Vacation rental companies have spent years optimizing direct bookings, OTAs, and digital marketing—but there’s another powerful distribution channel many are still overlooking: travel advisors.

In this episode of Hospitality Breakroom, Rachel sits down with Anthony Barrera, a 12-year veteran of the vacation rental and travel industries, to unpack why the relationship between vacation rental companies and travel advisors has been so difficult—and why the opportunity is becoming too significant to ignore. Anthony shares lessons from his decade at Onefinestay, his experience working on B2B travel platforms and luxury villa acquisitions, and what he believes vacation rental companies need to do to compete with the sophisticated systems hotels and other travel businesses have built for advisors.

The conversation explores why travel advisors can generate higher-value bookings, how vacation rental companies can build the infrastructure to support them, and why the best relationships are built proactively—not when a booking request arrives. Anthony and Rachel discuss everything from CRM tracking and commission structures to response times, advisor education, FAM trips, consortium relationships, unbranded property materials, and creating commissionable experiences. They also discuss Anthony's new company, Strata, which is designed to help vacation rental brands build and manage stronger relationships with the travel advisor community.

Connect With Rachel:

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/aldayrachel/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelalday/

https://abodeluxuryrentals.com/

Please Do Disturb Preorder – https://promo.porchlightbooks.com/pages/promotions/pleasedodisturbps

Here is the Amazon pre-sale: https://a.co/d/00ymhj33

Rachel's first book, Please Do Disturb, is now available for preorder. Co-written with leadership experts Linny Jones and Harte Logan, it shares the leadership principles Rachel has used to build Abode Luxury Rentals through practical stories, actionable tools, and a simple three-question framework. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love for you to preorder your copy. Thank you for your support!

Travel advisors have long been a major source of business for luxury hotels—but vacation rentals have struggled to tap into the same channel. In this episode of Hospitality Breakroom, Rachel Alday sits down with Joe Bartolomé, a longtime luxury hotelier and founder of The Joes, to explore why travel advisors could represent one of the biggest untapped opportunities for professionally managed vacation rentals.

With 25 years of experience operating the highly acclaimed Farmhouse Inn, Joe brings a hotelier’s perspective to the vacation rental industry. He explains why trust, consistency, curation, and service matter so much to travel advisors—and why advisors are increasingly looking beyond traditional hotels for unique, high-end experiences. For vacation rental operators, the opportunity isn't simply about paying a commission; it's about becoming a trusted partner who can reliably deliver an exceptional experience for the advisor's client.

Rachel and Joe also break down the practical steps vacation rental companies can take to become travel-advisor ready. From establishing clear commission and cancellation policies to creating easy-to-share property materials, protecting advisor relationships, and training teams on how to handle advisor bookings, they make the case that getting started doesn't have to be complicated. The bigger challenge, they argue, is changing the mindset around travel advisors and recognizing them as a valuable, relationship-driven distribution channel.

Key Takeaways

• Why luxury travelers are increasingly looking for unique, curated experiences
• Why trust is the foundation of travel advisor relationships
• How vacation rentals can learn from the hotel industry's approach to advisors
• The basic policies every vacation rental company should establish before working with advisors
• Why clear commission and cancellation policies can make or break a booking
• How to create property information that advisors can easily share with clients
• Why protecting the advisor-client relationship is critical
• How one successful advisor relationship can lead to exponential referrals
• Why travel advisors can provide access to high-net-worth travelers
• How vacation rental companies can start building relationships with advisors
• Why the industry needs better technology and infrastructure for advisor distribution
• How longer stays and professionally managed vacation rentals can unlock inventory in restricted markets

Connect With Rachel:

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/aldayrachel/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelalday/

https://abodeluxuryrentals.com/

Please Do Disturb Preorder – https://promo.porchlightbooks.com/pages/promotions/pleasedodisturbps

Here is the Amazon pre-sale: https://a.co/d/00ymhj33

Rachel's first book, Please Do Disturb, is now available for preorder. Co-written with leadership experts Linny Jones and Harte Logan, it shares the leadership principles Rachel has used to build Abode Luxury Rentals through practical stories, actionable tools, and a simple three-question framework. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love for you to preorder your copy. Thank you for your support!

Travel advisors have long been an important part of the hotel and luxury travel ecosystem—but vacation rentals have historically struggled to build the same relationships. That may be changing. As travelers increasingly look for personalized experiences, more space, privacy, and high-touch service, professionally managed vacation rentals have an opportunity to become a much bigger part of the travel advisor booking landscape.

In this episode of the Hospitality Breakroom, Rachel Alday sits down with Scott Wiseman, CEO of Nocturne Luxury Villas, to explore how vacation rental operators can build stronger, more profitable relationships with travel advisors. Scott brings decades of hospitality experience across hotels, luxury travel, all-inclusive resorts, and vacation rentals, giving him a unique perspective on what travel advisors need from lodging partners—and why earning their trust can lead to valuable, repeat business.

