What travelers really want from vacation rentals

[00:01:50] Tim Rosolio Yeah. I'm stoked to chat about it with you. I mean, the thing, like your career has been, worked in airline. You worked with large strategic hotels. You've done marketing across all of them. We've been working together a lot on vacation rentals the past few years. And one of the main things that you've been doing is thinking about why do travelers make decisions so you can then sort of go back to partners, whether that's the airline or strategic hotel or vacation rental property manager host and say, "This is what people want.” Which is why I think you're sort of the perfect guest to have on. So, like, what are you seeing in terms of decision-making and in vacation rentals? Like, where do we start? How does trust get built?

[00:02:31] Brandon Ehrhardt Well first, travelers, they still love the category and what a run vacation rentals have been on. Expectations are higher than ever. Travelers are going to evaluate it, and they're going to want it all. And what I mean by that is they want the personality of the vacation rental. They want the consistency of a professional hospitality experience. So open your notes app, grab your pencils. Over the past two to three years, about half of traveler expectations have increased across the board. So most notably, amenity reliability is up about 50 percent. If you say you've got a hot tub, it's gotta work. Cleanliness, table stakes, right? Price transparency, which is something I think that we should be proud of and hang our hat on because we've had a transparent price much sooner than the industry mandated and much sooner than a lot of our competitors. And lastly, safety. Safety and cleanliness, it is table stakes. People want a private experience, but they wanna know they're safe. They wanna know it's a clean home. And if you promised them a working hot tub or a heated pool, they want that to be there and they want that to be functioning.

[00:03:36] Tim Rosolio Yeah, I think that's actually really consistent. What I hear is some of our largest property managers, who are really good at this, what people really just want is they want to be able to get over some of the anxieties that exist in the vacation rental category. The thing that people hate about vacation rentals is the uncertainty. And the thing that they love about vacation rentals is all the unique things about vacation rentals, if you can make all of that uncertainty go away. That's the opportunity for the category. And I think what's been really cool about some of the work that we've done here is we're starting to define, and what do you do to make it more certain?

[00:04:11] Brandon Ehrhardt When you think about things like, you know, location's always gonna play a role. But I think what's different, if you said, go back 10 years, 2016, the difference then like trust, it really didn't exist because there wasn't the signal that we have today. And so, like, yeah, there was maybe a little bit of uncertainty, but it was kind of across the board. Now, we've got professional hospitality companies, you've got private equity companies getting involved, and you still have like the mom and pop second homeowners who are delivering the experience. They all can deliver a great experience. And the signals that we have to indicate that to travelers have never been clear. So, I think that's why you see kind of that expectation picking up.

[00:04:48] Tim Rosolio I think also, perhaps what's happened is in 2016, not everyone had tried the vacation rental before. When I started working in this category, I told my parents what I do and they're like, "Some people stay at the houses?” I'm like, "Yes.” Now people aren't like that. They've tried it. They’ve seen the good experience and sometimes they've been burned. And when they've been burned, it's hard to claw that person back, not only into that brand but into the category. The anxiety has built over years, and to a certain extent it is our job to really show the industry like and show travelers, it's a new category, it is a new day. The idea of this being amateur hour, it has gone away.

[00:05:31] Brandon Ehrhardt VR is in the big leagues now, and I think that people are looking for it all, and there's more supply, more choice, a clearer picture of what a great state looks like. And VR kind of was riding along, doing its own thing until COVID hit. And then when COVID hit, it really became a lot more approachable, because for a lot of people, there wasn't a choice, right? Or either personal comfort or local legislation, we don't need to rehash COVID. But it certainly introduced a lot of people to the category, and they're certainly in the big leagues now. And I think you see the convergence of, like, what a hotel stay expectations look like, and what a VR stay expectations look like coming quickly together. So, safety and security and cleanliness, like full stop, you gotta deliver those or you're not gonna get a booking. Past that, fast and reliable Wi-Fi, host responsiveness, and accurate photos. And Tim, you know this better than anyone, we say accurate photos, now, the house must look like the photos look like. And if it doesn't, you're gonna read about it in the reviews. So, I think that you see vacation rentals, they're being judged less like a gamble and more like a professional hospitality experience. And I think with increasing expectations comes some challenges. Comes a little bit more host- responsiveness than maybe was needed 10 years ago, but we've seen a lot of data that says host-responsiveness and quality and really, like, the vacation rental experiences here today. But yeah, it's just the whole expectations on what, like, a quality photo looks like is so much different in the consumer's eyes than it was previously.

