Escapia

Pros

The functionality is easy, quick & prompts you to never miss a step.

Cons

Nothing; it really works well & has been planned out very well.

Pros

We have always maintained a great working relationship with Escapia, their support team, and integration partners. As the industry evolves, we have been pleased with product updates and also use third-party companies who align with Escapia to meet our individual business needs.

Cons

It would be nice to have a few more basic functions included in Escapia. We currently have to use third-party companies for housekeeping, maintenance and guest communication functionality as the version offered in Escapia does not meet our current needs.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Escapia

Pros

Escape customer support has done a good job troubleshooting and explaining how things work when I contact them. There are also lots of training resources, self-help articles, explanatory videos, etc, available. I have also heard that the Escape accounting features are useful and thorough. I have not had any experience with the accounting side of Escapia.

Cons

One of the things that have been most frustrating about Escapia is the Owner web feature, which is supposed to provide an owner portal where our property owners can log in and see property details, upcoming reservations, owner documents, etc. Owner web itself is pretty limited, which is fine if that's what you want. One problem is that as of now owners cannot reset their password, and so they always have to contact us if they forget it so that we can change it for them. Another challenge has been that many of our owners own more than one property and that for accounting purposes each of these units has to be set up with different owners. That means that when one of those owners logs into the owner portal they can only see one of their properties unless they set up separate logins for each property, which includes separate email addresses. But then those email addresses will automatically be where their owner statements are sent, so if they want all the owner's statements to go to one email, they will have to forward them. We do not want to make our owners jump through hoops like this. We want their experience to be as simple and streamlined as possible.

Escapia also lacks some features (such as automated emails, simpler reports, better filters for sending a guest communication, and the ability to add attachments to that communication) that would make the software more functional. I have also heard from our maintenance and housekeeping teams that Escapia is challenging for them to understand and use as they would like to. Basically, we've ended up using other software and strategies to fill in the gaps and give us the features we want, which is a little disappointing considering the seeming hugeness and complexity of Escapia.

Pros

We have been with Escapia for 3 years. This platform has worked well for us as a property management platform. We appreciate the prompt responses when we have questions and concerns. We have no plans to change platforms since all is working so well with them. We are excited about some of the changes that will be added over the next few months to their system!

Cons

The on-boarding was very difficult for us since we had never had such a robust system. We would have paid more to have someone do the set-up for us because it was difficult to devote time to the onboarding while still operating our business.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Escapia

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Escapia

Pros

The ease of use, particularly the global search function, is the most frequently used and favorite feature.

Cons

The reporting feature is slow and struggles to pull large amounts of historical data at once. A simple addition, like the ability to email vendors an AP report, would be a valuable improvement.

Pros

I like that the team are always working to improve the product so that it works best for our needs. I love that we can link other providers to our same calendar

Cons

I don't feel that Escapia works well on the phone, it would be awesome to have it as an app, which I feel would be much more user friendly.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Escapia

Pros

Accounting is a breeze. I just did 1099s for the entire year in an hour. Integration with VRBO is a big plus.

Cons

Photos must be taken horizontally or they get turned. I would like to be able to take vertical pictures for hallways, etc.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Escapia

Pros

The product is good, new updates and changes are continuing to be made to improve the property manager experience. All of the staff we work with are responsive and helpful.

Cons

Sometimes reports are harder to find, but as soon as we ask for guidance from Escapia, they are quick to help.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Escapia

Pros

Having worked with many Property Management Systems over the years, they all have their upsides and downsides. Being a small business owner and having to learn the majority of the 'nuts and bolts' in Escapia in order to run the business I will outline a few that I like about Escapia.

Accounting/Trust Accounting - This software is excellent (generally) for accounting and keeping proper Trust accounting. May not be the prettiest interface, but it is very functional and solid once learned how to use.

Integration/API/Etc. - Escapia connects with VRBO seamlessly which is our largest source of bookings and very well with our website which is our second largest source or bookings. They are beginning to bridge the gap with AirBnB which is very exciting and also link nicely to softwares we use such as Breezeway.

Support - Sign of a good product is that you generally do not need to use support which is largely the case. When support is needed, it is generally very good especially the Australia and New Zealand based support which I often get being in Hawaii. Tier 2 support often takes a long time to hear back from.

Star Employees - I would like to point out in addition to Australia and New Zealand based support previously mentioned a few employees that have stood out. [sensitive content hidden] in Accounting is fantastic and has helped me out of binds many times. Our account manager [sensitive content hidden] has been great and always gets us answers and keeps us abreast of advancements in the software. [sensitive content hidden] our software training person is always patient and kind with teaching us new things and best practices for those we already use. All should be commended for their service. MG

Cons

There are sometimes 'glitches' in the software that take time to fix. Generally they are fixed in a timely manner, but others they are not. Other disappointing thing is that often we the client have to go back and remedy these issues even though we are not the cause of them.

