Build good guest relationships for your holiday rentals

How to build guest relationships with Bookster

Guest relationships sit at the heart of a successful holiday let or vacation rental business. 

When guests feel informed, cared for and safe booking with you, they are more likely to leave 5‑star reviews, book direct next time and recommend your self‑catering property to friends.

We provide a number of tools that are explicitly designed to help your business grow through managing guests needs, (as well as attracting bookings and managing bookings) and developing your customer relationships. 

Guest‑friendly holiday rental websites

Your guest relationship starts on your website. Bookster offers holiday rental websites designed to be fast, mobile‑friendly and easy to book.

Guests can filter properties by dates, facilities, bedrooms, trip type or map view, no matter what type of holiday homes you manage.

A quick, two‑click booking process and clear calls‑to‑action reduce drop‑offs and support more direct bookings to your own website instead of OTAs. For more ideas, see 5 tips for direct bookings and 5 reasons to target direct bookings.

Whether you choose a Bookster template or custom web, your guests will be at the start of a smooth sales process. Our webs are built to move them quickly from ' just looking’ to ‘now booking’. 

Filtered searches

All template and bespoke websites have strategically placed filters to help the web user to find the property they are looking for smoothly and quickly.

These searches can be achieved by searching by dates, seasons (eg summer seasons, Christmas or Valentines guests), facilities, the number of bedrooms, type of visit (eg business travellers or domestic guests), or simply by the map. 

Fast loading times

As every second counts for your web visitors, all websites are optimised for speed, whether on mobile, tablet or computer.

We've spent a lot of time the developing websites to be fast, and in particular the booking calendar to work fast on mobile and tablets, as any delay here is likely to put these visitors off your site. 

Make it easy to reserve your property

Once your guest is happy with the holiday accommodation, they will follow a 2-click buying process. We ask for the minimum amount of information necessary to make the reservation, to reduce losing potential reservations during this booking process. 

Build trust with photos, reviews and secure payments

Trust is a major factor in whether guests choose your holiday home.

Bookster lets you upload up to 100 killer photos (all correctly labelled with names, descriptions and photo tags) and 360° tours per property, helping guests understand the layout and feel of your accommodation before they commit.

You can display guest reviews using Guest Book comments, TripAdvisor ratings, Trustpilot, Feefo and the Revyoos partnership, which aggregates reviews from multiple sources to boost trust.

Communicate clearly with Guest Area and automated emails

Good communication before, during and after the stay reduces stress for guests and your team.

Notification Emails

Bookster will send high-impact Notification Emails to your guests to keep them informed. These emails all link to the Guest Area.

Guest Area

Bookster’s Guest Area shares all essential information, with directions, key codes, Wi‑Fi, parking, damage deposit details and local tips, all in one place. Guests can also pay balances, add arrival times and update guest details there.

Email Marketing - create your own automated emails

Supplement these emails by using the Marketing tool to send automated emails to guests. 

These send Flexible automated emails and 4 essential guest emails help you send confirmations, pre‑arrival reminders, check‑in instructions and post‑stay review requests without manual work.

Use triggers such as the Arrival Date to build your relationship and resolve any issues that may arise.  

The Guest Assistant can answer common questions quickly, further improving the guest experience.

Provide reassuring reviews

Making reservations online adds a layer of physical distance between the holiday rental guest and the property manager.

The days of word-of-mouth recommendations still exist, but consumers need more reassurance.

Companies like Amazon have excelled with peer-to-peer User Reviews, which are now commonly used across different industries. 

Bookster offers a number of ways that you can promote your previous guests' feedback. These include:

• Your own guest book comments
• TripAdvisor ratings 
• Trustpilot reviews
• Feefo reviews process including Google gold stars.

Using a combination of these feedback processes will provide that extra touch of reassurance that your property rental company can be trusted. 

Secure pay with payment gateways

Security breaches are at an all-time high and the news is filled with fraud and theft, particularly prevalent in the tourism industry.

This damages customers' confidence in making the reservation online with their credit card and can affect your revenue. 

For payments, Bookster connects to secure payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, Opayo to protect card details and reassure guests when booking online.

We currently work with Opayo, Stripe, and Paypal who ensure your guests' data and payments are protected.

Provide essential travel information

When renting out a holiday rental, there is a large amount of information to share with the guest before arrival.

For this reason, we have created a slick pre-arrival process. 

After making the booking, an automated confirmation email is sent to the guest, directing them to the Guest Area.

Here they can view essential information, including access details, entry key codes, Wifi, parking, location, directions, and contact information. 

For a smooth process, guests can also make payments and pay their damage deposits all within the same area.

And as the Guest Area is a two-way communication tool, guests can also add additional guest details and arrival times. 

Bookster believes #ExperiencesMatter.

This is fundamental to everything we do.

So we focus on the development of tools and features to support the Owner Experience, the Guest Experience, and the Property Managers Experience.

If you’d like to discuss this further, feel free to contact us.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I improve guest communication for my holiday let?

Use a central Guest Area to store arrival details, Wi‑Fi, parking and house rules, then send automated emails before, during and after the stay. This reduces repetitive questions, builds trust and helps guests feel looked after from booking to check‑out.

What tools help build guest relationships in a holiday rental PMS?

Look for features like a guest portal, messaging tools, review integrations and secure payments. Bookster combines Guest Area, Guest Assistant, review widgets and payment gateways to strengthen relationships without adding more admin.

How can guest relationships increase direct bookings?

When guests feel informed and safe booking with you, they are more likely to rebook via your website instead of an OTA. Use great communication, reviews and trust signals to encourage repeat guests and referrals to your direct booking site.