Become a Host

OUR HOST RELATIONSHIPS

Visitors to the Texas Hill Country face an almost overwhelming array of lodging options. At Backroads Reservations, we realize this, and we work hard to make the places we offer as memorable and pleasant as the attractions they visit, and the events they attend. We provide fun, clean, and comfortable alternatives to cookie-cutter hotel and motel rooms, which are little more than boxes in which to store their suitcases and a place to lay their heads at night. In order to achieve this, it is critical that we build strong and cooperative relationships with our rental property hosts. These relationships assure both happy customers and a profitable rental arrangement with our partner owners. Everybody wins!

First, a little background. Backroads Reservations was established in 2001, and we are short-term rental marketing and booking service company, with over 130 properties under our management umbrella. We are owned and managed by Spencer and Jess Forrest, a married couple who lives and works in Bandera —and has extensive knowledge of the Hill Country region. The Forrests, between the two of them, have over 30 years of combined real estate, customer service, and technology experience. Our services include full- spectrum marketing, detailed reservation booking and tracking, responsive guest management, and tax filing. We believe strongly in both the warm, personal relationships with our partners and guests, and the more analytical side of successful vacation rental marketing.

We strive to forge personal relationships with our rental property hosts. This achieves two goals: first, our guests are savvy enough to know when such a relationship exists, and they will not feel like they are a responsibility being passed from one party to another. Second—and certainly just as important—we consider our hosts partners and friends, and we bolster that with the same excellent personal service we extend to our guests. Our hosts are important to us, and we assure you our undivided attention and prompt response to your questions and concerns. As our host and partner, you are always free to contact us at any time via text, email, or phone call (this contact information is provided at the end of this article).

Your host relationship with us starts with a phone call to discuss your property and we use this to assess if the rental is a good fit; we are selective with properties we take on board, as we have built a reputation for unique, clean, and reasonably-priced accommodations. Then we schedule an on-site tour of the property which allows us to consider numerous factors to see if its a property we can consistently rent. As with all our communications with our hosts, we will be honest with you if we feel we cannot keep the property occupied. 

We pride ourselves in getting properties rented as often as possible, drawing upon our customer base of over 75,000—and growing!

Once we agree your property is a viable one, we will work with you to establish a pricing strategy customized to the rental in question. This goes beyond the basic room rate; for example, what are the comparable rentals in the area? Are they renting at their marketed rate?  Are pets allowed? What supplemental rates are required for extra people, or cleaning? We will be thorough with you during this phase, in the spirit of full transparency. It is very important that both our guests and our property owners know exactly what their expectations should be during a guest visit.

We do not rest on our laurels when it comes to filling our partner properties! We cast a wide and effective net in our marketing, utilizing resources such as AirBNB (with a Superhost designation for over 8 years straight), VRBO, Booking.com, Glamping Hub, and hundreds of other lodging-related sites. In addition, all rentals are posted to our website and marketed on social media, our mobile app, the Texas Hill Country Travel App, and we use Google for targeted keyword-driven searches and ads. We strive for the most effective, far-reaching, and targeted vacation property marketing strategies and tools we have at our disposal.

One of our biggest “hooks” is that we do not charge our guests any booking fees. This is practically unheard-of in the industry, and it sets us apart in the minds of our visitors, who often become repeat customers—not to mention the positive word-of-mouth it generates! For each reservation we book, we charge a commission fee to the host for booking services rendered (this will be discussed in the pricing strategy phase, and these commissions are not publicized online).

As a public-facing short-term rental marketing company, our bread and butter rests upon positive customer reviews and recommendations. We do everything we can to encourage these from our guests—and that strategy includes staving off any (very rare) negative public feedback. Open communication is one of our hallmarks, with both our hosts and guests, and we foster an honest environment in which constructive criticism is welcomed. Our ultimate goal is happy guests who communicate their satisfaction far and wide!

Our services do not end when guest visits do. As a host partner, you will receive from Backroads Reservations a bi-monthly statement that details all reservations on a given property during the previous two-week period. We file all state and local occupancy tax forms for our hosts, and will issue a 1099 form each January reflecting the previous year's earnings. 

If you own a property that complements the beauty and charm of the Texas Hill Country, and would like to open it up to our wonderful guests, we would like to hear from you! We pride ourselves in our professional arsenal of vacation rental property marketing tools and expertise, and we'd love to put them to work for you. We will also be happy to share references from our many existing host partners. 

** Due to a demand in our services, we are accepting a limited number of fully-managed houses at this time.  For hosts who use our marketing and booking services, we can provide you with service providers who offer house cleaning, pool, yard and general maintenance services. 11/21/2023 **     

Spencer and Jess Forrest
Backroads Reservations
Texas Hill Country Travel App 
Email: Howdy@BackroadsTexas.net
Local Phone: (830) 522-4661
Messenger : BackroadsReservations