begin to leave the platform. With international travel nearly non-existent during this pandemic, it is expected that Airbnb will lose about US$1 billion in the first half of this year, and their planned IPO will certainly not be happening. Still, even befor ..read more

If you haven’t read Part I, we strongly suggest reading that first to get the best start at auditing your property by testing your check-in process. Welcome to Part II of this series. By now, you've probably settled into your short-term rental and may have found a few items that could be fixed, like a faulty light bulb, an appliance that doesn’t work, or just adding personal touches to make a stronger first impression. Part II is going to look at some potential issues that you may not be able to see easily, how to test these issues, and how to fix them. We'll take a look at issues that are li ..read more

COVID-19 has turned the accommodation and tourism sector upside down, but even before this pandemic everyone in this industry would agree with me that it was not an easy gig. You have to work hard and essentially be available 24/7. Despite what those flogging thousand-dollar Airbnb success courses would tell you, this industry is not for everyone and not necessarily an easy way to make a living. The current situation is a prime example of how individuals and groups are coping. There are some still having a crack at things by offering “self-isolation packages” to encourage alternate bookings ..read more

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating impact on the world's tourism and travel. The current situation for holiday rental hosts and companies is intense, both economically and socially. If we look directly at the impact on Australia, the market will forever change as demand is greatly lowered. Austrade found that in 2019 there were 8.7 million international visitors to Australia who contributed 276 million nights stayed. As challenging as this will be on hosts, there are ways to change your strategy and find alternate opportunities to listing your property. We've put together 3 tips to ..read more

On the 31st of March 2020, all Airbnb hosts received an email from its CEO, Brian Chesky, with a 15-minute video apology. The video addressed how Airbnb did not consult hosts about the global change in their cancellation policy due to COVID-19, and actions the company will be taking to help their partners (hosts) in this time. We’ve scraped through all the information to break down exactly what it all means for you, if you’re eligible for support, and how you can get help. 1. Airbnb will pay $250 million to hosts to help cover the cost of COVID-19 cancellations “,When a guest cancels an accom ..read more

Recently, Airbnb escalated their cancellation policy to allow guests checking in before 14 April 2020 to receive full refunds on their bookings, overriding existing policies put in place by hosts to protect themselves in such situations. I am sure the majority of you reading this have had a similar experience to me, witnessing nearly 100% of your upcoming bookings getting cancelled. If you haven’t, expect it shortly as an international travel ban hits Australia and other parts of the world. On 17 March, Airbnb sent an email to all hosts explaining the reasoning behind this decision., the key ..read more