[00:07:13] Tim Rosolio Interesting thing about the pandemic, which was, you know, the weirdest time ever for vacation rentals, because sort of in March, all of the bookings canceled. And then in June, they all came back, and there was insatiable demand for two years. I think because of that, it brought a lot of supply on the market that really wasn't prepared to do this. And I also think that because the market's so oversupplied now, that it's just even more critical to show consistency and reducing this anxiety as really like kind of the key differentiator.

[00:07:51] Brandon Ehrhardt Yeah, I agree. Quality is huge, right?

[00:07:53] Tim Rosolio So, the really cool thing I like about this research is the quality narrative, like it's been circling for a couple of years now. But all I really like is that it’s just so concrete. Throughout the reporting, we have, like, a list of, like, these are the things. And it also says stuff about the actual traveler behavior. We saw that 86 percent of travelers will spend more for a higher-quality listing. So, like, the travelers are really clearly telling us what they want. And what's great is it's not hard things. It's like at Expedia, we call it the brilliant basics, right? It's a bunch of practical, basic operational things. So, like, what are the main things that you saw in the reports surrounding that?

[00:08:38] Brandon Ehrhardt I think the thing that we'll see that I've seen that as like most was most eye-opening for me, not because it's hard or complex to understand, but just because, like, it's just so crisp. Quality does not necessarily mean luxury. Quality is do the basics well. Tim, you're in Austin, I'm in Chicago, 2016 Cubs are making a World Series run, Joe Madden is the manager. And he was answering a question he just said, "We do simple better.” And that is a lesson that a host has to take to heart. Clean property, amenities that work, comfortable beds and linens, secure and easy entry, photos that match the stay. Those are basics, right? Like, if you have a thousand-dollar-a-night property or $1,500-a-night property, I'm gonna expect much different linens than if I'm staying at a $200-a-night property. And so, what we think is that quality starts with trust in the fundamentals.

[00:09:37] Tim Rosolio We've talked about the home, but there's also, like, there's operations, there's blocking and tackling that is part of the requirement of doing this. So, operations and service, what are the travelers looking for from the host?

[00:09:53] Brandon Ehrhardt We talked about the convergence of hotel and vacation rental. Something goes wrong at the hotel, you walk down on the front desk, and you get immediate response. Vacation rental, the expectation's now the same. So, you've got almost 80 percent of guests saying that they want a quick response if something goes wrong. And when we say quick, we mean quick like within the hour, right? And they want clear check-in instructions. I've had vacation rental experiences where, like, you have to call the host to get in, laborious. And then you're like with, you know, your four friends that you booked this trip for, and they're like, "What's wrong, man? Can't you get the house?” And like, well, you're like, "No, I don't have the code yet.” And so I think, you know, we've obviously made that very easy for hosts on our platform. Verify reviews, key. Not reviews on, you know, just on the internet, but like where someone actually stayed at the property. That's key. I'm gonna throw one out there that is common sense to me but just influenced the trip I made: pre-booking responsiveness. I have two kids, and one of them is under the age of 2. And I wish that every vacation rental was made for me, but I know that that's not true, and I cannot have that expectation. So, there are some simple things that, like, we ask before we book. And we were, you know, booking a trip to WaterColor down on 30A. And we had really great responsiveness to a couple simple, probably annoying questions that converted our booking. So, I know this is true, and the last thing, which is obvious, but it is the worst thing that can ever happen, and that is when you have a host that cancels on you. No one wants to be canceled on. In the absolute worst, worst, worst, worst case where there's something that you cannot move, you've gotta notify them far enough out so they can find a reasonable-enough accommodation, but that is the cardinal sin of vacation rental bookings is to cancel.

