Distribution
Building and maintaining listings on 10+ channels, with one calendar so double bookings cannot happen.
for owners
The operating system behind the rental of your holiday home.
specialstays is number 1 for distinctive holiday homes in South Limburg and the Meuse Valley, and since 2019 the operational partner of 35+ owners. We sell your home across 10+ booking channels, steer the nightly rate, run the whole guest journey and keep the administration. One rate of 35% all-in, one monthly invoice, one local team with offices in Maastricht (NL) and Dilsen-Stokkem (BE).
2019
renting on our own since
+37%
avg. revenue growth after switching
71%
avg. annual occupancy portfolio
8.8/10
avg. guest rating
where we sell your home
Your home is not listed on specialstays.com alone. We publish on the major and the specialised channels where demand for your type of home sits, with one calendar and one pricing strategy underneath.
- Airbnb
- Booking.com
- VRBO
- Expedia
- Natuurhuisje
- Holidu
- Micazu
- Belvilla
- Tripadvisor
- specialstays.com (direct)
what we run
Advertising is the smallest part.
Anyone can place a listing. The difference is what happens every day after that with pricing, guests, reviews and paperwork.
Pricing
Rates per night, per season and per house, adjusted to demand, events and the booking rhythm in your village.
Revenue
Steering on what is left at the end: occupancy, average nightly rate and channel mix in one monthly report.
Guest journey
From first enquiry to departure: requests, payments, arrival information and guest contact in four languages.
Reviews
Requesting reviews, replying to them and using them to keep your ranking on the channels up.
Administration
Collecting and remitting tourist tax, permits and the Logies registration in Flanders, plus monthly invoicing.
Operational control
Cleaning, linen, keys and small repairs steered through fixed local partners, with 24/7 back-up when something goes wrong.
what it costs
One rate, identical in both models.
35%all-in commission on the rental sum
35% all-in of the gross rental turnover, excluding VAT: 20% distribution plus 15% management. There is no separate management fee, marketing fee or platform fee, no set-up cost and no booking fee per reservation, and you are not locked in for years: one month's notice after the minimum term from the quote.
One rate
35% all-in: 20% distribution + 15% management
One invoice
monthly, excluding VAT
One platform
10+ channels, dynamic pricing
One team
in Limburg, 24/7 back-up
Work carried out by an external party, such as cleaning and linen, is passed on at cost. Tourist tax goes to the municipality.
20% distribution
For professional distribution we work with 20%. Rent out professionally yourself and you need that layer too, on top of your own time. With us it sits inside the rate, so no separate channel commission lands on your statement.
- Booking channels
- Payment processing
- PMS and channel management
- The systems that steer that distribution centrally
15% management
The layer that runs your rental business day after day: the team, the systems and the operational control behind every booking.
- Revenue management and pricing
- Listings, ranking and visibility
- Guest communication and reviews
- Planning and operational control
- Administration and reporting
- Team and 24/7 back-up
What the 35% does not cover
Cleaning and linen
Final cleaning, the linen package and consumables are stay costs. We plan and check them; the work itself is passed on at cost or settled through the guest.
Maintenance and repairs
Materials and technician hours are owner costs. Coordination, assessment and follow-up are part of the rate.
Tourist tax and municipal levies
Those are paid per guest or per night to the municipality. We handle the administration and the returns.
One-off start-up costs
Professional photography and any styling or extra furnishing are agreed separately up front.
the numbers in full
Want to check everything yourself?
The owner side of specialstays lives on its own site. There you will find the full rate breakdown, the service catalogue, the comparisons with other parties and a yield scan for your own address.
Rate breakdown
How 35% splits into 20% distribution and 15% management, and what falls outside it.
View the rateService catalogue
Every service per phase of the operation, plus the optional add-ons.
View the servicesComparisons
Side by side with Belvilla, Natuurhuisje, Roompot and managing it yourself.
Compare partiesYield scan
An estimate of occupancy, nightly rate and net return for your own home.
