Aparto Portal

Tips for successful vacation hosts

Everything you need to know for a successful tourist season — from apartment preparation, legal obligations, to commission-free direct bookings.

How to prepare your apartment for the 2026 season — complete guide
8 min read
Season prepMarch 25, 2026

How to prepare your apartment for the 2026 season — complete guide

Every tourist season starts with preparation. The difference between an average and excellent host is how ready you are before the first guest arrives.

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How much Booking.com really costs you — commission calculator
6 min
Direct bookings

How much Booking.com really costs you — commission calculator

Booking.com charges 15-25% commission on every reservation. For an average apartment, that means €2,000 to €8,000 per year.

March 25, 2026Read
10 things guests notice in the first 5 minutes
5 min
Guests & reviews

10 things guests notice in the first 5 minutes

The review is written in the first 5 minutes. Everything after just confirms the first impression.

March 25, 2026Read
How to respond to a negative review — 5 examples
7 min
Guests & reviews

How to respond to a negative review — 5 examples

Every host gets a negative review. The question is not whether it will happen, but how you react.

March 25, 2026Read
Flat-rate rental business in Croatia — everything you need to know in 2026
9 min
Laws & taxes

Flat-rate rental business in Croatia — everything you need to know in 2026

If you rent out an apartment in Croatia, a flat-rate business is the simplest legal path.

March 25, 2026Read
How to photograph your apartment for Booking — 10 tips
6 min
Equipment

How to photograph your apartment for Booking — 10 tips

A guest decides in 3 seconds — click or scroll past. That decision depends on the first photo.

March 25, 2026Read
Why you need your own website alongside Booking.com
7 min
Direct bookings

Why you need your own website alongside Booking.com

Booking.com is great for new guests. But if Booking is your only channel — you have a problem.

March 25, 2026Read
The ultimate pre-season apartment checklist — 25 items you can't skip
6 min
Season prep

The ultimate pre-season apartment checklist — 25 items you can't skip

Experienced hosts don't memorise — they use a checklist. These 25 items cover every corner of your apartment, from kitchen drawers to WiFi passwords.

March 26, 2026Read
A welcome pack that makes an impression — what to include and what it costs
5 min
Guests & reviews

A welcome pack that makes an impression — what to include and what it costs

For €2-3 per guest, you can dramatically improve the first impression. A welcome pack isn't a cost — it's an investment in reviews.

March 26, 2026Read
Google Business profile for your apartment — a free channel for direct bookings
7 min
Direct bookings

Google Business profile for your apartment — a free channel for direct bookings

Google Business is free and takes 30 minutes to set up. Every guest who searches for you on Google should find your page — not Booking.

March 26, 2026Read
How to get a 5-star review — 7 rules the best hosts follow
6 min
Guests & reviews

How to get a 5-star review — 7 rules the best hosts follow

The difference between 4 and 5 stars isn't luxury — it's the details. Learn the 7 rules hosts with an average above 4.8 follow.

March 26, 2026Read
Smart lock for your apartment — self check-in guests love
6 min
Equipment

Smart lock for your apartment — self check-in guests love

The guest arrives at 11 PM, you're 200 km away. With a key — problem. With a smart lock — "Your code is 4729, enter whenever you arrive." Review: 5 stars.

March 26, 2026Read
How to turn a guest into a repeat guest — 5 strategies for repeat bookings
6 min
Guests & reviews

How to turn a guest into a repeat guest — 5 strategies for repeat bookings

A repeat guest is gold. No Booking commission, they already know your apartment, no surprises, and better reviews. The only question is — how to win them over.

March 26, 2026Read

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News

Tourism news

Hospitality Net57 min ago

Amadeus Redefines Travel Advertising to Help Brands Capture Demand Earlier

Amadeus launched its Travel Advertising Platform at its Nice summit, using AI and an Accenture-built agentic framework to shift hotel and airline ad spend from reactive optimization to forward-looking

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Skift58 min ago

Luxury Retail’s Hospitality Problem Isn’t a Training Problem

Saying luxury retail should be more hospitable ignores how most of the industry works.

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Skift1h ago

Jamie Dimon Says Moats in Banking Are Temporary. Sounds Like Travel.

In travel, as in banking, the moat you're defending today is probably shallower than you think. And it's likely someone is already digging around it.

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Breaking Travel News1h ago

VIDEOS: Global Travel & Tourism Executive Immersion 2026

As part of the Global Travel & Tourism Executive Immersion taking place at Alibaba Headquarters in Hangzhou on May 29 2026, Breaking Travel News and the Global Resilience Network undertook a serie

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Breaking Travel News2h ago

The Wonders of Aman

Surrounded by remarkable beauty, unlock unprecedented access to some of the world’s most storied wonders. Across the Aman globe, with 14 properties bordering UNESCO-protected sites of cultural and

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Hospitality Net2h ago

Google Charges for Placement Not Commission, AI Ranks 4th in Travel Planning, Technification Risks Commoditization

Friday closed a week dominated by Google's distribution moves and a growing unease about what technology is doing to hospitality's core product. Google's Universal Cart turns out to be

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Skift3h ago

What Iceland and Puerto Rico Reveal About Class Divide in Overtourism

The global travel industry's framework for managing overtourism was built for rich countries. Ten years after Skift coined the term, that may be the underbelly it has revealed.

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Skift3h ago

IndiGo Will Stick to Low-Cost DNA Even as Willie Walsh Takes Over

While IndiGo Founder Rahul Bhatia said incoming CEO Willie Walsh will "run the shop in its entirety," but the strategic perimeter appears to have been drawn before Walsh has set foot in the building.

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Hospitality Net3h ago

Lead Well, Work Well: The Holistic Approach to Focused Hotel Leadership

The article explores how hotel leaders can improve their effectiveness through intentional self-care practices and structured morning routines to combat decision fatigue.

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Hospitality Net3h ago

Why Most Commercial Strategies Fail to Align Sales, Marketing, and Revenue

Author presents a three-layer Commercial Convergence Model to fix strategic misalignment between sales, marketing, and revenue departments using shared metrics and decision frameworks.

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Hospitality Net3h ago

Investing in Liquor: Baijiu’s Luxury Asset Moment

EHL research using 20,000+ auction transactions shows baijiu returned ~6% annually from 2010-2023, with near-zero correlation to traditional assets, signaling growing potential as a collectable luxury

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Skift3h ago

Why the Travel Industry Pays Attention to IDEA Awards Winners

Skift’s coverage informs travel audiences how to make decisions in travel through AI, news, research, brand advisory, recruiting, and more. But where does it prove who is standing out? The Skift IDEA

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Breaking Travel News5h ago

Amadeus Travel Advertising Platform unveiled

The Amadeus Travel Advertising Platform connects forward-looking travel demand intelligence with advertising planning, activation and AI-supported decision-making

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Breaking Travel News5h ago

Atlas Air Worldwide Announces Strategic Investment in Air Atlanta

Atlas Air Worldwide (“Atlas”) today announced it has signed a Share Purchase Agreement to acquire a 49% minority equity stake in Air Atlanta, a leading global provider of ACMI and aircraft management

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Breaking Travel News5h ago

One Million Passengers On Long-Haul Wings: Air Serbia Marks Historic Milestone

Air Serbia hit a significant milestone in its operations: carrying one million passengers on its long-haul network since the launch of intercontinental operations in 2016. This milestone confirms

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