[00:11:36] Tim Rosolio Isn't it time for hosts to get rewarded? For a limited time, hosts can earn OneKeyCash travel rewards for listing an eligible vacation rental on Vrbo. OneKeyCash is a flexible rewards currency you can use to book your next trip on Vrbo, Expedia, or hotels.com. Visit vrbo.com/podcastoffer to learn more. Terms and conditions apply. All right, so once you've nailed the basics, there's this opportunity to provide the delighters. Like the example I always use is that at Ben and Tiffany Edwards’ vacation rental properties in Monterey, there's always great cheese and great California wine. That sounds not awful. That's a delighter. What are some of the things that were delighters? What are the, some things that actually worked towards the top of the list?

[00:12:22] Brandon Ehrhardt You know what's great? Cause I think people do love the wine and cheese, and I'm jotting that down myself. Monterey sounds lovely. You don't even have to go that big. Start with extra stock of household items, paper towels, garbage bags, and then think about the welcome basket, cheese, wine, fruit, things when you arrive after maybe a long drive, long flight, you can snack on. Localized recommendations is one. People do different types of research. Make it easy. And people will take your insight and your research. And as long as you are truthful with it, and it's something that you really love, absolutely leave that with the guests because it's gonna give them an opportunity to try something new and something that you care about as well. Now, some stuff didn't come to the top. Access to in-home experiences for a fee, not loved, universally. No one wants Fred showing up in the backyard to do yoga. You're like, who's Fred? I have no idea either. It's just not that critical. Because people, if you think about who they're traveling with, people, like, want to be with the people that they're with. They don't necessarily want someone there. And I think when you think the excess fees and you've already paid a lot for the stay, it just feels a bit gratuitous and not in a good way.

[00:13:34] Tim Rosolio Yeah, I found it to be an interesting thing, too, because, you know, there are certain people that are big on, you know, the private chefs and stuff like that. But actually, like, in the grand scheme of things, that wasn't something that rose to the top of the list. And you, there's a variety of different things. Maybe, maybe they are pretty cool with a chef, but they don't want, you know, the goat yoga, the goat yoga in the backyard. Let's go a little deeper on the responsiveness topic. Let's go back to the stat that 80 percent want the host to respond quickly. It's not a small figure. How are, what are people saying in terms of quick?

[00:14:11] Brandon Ehrhardt Well, gone are the days is like, I want to hear from the host in 24 hours. So, a fast response signals professionalism. Faster, the better. Our best hosts, they're anticipating the questions they're going to get, and they put them in the content already, right? Like, that's table stakes almost in 2026. Silence and extended silence is going to only escalate the anxiety faster than the issue itself. So, if you don't know where the trash bags are in the house, or maybe didn't talk them with enough. You can't hear about the trash bags. You're, like, well, what if something serious goes wrong? Like, I don't know, is this a five-star or a four-star? The host wasn't very responsive to my request about trash bags? You gotta respond. And there's so many ways to make this easy now. And there are so many platforms that make that simple, including Vrbo. And I believe that as we think about guest communication, you almost cannot communicate too much. And I think that I've seen a lot of great practices where you check in 45 minutes later. I got a proactive message from the host that says, "Hey, how's the stay? Anything I can do to make it better?” I know from that moment on, I'm gonna be in good hands, and anything that's annoying that may happen, like the hot tub breaking, is it really gonna bother me? And you're like, no, no no no, no, that's true, it's true. It's a real example. Crested Butte, Colorado. Great host, hot tub broke. It's all right. We had to fix within two days. The host helped me throughout the whole time. Like I understand. Things happen. Travelers understand things happen. When you don't communicate, you make them guess. You make them guess if you care. So respond, respond quickly.

