Self-management or a management company: choosing for your holiday let
If you own a holiday home, you have 2 options: manage it yourself or delegate the work to a full-service holiday property management company.
But which is better? Should you manage the holiday let yourself or trust a company to do it?
When might a management company be a good choice?
When managing a holiday let, much depends on two important factors: your budget and available time for the business.
Managing holiday accommodation takes time, even if it may not seem so at first, especially when you have guests every day. It is not simply a matter of collecting payments; you also need to provide a good service.
Guests will contact you to arrange keys, report something broken, ask questions or raise a complaint. You need to keep an eye on your phone every day or monitor email to deal with issues.
If your work commitments make that impossible and you cannot find time to look after guests, you could lose bookings or receive negative reviews. You are providing a service similar to a hotel, so customer care needs to be good. Guests’ expectations continue to rise.
This is why more people choose to delegate the work and have a company manage their holiday let. What are the advantages?
Your holiday let in professional hands
Delegating can help if you lack time or a local presence. Even so, check that the service includes the tasks you need and that its cost fits the expected outcome.
Fees may be based on commission or another agreed structure. Ask for a proposal specifying the calculation basis, taxes, external costs and included tasks, and compare it with the time and expenses you would take on yourself.
Hiring a manager does not guarantee higher profits. The value may lie in better coordination of bookings and operations, less time spent by the owner and a response to issues. Assess net results and service quality.
If this is your first time running a holiday let, you may be unsure what you need or where to start. If so, we can help. Shall we talk?
Three ways to organise the work
- Self-management: you handle the listing, pricing, bookings, guest support, cleaning and maintenance yourself or through suppliers.
- Remote rental management: you delegate marketing and bookings while retaining on-site tasks as agreed in the contract.
- Full property management: you agree a broader scope with a manager, documented in writing together with its exclusions.
Ask who responds out of hours, who authorises spending, how you can view income and bookings, and what happens when the contract ends. Compare Alehost’s current plans and remote rental management.
