'Truvi offers unparalleled customer experience for direct bookings'

William Payne is a chartered accountant who has ended up in property management. He runs Breizas Villas in Alcossebre, Spain, and uses Truvi for guest screening, ID verification, and damage protection. William has shared his story about getting to short-term rentals and how Truvi helps him manage the property and reduce risks.

‘The start of short-term rentals was accidental’

Like many hosts, William hasn’t considered rentals as a full-fledged business at first.

“I got to short-term rentals by accident. It was probably before 1980 when my parents wanted to have a holiday home somewhere. First, they purchased the villa that is referred to as the Main House, then, because the house next door was so close they bought it and was referred to as the little house and joined the 2 villas together by building a swimming pool between the two houses. Two houses, one property. So that is still the same setup and combined is referred to as Breizas Villas.”

Misbehaving guests and property damage became a major headache

Property damage and unsolicited parties caused the most trouble. William needed tools to verify people before accepting their rental requests.

“After the COVID restrictions got lifted, people seem to have left their heads and brains behind. Primarily, it was a younger generation. All of a sudden, they wanted to meet up and disco until 4:00 in the morning.”

“When someone left the house in a complete mess, and I had to pay €180 more or something for cleaning cigarette ash around the gardens.”

 

He viewed Truvi as an option to Screen Guests more carefully and keep them accountable with Damage Deposits and Damage Waivers.

Truvi has helped to run rentals more efficiently

William combines several Truvi’s features to handle common short-term property management issues.

ID Verification and guest screening help him catch guests who don’t want to be held accountable and prevent parties among guests under 25 years.

 

“I want to know who people are. Identity verification automatically chases away people who we don’t want anyway.” – says William.

 

Truvi’s damage waivers and deposits allow the host to protect property from damage and create an emergency fund.

“Now, with the damage waiver, if there’s something wrong with the house, I can submit an incident report and get reimbursed for the damage.”

“Having a damage waiver attached was one of the top things”

Truvi has more extensive functionality than similar STR tools, which inspired William to make a switch:

 

“I think Truvi actually offered more. Checkin only did identity. Communication with Checkin is only via email and therefore you can not chase for a reply. But when I saw that there was this damage waiver. Having a damage waiver attached was probably one of the top things when I moved to Truvi (previously Superhog).”

 

Another benefit is a fair pricing policy and reliable support. No fixed monthly charges. Hosts pay only for the services they use.

“I was with another company, and they never replied because you can only communicate via email. A lot of people had difficulty understanding why I needed three calendars. When I said, look, it’s one property, but three calendars. Why am I having to pay three times when I can only have one listing at a time? They wouldn’t reply. That is another reason why I first got started with Truvi.”

Practical advice for successful short-term rentals from the host

“Reduce the number of occupants and have it incremental to take account of those extra laundry and cleaning costs for an extra number of people. You’ve got to keep cleaning costs separate from accommodation.”

William recommends using dynamic pricing and analyzing the market with tools like PriceLabs to see how much other properties charge.

It’s also important to make the property more comfortable and, therefore, competitive pricewise versus the competition.

“Promote your property listing for the max. Update the house and pictures. No bathrooms in Spain, use showers. Accommodate your house to guests’ needs, like the Dutch language for Dutch guests. Make your property smart tech to see what’s happening, like carbon dioxide and smoke detectors, smart lights, and new fire extinguishers.”