[00:15:41] Tim Rosolio That's almost a bit of a cheat code here, I've generally found. So, I actually have my own vacation around Lake Travis, but what I do is when that booking request or the booking comes through, like, the very first thing I do is, I say, "Thanks for booking, I'll get you details a week prior.” Then I do get them the details a few weeks prior, and then I know that they're going to check in at four o'clock that day. And I give myself a reminder in Outlook that says, check in on them. And what we do is I just, I basically just get ahead of any issues. Rather than being pissed off that something was wrong and, like, this is a challenging category. There's gonna be little things that are wrong or maybe they won't be able to find something. You're turning that negative into a positive by saying, j”Just checking in. Is there anything I can do to help you, making sure you got in okay?” And more often than not, they'll say yes. But very often they'll say, "There's this small thing that I have a question about.” You help them, and it's terrific hospitality.

[00:16:48] Brandon Ehrhardt I completely agree, because if you're proactive, like, you're answering the person's question with trust, just the response in itself.

[00:16:54] Tim Rosolio Let's talk really briefly about cleaning. What did we see in the study surrounding cleanliness?

[00:17:04] Brandon Ehrhardt Well, first, if I were a cleaner in the industry, what I would do is I would have a pre-post review score based on when I was the cleaner and when I wasn't, because you would absolutely see that show up. I think when people think about, like, clean properties, there are some areas where you should focus. Bathroom, bedrooms, kitchens, musts. I think people, they're not gonna love it, but if there's like, you know, you put the white glove on, you're gonna be able to find dust above, like, the patio door. And I think when, if you think about hosts winning and losing kind of in, like, real time, we asked repeatedly, and we heard it back repeatedly, "What is the linchpin of the VR industry?” Cleanliness. So, when we said define clean, here's what came out. Clean sheets and towels, no odors or smells, spotless bathroom surfaces. I do wanna see a photo of the property, because it's gonna allow me to judge, like, whether or not it is new slash renovated slash clean, and so you have six photos, like, that's not gonna allow me to make a decision, and I would honestly say, like, if you have six photos, you are losing in the game. You have got to have 25 photos or more every room, most surfaces in the shared common areas like a kitchen or a dining room. People are gonna want to know can they feed the entire family there, like, what does that look like? How can I envision myself in this home? Professional photos are a cheat code. One, gonna make your house look great. Two, if you have your cleaner come right before, it's gonna look spotless. And three, they're gonna be able to take 150, 200 photos like nothing. And you're gonna able to pick your top 25, top 30, top 40. So, allow yourself the time and the budget to have someone take professional photos and then update that, right? The one thing I would really like to impart upon our hosts is make sure that your photos are seasonally appropriate. And what I mean by that is, of course, in Florida, it's like, you know, year-round, it's sunny, I get it. It's, you're taking photos of the beach. If I am going to a lake house in Michigan and the photos are of a snowy Michigan house, I am gonna have a really hard time imagining myself by the pool. So make sure that you're thinking through the traveler's lens on, like, when are they gonna be experiencing this? And like, if you are in Michigan, I'd get it, you know, the winter lake house visit is also fun, especially if your hot tub. Do both. Have a professional come out in each season. You can use those photos for a couple of years. So, I think that's really thinking about how is the traveler gonna view this? Can I make sure that my place looks spotless? And can I make that they can envision themselves in the home?

[00:19:38] Tim Rosolio And then on the cleanliness thing, one thing that came to mind was, we had this partner that lost the Premier Partner badge. And we had the team, the account management team, do a study of all the reviews. And what happened was, there was a very specific area of town in Myrtle Beach where, like, all the bad reviews were. We gave him that information. He said, "You know, that's where I switched cleaners.” And we were like, aha. If you can do the ground game well, you can operate well, you can respond well, you can be managed or clean or well. It's kind of a gift that keeps on giving because we're going to start to merchandise your property better. What are, like, the big proof things that you're seeing us doing at Vrbo.

