Working With Other Platforms (price labs, hospitable, and other str apps)

[Stacey527]

I have been a host for over 5 years with 3 properties and recently became a co-host. I have always used Airbnb exclusively and adjust my prices using Airbnb's comparison maps and smart pricing. My new co-hosts took a class (bnb leverage), and they use Airbnb, VRBO, Price Labs, and Hospitable. Does anyone have any experience with all of these Apps? Do you find them useful? It seems like a whole lot more expense and trouble than value to me. Right now, their calendar is blocked from October 16 through November 12, but there are no bookings in either Airbnb or VRBO. Pricelab's help section states that they don't block dates, so I can't figure out where the problem lies and how to fix it. This is during prime football season in an SEC town. They need those dates unblocked. Any advice?

[Joan2709]

@Stacey527 

Difficult to troubleshoot without being able to see the calendar, Hospitable and PriceLabs.

PriceLabs doesn't block dates, but Hospitable is a Property Mangement System and can block dates from their Dashboard I believe. I would go to the dashboard for Hospitable and see if that is where the problem lies. 

Hospitable Calendar Availability

https://help.hospitable.com/en/articles/4616117-change-your-property-s-availability

[Stacey527]

Thank you for your response. I haven't been able to log in to their Hospitable app yet, but we have a teleconference tomorrow to get me access to all the programs they use. I hope that's where the problem is and I can fix it tomorrow!

[Joan2709]

@Stacey527 

BTW, I believe if using any Property Management System, Custom Promotions on Airbnb are no longer available. Perhaps @Midhula0 can advise on that.

[Midhula0]

You can still do custom promotions on the Airbnb calendar. 

[Joan2709]

@Midhula0 

That is good news! Last I heard from other hosts using a Property Mgmt System like Hospitable, they were unable to do Custom Promotions any more on Airbnb. Airbnb must have changed that since then. Thanks for posting that.

[Midhula0]

Hi Stacey - We use Price Labs and Hospitable. Although they are expensive, we found the tools to be valuable. Price Labs specifically is crucial to executing our pricing strategy. Feel free to send me a message if you'd like any help navigating either of these tools, I'm happy to jump on a quick call.

[Stacey527]

Thank you so much--I may take you up soon that call! I have a lot to learn, but I'm finding co-hosting to be a lot of fun, and there's always room to grow! I was feeling a little negative about the other apps, but now I am starting see how they might be helpful. With Pricelabs, are you still able to take advantage of Airbnb's promotion tools, such as higher listing results with %age off promos?

[Midhula0]

There's definitely a learning curve. And yes, you can still apply Airbnb's promotional tools with Price Labs. We stack both. 

[Joan2709]

@Midhula0 

My understanding is you CAN use Custom Promotions with PriceLabs (or other Dynamic Pricing software like Beyond Price, Wheelhouse) but not if using a Property Mgmt Software?

Are you using a PMS like Hospitable, Guesty, Hostaway, etc. and still able to use Custom Promotions, or are you just using PriceLabs with no PMS? 

[Midhula0]

You can use custom promotions through a PMS and Price Labs. 

We use Hospitable as our PMS. 

[Joan2709]

Thanks @Midhula0 ! 

Good to know as I think at one point Airbnb wasn't allowing Custom Promotions for listings using a PMS. Are they 2 separate connections or is Price Labs included in the Hospitable package?

[Quinn82]

@Joan2709 your posing a great topic here. and to emphasize what @Midhula0 is saying here:

custom promotions can still be activated by way of Airbnb's calendar EVEN IF you are connected to a PMS. you won't execute this in the PMS itself (Hospitable, FeatherPMS, Guesty, Hostaway, etc). 

pro tip <> if you do leverage the Airbnb Custom Promotion tool AND you leverage a dynamic pricing partner like PriceLabs, you can tap into the merchandizing efforts Custom Promotions enable on Airbnb (strikethrough pricing, email efforts, etc), but you can offset your pricing discount with a 'price adjustment' in your dynamic pricing platform to ensure you're not taking too big of a pricing hit/discount while getting all the perks 😉

[Stacey527]

Thank you everyone for your help! I was able to login to Hospitable this morning and fix the block. Now, I just have to spend a little time getting to know the different apps. I appreciate all the help!

[Dave-and-Deb0]

Hi @Stacey527 

What was the issue?  It would be helpful to post for others in the future who may experience this issue.