All Forum Posts by: Marc Bowman

Hi Collin,

I appreciate the support. It seems like more times than not, when I post something on here it gets deleted, or at least I can't find it. BrightSide is a great product and most of the issues people complain about with other software we don't have. We are a small company and take personal care of our clients. I think if people took a few minutes to compare us with the larger, international companies, they would be pleased.

A lot of our software users in the Gatlinburg area have reported that the Fire Marshall is stepping up and enforcing things that perhaps they didn't in the past. After the fire in 2016 damaged or destroyed more than 2,000 buildings, 16,000 acres, with 16 lives lost, I think they are trying to be better about enforcement. Unfortunately, I tend to agree that they really are not concerned with whether or not you have to cancel bookings.

Hi @Michael Belz,

You are getting some great advice here. With one or two properties, you may not be ready for a PMS. There are advantages to using one, but if you are just on Airbnb right now, the usefulness versus cost is going to be something you have to decide if it's worth it. 

Hospitable does have a Host plan that is just $39 bucks a month, but it is basically a channel manager. You only have one property and one channel right now, so I don't think that makes much sense.

PriceLabs integrates with Airbnb, so if you need something to automatically adjust your rates, that might be a decent option. Some of our clients use them successfully.

When you grow your business and get a few more properties, look me up. Our software is really good.

Hi, Everyone,

My name is Marc Bowman and I work with a short term vacation rental software company. Before coming to BrightSide, I was the manager of a successful home inspection company based in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Since March 2023, I have been helping property managers in the short term vacation rental market learn to use our product and provide support. Talking with clients, literally every day for the past 20 months, has given me a lot of insight into what kinds of challenges they face with STR software.

I am just looking to network, maybe answer a few questions, and learn something.

A number of good software options are out there. It really depends on how many units you manage, where you are listing them, and what features you need/want. I work with BrightSide property management software and we have clients with a handful of properties and others with hundreds.