Escapia Reviews

Great software that provides efficient property management

Comments: they are well integrated within the hospitality industry and have multiple software options for smaller companies.

Pros:

I like the features that it provides and the customer support (rep) that we receive. I like the maintenance app, the housekeeping dashboard, new owner portal, online university and dynamic pricing model that is in process (beta currently).

Cons:

At our size, some of the more customizable items that we want are not able to be created. the housekeeping app (shared with maintenance), is not as user friendly as the dashboard, however, the dashboard can be accessed online via a website.

Solid Property Management Software with Excellent Trust Accounting

Comments: I have been using Escapia for 5 years now and overall it has saved us an incredible amount of hours we used to spend doing things manually. It does take a considerable amount of time to setup automations, owner contracts, etc. and just learn all the ins and outs in general. However, their implementation teams are extremely helpful and knowledgeable and they have great training articles and videos.

Pros:

The trust accounting capabilities within the system has greatly improved the speed and accuracy in which we complete our month end accounting procedures, and also provides our owners with very detailed financial statements. Also their integration/mapping with Vrbo is second to none.

Cons:

They are working on a lot of new features and improvements which is very exciting. However, sometimes they announce them way too early in my opinion and they should instead have a solid launch date to provide before announcing.

Alternatives Considered: Streamline and Lodgix

Reasons for Choosing Escapia: RDP is quite antiquated and did not have good distribution to vacation rental booking sites.

Switched From: RDPWin

Reasons for Switching to Escapia: Recommendations from colleagues, price, and distribution/integration with popular vacation rental booking sites.

A Big Complicated Software.

Comments: Escape has a lot of features, and potentially a lot of power, but it's so complicated that it's easy to miss a step and mess something up badly. Almost nothing about the software is user-friendly or intuitive, everything is convoluted and complicated, and requires many steps and a lot of double-checking. This also applies to EscapiaNET, which is also not as straightforward as one would hope since property information shows up differently on different platforms. I would count this one of the most useful features of Escapia. We have enjoyed being able to integrate with Glad To Have You and use that for guest communication and contracts, and we also push our properties out to other platforms. EscapiaNET is not without flaws and we have had issues even integrating with VRBO (which is also owned by HomeAway so you would think that would be easy), mostly because of the number of complicated, easy-to-forget steps to make sure everything is perfect in Escape. However, to be fair, I don't know if integration through any other property management software would provide better integration. As it does seem like a very challenging thing to do well.

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.

Holiday Rental Management

Comments: Has been a wonderful experience. The team help with transition from one platform to another and have found the support to be fantastic.

Pros:

I love the Reservations Dashoboard. This allows me to manage my week and future bookings.I can get an overall view of my properties in terms of availability, what is booking, and what property I perhaps need to focus on.

Cons:

Daily banking reconciliation and monthly reconciliation.

Great Overall Product

Comments: Couldn't function well without it. Very pleased

Pros:

Not only does the software have all the functionality, channel management and ease of use one would expect, but very important to us, it provides good trust accounting and absolutely far and above customer support.

Cons:

It took some time to learn initially but that was due to its expansive overall functionality. Many upgrades to the software over the years has greatly enhanced the ease of use.

Alternatives Considered: Hostaway and Guesty For Hosts

Reasons for Switching to Escapia: Superior customer service. Accounting and Owner Statements included.

Great vacation rental management software

Comments: Escapia is allowing us to grow at a steady pace without breaking the bank. The setup and monthly cost are affordable for all business sizes.

Pros:

Escapia is a wonderful software for managing vacation rentals. The setup/integration was extremely easy and the live training very helpful. The support team is very communicative and quick to resolve any issues.

Cons:

The only issue I have with Escapia is not being able to customize reports. It would be nice to be able to set the parameters of a report that other Escapia customers have into our system.

Alternatives Considered: NetSuite, CiiRUS, Guesty and Kigo

Reasons for Switching to Escapia: NC Trust Account Compliance, Cost, Ease of Use

Thank you Escapia!

Comments: Wonderful! Everyone is nice, knowledgeable, and helpful.

Pros:

Always can reach someone if I have an issue. 24 hour service!!

Cons:

I’m still confused on some accounting, but I’m sure I will get that straight soon!