The conversation covers everything from the importance of paying travel advisor commissions and creating advisor-friendly property information to building white-label booking experiences, protecting the advisor-client relationship, and using personalized guest experiences to make advisors look good. Rachel and Scott also discuss why travel advisor bookings can produce higher-value reservations, how smaller vacation rental companies can begin entering the advisor ecosystem, and why the industry needs to stop thinking of travel advisors as simply another distribution channel.

Connect With Scott:

[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottfwiseman/

Connect With Rachel:

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/aldayrachel/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelalday/

https://abodeluxuryrentals.com/

Please Do Disturb Preorder – https://promo.porchlightbooks.com/pages/promotions/pleasedodisturbps

Here is the Amazon pre-sale: https://a.co/d/00ymhj33

Rachel's first book, Please Do Disturb, is now available for preorder. Co-written with leadership experts Linny Jones and Harte Logan, it shares the leadership principles Rachel has used to build Abode Luxury Rentals through practical stories, actionable tools, and a simple three-question framework. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love for you to preorder your copy. Thank you for your support!

In this episode of The Hospitality Breakroom, host Rachel Alday sits down with Julie Byrd of Cabo Villas to unpack the evolving relationship between vacation rental operators and travel advisors. While traditional hotel brands have long-established systems for working with travel planners, the vacation rental and short-term rental (STR) space is rapidly catching up. Julie shares her decades-long journey—from her early days aspiring to be a travel advisor to building a direct, high-value advisor network at Cabo Villas.

Together, Rachel and Julie discuss practical strategies for bridging the distribution gap, avoiding middleman friction, maintaining trust through proper accounting, and creating unforgettable, high-touch experiences for guests.

Connect With Rachel:

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/aldayrachel/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelalday/

https://abodeluxuryrentals.com/

Please Do Disturb Preorder – https://promo.porchlightbooks.com/pages/promotions/pleasedodisturbps

Here is the Amazon pre-sale: https://a.co/d/00ymhj33

Rachel's first book, Please Do Disturb, is now available for preorder. Co-written with leadership experts Linny Jones and Harte Logan, it shares the leadership principles Rachel has used to build Abode Luxury Rentals through practical stories, actionable tools, and a simple three-question framework. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love for you to preorder your copy. Thank you for your support!

In this episode Rachel argues that luxury travel planners and professionally managed vacation rental companies are missing a major partnership opportunity despite serving the same affluent guest. Citing multiple reports, it notes that 84% of affluent travelers value trusted advisors over online research, Virtuoso saw a 76% increase in consumers seeking advisors, and protection/security is a key driver (65% of Virtuoso clients; 75% prioritize safety). It highlights rapid growth in luxury vacation rentals (about $28.5B in 2025 projected to $63.7B by 2034) and increased luxury spend (Flywire: 80% plan to spend more; 96% have used or expect to use an advisor). The host explains barriers—difficulty evaluating/booking rentals, trust gaps, unclear standards, commission opacity, lack of distribution tools/contracts—and calls for standardized processes, dedicated contacts, technology-enabled availability and commission tracking, and clear boundaries that protect planner-client relationships, emphasizing that the core asset being exchanged is trust.

Connect With Rachel:

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/aldayrachel/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelalday/

https://abodeluxuryrentals.com/

Please Do Disturb Preorder – https://promo.porchlightbooks.com/pages/promotions/pleasedodisturbps

Here is the Amazon pre-sale: https://a.co/d/00ymhj33

Rachel's first book, Please Do Disturb, is now available for preorder. Co-written with leadership experts Linny Jones and Harte Logan, it shares the leadership principles Rachel has used to build Abode Luxury Rentals through practical stories, actionable tools, and a simple three-question framework. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love for you to preorder your copy. Thank you for your support!

Rachel Alday introduces the Hospitality Breakroom season “Booked Differently,” focused on improving partnerships between vacation rental operators and travel planners, and interviews Rich Sippos, Abode Luxury Rentals’ director of sales overseeing reservations and concierge for a $25 million revenue business. Rich shares insights from 21 years in vacation rentals and attending the Mountain Travel Symposium in Whistler, describing its speed-dating meetings with advisors and the need for disciplined follow-up to form long-term partnerships. They discuss how travel advisors can drive significant high-dollar bookings and concierge spend, how political sentiment can affect international luxury travel demand, and why wealthy travelers value time, consistency, and curated experiences. Key friction points include lack of standardized commission structures, inventory/availability access, and clear points of contact, while trust-builders include consistent operations and in-person property visits. They mention Seretti Group, Fisher Travel, Fora, LPMS, and encourage listeners to reach out.

