Insights & Stories

Stays Blog

Explore latest news, trends, insights and everything else in between that’s shaping the future for vacation rental hosts, travelers, and property management teams.

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Platform News

What is Stays?

Stays (stays.co) isn't trying to replace Airbnb or Vrbo. It's an adjacent, traveler-first platform offering curated discovery, booking optionality, and an arsenal of tools and features to improve both sides of the vacation rental marketplace.

Stays Editorial

Editorial Team · October 1, 2026

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Marketing

Travel & Destinations

Hosting

Platform News

Marketing

Should You Run a Giveaway or a Promotion with Stays?

Promotions and Giveaways both put your property in front of new travelers on Instagram, but they do very different jobs. Here's how each one works, what each one asks of you, and how to choose.

Stays Editorial

Editorial Team · September 30, 2026

Hosting

Is Host Premium Worth It? Here's What Vacation Rental Hosts Need to Know.

Listing on Stays is free, and plenty of hosts should stay on the free plan for now. Here's an honest breakdown of what Host Premium changes, what it costs, and how to tell whether it's the right move for your property.

Stays Editorial

Editorial Team · September 30, 2026

Marketing

Offers on Stays: Offer Ideas That Actually Interest Guests

The best Offers aren't always the biggest discounts. They're the ones aimed at a specific gap in your calendar with a clear call-to-action. Here are ten ready-to-use ideas, organized by what you're trying to accomplish.

Stays Editorial

Editorial Team · September 28, 2026

Platform News

Stays vs Airbnb: The Platform Comparison for Vacation Rental Hosts

Stays and Airbnb get compared a lot, but they don't do the same job. Airbnb is where the booking transaction happens. Stays is where the discovery, deal, and decision happens. Here's an honest look at what each does best and how to use both.

Stays Editorial

Editorial Team · September 25, 2026

Travel & Destinations

Is Stays Premium Worth It for Travelers? Here's an Honest Look.

Stays Premium costs $6 a month or $49 a year. For some travelers it pays for itself, plus some. For others, the free plan is plenty. Here's an honest breakdown of what changes and who it's actually for.

Stays Editorial

Editorial Team · September 23, 2026

Travel & Destinations

How Travelers Can Get the Most Out of Stays

Some travelers will just check Stays on occasion. When planning a vacation, comparing prices, looking for inspiration. But, the ones who get real value treat it like their vacation rental headquarters. A home base with radar detection: set it up once, and it keeps finding you amazing properties, Offers, Giveaways, and private Invites for them. Here's the playbook.

Stays Editorial

Editorial Team · September 20, 2026

Hosting

Strength Checklist: How to Rank Higher on Stays

Placement on Stays comes down to one thing you control: 'Listing Strength'. Here's exactly what goes into it, the eight checklist items that move it, and what doesn't matter as much as you'd think.

Stays Editorial

Editorial Team · September 18, 2026

Hosting

Stays for Property Managers: Marketing Tool for Vacation Rental Property Management

Stays wasn't built just for the solo host with one cabin. Here's how Stays and its arsenal of tools and features work for property managers and multi-property owners.

Stays Editorial

Editorial Team · September 2, 2026

Travel & Destinations

AI Trip Planning: Find Vacation Rentals with Stays AI

Stays AI is a trip-planning assistant that only knows stays worth knowing. Here's how to use it to go from a vague idea to a real shortlist, plus how to use it inside Claude and ChatGPT.

Stays Editorial

Editorial Team · August 21, 2026

Platform News

Direct Booking for Vacation Rentals: The Complete Guide

Direct booking means reserving a vacation rental through the host's own website or platform, rather than through a major online travel agency (OTA) like Airbnb, Vrbo, or Booking.com. This often leads to savings, offers, deals, and special booking opportunities. Here's the complete guide on how all that works, options, alternatives, and more.

Stays Editorial

Editorial Team · July 8, 2026

Hosting

Hosting with Stays: Is It Worth The Hype?

Online travel agencies (OTAs) like Airbnb and Vrbo are amazing tools. But it's time to cut the dependency. Stays allows your vacation rental business to build a real brand, grow an audience, and have a marketing strategy that isn't solely dependent on OTA algorithms

Stays Editorial

Editorial Team · July 6, 2026

Platform News

Airbnb Alternatives: The Complete 2026 Guide to Vacation Rental Platforms Beyond Airbnb

There are more legitimate Airbnb alternatives in 2026 than ever before, and choosing the right one depends on what you're actually looking for.

Stays Editorial

Editorial Team · July 1, 2026

Hosting

How Hosts Can Get the Most Out of Stays

This article walks through some steps on how to get the most out of the Stays platform; how to build a Listing Page that actually converts, how to leverage the marketing tools worth using, and how to plug your Stays listing into the rest of your business so it becomes the marketing hub your property never had. If you're a host on Stays (or considering applying), this is the playbook once your property is accepted.

Stays Editorial

Editorial Team · June 26, 2026

Hosting

Your Stay Has Limited Access. Here's What That Means.

Stays only fully lists the top ~10% of vacation rentals in our curated Stay Directory. If you applied but your property landed as 'Limited' instead, here's exactly what that means, what still works, and what's next.

Stays Editorial

Editorial Team · June 24, 2026