Medicore Software In A Sea Of Mediocrity

Pros:

Tries very hard to be an all in one solution, direct integration with HomeAway/VRBO, good customer support, the team is clearly working hard on improvements but it's a bit like trying to push a dinosaur up a hill.

Cons:

Very disjointed, I often refer to it as frankenstein because it feels like all the modules were poorly connected together. Does not have an open API so integration with other systems is limited. Overall the software is very old and outdated and while improvements are on the horizon, they are coming slowly and in the meanwhile my patience is running out.

Alternatives Considered: Barefoot, Streamline and Kigo

We love Escapia!

Pros:

We went from a spreadsheet and google calendar system to Escapia 5 years ago, and we are so glad that we did. We have eliminated double bookings and so many other possible errors with this fully integrated system. And the powerful accounting module made it possible to grow our business dramatically over the last 5 years.

Cons:

The accounting component is complicated to use, but we have mastered it. I'm not sure any full function accounting software would be simpler to use, but I don't know.

Vacation Rental Software

Comments: The software is easy to use, portable so it can be used from anywhere! Powerful enough to manage most aspects of our business. Connectable to many other applications, sites, etc...

Pros:

The software is easy to use, portable so it can be used from anywhere! Powerful enough to manage most aspects of our business. Connectable to many other applications, sites, etc...

Cons:

Integration from one software to another is never easy, but this process was at least manageable.

Great software that is well established in the vacation rental industry

Comments: We have found Escapia to be an established, tested, and well-engineered product that serves us well. Although there is no perfect property management system for the vacation rental space due to the industry's overall fragmentation, we have been impressed with their willingness to listen to customer feedback on suggested enhancements. Most importantly, their support is a key attribute to our relationship. No matter how small (or large) our support needs are, they have always been quickly accessible and extremely helpful in delivering solutions.

Pros:

Trust accounting is the backbone of our business and we rest easy knowing that Escapia's accounting module is rock solid. Our integrations with other products has been seamless and we find the overall layout and functionality of Escapia to be intuitive and not "click" intensive.

Cons:

We don't have any complaints about Escapia

We've built our whole company using Escapia. The sales and tech support teams are incredible.

Pros:

Easy to use. Good owner statement and reporting features. Grid based inventory. Support questions are immediately addressed.

Cons:

We need the ability to send correspondence from multiple email addresses. There should be a separate email address drop down menu box for each office, or for each unit somewhere in the set up. It's an odd feature to be missing, because everything else about every unit and office is customizable (the correspondence documents, the booking modules, the rate plans and the unit setup. It would be so great if each unit could be assigned to a "send from" email address so that confirmations and statements came from that email, or from the reservations agent in charge of managing that property.

Great integrative tool for property managers, it has allowed me to professionalize business systems.

Comments: All business information in one place.

Pros:

There is a lot to learn at first and there was good training classes. Most beneficial is knowing there is customer support to support you with any issues and you can get that support right away. They are also helpful in customizing to meet our needs. It also becomes intuitive as time goes on. I love how it's integrated with HA/VRBO and Glad as well as other network partners, it makes my life easier.

Cons:

Some limitations within correspondence templates. I wish there were ways to make the templates more professional, there are a lot of moving pieces within templates and I haven't found out how to lock in a template design.

Escapia Keeps Getting Better

Comments: The Escapia/HomeAway team has a great group of individuals that I believe truly care for the future and well being of our company as well as other property management companies. Escapia offers a great training program for new employees as well as ongoing support and training for existing users. Every facet of the software is being constantly improved. Reservationists enjoy the grid's flexibility and functionality. Housekeepers love the Housekeeping dashboard. The use of automatic payments and contracts have been gamechangers in saving time and improving efficiency. Overall, I'm not sure if you will find a better rental management software and team behind it for the money. We love it.

Pros:

Yield managment, training, uservoice, automatic payments

Cons:

Still think there's room for improvement on the service order side.

Rental Software that allows me to grow my business

Comments: I have been in the vacation rental industry for over 15 years and have been using Escapia for the last four years. A few of the reasons I am pleased with Escapia are: it is cloud based, extremely user friendly, integrates well with 3rd party channels, has built in auto responder to inquiries & auto sign contract capability, has great maintenance and housekeeping portals, and most importantly fantastic support. Another huge item to me is Escapia continually develops new ways to not only improve the product, but it truly focuses on ways their product can help my business grow. Hands down, best rental software I have ever used!

