How Sojourn Scaled Direct Bookings with Guest Protection

While working as a bartender in DC, a chance encounter with a single Facebook ad — from a property manager in need of help during weekends — ignited Nicole Pace‘s passion for property management.

Now she manages 350+ properties in the mid-Atlantic as COO of Sojourn, the company she co-founded with CEO Dunniela Kaufman in 2019.

The direct booking challenge

“We can’t grow our direct bookings if we can’t both verify our guests and protect our properties.”

Sojourn’s portfolio of properties grew quickly, but so did the associated challenges, especially during the pandemic. COVID-19 brought a surge in problematic guests, making direct bookings feel riskier than OTA bookings, which offered their own protection.

“The quality of the guests plummeted, especially in urban markets. People were looking for places to squat, have parties, and cause damage.

At first, we used one company that only provided screening services, but quickly realized that we couldn’t grow our direct bookings if we couldn’t both verify our guests and protect our properties. Airbnb protects and reimburses homeowners for the cost of guest damage. And we needed the same level of protection for our direct booking homeowners, which led us to Truvi.”

Finding comprehensive protection

“Now we can drive more direct bookings without worries.”

Sojourn chose Truvi’s bundle of Guest Verification, Damage Protection, and Damage Waiver services specifically to compete with OTA protections.

Unlike platform protections that often exclude unauthorized parties, smoke damage, and excessive cleaning costs, Truvi’s damage protection covers the incidents that typically fall through the cracks of OTA coverage.

“We were drawn to Truvi’s damage protection because they could help us and the homeowner in case of incidents during direct bookings. No one else was offering that level of protection.

Truvi services allow us to fend off the bad actors, especially in the markets with high rates of malicious actors. That’s what sets us apart from our competition — the extra layer of protection.”

Competitive advantage through protection

Nicole has become vocal about guest verification and damage protection in industry conversations, positioning Sojourn as a leader in risk management.

Guest verification automatically screens for fake names, disposable emails, and burner phones — catching problematic bookings before they reach properties.

“We’re quite vocal about guest verification and damage protection in the STR industry, especially when it comes to conversations with the city council or STR businesses.

There’s a very simple way of minimizing the risks in STR: verify the guests, sign a guest contract, and let them know that if they damage a property, there will be consequences. And that’s exactly what Truvi does.”

Guest acceptance across platforms

“We have enough flexibility to choose who gets screened and who doesn’t.”

Interestingly, Nicole found that direct booking guests are more accepting of damage waivers than Airbnb guests, who sometimes question the additional fee.

“I’d say that it’s the Airbnb guests who ask us why they should pay for a damage waiver but we always explain that they’d pay the same damage waiver while booking with Airbnb. The waiver is included in the booking fee. However, the majority of the guests who come from direct booking platforms are more willing to pay the fee.

Some of our Airbnb guests who’ve already completed the booking process can be asked to run another check. Especially when they are new to the platform or were never screened by Truvi. Although we have enough flexibility to choose who gets screened and who doesn’t.”

By offering the same level of protection as major OTAs through Truvi’s services, Sojourn can confidently promote direct bookings to homeowners while focusing their energy on growth rather than managing guest-related risks.

Ready to scale direct bookings with confidence like Sojourn? See pricing and get started today.