Landlord Products / Services
Don’t worry about it! You’re already forgiven if you’re one of the many, many, many landlords that believe Airbnb is your only effective means of marketing your UK based Holiday Rental to the rest of the travelling and hitchhiking world.
Yup, Airbnb is awesome, and it should be tossed into the arsenal of every marketing plan for holiday lets, domestic or otherwise, but you’d be amiss to blank the other awesome options available. So, let’s check ’em out…
As part of my essential but depressingly boring process of due diligence, I looked through a bunch of websites that advertise UK holiday rentals to see if there are any new contenders outside the options I already had wedged in my memory-banks.
I also bunny-hopped through a bunch of other websites, mostly travel blogs, that are recommending websites where landlords should list their holiday-lets. I hate to be the kind of guy that pisses on someone else’s camp-fire, but I got to be that kind of guy. Most of the lists were crammed with 20+ options, most of which were bloated with useless suggestions (IN MY HONEST, HUMBLE & BETTER OPINION).
Plus, who on God’s green earth is going to manage property listings on 20+ different platforms?
With that said, I believe the list below is pretty solid, and will do you no wrong! It’s also worth remembering that most of the holiday let marketplaces only charge a commission on a pay-per-booking basis, so ultimately, you can market on multiple platforms without incurring subscription fees.
| Marketplace | Price | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
Marketplace | Price 3% per booking | NotesThe world’s fastest-growing holiday websiteNo intro is required! Airbnb is what firmly put short-let stays on the map, and made it cool to ditch hotels! If any landlord wants to maximise their chances of filling those rental voids, Airbnb is a must! It’s insanely popular among holiday-makers because of how easy it is to find good value accommodation anywhere in the world! | More Info |
Marketplace | Price 3% per booking | NotesFor hosts that provide an authentic experienceHomestay is unique compared to the others on the list, because it’s a “hosted experience”, whereby the host welcomes guests into their home and provides an authentic local experience by offering guidance and assistance during the stay. If hosting and being the local expert is your calling, stick your property on their website! | More Info |
Marketplace | Price 8% per booking | NotesLarge holiday/vacation properties for families & groupsVRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner) is part of the Expedia group, the world’s leading online marketplace for vacation/holiday rentals. In addition to the 8% pay-per-booking fee model, VRBO also provides an alternative option: an annual subscription priced at $499. This subscription model could be more advantageous for hosts managing a high volume of bookings. VRBO exclusively facilitates the rental of entire houses, not a single or shared room. | More Info |
Marketplace | Price 10-25% per booking | NotesMost popular travel booking website!Booking.com is one of the most popular travel booking websites in the world but what you may not have realised – through no fault of your own – is that they also allow hosts to list their private homes and apartments for world-travellers! No, their short-let platform is no way near as popular as their hotel booking platform, but while they attract nearly a million paying customers per night, it’s difficult to ignore the potential! When you have that volume of business – and even though they are relatively more expensive – you wouldn’t be unwise to list your holiday rental on booking.com | More Info |
Please note, I try my best to keep the information of each service up-to-date, but you should read the T&C's from their website for the most up-to-date and accurate information.
Just as a final reminder, if you decide to restrict yourself to just Airbnb (as many do), you might be missing out on a lot of great bookings! Remember, all the marketplaces listed above charge commission on confirmed bookings only (at least, at the time of writing this blog post)!
Do you use any other platform to market and advertise your UK holiday rental? If so, which one, and why are they your poison of choice?
Disclaimer: I'm just a landlord blogger; I'm 100% not qualified to give legal or financial advice. I'm a doofus. Any information I share is my unqualified opinion, and should never be construed as professional legal or financial advice. You should definitely get advice from a qualified professional for any legal or financial matters. For more information, please read my full disclaimer.
