What it is
Vacation rental software usually sits between booking channels, the guest and the people looking after each property. A useful PMS should keep reservations coherent while helping the team respond to changes: a late departure, an owner stay, a refund or a cleaner who cannot attend. A portfolio manager also needs to explain what belongs to the owner, what the business earned and which expenses were deducted. Those requirements differ from simply synchronizing calendars. A website builder can support direct sales without solving owner accounting; a guest guide can improve the stay without becoming the operational record. For properties in Colombia, assess local reporting and invoicing separately from international distribution. Also distinguish an API integration from an iCal calendar feed, and a ready-to-send template from a message sent automatically.
Understand the market
Colombian daily operations
Sixto and Lulo Cloud explicitly address local guest workflows. Their breadth and emphasis differ, so compare team coordination, reporting evidence and the work required to finish a stay, not just their list of features.
Managed portfolios and owner relationships
Guesty, Hostaway and OwnerRez deserve attention when owners, statements and delegated operations shape the business. Demonstrate real agreements and financial exceptions before selecting a platform on the basis of channel count.
Summary table
Scroll the table horizontally to compare all criteria. Each product links to its detailed assessment below.
| Product | Best fit | Product type / category strength | Colombia / integration fit | What to verify | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sixto | Colombian teams coordinating guests and field work | Hospitality operations and local workflows | Documented Colombian workflows; configured invoicing | Owner finances, channels and activation | Sixto |
| Guesty | Managers with complex owner reporting | Rental PMS with owner accounting tools | Documented partner; Colombian scope needs confirmation | Accounting package, statements and local settlement | Guesty |
| Hostaway | Growing managers coordinating teams and owners | Rental PMS with workflow and owner tools | Colombian workflows require confirmation | Permissions, package scope and local partners | Hostaway |
| Hostfully | Managers standardizing the guest experience | Rental PMS and digital guidebooks | Colombian workflows require confirmation | Product packaging and instruction permissions | Hostfully |
| Lodgify | Hosts prioritizing an independent booking website | Rental PMS with direct-booking website | Colombian workflows require confirmation | Payment eligibility, plan scope and local reporting | Lodgify |
| OwnerRez | Hands-on managers with specific financial rules | Rental PMS with configurable financial workflows | Colombian workflows require confirmation | Setup ownership, exports and local payments | OwnerRez |
| Smoobu | Hosts simplifying a small rental operation | Rental PMS with calendars and guest automation | Colombian workflows require confirmation | Connections, plan terms and owner reporting | Smoobu |
| Lulo Cloud | Hosts seeking a compact workflow with Colombian reporting | Reservation hub with guest forms | Published Colombian TRA/SIRE workflows | Filing proof, invoicing and owner requirements | Lulo Cloud |
How we evaluated the options
- Portfolio structure: separate owned units, managed units, owners, buildings and legal entities without exposing unrelated records.
- Channel fidelity: test new bookings, changes, cancellations, fees and messages for each actual channel connection.
- Owner money: reconcile commission, cleaning, refunds and expenses to an understandable statement and export.
- Guest service: check message ownership, escalation, property instructions and the handoff to cleaning or maintenance.
- Direct booking: examine website control, booking confirmation, payment eligibility, refunds and data portability.
- Colombian workflows: require documented scope and a demonstration of SIRE, TRA and the chosen invoicing arrangement.
We verified documented product scope and identified explicit Colombian integration evidence. We did not verify live credentials, individual contracts, bank settlement, filing acceptance or service levels. A missing claim is an open question, not proof that a feature is unavailable.
Sixto: connect the Colombian operation behind each stay
Best for: Colombian teams coordinating guests and field work
Sixto is worth starting with when reservations, guest conversations and team tasks are disconnected. It brings these records into the same operating environment, alongside guest information collection and SIRE/TRA workflows. Electronic invoicing depends on a configured Matias integration and the issuer’s prerequisites; Sixto manages channel connections with setup and activation requirements. The main buying case is operational continuity: when dates or guest details change, the person handling the stay should be able to understand what needs attention. Evaluate that continuity with the actual people who answer guests, prepare units and review pending work.