[00:20:21] Brandon Ehrhardt So, I think obviously we talked about review score, recency of reviews, the detailed written reviews, and clear check-in information are all going to rank higher to the traveler. So, that's what we're going to surface. And we've made a lot of changes to our search product to bring that to life. And we think about, you know, what our guests are actually looking for in a stay. This is a crowded market, right? And so, if you think about the signals where a traveler is gonna say to themselves, it's gonna be a great stay, all of the details I just mentioned are gonna reduce the friction in the market. And I think one thing that you can do is we talked about communication on the front end and during the stay, the follow-up is just as important to get that review, because number one, you gotta convince someone to leave a review. They don't have to leave a review. They usually leave it if it's very good or very bad. Stimulate them to make a review for you, especially if, you know, you've gone out of your way to make this day special. And we make that really easy on the Vrbo platform because we have templates. And so you can communicate to your guests. We're going to send something automatically to them afterwards, but we're also going to enable you to do so within our product with templates. So, I think if you approach this from someone who's really kind of, I don't know, curating this entire experience, like, you want someone to see your photos, be attracted to your property, you want to respond to any questions they have, you want to make sure when they check in they know you're going to be there for them. And then when they leave, you simply send them a thank-you note for respecting their home. Because something I know about Vrbo guests, potentially different from guests on other platforms, our guests respect your house. You should thank them for that. Of course, we expect it out of them, but you should thank them for taking care of the same care of your home that they would in their own.

[00:22:03] Tim Rosolio With so much supply, there's so much inventory for someone to weed through. And that's why we've done things like Loved by Guests. That's why we've done things like Premier Partner Program, so that when you get into that search page where we're starting to display the properties, it's relatively easy to say, “Oh, these are the good ones” without too much cognitive load. So, it's going to be reinforcing, and you're right, like, if you're a partner, in my mind, like getting reviews is a really, really big part of your job.

[00:22:33] Brandon Ehrhardt There's a reason Premier Hosts convert at 50 percent higher than non-Premier Host properties. There's reasons they generate two times bookings per month than the average listing. And that's because they focused on the experience. Again, it doesn't mean luxury. It doesn't mean like it's the highest priced vacation rental in the market. It means that the host is awesome. And when we have great hosts that are responsive, keep it clean, make sure that the basics are there around cleanliness and safety and privacy, you're gonna see your listing take off. And for our hosts that have achieved premier host status, they're certainly realizing that in ou marketplace.

[00:23:09] Tim Rosolio That's certainly right. And we've made Premier a little harder, a little hard to achieve. I think that we were probably a little bit liberal in the past. Now it's tied specifically to a listing level. There's an acceptance rate score. There's cancellation score that's effectively none. And then there's a count of reviews and the quality of those reviews. But if you achieve that, let's talk a little about what's the reward here. You're gonna certainly get higher value travelers. I mean, we are known to have guests that spend the most, that stay the longest, that book the earliest. But it's also very important that you're also still monitoring your price. That's really important. So, what are the things that we've seen in this study surrounding how travelers view price and value?

[00:23:58] Brandon Ehrhardt It's huge, obviously, is what determines whether you're going to go on a trip or not. You obviously have a budget for the trip, and you want to make sure that the accommodation fits in that budget. You know, we talked about it a minute ago, 86 percent say they would pay more for a higher-quality listing, 81 percent say they would play more for stronger trust signals. So, I think that that's a really encouraging finding in this report. If you put in the work, travelers are going to pay you more for it. Quality and trust, not defensive plays. Those are offensive plays. That's marketing in the vacation rental business. They drive growth. Since price is a top factor in deciding between stays, we examine the impact of our recent promotion suite. So, check this out, you're gonna love it. Ninety one percent of travelers influenced by promotions when booking a vacation rental. And that doesn't mean, like, always on sale to everyone. You can segment it to members, you can segment by how far you are from the stay. Last-minute booking is something that's really been successful lately. There are incredibly actionable ways for hosts to capture demand if they can play with price a little bit. And we're not saying, you know, go on sale forever to everyone. We're saying use it when you need it.