I have also had credit card processing issues over the years. Although it has gotten better, it is still a weakness of the system and getting good answers is often difficult. MG

Pros

Escapia is user-friendly, featuring intuitive drop-down menus and robust search capabilities. It seamlessly integrates with numerous industry partners, simplifying the integration process. Additionally, Escapia values client feedback, implementing impactful changes to enhance efficiency and productivity.

Cons

Some features feel outdated, but many, including reporting, are actively being improved.

Pros

The software is adaptable to our needs, and the follow up customer service is amazing.
We love the new Escapia Connect being integrated through Escapia, that makes it so quick to connect to the platforms.

Cons

1. Some reports that we would find useful, in particular to the rates, are not easily available
2. Uploading vendor invoices at end of month for owners not efficient

Pros

Escapia provides a platform that touches all aspects of our rental management business. I like the integration with business solution partners and knowledgable customer service.

Cons

The only challenge with Escapia is occasional software updates that may affect functionality and existing data. Otherwise, no isses.

Pros

Escapia is the most comprehensive program in market for short term holiday rentals management and distribution. I have used many programs and have found this to be the best program in market currently.

Cons

No program is perfect and escapia is still growing into its program

Pros

Customer service. I give them five-stars all day long. Super helpful, supportive and go above and beyond to help solve any issue you may have. User friendly, easy to navigate.

Cons

The only con I would like to mention is the amount of time it takes for new units to pull and go live.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Escapia

Pros

Escapia was a huge step up from our last PMS and constantly going the extra mile to perfect services available to customers. Definitely makes our business able to run seamlessly with their features. Kristen is an incredible help!

Cons

Cusomized reporting needed but it seems to be going in that direction!

Pros

We were so glad to get back to escapia after experiencing Track. We had no support with Track

Cons

I really like the program. I really can’t think of anything that I like the least. It’s been such a good program for us.

Pros

Support Team is outstanding - friendly, efficient and patient saints!

Cons

Inflexible in certain areas. We have had to make accommodations to the software in order to satisfy our business model: (i.e. when it comes to managing 30 day rentals, the calendars and rates need to be closely monitored; we pay our internal reservations a commission based on rent revenue and had to devise a way to track this over and above 3rd party agent commissions; we have policies that differ by property and some functionality must be universal for all properties.

Pros

I am very impressed with their new rate manager. It is amazing and is helping grow our bookings.

Cons

It took them too long to connect with Airbnb. More business reports that can be intergrated into the business dashboard. Create owner projection reports to help us grow our inventory.

Pros

Ease of use. Technical support. Amazing staff.

Cons

My biggest challenge would be the lack of history it reports.

Pros

Easy to use and set up! I have used many different reservation softwares and this is my favorite!

Cons

Rate manager changes, and the ability to book multiple units for the same group in a faster way.

Pros

Functionality, ease of use, and fantastic support

Cons

When the software is not available, which is not often.

Pros

The best part about Escapia is the team; all of the Client Solutions Team managers are great! Special shout out to [sensitive content hidden] who is always attentive to my business needs and in front of any potential problems. I cannot speak highly enough.

Cons

No complaints. I do wish the connectivity to certain sites was a bit better but that is rapidly improving.

Pros

Customer service always answers! Never have an issue with mixed up dates!

Cons

They are improving daily and have a suggestion box which I love - nothing to complain about right now!

Pros

The support we receive from the Escapia team has been like no other software companies we have used! The changing over to Escapia was hard for our team who have been using v12, but the Escapia team made sure we were comfortable being going live. The new rates manager is amazing! It makes setting and adjusting rates a breeze! No more looking at different windows and setting rate rules . Its all in one screen.

Cons

We are missing some key reports we used in V12, but the Escapia team has listened to our requests and are working on new reporting for Escapia. Its a learning curve to switch software companies, but its been worth it.

Pros

Switching from our old PMS was handled very well by the implementation staff and we are so glad we made the move! The most important part to our decision to switch was the integration with VRBO/Homeaway and bring able to work with a website host/digital marketing agency that understands our PMS.

Cons

The service order module is not set up well for how we run our maintenance staff. Our staff is not able to enter a task assigned to a unit number with an amount of time associated with it, that we can then transfer to an owner statement to be charged. There are too many fields that need to be filled out and it just doesn't make sense for us.

Pros

Functionality, ease of use, support, and training videos!

