When it comes to managing vacation rentals, many options are available in the market.
Nonetheless, things get even more challenging if you’re new to vacation rental management.
Two popular solutions that you’ve probably encountered are Smoobu and Guesty.
Both offer a wide range of features to streamline your operations and boost your bookings.
Read on as we take a closer look at the Smoobu vs. Guesty duel and compare all the nitty-gritty details.
Let’s dive in!
Smoobu: Overview
Smoobu is a short-term and vacation rental property management software (PMS) spanning a wide range of features and functionalities:
- Channel Manager
- Booking Engine
- Rates Synchronization
- Reservation System
- Guest Communication, Reviews, and Guide
- Automated Templates
- Statistics & KPIs, etc.
Therefore, Smoobu helps property owners facilitate and automate everyday operations, from booking over price and data syncs to guest communications.
In addition, it also enables you to create vacation rental homepages or websites and include all the relevant info and photos.
Smoobu is cloud-based, but it also has a mobile app for Android.
Furthermore, you can integrate Smoobu with multiple apps categorized as payments, smart pricing, online check-in, smart locks, etc.
You can get access to different APIs depending on the use case.
Smoobu: Key Features
You can access and set Smoobu’s features from a centralized dashboard, enabling you to access all the features and functionalities.
However, depending on your pricing plan, you won’t be able to set and edit all of them.
Features such as Channel Manager, Communication, Price Sync, Customized Templates, Guest Management, etc., are only available in Premium plans.
Getting back to the dashboard – It has a clean, user-friendly layout.
On the right side, you can see functions such as Cockpit, Calendar, Bookings, Messages, etc.
Let’s check the key ones in more detail.
1. Reservation System
1.1. Cockpit
The cockpit, as the name may suggest, equips you with the most important information, including occupancy and other various rates, KPIs, and activity feed.
You can change the time frame and observe the occupancy metrics from last year to the next.
1.2. Calendar
The Calendar option enables you to see all your properties in one place.
Moreover, it enables you to change and set price parameters, including cleaning fees and the discount length of stay.
1.3. Bookings
The booking system is fully integrated with all of Smoobu’s tools, enabling you to:
- Choose between simple reservations or upfront bookings,
- Add extra services or events,
- Define minimum stays depending on the season, etc.
In addition, if you integrate Smoobu’s Booking Engine iframe on your current website, you can get commission-free bookings.
1.4. Guest Communications
The dashboard also provides a unified inbox where you can see and reply to messages from all channels.
Furthermore, you can create custom messaging templates with dynamic placeholders and automatically send them to your guests.
To boost guest satisfaction, you can enable online check-ins and provide your guests with all the relevant info, such as check-in instructions, Wi-Fi credentials, etc.
Besides standard fields to fill in, like name and contact info, gender, and nationality, you can also create custom fields, such as e-signatures, file adding, etc.
2. Channel Manager
Synchronizes all your booking portals in real time by allowing you to define the base price.
In addition to rate synchronization, you can rent your property as one unit and separate sub-units.
Smoobu’s Channel Manager integrates with major booking portals such as AirBnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, FeWo Direkt, Expedia, etc.
3. Statistics & KPIs
Provide insights into various metrics: the number of bookings, occupancy rate, breakdown revenues, portal distribution or cancellation rates, etc.
Moreover, you can download your bookings as Excel, PDF, or CSV.
4. Website Builder
A codeless website builder helping you generate your own responsive website by uploading your property photos and adding location and description details.
This way, you can also enable your own online payments.
Pricing
Smoobu has 1 Free and 2 Premium Plans, with a 14-day Free Trial each. The pricing depends on the number of property units, starting from €29.00 monthly for 1 unit.
Smoobu: Pros & Cons
Pros
? Has an intuitive dashboard.
? Offers a variety of sync options.
? Enables you to promote your property’s website.
Cons
? Doesn’t have a full API integration with VRBO.
? Doesn’t have SMS automation.
? According to user reviews, customer service isn’t very quick to respond.
Guesty: Overview
Guesty is a web-based hospitality solution that helps property managers handle and automate their business operations.
It offers various property management features, such as channel management, payment processing, reservation management, etc.
Besides the core features, Guesty also has add-ons:
- Capital – Enables you to get funding based on the performance of your business.
- Damage Protection – A coverage plan to protect you from possible damages guests can create.
- Guest Communication Services (GCS) – Handle communications during off hours and provide 24/7 coverage.
- Locks Manager – Enables you to remotely manage all your smart locks from a single dashboard.
- GuestyPay – Allows multiple payment methods while you get full visibility of all payment activity on the dashboard.
- PriceOptimizer – A fully embedded revenue management tool that helps you define and optimize your pricing strategy.
- Guesty Websites – A customizable website builder enabling you to take direct reservations and payments.