[00:25:12] Tim Rosolio Yeah, I think that's exactly right. Promotions have been a slam dunk. We have an account management team that works with our partners to figure out what works best for them. Like not every promotion does need to be evergreen. If you have those 12 weeks in the summer that are your high season, you need every dollar that you can get, maybe that's not the right time for promotion, but another time might be. Early data showed that people that were using promotions converted 40 percent better than properties that were not. And the cool thing that I think we've really seen is people sometimes review promotions as a race to the bottom. They're like, "Oh, you're just trying to make things cheaper.” Well, actually, our overall ADRs have not gone down. What we've seen is people are just maybe spending what they were planning on spending, but getting something slightly upgraded, which is a, it's another signal of, like, what people want in terms of quality and price. And ultimately good for the partners too. On the flip side, we also know that price can be a deal breaker. What are the big deal breakers when it comes to pricing?

[00:26:12] Brandon Ehrhardt Let's talk deal breakers in general. So, total price not clearly shown up front, that's one. High or unclear cleaning fees, fees for amenity. Can I tell you, can I gripe? I do not like paying to heat the pool. That's just, I get it. There's a cost. I get it. It's not for me. So, I'm looking for places that aren't making me pay to heat the pool. Lack of clear photos of important rooms, and also if you don't have any reviews, it's very hard for me to trust you. So, I think the easiest way to lose a booking is to create this doubt. Like, don't send me a WhatsApp with another, like, weird money request, because I'm gonna think I'm getting scammed. Like, let's do everything on platform. The price feels unclear. It feels like I'm going to be surprised. I am gonna be all the way out on that. And then once you create that doubt or hesitation in the traveler's mind, they're like, "Hmm, what's it gonna be like when I get there?” And if they're still in that free cancellation window, so like, they're gonna start shopping around. So those are the friction points. They're not too hard to avoid. Just think about how you'd wanna be treated and treat the traveler that way.

[00:27:18] Tim Rosolio It's an early red flag. Right, you know.

[00:27:21] Brandon Ehrhardt If you send me a WhatsApp asking me for $225 to heat the pool, I'm gonna be looking elsewhere.

[00:27:28] Tim Rosolio Yeah, absolutely. All right. Right. So, that was a good discussion. One of the biggest things that they need to remember coming out of the study.

[00:27:35] Brandon Ehrhardt All right, I'm gonna give you three, rule of three, get your notepad out.

[00:27:39] Tim Rosolio You're a marketer man. It's always three.

[00:27:41] Brandon Ehrhardt Nail the fundamentals. Cleanliness, reliable amenities, accurate photos, clear listing information, nonnegotiable. Two, risk starts when maintenance stops. Quality doesn't necessarily mean luxury. It just means the stuff works. Good cleaner is worth their weight in gold. Proof is in the reviews. And lastly, if you earn five stars, ask for them. Solicit reviews, because they're critical to the trust equation. And I'll tell you that the cheat code, you can sometimes turn a four-star review into a five-star review by asking them what you could have done better. So, when you send them that Post-it note, ask what you could’ve done better, ask them to review your property, and encourage travelers to upload photos. Like, we've seen incredible engagement since launching that last fall. And personally, I like pairing the professional photos with the guests-submitted photos. It gives you a real idea of the type of, like, location you're in, the type of property you're in, and the type of fun you can have in the house. So, it's those three things. Nail the fundamentals, keep your home up to date, stay up on your maintenance, and solicit reviews, because that's the best marketing that you can do for your property. And by the way, it is free. It just takes your time.

[00:28:53] Tim Rosolio Yeah, I think it's a great summary of super practical stuff. And to a certain extent, once you do the practical stuff, you've earned the right to do some of the fun stuff, like putting out the cool welcome gift. It's about the core stuff. It was really cool to have you on again, Brandon. And it was really insightful, some of this study that your team did that I'm sure we'll be sharing with all of our partners soon. Vacation rental owners, if there's one message from today's episode, it's this. Travelers are telling us exactly what they want. They want stays that feel high quality, trustworthy, and hassle-free. And the hosts who deliver on that consistently are the ones who will stand out. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow Powering Travel on Spotify, YouTube, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen. And thanks again for listening to Powering Travel brought to you by Expedia Group. I'm your host, Tim Rosolio, and I can't wait to see where you're going next.