For managed portfolios, demonstrate your specific owner statement, commission and payout requirements rather than assuming they follow from the reservations calendar. Confirm any required lock models, permissions and connections separately. Choose on the evidence from a representative pilot, including unresolved and failed actions. [1]
Guesty: financial and operational depth for managed portfolios
Best for: Managers with complex owner reporting
Guesty belongs on the shortlist when relationships with property owners are central. Its accounting product documents owner statements and financial workflows tied to rental operations. This is relevant to a manager who must explain revenue, fees, expenses and adjustments rather than merely show occupancy. Ask for a completed month involving an owner stay, a repair charged to the owner and a guest refund after the original booking. The useful demonstration is the path from those events to an understandable statement, including how a correction changes the result and who can approve it.
Confirm which accounting features are included in the proposed package and suitable for Colombia. Global availability does not establish Colombian tax compliance or bank payouts. Guesty documents a Hospy connection; confirm the precise reporting scope and invoicing arrangement instead of assuming the marketplace listing covers every local requirement. [2] [3]
Hostaway: portfolio workflows and owner visibility
Best for: Growing managers coordinating teams and owners
Hostaway combines rental channel management with guest messaging, task workflows and owner reporting. Its owner portal offers access scoped to the owner’s properties. Consider it when growth means delegating work while retaining a consistent view of reservations and performance. The evaluation should involve an owner and an operations user with different permissions: each should see enough to do their job without gaining access to unrelated properties or sensitive information. Follow a booking amendment through the calendar, communication and statement process to see how the parts of the proposed package work together.
Ask which automation and reporting modules are included, what implementation covers and how support handles a connection failure. SIRE, TRA, Colombian invoicing and locally eligible payment processing require confirmation. A large integration marketplace is not a substitute for a named, supported workflow. [4] [5]
Hostfully: property management with a strong guest-information layer
Best for: Managers standardizing the guest experience
Hostfully offers a vacation rental management platform and a distinct digital guidebook product. The guidebooks bring together property instructions, maps and recommendations, making it worth considering when guests repeatedly ask how to arrive, use appliances or find local services. The buying question is how those instructions stay accurate as the portfolio grows. Give the team a common building rule and a property-specific access instruction, then ask them to update the right audience without overwriting the other. Evaluate the management platform alongside the guidebook, with attention to who maintains the information.
Confirm whether the quoted package includes the required guidebook capabilities and operational tools. A guidebook is not evidence of identity verification or accepted Colombian reporting. Check language handling, access to sensitive instructions and the separate integration path for SIRE, TRA and invoicing. [6] [7]
Lodgify: a direct-booking brand alongside channel sales
Best for: Hosts prioritizing an independent booking website
Lodgify is especially relevant when the next investment is a direct-booking website. Its website product combines a booking engine with channel management, so the direct sales experience can connect with the rental calendar. This makes a useful comparison for hosts who want their own brand and repeat-booking route. Judge the full purchase journey: a guest finds a property, sees the final price, understands the cancellation policy, pays and receives a confirmed reservation. Then reverse the transaction. Refund handling and availability after a cancellation deserve as much attention as the website design.
Verify payment-provider eligibility for your Colombian business, settlement currency and all transaction-related charges. Confirm what operational features your plan includes and how local reporting will work. A direct site creates a sales channel, but the operator still needs a plan for attracting and supporting guests. [8]
OwnerRez: detailed rental configuration and owner statements
Best for: Hands-on managers with specific financial rules
OwnerRez documents direct channel connections, message templates and triggers, website tools and property management features including commissions and monthly statements. It deserves attention when a hands-on operator wants to configure how reservations and owner finances behave. Bring your real fee structure and a few awkward exceptions to the evaluation: different management agreements, an owner-use period and a cancellation after an expense was posted. The objective is to see whether the configuration remains understandable to the person who will operate it next month, not just to the person setting it up.
