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Tuesday, December 12, 2023

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10 Best Niche vacation rental websites for hosts

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Yetunde Ososanya

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Maximizing profit is the goal, and undoubtedly, listing your vacation rental on multiple booking websites will increase your chances of getting more bookings, and earning more. However, popular sites like Airbnb are rife with fierce competition. It's always a big gamble to increase bookings using these channels only.

But, there is an alternative that can guarantee increased bookings twice as much as the popular sites, so you don't need to sweat it out on these congested booking sites. This is the strength of niche vacation rental sites. Keep reading to discover the 10 best niche websites suitable for your vacation rental. Remember, listing on various niche sites is just one aspect of getting more bookings and maximizing profit from your vacation rental business.

Another important aspect is avoiding legal issues that can arise from violating various laws governing vacation rentals in your jurisdiction. Find out more about these laws from Lodge Compliance. It is important to emphasize that this in no way diminishes the value of popular booking sites such as Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, Expedia, and TripAdvisor, among others. However, if you are a vacation rental host in need of more bookings, it is a safe bet to consider listing on niche vacation rental sites too. Continue reading to find out why.

What is a Niche Vacation Rental?

A niche vacation rental caters to a specific audience or interest. It caters to a specific type of target audience, and its target audience's specific needs in terms of comfort, attractions, and more. If your vacation rental caters to specific needs or looks for specific types of customers, you are operating a niche vacation rental, and guess what? That's a huge plus for your vacation rental business. One niche is a vacation rental that caters to the needs of families and children. Another can be a pet-friendly vacation rental. It could also be a vacation rental for the elite, providing only the best services. All these categories are possible niches for your vacation rental. What is your niche?

What are Niche Vacation rental sites?

Niche vacation rental sites are online booking channels that specialize in listing various niche vacation rentals. They are designed for specific audience booking and ensure that both the niche rental and the guests' specific needs are met. You can only list your vacation rental on Kids & Coe if it is suitable for children. The same is true for other types of niche vacation rentals.

Why list on Niche Vacation rental sites?

Now here is the good part! You've tried Airbnb and others, but you're still having trouble getting more bookings. Why is this the case? These large platforms have thousands of vacation rentals, some of which are better than yours. As a result, getting consistent bookings from these channels requires exceptional property, great marketing, and sheer luck. This is not the case when you list your vacation rental on niche vacation rental sites. Niche vacation rental sites are more focused and less crowded. A dog-friendly niche site would only accept listings for dog-friendly vacation rentals and travelers in need of dog-friendly vacation rentals. Booking made simple! You no longer have to struggle to reach your target audience.

Listing on a niche vacation rental website already brings you closer to your target audience. What’s left is for the worth and quality of your vacation home to decide your fate. In other words, you don't have to wait until the busy holiday season to get the increased bookings you want. Simply focusing on a niche and listing on a niche vacation rental website can result in weekly bookings. Most importantly, niche vacation rental sites allow you to earn more money. Your ultimate goal should be to earn more money from your business; after all, it isn't a charity. Unlike popular channels, where you need to lower your prices to get more bookings, this is not the case with niche vacation rental websites. You are king, and your target audience is willing to pay a premium for what you have to offer, which is exactly what they require. As a result, you can recoup the value of your vacation home through niche vacation rental booking channels. But, first, you need to know where to look. For the time being, look below for the best niche vacation rental sites suitable for your vacation rental home.

Best Niche Vacation rental sites

In the vacation rental business, mediocrity is not an option. If you are planning to go the niche way, then you should do it with the best. Based on research on website traffic and popular recommendation, here are the top ten niche vacation rental sites where you can list your niche vacation home. You're welcome!

Bring Fido

Furnished Finder

Glamping Hub

Wyndham Destinations

Misterb&b

Coolstays

Plum Guide

Outdoorsy

Blueground

Sawdays

BringFido

BringFido is a great listing site if your vacation rental is pet-friendly, located in a popular city in the United States, and is targeted toward travelers who travel with their pets. BringFido, which had 1.9 million website traffic as of August 2022, makes it easy to meet your ideal guest.

BringFido, like other booking channels, charges a commission for each booking made through its platform. However, for its hosting fee, it links your listing on websites such as HomeAway, VRBO, Airbnb, or TripAdvisor to create a free listing for you. It's a plus if you've already listed your property on the mentioned booking sites. BringFido, on the other hand, charges a listing fee starting at $249 per year if your vacation home is not listed on any of the booking platforms mentioned.