Cons

Downtime when there is a problem, which is not often, but when it happens we are unable to operate. Lack of ongoing communication with an Account Manager. We talk with account managers on a monthly basis with other vacation rental management products (Beyond, Real Tech, local social media marketing team, etc.)

Pros

The support and staff. Always available and always responsive.

Cons

Very little. Robust accounting and reports. Strong channel connections. The building of your initial account is in depth and time consuming, but worth the investment.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Escapia

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Escapia

Pros

Easy to use and has a lot to offer. Like the reports and the ease of month end.

Cons

Very slow with resolving issues. Used to be able to talk to someone and get things fixed pretty quickly. Now it takes a couple of days for someone to get back to you if not longer.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Escapia

Reasons for Switching to Escapia

Pros

It syncs perfectly with our largest producer of reservations; Vrbo!

Cons

The confusion between "jetted tub" and "hot tub" when posted on OTAs

Pros

Their onboarding team and support teams are in a different league from their competitors. We spent a significant amount of time reading similar reviews and contacting other property managers while we researched a PMS. We saw consistent complaints of poor experiences and it made us concerned as we had launched software before in other industries and knew how painful that could be. Escapia's sales team went above and beyond to put our concerns at ease, and true to their word the onboarding experience was extremely well executed. They clearly invested time into this crucial part of their business. This gave us added confidence that we were partnering with a team that understood our industry. Our main onboarding contacts, [sensitive content hidden], were extremely patient with us and knowledgeable about the product. They knew when to step back and let us figure something out, and when to step in and drive us in a direction. The onboarding tool they used was perfect, and the fact that they even had one made us happy. Some of their competitors had nothing but broken spreadsheets and links to outdated information. When you're responsible for managing advanced deposits in high amounts, you cant afford to put yourself at risk by putting the flow of those funds in the hands of a team that can't organize their own onboarding materials. Escapia hitting the ground running with a great onboarding experience gave us the confidence we needed to invest the time and money into their product. That amazing experience continued into their post go-live support team. First, they have a wonderful knowledge base for self-help. Second, and most importantly, they have actual humans who you can call who know the product and are a joy to speak to. They have international hours of support so if you find yourself working late into the evening after a busy day and run into an issue, there is a good chance you can make a phone call and get help within minutes. They are continuing to develop their product, and every person you speak to on their team gives you renewed confidence that this is a long term investment that will work out.

Cons

Escapia satisfied all of our critical requirements. There were no surprises during the onboarding or after go-live that we either personally experienced with other competitors, or read about online in reviews. No PMS is perfect though given how different this industry can be based on location, size, management styles, local regulations etc. Escapia has an older look to it, but after you get trained on it you understand the flow of everything. Functionality is of course way more important than looks. Within our first year, Escapia rolled our new development that addressed some of the things at the top of our wish list. The only thing remaining that we don't like about Escapia is the service/task management module for maintenance or general tasks. It's not critical, but we would love to manage this part of our business within the Escapia platform. In it's current form, it would create more work for us rather than make things easier. We imagine this is only true though for teams that have a high volume of small cost or no cost tasks. For longer term stays or maintenance items that are less frequent with more complex task and price tracking, it is actually quite good.

Pros

the easy way to work, and accurancy on numbers

Cons

The owner's Statements allow only two email addresses to send correspondence to, we need more sometimes.

Pros

Escapia is extremely user friendly. If a question occurs it is easily researched in the tutorials and always a quick answer if we need to call in for assistance. We also appreciate the willingness of Escapia in listening to the customer and trying to blend in our needs to the programs. We are very satisfied.

Cons

We do not have much to add here as over all we are quite happy.

Pros

Easy to use, once you can navigate certain aspects of the software on your own with experience.

Cons

Customer service in the accounting area can be challenging to achieve as Tier Two must receive a message to assist, yet rarely call back however email their response. Sometimes training the consumer in this area would be more beneficial and in the long run, would not only educate the user but decrease their volume of call if they would let the consumer ask questions and receive options for ways to operate in a financial situation in the software. Tier Two should provide more adequate service and training as it is or should be included with the software. Accounting questions can not be answered by the team that typically answers support calls.

Pros

Ease of use. I've been using Escapia for over a decade and know the ins and outs of what I need to access on my end.

Cons

The calendar doesn't sync with AirBnb. Therefore I have to manually enter those reservations into my escapia calendar to avoid double booking a condo.

Pros

Easy to use for general day to day operation, especially regarding accounting and reporting.

Cons

I do not like having to use a number of software partners to meet our business needs and would prefer to use a software that offered more of the basic operations offered by current third-party software companies.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Escapia

Pros

Escapia is clearly working to improve the front and back end of their site. Lots of recent new features have made it an even more user-friendly and robust tool for managing our properties, owners, and guests for our STR business.

