102 | How STRs Can Get a Leg Up on the Hotel Industry | with Wil Slickers

Feb 25, 2021

We’ve talked about what the short-term rental industry can learn from the hotel industry… but what can Airbnb and other short-term rentals do even better than big chain hotels?

Wil Slickers is the creator of hospitality podcasts Slick Talk and Good Morning Hospitality and co-founder of Recreation Rentals, a boutique rental management company. He always had a love for people but didn’t know where to channel that passion until he discovered the hospitality industry. He started his podcast to interview people who had an extensive background in the industry and great stories that people could learn from.

What can short-term rentals learn from the hotel industry?

Hotels have done a good job of remaining consistent with their standards. If you go to two hotels in the same chain, you’re largely going to get the same experience. That consistency doesn’t exist in the short-term rental world, but we are starting to see hosts turn into managers that create systems, standards, and processes to change this. While the actual experiences can (and should!) vary from property to property, having a consistent baseline of quality will ensure guests have confidence in your brand.

Taking advantage of a loyalty program

One thing hotels do really well is capitalizing on customer loyalty by rewarding repeat customers. Depending on the scale of your short-term rental business, this may be hard to replicate, but it’s not impossible. Your goal is to create a destination and a brand that makes you stand apart, instead of just a room to sleep in. You have to take control back from Airbnb by building a way to capture emails and phone numbers so that your guests associate your brand with you, not Airbnb.

Create an amazing brand. Find a way to tell your story. Create a destination. This is the fun part of hospitality — get creative! If you really love this industry, you can do so many cool things.

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