Furnished Finder

Furnished Finder is a booking site built to cater to the needs of traveling nurses, medical professionals, traveling academics, and corporate travelers. With over 100 million yearly page views, and a 1.7 million website visit as of August 2022, furnished Finder is a booking channel to list your rental. Unlike other booking sites, it allows guests to stay for long periods, with a minimum of 30 days and an average of 3 months. To list on furnished Finder, you must ensure your rental is fully furnished. There are no booking fees or commissions. You directly liaise with the traveler. However, you have to pay $99 for a 12 month listing.

Glamping hub

If your property provides luxury camping or outdoor experiences in the midst of nature, you should consider listing on Glamping Hub. With over 2.5 million website visits as of August 2022, listing your vacation home on Glamping Hub will put you in the right place for travelers looking for an exciting outdoor experience.

Listing on Glamping Hub is free! You are only required to pay a 4% commission on each confirmed booking.

Wyndham Destinations

Wyndham, like Niche Escape, allows you to list your niche property in any category. It caters to travelers looking for specific types of vacation homes and categorizes its vacation rentals based on the interests of its target audience. This interest could include skiing, golf, beach, and more. As of August 2022, it had website traffic of 1.4 million. You should consider this niche vacation rental website.

Misterb&b

Misterb&b is a major provider of gay accommodation, with over 250,000 LGBTQ properties in over 135 countries. It is a website that encourages accommodation for people in the LGBTQ+ community. As of August 2022, it had over 931,000 website traffic.

If your vacation property is LGBTQ friendly and accommodates gays, with an atmosphere conducive to gay connections, Misterb&b is the ideal niche website to list your vacation home to earn more bookings from your target audience.

Misterb&b offers free listing; however, it charges a host fee of 5% commission on all bookings made through its platform.

Coolstays

If your vacation home has a unique feature that differentiates it from all other homes, then Coolstays is the right booking platform for you, regardless of your pricing. With over 211,000 website visits in August 2022, Coolstays is an extremely cool website to list your vacation home.

To list on Coolstays, your rental should have some extraordinary features, such as cabins, lighthouses, treehouses, boats, cottages, villas, and more.

Coolstays allow potential guests to contact you and book directly with you through its messaging system. Hence, there are no commissions nor hidden charges. You only have to pay a subscription fee, which can be yearly, quarterly, or monthly.

Plum Guide

Plum Guide selects only the best vacation rentals. If you have a luxury vacation rental that appears too expensive on some websites, you have not used the proper booking channel. You should list on Plum Guide if you want to reach an elite audience.

With website traffic of over 278,000 as of August 2022, you should consider listing your rental on this platform. Plum Guide charges a one-time joining fee of £300 per listing for the first guest booking, and a service fee of 3%, including local tax and sales tax, after that.

Outdoorsy

Outdoorsy is a niche vacation rental listing site that curates recreational vehicle rentals to provide its guests with the best outdoor experiences. If you have an RV rental, Outdoorsy is the perfect listing platform to get more bookings. As of August 2022, a website traffic visit of 2 million was recorded for this website. This shows its wide reach and large audience base. With Outdoorsy, you can earn up to $50,000 a year.

Outdoorsy offers free listing with full renter verification and vehicle insurance. Every rental includes up to $1 million in liability insurance, as well as free roadside assistance.

Blueground

Blueground is a recommended vacation rental website to list if you have a well-furnished apartment that you can rent out for a month, year; or longer to guests traveling light, explorers, and business travelers. With 1.2 million website visitors in August, Blueground is a PropTech site that curates short and long-term properties in the world's most popular cities. Your rental must be located in one of these cities to be listed on Blueground. The United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Portugal, Turkey, Spain, France, Switzerland, Greece, Austria, Denmark, and Luxembourg.

Sawdays

If you have a holiday cottage or self-catering vacation rental with a touch of creativity, warmth, craft, and personality, located in the U.K. or Europe, then you should list it on Sawdays. As of August, it had 976,000 website visits recorded. Sawdays prioritize uniqueness regardless of size. Before you can list your rental on its platform, your property would be inspected to confirm if it’s a special place and if it has an unusual touch of creativity.

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