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Hostaway's Partnership helps Lifty Life Manage Across Western Canada!

CEO of Lifty Life
Canada
Hostaway's Partnership helps Lifty Life Manage Across Western Canada!

How did you get started with Lifty Life?

In 2014, my brother Keiran Griffiths and I purchased a studio condo in Whistler, Canada, which was rented part-time on Airbnb during the gaps between my brother living there. Fast forward to 2017, we purchased a second property, this time in Harrison Hot Springs. Both properties were listed on Airbnb as full-time rentals and managed fully remote.

After completing university, in 2017, I joined the travel tech startup Leavetown Vacations / Jetstreamtech as their Revenue Coordinator. This experience grew my knowledge in the hospitality and vacation rental industry. I helped manage tens of thousands of hotel accommodations and a hand full of contracted homeowner vacation rentals.

At the onset of the pandemic, Lifty Life was born in its current form, a full-service vacation rental management company. We currently manage 40 properties, 7 of which we own. Lifty Life provides management services across BC and Alberta vacation markets, primarily in Whistler, Kelowna, Ucluelet, Tofino, Harrison Hot Springs, and Canmore, Alberta.

What challenges were alleviated when you started using Hostaway?

Before adding Hostaway to our tech stack, we were using IGMS. IGMS was a great introductory tool but it lacked the premium features and variety of integrations offered by Hostaway.

At the time IGMS was limited to Airbnb and had no revenue management integrations. We wanted to expand to additional OTAs such as VRBO and integrate Beyond Pricing into our property management software.

During the demo of Hostaway, I learned of other features I didn’t even consider but have since become must-haves, such as:

  • Content and photo APIs to major OTAs

  • Snoozing, unreading, and other robust guest messaging features

  • WordPress integration for direct bookings

  • Marking up or discounting on different OTAs

  • Financial reporting and the overview dashboard

What have your results been while using Hostaway?

Hostaway has provided a more holistic view of our business. During our time using Hostaway, our inventory has grown 3x!

  • We have added VRBO as a new channel and developed our book direct strategy which in total represents 20% of our business and growing

  • Automated messages represent 55% of the messages we send

  • We have added the Zapier integration to send notifications to our Slack channel

  • Our pricing has become nearly fully automated with the use of the Beyond Pricing integration

  • Cleaning notifications are sent automatically and our team is always fully in the know!

How was your support and onboarding experience with Hostaway?

The Hostaway team has been amazing from the start. The whole team continues to be a fantastic resource for resolving our software issues but even goes beyond that and has been a great partner in helping develop and grow our business!

Because Hostaway is a more robust system than IGMS the onboarding process was more complicated and involved but with the help of our dedicated account manager, Celeste, it was simplified and streamlined.

The Hostaway support team has been an integral part of our business. We rely heavily on their help in resolving issues as they arise. In combination with our account manager and the Hostaway support team, we have unparalleled access to help and support.

The Hostaway team has gone beyond being just a software solution to being a crucial partner to the growth, development, and automation of Lifty Life.

Would your growth have been possible without Hostaway?

Hostaway’s product has enabled the scalable growth of Lifty Life. Without Hostaway it would have been impossible to grow a remote management business operating in multiple locations which are as far as 14 hours away!

Lifty Life relies on the automation of our cleaning staff, guest messaging, and the channel management provided by Hostaway. These critical features allow us to focus on providing stellar guest service and growing our business.

Ready to find out how Hostaway can transform your business?

Hostaway is proud to support thousands of Property Managers and Airbnb Hosts Around the world. We take in pride in being Top Ranked in Vacation Rental Software Review Sites: Capterra, G2, Software Advice, Trust Pilot, to name just a few! Check out our reviews and read the Hostaway Case Studies from real successful and growing Short-Term Rental Managers!