Welcome to Hospitable.com’s series of host case studies, where we take a deep dive into the unique experiences of our valued hosts. Through these inspiring success stories, we aim to showcase tips to help you succeed with your short-term rental business and better leverage your Hospitable subscription.
Who?
Gretchen Herman and Rikke Christensen
Where?
Lake Arrowhead, California, United States
Properties managed?
One property owned and managed
Favorite Hospitable feature?
Guest Communication and AI:
"This AI has really helped. Whereas before, automatic response messages were good, but with the AI, it makes it personal."
"I'm pretty impressed and scared how efficient it is."
Meet Gretchen and Rikke
Gretchen Herman and Rikke Christensen own Forest Moon Chalet in the woods, 2 miles from Lake Arrowhead Village in California. This short-term rental property was bought originally as a place for their families to spend quality time together and enjoy the snow during the ski season.
"Rikke has a background in hospitality, and I have a background in design," explains Gretchen. "I think using the two together has created this Forest Moon Chalet experience that's good for kids and adults."
The cozy cabin has the best amenities for vacation rentals and boasts a Star Wars-themed game room. "First, we wanted it to be a theme-oriented short-term rental because that draws in families. So I think what makes it special is that people create memories with their families. Here, there's something for everybody."
Gretchen and Rikke use Hospitable to automate repetitive tasks and manage everything hassle-free. Watch the video in which Gretchen and Rikke discuss their experience of hosting at Forest Moon Chalet and learn how Hospitable saves them valuable time and how direct booking has saved their guests from paying expensive Airbnb commissions.
Automating Guest Communication and Smart Lock Codes
Gretchen and Rikke prioritize creating a perfect guest experience to ensure their guests have a memorable stay. So, they use Hospitable to automate guest messaging and ensure fast and clear communication with their guests.
"One thing that is really important to us is customer service, and we have things, such as wine, treats, and shampoos. Everything is very elegant regarding our customer service, so we wanted to ensure that our communication matched that. Hospitable has arranged for us to be able to take a little bit of time off because of all the auto responses and the automatic messages that we've set up. So we don't have to be so hands-on—it takes care of it for us," Rikke underlines.
"Really, it has a wonderful personal touch and is pretty timely. And one thing we get is a lot of reviews about our communication. It's just spectacular," Gretchen adds.
Rikke finds Hospitable helpful when it comes to answering common guest questions. "You get to a point where you're like, okay, I don't want to have to give the same information to the same guest over and over. That's actually where Hospitable has been so helpful because now there are just automated messages. There're canned answers, there're automated answers, there's the AI, and they help with some of the questions that are less fun to answer."
Gretchen emphasizes that Hospitable has given them peace of mind, knowing that all their guests will always get quick responses to their messages. "Really, part of our five-star reviews is the response time."
Have conversations with your guests even when you sleep
Rikke and Gretchen also use smart locks at their short-term rental and take advantage of Hospitable's smart lock integrations to automate messaging door codes. This way, they can offer a smooth self-check-in experience for their guests and ensure they're not letting unwanted people into their property. "We're vulnerable. We don't live nearby, and having this tool to rely on and that has our back is a big deal. It's really been helpful," Gretchen says.
Direct Booking Website
When Rikke and Gretchen were trying to market their STR property to their friends and co-workers, they discovered that the people they knew felt terrible about paying high Airbnb commission fees. And some people just didn't like the idea of going through Airbnb. "People would contact us and say, "Can we book directly with you?"
So Rikke decided to create her direct booking website using Hospitable's templates. "It is really inexpensive. I can't quite believe that this direct booking website through Hospitable is that inexpensive, considering what you get for it." Rikke underlines that the website was easy to set up, and she just enjoyed doing it.
Why Hospitable?
Rikke likes the quality of customer service that Hospitable's support team provides. "It's the only company I know where when you send messages back and forth for help, and then you get little gifts sent to you. So you're speaking with a real person. You're speaking to somebody who understands the software well, so things are usually solved quickly."
She also points out that she had a great experience when she joined Hospitable's Town Halls. "We were able to communicate and directly impact the Town Hall as it took place. It wasn't just that you're sitting in front of the computer and listening to everybody else talk and show a presentation. You could ask questions, and they'll talk about it right there."
Rikke says she recommends Hospitable to everyone on various Facebook groups and to her friends who ask for advice regarding setting up Airbnbs. "I always start with Hospitable, to be honest, because it is just the safest way to make sure you don't miss an answer, a welcome message, or a door lock being done."