Cons

Some of the features feel like they require an in-depth lesson on; but Escapia University classes don't seem to cover every topic. While support is helpful, they can take a little while to reply and it'd be nice to have a more built-out help center with DIY articles.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Escapia

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Escapia

Pros

Setup/Distribution was easier than anticipated. Our reps took great care in getting us up to speed on integrating and using the software. The software is easy to navigate and the Self-Help articles have been incredibly useful in re-learning or resolving any issues without having to reach out to Support.

Cons

This isn't necessarily a "Con", but in Escapia's efforts to update/upgrade and offer new user functions, we were momentarily "down" often, which I attribute to upgrades being made to the system. Once these were completed however, we did not have any issues.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Escapia

Pros

It had integration with VRBO and it's easy to use.

Cons

Partner reservations do not get put onto the Overdue Payments list. No guest reminder unless you use the Escapia contracts. Those will send daily reminders.

Pros

Trust Accounting is very trustworthy. Correspondence module is comprehensive. [sensitive content hidden]Statements are good. Reservation management has good work flow. Tech support is decent (though sometimes takes too long).

Cons

The new Rates Manager has fewer capabilities than the previous version. Correspondence doesn't allow uploads of PDFs so our 'letters' look glitchy.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Escapia

Pros

Escapia is streamline, efficient & covers all the bases for interaction, follow up, & data control. This conversation with our guests is one of the most important facets of our presence and ongoing relationship to build repeat opportunity! I love Escapia!

Cons

I truly do not have any cons to express.

Pros

Gives good basic information. Easy to use.

Cons

It would be nice if when changes happen on a reservation such as dates that the housekeeper assigned gets an email. And when a reservation is made, the assigned housekeeper gets an email.

Pros

The software is very easy to use, and its in constant improvement to cover all the needs for property managers

Cons

The review section, it doesnt allow me to send reminders or review requests.

Pros

Escapia is all inclusive, from bookings to owner payouts. It has everything needed for guests, business and owners.

Cons

The "Gremlins"...Escapia has them, make no mistake about knowing that they are in the program. We actually left Escapia after 10 years of use, to purchase a booking platform that was a one and done upfront cost. We stayed only 3 months using that booking platform and came back to Escapia. For us, it was the devil you know, vs. the devil you don't. Escapia does have 95% of what we need.

Pros

The software is great and easy to use. We are happy to have grown our vacation rental company with Escapia for the last 10+ years. The support team is super helpful and our account manager has always been a huge help and an avid cheerleader of ours and our business. The updates over the years have been proactive and worthwhile to their and our own growth. It is easy to distribute properties to Vrbo & AirBnB. We would not think of switching companies for our PMS

Cons

Knowing and learning all the moving parts and the back end of the software system can be a bit challenging and daunting but when you first learn it, but it's easy to manage once support is able to walk you through it.

Pros

Easy to use and customer support is awesome and agents have always been professional and kind.

Cons

Over the last 2 years, I've learned a lot of different features in Escapia but learned new things along the way.

Pros

Overall, it has been a reliable solution that meets our needs. The software generally works well and provides most of the functionality we require. When it’s running smoothly, it’s a great tool.

Cons

Like any platform, it’s not without its challenges. We’ve encountered occasional bugs and performance hiccups, and sometimes support response times could be improved. However, the team seems committed to making improvements.

Pros

Escapia is very easy to use and offers great support. Most staff is trained within 2 days even if they have no experience with vacation rental software. The integration with many channel partners allows us to maximize our properties exposure and secure the best renters.

Cons

It would be nice to have the ability to customize some reports.

Alternatives Considered

Pros

Ease of use. Makes accounting for owner statements a breeze.

Cons

Nothing, every feature we use seems to work well.

Pros

Escapia is a complete and thorough vacation rental management software that covers almost all software needs related to the vacation rental industry.

Cons

Escapia is not very user friendly and is not easy to learn. Also, when we onboarded with Escapia years ago, the training was at best incomplete. We didn't find that out until years later at Rezfest in a one on one session with accounting. Escapia then wanted over $3,000 to help fix the issues that we were not trained properly on in the beginning. Over the years, we have trained ourselves on how to fix those issues and how to use the modules we need.
Also, when Escapia has issues or glitches in the system then do not notify anyone of the issues. Escapia waits until we have an issue and then admits there is a glitch they are working on. I just wish that we would be notified when there are issues, so we don't spend hours trying to figure things out before calling support.

Pros

Customer support team is great! They still add on new features

Cons

Escapia does not let 3rd parties integrate, they don't have an open API