Review regional payment options, accounting exports and Colombian reporting integrations. Ask which features require additional subscriptions and what help is included during setup. Detailed configuration can be useful, but the team needs documented rules and ownership to keep statements and automations consistent. [9] [10]
Smoobu: a focused toolkit for host-run rentals
Best for: Hosts simplifying a small rental operation
Smoobu presents centralized calendars, scheduled guest communication, direct-booking tools and a website builder. It is worth evaluating for a host who wants to replace separate calendar checks and repetitive messages with a more coherent routine. Begin with the tasks that consume the day: importing a reservation, blocking owner use, sending arrival information and changing a departure. A focused operating trial can reveal whether the host can manage the basics comfortably without building a large technology stack. Assess the actual plan and permissions before assuming the same setup will support a complex managed portfolio.
Check connection type and update behavior for each channel, plus team access and owner reporting depth. Colombian guest reporting and invoicing require confirmation. Compare the applicable subscription and transaction structure without assuming that all plans have the same booking fees or inclusions. [11]
Lulo Cloud: a local reporting angle for a simpler rental setup
Best for: Hosts seeking a compact workflow with Colombian reporting
Lulo Cloud publishes a shared calendar, direct-booking links, online guest forms and Colombian TRA/SIRE features. It also distinguishes its WhatsApp templates from automatic sending: the template opens WhatsApp for the operator to review and send. That matters for a host who wants assistance without assuming that messages are sent automatically. Its FAQ describes an optional connection to the operator’s own Bold account for Colombian direct-booking payments. Evaluate it as a compact reservation and guest-information workflow, especially if the current alternative is several channel extranets and manually maintained guest details.
Confirm precisely how reporting is submitted, how receipts and failures appear, and whether invoicing needs another product. Test payment activation separately. Do not infer advanced owner accounting, maintenance routing or automatic WhatsApp delivery from the presence of a calendar and guest templates. [12]
Choose by operating model
Choose a demonstration route based on how the business earns and distributes money. These are illustrative scenarios.
You own a few apartments
You manage the listings yourself and want fewer routine tasks.
Compare Sixto with Smoobu and Lulo Cloud. Give each the same booking change, arrival checklist and cleaning handoff. Sixto is relevant when guest information and team coordination need a shared record; Smoobu when centralized calendars and scheduled communications are the priority; Lulo Cloud when a compact workflow with published Colombian reporting features fits. Avoid paying for advanced owner-accounting capability you will not use. Instead, prove that the local registration process and any required invoice can be completed and that the host can recover from an exception.
- Change dates after the welcome message.
- Block an owner stay without losing channel consistency.
- Find a pending report and its next action.
You manage for several owners
Each management agreement allocates fees and expenses differently.
Start with Guesty, Hostaway and OwnerRez, and compare Sixto against your actual reporting needs. Request a sample month with owner use, a guest refund, maintenance and a management fee. The manager and the owner should be able to explain the same net result. The choice should reflect statement clarity, permission boundaries and the effort required to correct a closed period. Keep local reporting and invoicing in the evaluation as separate workflows, with named suppliers, rather than allowing a strong owner portal to obscure an unresolved Colombian dependency.
- Reconcile one owner statement to reservations.
- Restrict owner access to assigned properties.
- Correct an expense after a statement is prepared.
You want more direct relationships with guests
Your next project is a branded website and consistent arrival information.
Put Lodgify and Hostfully on the shortlist for different reasons: direct-booking site construction and the guest-information layer. Compare the operational backbone with Sixto or your existing PMS before changing everything. A polished booking page and an excellent guidebook solve different stages of the journey. Test whether the guest receives accurate instructions after a last-minute unit change, whether the final price is clear and how a refund is handled. Allocate responsibility for website content, guest information and local reporting so improvements in sales do not create gaps in operations.
- Complete and cancel a direct booking.
- Update instructions after a unit change.
- Verify the supported Colombian payment route.
A practical implementation sequence
Inventory the business relationships
List properties, owners, agreements, channels, users and the entity that receives each payment. Identify the authoritative record for upcoming bookings and balances. A migration needs more than a calendar import: explain which history and documents remain in the old system and who can access them after the contract ends.