On todays episode, Rachel interviews Vanessa Cella, a top-100 travel planner at Fora Travel (out of about 22,000 advisors), about what travel planners need from vacation rental partners and why the relationship between rentals and advisors is still harder than with hotels. Vanessa shares her background, focus on luxury travel, and why she books only vetted, professionally managed rentals rather than Airbnb/Vrbo. They discuss how hotel booking is streamlined through advisor tools and contracted perks, while vacation rentals are inconsistent, often require manual email back-and-forth, and create friction around availability, payment terms, cancellation policies, rate parity, white-labeling, and one-off commission negotiations—sometimes through intermediaries that slow guest issue resolution. Rachel argues the industry needs better tech distribution, standardized contracts, and pre-set commissions/perks so both owners and advisors can work more efficiently.

Connect With Rachel: [email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/aldayrachel/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelalday/

https://abodeluxuryrentals.com/

Connect With Vanessa: [email protected] 

https://www.instagram.com/luxurytravelbyvanessa/

Please Do Disturb Preorder – https://promo.porchlightbooks.com/pages/promotions/pleasedodisturbps

Here is the Amazon pre-sale: https://a.co/d/00ymhj33

Rachel's first book, Please Do Disturb, is now available for preorder. Co-written with leadership experts Linny Jones and Harte Logan, it shares the leadership principles Rachel has used to build Abode Luxury Rentals through practical stories, actionable tools, and a simple three-question framework. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love for you to preorder your copy. Thank you for your support!

On The Hospitality Breakroom, host Rachel Alday of Abode Luxury Rentals and longtime reservations lead Rachel “Tilly” Tilton discuss why vacation rental growth may depend more on relationships with travel planners than OTAs, and why booking vacation rentals through the travel-planner ecosystem remains difficult. They contrast hotel workflows (GDS-based distribution, preset commissions, price parity, and established protections) with vacation rentals’ property-by-property complexity, owner approvals, nonstandard ADA details, and lack of a shared platform. They share a successful example: a Park City Olympics/Paralympics family viewing-party booking that worked because the planner researched Abode’s portfolio, communicated needs clearly, and respected response times. Key friction points include requests for “white-labeled” property info, mismatched commission expectations, reluctance to share guest contact details needed for operations and emergencies, third-party intermediaries adding layers and confusion, and payment delays, while highlighting positive partners like TTW Group Brazilian Travel Agency and Shelton and James and calling for industry-wide solutions and collaboration.Connect With Rachel:[email protected]://www.instagram.com/aldayrachel/https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelalday/https://abodeluxuryrentals.com/

Rachel Alday launches a new season of The Hospitality Breakroom focused on the growing relationship between vacation rentals and travel planners, noting that while hotels have long partnered with advisors, vacation rental operators have struggled, partly due to GDS systems being designed for hotel room types. She explains how more travelers—especially mid to high-end—are using planners, increasing her interest in improving distribution and getting professionally managed vacation rentals in front of planner clients. Alday introduces herself as co-owner of Abode Luxury Rentals, operating for about 18 years in Park City, Jackson Hole, and Sun Valley with roughly 200 high-end properties, and shares that she started the podcast to share lessons learned. She also previews her October book, Please Do Disturb, about hospitality and leadership frameworks, and teases the next episode featuring Vanessa Chella, a top 100 FORA travel planner.Connect With Rachel:[email protected]://www.instagram.com/aldayrachel/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelalday/

https://abodeluxuryrentals.com/

In this episode of the Hospitality Breakroom, Rachel and Ashley discuss the final episode of their third season, focusing on the recap of standardization in hotels and property management success. The episode dives into learnings from the VRMA Executive Summit in Miami, where Ashley presented a fireside chat discussing the rise and fall of large property managers Vacasa and Abridge Hospitality. The discussion reveals six key insights for successful property management: 1) Curated portfolios minimize bad apples, 2) Fewer property owners drive better operations, 3) Properties with similar demand drivers simplify operations, 4) Hospitality teams must feel empowered, 5) Operations should align with local market needs, and 6) Growth should be driven by organic growth rather than mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Rachel and Ashley share examples from successful companies like Panda Express and Chick-fil-A, and discuss the challenges faced by Abridge Hospitality and Vacasa. They emphasize that large-scale M&A often leads to financial difficulties and eventual failure. The episode highlights the importance of maintaining a local focus, empowering teams, and managing a curated portfolio to achieve success in the hospitality industry. Future research and discussions will continue to explore these insights and practical steps for property managers to succeed.

00:17 Recap of Property Management Success and Failures

00:47 Insights from the VRMA Executive Summit

01:51 Comparing Vacasa and Abridge

03:54 Key Findings on Property Management

05:46 Understanding Hotel Property Management

09:00 Success Stories in Restaurant Management

10:21 Six Key Insights to Successful Property Management

11:52 Curated Portfolios and Their Impact

16:42 The Importance of Fewer Property Owners

22:13 Balancing Growth and Homeowner Satisfaction

24:03 The Challenge of Diverse Property Portfolios

29:22 Empowering Hospitality Professionals

34:02 The Pitfalls of Centralized Operations

37:57 Risks of Large-Scale Mergers and Acquisitions

40:25 Conclusion and Future Directions