www.letstayanywhere.com

[propertytorent]

Just came across this new listing site.
http://www.letstayanywhere.com/

I imagine it will take a couple of years for any of these new sites to gain traction.

[AndrewH]

From their site:

"The people behind LetStayAnywhere.com are in fact owners and managers of their own rental properties who experienced shortcomings in dealing with other websites while trying to market their properties. As such, they have put together experience of many years in the IT and holiday rental business and created LetStayAnwhere.com with the owner and traveller in mind as an answer to the functionality, performance and features they always wanted in a holiday property rental site."

Interesting and free to list. I wish them well, because if there was ever a time to catch disaffected property owners it is now.

I just hope they keep in mind that it is most important of all to get the site out to, and well known by, people looking for self-catering accommodation. Advertising to holidaymakers requires more than just good SEO and Facebook (IMO).

[angi]

We, like many others are looking,waiting and hoping for an alternative to the hated OD but at the moment this site is not up to scratch. It doesn't work well from an iPad and is slow and clunky to navigate. As a potential guest looking for properties for our own holidays I would give up on this one and move on.
Hopefully the site will develop so worth keeping an eye on and I wish them every success.

[Casscat]

Very much 'work in progress' it seems. The pages are very, very slow to load even on a desktop. Searching for 'Spain' only produces three results in total, and they are all Majorca. I really do wish them well and I hope that their idea takes off but they need to make the interface more guest friendly and 'hide' the section on pricing aimed at holiday home owners. I also see that they are appealing to 'agents' for multiple listings and this might dilute their message as it could mean the likes of Belvilla or whatever they're called just swamping them with crap.

[Mouse]

I'm currently promoting The Holiday Let as an alternative to the big boys and also Spain Holiday.

In fact I could do with a list of sites without commission.

There is life after commission but you have to want it, use it and help promote it I think.

Mouse
x

[French Cricket]

There is life after commission but you have to want it, use it and help promote it I think.

I so agree with that, Mousie. If we want the independents to survive and thrive then I think we have to take on some of the responsibility for that too.

I haven't looked at the site in the OP because I'd never contemplate listing anywhere with that site title ... "Oh, let's just stay anywhere ... doesn't really matter where, does it?" ... Hmmm, not exactly a good starting point, is it?

[FelicityA]

I think the name is just awful too! What bright spark thought that would attract the crowds?!

[Nemo]

I knew I had come across them before. The owners of this site also run a facebook group with this on their pinned post.

FREE TRIAL for group members - We are looking for owners and property managers to test the site and give feedback on how the site and the process can be improved.

The group is https://www.facebook.com/groups/Holiday ... t/?fref=nf
You can always join and then give your opinions.

[FelicityA]

Ah, so it is just a test site, with a test name perhaps? Glad to hear that!

[Lets Go To Puglia]

I'm currently promoting The Holiday Let as an alternative to the big boys and also Spain Holiday.

In fact I could do with a list of sites without commission.

There is life after commission but you have to want it, use it and help promote it I think.

Mouse
x

Have you had any enquiries from The Holiday Let? I've been with them for a few months and have had nothing

[joddle]

On seeing this thread I thought I might give them a go BUT It's so S-L-O-W.... could not be bothered to wait while pages loaded so in the end did nothing - which is exactly what I suspect potential holiday makers will do too. At least the other newcomer www.gecko.villas is up to speed although just as new but not quite as empty of properties. These days a "slow site" is as good as "no site"...

[Tivoli]

Joining this conversation a bit late but I was interested to read about The Holiday Let so checked them out. All looked nice, fair etc. Spent a while creating my listing but then before pressing the 'publish' button, phoned a couple of advertisers who had been listed for two years or more. Nobody has had a sniff. Well, for £30 for a year with the second year free they obviously cannot afford to promote their site can they. That's just way too cheap. In this day and age it's not possible to rely purely upon word of mouth in the hope that your site grows to get high enough on a Google search. Sweet and well-intentioned as they may (or may not) be, this is not a business plan that is going to work.

[Sam V]

Ah, so it is just a test site, with a test name perhaps? Glad to hear that!

Perhaps give the feedback needed on the name then.

My husband keeps telling me I should start up a listing site.

[AndrewH]

Joining this conversation a bit late but I was interested to read about The Holiday Let so checked them out. All looked nice, fair etc. Spent a while creating my listing but then before pressing the 'publish' button, phoned a couple of advertisers who had been listed for two years or more. Nobody has had a sniff. Well, for £30 for a year with the second year free they obviously cannot afford to promote their site can they. That's just way too cheap. In this day and age it's not possible to rely purely upon word of mouth in the hope that your site grows to get high enough on a Google search. Sweet and well-intentioned as they may (or may not) be, this is not a business plan that is going to work.

+1
Absolutely agree. 'The Holiday Let' is a beautifully crafted website on the lines of the original Owners Direct site, in fact in my opinion better presented. They have built up a modest but not insignificant inventory of properties, but having been with them for a year or more, I have still not had a sniff.

As Nemo once said, why have a great site and then just keep it in a cupboard. If ever there was an opportunity for a traditional site such as this to increase their customer base it is now, but first they have to get known and be successful in getting in the bookings. This of course costs plenty of (probably borrowed) money. However, if successful, THL would be able to increase their annual subscriptions to a proper market rate and I would think their revenues would increase exponentially.

[greenbarn]

There are I'm sure many of us who've been with them for some years and never paid anything; my own subs were just automatically renewed FOC as I hadn't had any enquiries.

Big question - how much would I, or many others in a similar position, be prepared to pay in the hope of boosting their funds to the point where, let's say, they could at least have iCal integration? I really don't see the point in updating the calendars when I get no enquiries, so that's a Catch-22.

Would I chip in fifty quid? No. Twenty? Maybe. A tenner? Why not. Would that make a difference?

My feeling FWIW is that they didn't quite get off the ground soon enough - before The Big Wars started - and the model they chose, and have stuck with, is now (and has been for some time) doomed. It goes head to head with the Big Boys, which is a bit like being bitten by a midge but probably less noticeable. I really think they need to contract and then target a niche market - even if that niche is UK only (sorry everyone else) or at least something relatively confined; that way they can be in a different arena to the Big Boys and their plain-wrapper box-shifting model, and hopefully build a strong base from which to develop when the time is right. In the not too distant future there'll be a winner in the Big Boys' War, and the victor will claim a huge market. That market will not include (the Big Boys won't even want it) the guests who are looking for something above and beyond the supermarket offerings, and that's where The Holiday Let need to be. As a "quality high street shop" provider, there's success to be had - albeit small-scale in comparison with the Big Boys (so a share of a market 'only' worth a few million); as another insignificant supermarket offering the same as the Big Boys - no chance.
Just my 2p worth.