In addition, Guesty has a mobile app that allows property managers to manage their listings and communicate with guests on the go.
Regarding integrations, Guesty integrates with Airbnb, Booking.com, HomeAway, TripAdvisor, etc.
Moreover, you can use an open API to integrate with other channels and browse the Marketplace to check for new additions.
Although Guesty has offices worldwide, its main focus is on the US, UK, and Australian markets.
Guesty: Key Features
Like most PMS tools, Guesty also has a centralized dashboard
1. Automation Tools
A set of property management automation tools that automate daily operations from communication to task management.
Therefore, you can:
✨ Automated messages – Automate frequently sent messages like confirmation emails and check-in instructions based on the triggers you’ve set.
✨ Visualized workflows – Enable you to view your guests’ communication journey on a timeline.
✨ Smart pricing – Automatically adjusts pricing based on demand, seasonality, booking gaps, etc.
✨ Templates feature – Allows you to create templates for scheduled tasks, such as cleaning, an hour after check-out, etc., which are then automatically applied to your listings.
✨ Automated payment collection – Enables you to set rules to simplify payment collection.
✨ Guest Reviews – Provide automated ratings and review templates for AirBnb.
2. Direct Reservations
This feature is actually a toolkit providing various solutions to making direct reservations.
The solutions range from a fully customizable website builder over override rules and cancellation policies to customized rate strategies and quotes.
3. Channel Manager
The Channel Manager lets you list, update, and manage your properties across multiple booking channels.
Furthermore, you can automatically sync and update your property data, calendars, pricing, etc., and view all the changes on a multi-calendar.
In addition to a multi-calendar, there is the Unified Inbox, where you can see all your messages, reservation details, and internal notes regardless of the channel.
The Channel Manager also allows you to define and customize your rate strategies, add dynamic pricing, and generate coupons and promotions.
4. Guesty CRM
Enables you to collect and retrieve data and consolidate all guest and lead data in one place.
It’s embedded within Unified Inbox, Multi-Calendar, and reservations page so that you can monitor and track guest interactions in real-time.
Furthermore, it also allows you to form segmented audiences based on the guest and lead data for advanced email campaigns.
However, for now, you can’t integrate your current 3rd party CRM solution with Guesty.
5. Analytics
Shows valuable metrics and insights to track your property’s performance:
- Competitive benchmarking – Compare your listings with market data and trends.
- Revenue mapping – Shows a yearly revenue breakdown, including booking channels, fees, geographical segments, and individual listings.
- Review insights – Check and reply to guest reviews on Airbnb and Booking.com.
Pricing
Guesty has 3 Premium Plans, starting from $27 a month.
Guesty: Pros & Cons
Pros
? Offers a variety of sync options.
? Has a centralized dashboard.
? Has a website builder feature.
Cons
? According to user reviews, the app glitches from time to time.
? Doesn’t have much control over reservation financials.
? No cost transparency for Pro and Enterprise plans.
Smoobu vs. Guesty: Final Verdict
Before we wrap things up, let’s quickly recap each tool.
Choosing the right property management software is not easy because you need to consider multiple things: features, integrations, customization, price, etc.
Both Smoobu and Guesty are popular apps to streamline everyday operations. However, Guesty might be a better choice if your properties are in the UK, the US, or Australia.
On the other hand, Smoobu might suit you better if you run a smaller number of properties and are just starting.
But what if we add another name to the list, OTA SYNC – an alternative that combines the best of Smoobu and Guesty under its roof?
OTA SYNC – An All-in-One Alternative
OTA SYNC is an all-in-one hotel property management system aiming to facilitate, streamline, and automate your everyday tasks and operations.
What’s more, it addresses hotel management as a whole rather than focusing on just a few functionalities or features.
It also pays special attention to enhancing the guest experience and facilitating the booking process for your guests.
Overall, with OTA SYNC, you can:
? Do seamless onboarding in one day without external assistance and save tons of time and sweat.
? Easily view and manage multiple listings from a centralized dashboard so you’ll never lose sight of any of your properties again.
? Get a clear overview of all the bookings and real-time updates on a centralized drag-and-drop calendar.
? Instantly process a variety of payments thanks to our fully integrated payment gateway.
? Set up different tax settings specific to different markets.
? Change sales and pricing settings independently through our Plug and Play revenue booster.
? Connect a customized booking engine to your website to leverage the power of direct bookings.
? Enhance your guests’ experience by providing a Guest App that offers quick check-ins, tailored recommendations, instant notifications, etc.
? Get access to premium management functionalities, such as Banquet, Event, SPA, wellness management solutions, etc.
And so much more.
Ready to see what other cool features OTA SYNC has?
Sign up for OTA SYNC today to leverage the property management potential.
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