Background
Francesca Orietti is the owner of a vacation rental on Lake Como, in Onno in the municipality of Oliveto Lario to be exact, which is famous for its beautiful natural landscapes. Francesca’s vacation rental, New Eleven Apartment, boasts an enchanting view of Lake Como that can be appreciated from the private and partially covered terrace.
Francesca has always been fascinated by the tourism sector and has been dedicated to it for over 20 years, studying the phenomenon of non-hotel tourism and its social effects on the region. As a result of her passion for the tourism sector, Francesca became a member of the Taxedil community, which deals with tax incentives on 2nd homes. In addition to it, her many years of experience have led her to join the board of directors of the “Ospiti per casa” association of Lake Como, where she is responsible for the development of the Airbnb community.
Given her background, Francesca had analyzed the tourism market in the Lake Como area and subsequently purchased her first property. One of her great desires is to expand her business and manage multiple vacation rentals, and in order to achieve this, she has chosen to count on Bookiply.
Helpfulness and flexibility: the keys to success
Francesca’s guests particularly love her helpfulness and attention to their needs. Offering a personalized service is key to the success of a vacation rental and to ensure you have guests who are truly satisfied with their stay.
“My organization depends on the type of reservation I receive, so what kind of guests are coming to my vacation rental: a family, a couple or a group of friends. If I’m hosting a family with an infant, I make sure to provide the crib, bottle warmer, etc., and of course, I take all of it out when groups of friends or couples arrive. I want to give all my guests the feeling of being at home.”
In particular, Francesca tries to always be there for her guests when unexpected situations arise, and she gives it her all to assure them that she will do everything she can to find a solution to any problem.
One topic that has required flexibility from many homeowners is the COVID-19 pandemic. To guarantee the absolute best service, Francesca has attended special classes to learn how to best sanitize her apartment and follow local regulations in her area.
“I describe exactly what I have sanitized as well as the products my guests can use inside the home. I also always leave an alternative option to accommodate guests who also want to use eco-friendly products.”
Finally, in order to make sure that she is continually improving the service she offers, Francesca has placed a guest book at the entrance of her apartment, in which travelers are encouraged to leave suggestions and feedback about their stay.
Bookiply: my road to expansion
Despite her in-depth experience in the industry, Francesca has chosen to lean on a company like Bookiply to help her expand to multiple online portals, especially in order to fill her calendar gaps due to seasonal drops in bookings, which affect Lake Como between October and the end of March.
“I’ve always been a little weary of the idea of going to multiple portals, especially for calendar synchronization. I have always wondered if I could do it, because every host’s worst fear is having overbookings!”
Thanks to the collaboration with Bookiply, Francesca was able to publish her vacation rental on six portals and also to create her personal website to get more bookings – even during the low season on Lake Como.
Not only has Francesca chosen to expand in terms of online presence, but for the coming year she plans to open two more vacation homes: one in the beautiful Varazze, on the Ligurian coast, and one in the northern area of Lake Como, in Valchiavenna, on the via Spulga – a hiking and culture trail in the central Italian Alps.
Francesca’s advice for other hosts
Francesca loves being a host because it’s like having the ability to travel the world while staying in your own home. As an expert in the tourism industry, she wants to share some tips with anyone interested in successfully managing a vacation rental.
“I truly believe the most important thing about being a host is being a guest at least once a year. Even better if this is in your own property, so you experience in a practical way what is not working well and what is missing. Also, to be a good host you need a lot of empathy and you need to be flexible in order to deal with any unforeseen events in the best possible way.”
Surely, putting yourself in your guests’ shoes is crucial to offering them excellent service and to manage a successful vacation rental. But that is not all – relying on a channel manager like Bookiply can also be a huge help, especially when you are at the beginning of your hosting experience.
“Relying on a channel manager like Bookiply gives you the opportunity to better manage your time: being a host can be both a hobby and a full-time job, and that’s why you need to understand how much time you really have at your disposal and entrust a third party with the pre-booking activities. By doing so, you can better focus on welcoming and attending to your guests’ needs. No less important is it to realize that every online portal is different and this can be complicated, but if you manage everything with Bookiply’s unified platform, the processes are unified, and therefore the life of us hosts is simplified. We save time and our lives are way easier!”
Francesca has been working with Bookiply since 2020 and is happy with the service she has been offered, particularly with regard to the customization of the service and the constant customer support.
“The great thing is that with you guys at Bookiply, there is really a lot of collaboration. You have also opened the office in Milan, and you are all extremely helpful guys, which is perhaps the feature that other portals are lacking now: having someone who is always available and supports you in any situation while also publishing your vacation rental online.”
If you are now curious and you would like to explore the beautiful Lake Como, check out Francesca’s vacation rental here: New Eleven Apartment on Como Lake with Lake View, Pool, Wi-Fi & Terrace.
