Top Mistakes Hosts Make with OTAs

I used to think that the online travel agents were my best mates. Busy, booked up, no hassle. But here are the three top mistakes hosts and I made when I first got going with the OTAs. Mistake number one, I blindly matched my rates everywhere. No strategy. I was just hoping for bookings. The result was that the commissions was eating my profit and zero flexibility. Mistake two, I handed over the guest relationship. I watched countless guests book through Airbnb booking.com and then they vanish. No contact, no repeat visits, no brand loyalty. It was a disaster if you really want to grow a sustainable business. Mistake number three, I ignored all of the data. The online travel agents hold all the cards with the algorithm shifts and literally my visibility was disappearing overnight. I was flying blind without my own direct booking system, balanced at risk. And after decades in short term rentals, here's what truly flipped my business. I stopped renting my guests through the OTAs. I owned my own marketing channels and I built a guest list. Small hosts like and I deserve better than simply relying on third parties. That's why we have created a tool that helps host gain back control with diary bookings. So you keep the commission, you make more profit and you get the guest. Think about it. Are you making these common OTA mistakes too? If so, you know what to do.