Vacation Rental Terminology

Dispel the confusion of ambiguous terms

The vacation rental space has confusing and overlapping terms

As a property owner looking for vacation rental software, you may have been confused by what you think a unit means and the person on the other end of the phone understands it to be. This is frustrating and can lead to some embarrassing situations and could cost you money if the terms are not set forth ahead of time. Let’s walk through the terms you’ll see at CabinKey™.

Property

A physical location that has one or more rentable units. A resort, hotel, campground, lodge, bed and breakfast, or a company that rents house boats. These are just a few of many examples, but the underlying factor is the property owns the items for rent.

CabinKey™ can handle one property or if you have multiple properties, it can search and provide rates, availability, and booking across all of them.

Unit

This is the item that you rent to a guest. A cabin at a resort, a houseboat, a campsite at a campground, a room in a hotel, a room at a bed and breakfast.

CabinKey™ keeps owners from double booking units and allows peace of mind when taking orders from different channels, like phone, online, and even through email.

Room

Within the unit, a definition of what rooms are available. A cabin can have a master bed room, a kitchen, or a living room. In the case of a hotel, the rentable unit is the room or suite, but that room might have two bedrooms, a bathroom, or even a small kitchen. A campsite is probably not going to have any rooms. A houseboat will have several rooms.

Beds

Each sleeping room can have one or more beds. Kinds of beds defined on CabinKey™ include King, Queen, Double, Twin, Bunk Bed (Twin + Double), Bunk Bed (Twin x 2), Futon Double, Futon Queen, Futon Double, Pullout Double, Pullout Queen, and Pullout Twin.

Add-on

This is a different animal entirely. An add-on would be a boat at a resort or lodge. It could be a golf cart that is charged on a daily basis for rental, or an ATV that is used while guests stay at your property.. An add-on at CabinKey™ behaves differently than a unit, yet allows you to reserve and charge for these items.