JZ Vacation Rentals Blog

As a vacation rental company, nothing excites us more than travel industry news, trends, and secrets. Sure, we technically have to stay up to date on the trends of the travel industry in order to provide optimal service to our guests, but needless to say, we very much enjoy keeping up to date on all travel secrets!   You know what we’re talking about…the up and coming destinations that are not overcrowded...

As a vacation rental company, one of our favorite things is to be shared the stories of why our guests are traveling. To understand why they’re in town, who they came to see, and what they are most excited about doing while traveling through the JZ headquarters town of Saint Louis, Missouri.   Many of our guests are return visitors, and as much as we like to think it’s our...

The startup of a vacation rental has the ability to take you back in time to buying your very first home. You realize the youthful excitement of decorating a new space that is all yours never truly went away, and nightly runs to the home improvement store have once again become routine.   It feels like having a second chance at designing the home of your dreams when you once...

When you think of today’s travelers, who comes to your mind?   Are you picturing your 18-year-old niece boarding a flight to London for a college semester abroad?   Or is it that 20 something-year-old solo backpacker you follow on social media that’s eating and drinking his way through Italy, France, and Spain?   Perhaps you’re picturing ambitious businessmen and women in their 30s flying to new client sites each...

What does the average day of a vacation rental property owner look like? Are you waking up before the sun and kids to have a bit of quiet time to organize your accounting books? Or perhaps you sneak out during your lunch break to check in new guests to your home? Later that night do you stay up after everyone has gone to bed watching The Late Late Show, while...

Last summer a friend called me and asked if I wanted to accompany her to Mexico City to live and work remotely for the summer. Without hesitation and a strong craving for authentic Mexican food and some sunshine, I packed my bags and hopped on a flight two weeks later.   As someone who works online from their laptop, and really only needs a strong wifi connection to make a...

How often do you hear a new vacation rental property owner asking where they can cut cost due to the already demanding property start-up costs of renovations, amenities, and rental necessities? More often than not, in any business or industry, especially vacation rentals, the expenses get cut from the growth budget… AKA marketing and sales. And we understand why: A decade ago with traditional marketing, marketing expenses were a sure...

If you’re currently working in the vacation rental industry, it should come as no shock that more and more studies are coming out of the woodworks that center around the desire to stay in a vacation rental over a hotel movement. On average, these statistics are showing that about 54 percent of active travelers prefer to stay in a vacation rental over the 23 percent of whom prefer to stay...

I remember being told stories from my grandparents, and even my great grandparents, about what it was like when they were growing up. You know, the stories of “I had to walk 10 miles up a hill both ways to get to school.” Oh yeah, you can bet I heard that one almost every time I would even THINK about complaining about anything.   What really stuck out were the stories...

One of the biggest misconceptions people have when starting a new venture, such as starting a business, losing weight, or hosting your very own vacation rental, is that if you fail, that means you should not continue. Making mistakes in a new venture is one of the most critical ways we learn and become more successful down the road, but through a little research, some can certainly be avoided. So,...