Pros:

Ease of use, housekeeping and maintenance portals

Cons:

A few minor glitches occasionally, but they are always on top of it!

Great support & value. Could update some functionalities

Comments: The flat rate per property is very fair and much cheaper than other PM softwares that charge a percentage per booking (LiveRez). The system is relatively easy to use but could really benefit users and increase efficiency if they updated some functionalities such as custom filtering for reports (rather than having a set amount of pre-made reports and switching the photo function to drag placement ordering rather than drop-down box number ordering. Escapia is very receptive to new ideas which you can submit through User voice. Their support staff is exceptional.

Pros:

Lots of functionalities and seamless integration with crucial partner sites such as homeaway, vrbo, GTHY and point central

Cons:

some parts of it could use updating

Escapia is a staple PMS in the VR industry!

Comments: Very positive - would recommend any PM looking to have 20+ properties to consider.

Pros:

I have used Escapia for over 8 years now (as of 2022). I love the escrow accounting side of things paired with reservation/calendar management. Escapia is easy to use once you learn the software and offers a multitude of reports/setup options to customize things the way you need.

Cons:

I wish Escapia would integrate with more 3rd party tech companies and not have so much of a closed API feed.

Support is great but some changes to program seem rushed and not thought out well.

Comments: Escapia is a great retail rental reservation and property management software for vacation rental property managers. The system is always online and support is excellent. The industry is evolving quickly and Escapia tries to stay current.

Pros:

The reservations section is very good, distribution partners, and support is great to communicate with. Trust the software and never reporting for reservations.

Cons:

Lead management system, service orders, and some accounting reports are very challenging to use and we use outside software for these functions.

Horrible customer support

Comments: Every time I call with a major problem, they have to send it up the ladder as they say. In effect what that does it put me off for another 48 hours. When I call after 72 hours, I am told it is going to a Tier 2. Again another 48 hours. It has now been a week tomorrow and nobody has even looked at my problem and it is on my bank reconciliation that needs to be done before I pay my owners. Nobody seems to care.

Pros:

Ease of making a reservation can be done by anyone.

Cons:

It is impossible to get help when you need it. For instance over 60,000.00 disappearing from the bank reconciliation and it has been almost a week and I have heard from noone.

Great software for our business!

Comments: Customer support is very good, even if they dont have an answer they DO follow up with an answer and have worked through any of the issues we have had, which have been pretty minimal.

Pros:

The software was easy to setup and configure, ramp up time for new users was pretty quick, the software integrates pretty well with most channels to post listing too.

Cons:

The webpage that is part of the software is pretty basic and does not allow for a lot of customization, however most units are booked through other sites that we are linked too.

Escapia Review

Pros:

The Grid - easy to navigate the Reports. As I have now used Escapia for six years, and within my 3 companies I have had the pleasure and sometimes hard times with the software. I have seen it go through many versions and add on many functions that we have asked for. The customer service has always been great!

Cons:

Reports need to be streamlined

Escapia

Comments: We are a call center and we service and help different properties with booking reservations. We work with over 12 different systems, and this is a favorite.

Pros:

I love the Escapia system is easy to train agents on and easy to use.

Cons:

It is hard sometimes for the agents to remember that the last night of stay is the day of check out.

Best PM software on the market!

Pros:

Easy to use from front desk to maintenance to owner manager team. Dashboard is very helpful to manage reviews and updated booking numbers.

Cons:

Pricier than most. There are some reports needed that can be built but at an additional cost. End of year reporting can be confusing for owners.

Wonderful experience and able to take our agency to the next level

Pros:

Works easily with the major listing sites. Updates are often and the team listens to feedback. Easy for new reservationists to pick up on the system.

Cons:

Making rates isn't that easy along with quotes for time periods not set up in advance. Scheduling inspections is not easy either.

Great software, so many options offered

Comments: Data

Pros:

There are so many tools offered. Feel like I have searched out most offered, but know so much more that can be utilized.

Cons:

Extremely date sensitive. Been looking for help from support on a tax issue and have not received a response after numerous requests.