Riviera Maya
Best Website for Vacation Rental in The Riviera Maya
1. Airbnb
Airbnb is the top trusted vacation rental site and one of the most recognizable vacation rental brands. It offers hosts the opportunity to make money from listing their short-term rental properties and experiences.
It has the largest community of vacation rental hosts. As one of the largest vacation rental companies, Airbnb offers over 6 million listings to guests in more than 100 000 cities and towns across 220 regions and countries around the world. For guests, it means a lot of options to choose from.
It is also one of the fastest-growing vacation home rental websites. Airbnb has the best brand recognition among hosts and guests in the short-term rental market.
For hosts, there is no fee to list a property. However, hosts should pay a service fee per booking. Depending on where your property is based, you will either pay a fee of up to 15%, or the guest will pay a fee of up to 15% while you pay up to 3%.
2. VRBO
Previously known as VRBO (vacation rental by owner), it recently merged with its sister site HomeAway, to relaunch as Vrbo. Vrbo is part of the Expedia Group and specializes in providing vacation rentals in the United States. This makes it an excellent option for hosts who own or manage vacation rentals in the USA. It’s also one of the most popular vacation rental listing sites in the world.
To rent a property on Vrbo hosts either pay per booking or an annual subscription of $499 per year. If a host opts for a pay-per-booking option, he/she pays a 5% commission with a 3% credit card charge per booking.
Top Features for Vacation Rentals:
Only private apartments and houses can be listed;
Hosts can choose between an annual subscription or a pay-per-booking option.
Attracts family travelers, and travelers to US destinations.
Guests are to pay a service fee of up to 12% per booking or sometimes higher. There can be additional fees such as a pet fee, cleaning fee, or other fees.
Although Vrbo has a lot in common with Airbnb, there are some major differences to consider. While you can list different types of properties on Airbnb (including shared rooms, cabins, beach houses, and treehouses), Vrbo only allows hosts to list private spaces. If you have a spare room to rent, keep in mind that you can’t advertise it on Vrbo.
Another difference is the type of audience Vrbo caters to. Since only private home rentals are allowed on Vrbo, it offers the perfect vacation rental properties for older audiences who travel with a family and are looking for kid-friendly spaces.
3. Booking.com
Booking.com boasts more than 28 million properties listed on the platform with over 1.5 million nights booked daily. The site was originally known as a hotel booking site, only listing hotel rooms and not vacation homes. However, in recent years they have entered the vacation rental game with a bang as the number of vacation home rentals listed on Booking.com has grown significantly.
Booking.com doesn’t have its own payment system. Instead, it allows hosts to choose the payment options they prefer. As a result, Booking.com charges hosts a 15% commission on each booking. The costs are deducted from your account by direct debit.
If a guest makes a cancellation on a reservation, Booking.com doesn’t charge any fees. However, a guest can receive a bill from a hotel or another property that they have booked.
If you need to cancel a reservation on Booking.com, contact the hotel or property directly to discuss your situation.
Top Features for Vacation Rentals:
You can list your property for free;
Hosts are to pay a 15% service fee per booking;
Instant booking only;
Guests don’t have to pay any extra commission or booking fee when making a reservation.
4. Tripadvisor
TripAdvisor was founded in 2000 and is one of the oldest and best sites for vacation rentals. As a result, it has great brand recognition making it an ideal place to list your rentals.
TripAdvisor is also a famous comparison website. It features approximately 1 billion reviews on hotels, restaurants, vacation rentals, and tourist attractions. It also owns a host of the best vacation rental sites for homeowners including FlipKey, VacationHomeRentals, and HouseTrip.
TripAdvisor charges a 3% commission per booking. Once you list your property on TripAdvisor, it will automatically be featured on FlipKey as well. This means more visibility and exposure for your vacation rental.
Top Features for Vacation Rentals:
Hosts can list their properties for free;
Low commission rate (3% per booking);
Plenty of reviews on local attractions, restaurants, cafes, hotels, and short-term rentals collected over the years;
The guest fee ranges from 8% to 16%, but sometimes it can be lower. The fee is automatically added to the guest’s invoice.
5. Expedia
Expedia is one of the largest online travel shopping platforms offering secure booking options for accommodation, air tickets, car rentals, cruise ships, and vacation packages.
It offers a variety of accommodation types in addition to vacation rentals such as hotels, villas, motels, guest houses, etc. Users looking for vacation rentals specifically can filter their search results based on the “sort by” functionality.
Top Features for Vacation Rentals:
Listing on Expedia is free. However, the commission ranges between 10 and 30%. You, as a host, will find the exact amount of the commissions to be paid to Expedia in your final contract.
Expedia is a trusted, world-renowned OTA that attracts millions of visitors a year;
Guests use Expedia to plan their getaways from start to finish. They are likely to book a rental property while purchasing air tickets and car rentals. Your listing has an even greater chance of being seen by the right guests on Expedia.