Build a representative test month
Use a small set of bookings covering direct and channel sales, cancellation, owner use and a maintenance expense. Reconcile the expected owner and operator totals before asking the vendor to reproduce them. Then test guest communication and Colombian reporting on the same examples, so a correct financial result cannot hide an incomplete operational workflow.
Move one coherent portfolio segment
Select units with clear ownership and available staff. Assign one system to control availability and one responsible workflow for each guest message or filing. Reconcile future reservations after the switch, then test a modification and cancellation. Keep the implementation team available through the first arrivals and departures, not only through the initial import.
Close a month before expanding
Review owner statements, actual receipts, refunds, expenses and unresolved guest work. Ask an operations user and a finance user to explain the same reservation from their own views. Correct mapping or agreement errors before migrating the remaining portfolio. Save exports and document how a new staff member can investigate a discrepancy.
What to include in the quote
Request the complete price for your number of properties, owners and users. Separate subscription, onboarding, optional accounting, direct-booking fees, payment processing, messaging, smart access and local reporting partners. Ask which charges apply to channel bookings, cancelled stays and owner use. Avoid comparing a basic website plan with a full portfolio-management package.
Use a normal month and a busy month to compare commercial terms. Include staff time spent reconciling statements and maintaining integrations, not only the invoice from the software vendor. Confirm contract currency, renewal terms and export access. No published headline price establishes the cost or eligibility of Colombian payments and tax-document workflows.
Demo checklist
Questions
What is the best PMS for a small host?
Start with the tasks you perform each week. Sixto, Smoobu and Lulo Cloud offer different approaches worth comparing. Test booking changes, guest information, cleaning and local reporting. The best fit is the setup you can operate and recover when something goes wrong, with a complete quote for the functions you need.
When does owner accounting become essential?
When the business must explain and distribute money for other owners, a calendar is insufficient. Demonstrate commissions, expenses, owner use, refunds and corrections. Guesty and OwnerRez publish relevant accounting tools; Hostaway documents owner reporting. Confirm the specific package and Colombian accounting implications with your accountant.
Does a website guarantee more direct bookings?
No. A booking site enables a direct sales route, but the operator still needs traffic, clear terms, reliable payments and guest support. Evaluate Lodgify’s site-building proposition through a real purchase and refund journey. Measure the complete acquisition and service effort rather than treating the website as automatic demand.
Are all channel connections equivalent?
No. An API connection can exchange different data from a calendar feed, and capabilities vary by channel. Ask which reservations, prices, restrictions, fees and messages are synchronized. Test amendments and cancellations. Do not treat an integration logo or a channel count as proof that the required workflow is covered.
Does a Colombian reporting feature include invoicing?
Not necessarily. Treat SIRE, TRA and electronic invoicing as separate scope items, each with its own configuration and completion evidence. Lulo Cloud publishes TRA/SIRE features; that alone does not establish an invoicing service. Sixto’s invoicing uses a configured provider integration and issuer prerequisites.
Should I replace the PMS just to improve guest instructions?
Not always. Hostfully offers a distinct guidebook product, illustrating how a specialist layer can address guest information. Evaluate the cost and connection before replacing the reservation system. Keep sensitive access instructions controlled and verify what happens when a reservation or assigned unit changes.
Official sources
Official product documentation and authority sources reviewed for this guide. Features, eligibility and commercial terms should be confirmed for your property.
- [1]Sixto holasixto.com
- [2]Guesty www.guesty.com
- [3]Guesty www.guesty.com
- [4]Hostaway www.hostaway.com
- [5]Hostaway www.hostaway.com
- [6]Hostfully www.hostfully.com
- [7]Hostfully www.hostfully.com
- [8]Lodgify www.lodgify.com
- [9]OwnerRez www.ownerrez.com
- [10]OwnerRez www.ownerrez.com
- [11]Smoobu www.smoobu.com
- [12]Lulo Cloud lulocloud.com