Run the scanSwitching
How a handover from your current party or your own management works.
Read about switchingKnowledge base
Permits, tax and rules for holiday rentals in South Limburg and Belgian Limburg.
Open the knowledge basetwo partnership models
Fully hands-off or side by side.
Same rate, same platform, same dashboard. What differs is who handles the physical work at the house.
Hands-off
360° Management
You hand over the keys, we run everything. For owners who want their home to perform without being operational themselves.
- Listings, pricing, guest communication and reviews: us.
- Cleaning, linen, check-in and check-out and small repairs: through our execution partners, passed on at cost.
- Stef on site for intake, photography and quarterly review.
- You get a monthly report and a live dashboard, and you are not a point of contact for guests.
What do you still have to do? Nothing.
Side by side
Zij-aan-zij Partner
You stay the host. We run the platform underneath. For owners who want to keep the hospitality and the physical side themselves.
- Listings, pricing, guest communication, reviews and distribution: us.
- Cleaning, linen, welcome and key handover: you, with your own cleaner and your own welcome.
- We stay 24/7 back-up if something goes wrong for the guest.
- Per home we agree together who does what, with a clear arrangement per task.
What do you still have to do? Only the local work you want to keep doing yourself.
three ways to let your home
Yourself, regionally, or with a specialist.
There are roughly three ways to let a holiday home in Limburg. Each model requires a different time investment, a different kind of involvement, and produces a different channel mix.
01
Self-letting via Airbnb or Booking
Low threshold and quick to set up. You handle the photos, calendar, guest communication, cleaning and tax filing yourself. Works for owners who let a few weeks a year as extra income.
02
Regional manager with a fixed fee
Comfortable, because everything is taken off your hands. Often tied to exclusivity on one platform and a fixed monthly fee instead of a fee linked to what your house actually earns.
03
specialstays 360° or side by side
10+ channels, dynamic pricing, hotel-grade housekeeping, permit administration and our own direct-booking flow. Across our portfolio, an average +37% revenue increase compared to what owners earned before switching.
what we do differently
A local team, no call centre.
The large national players have scale and single-platform distribution. In Limburg, owners run into three things there: exclusivity clauses that forbid parallel letting, a narrow channel mix, and changing contacts from a call centre.
- One fixed point of contact who knows your house and stays reachable.
- 10+ channels (Airbnb, Booking, Vrbo, Expedia, niche platforms, direct) plus dynamic pricing.
- One partner under one roof, with one month's notice after the minimum term from the quote. No years-long lock-in.
- Two models: 360° Management where we also handle the execution, or Zij-aan-zij Partner where you stay the host.
- Hotel-grade housekeeping and linen service through fixed local partners in Limburg.
- We fully arrange the permit, tourist tax remittance and the Logies registration (BE) for you.
by region
The Limburg market is not one market.
The city, the hills, the Meuse Valley and the Belgian Kempen each have a different guest profile and a different permit situation. We work across all four, with our own approach and local network per area.
Heuvelland
Vaals, Valkenburg, Gulpen-Wittem, Eijsden-Margraten.
Meuse Valley
Echt-Susteren, Roermond, Maaseik.
Hoge Kempen (BE)
Maasmechelen, Genk, Lanaken.
Maastricht city
Urban letting, with its own permit framework per municipality.
how it works
From the first cup of coffee to the first booking.
01
Introduction
We visit you, listen to your story and the character of the house. No obligation, always with a concrete proposal on the table.
02
Photography & copy
Editorial photography during your best hours, copy written from the guest's perspective.
03
Live & findable
Live on specialstays.com and on 10+ channels. Dynamic pricing per night, per season, per house.
04
Bookings & management
We handle requests, payments, guest communication, cleaning and linen. You keep the guest in mind.
permit & tourist tax
We handle the paperwork too. Per municipality.
We collect and remit tourist tax automatically, at the current rate for the relevant municipality. For permits, we look at the municipality, the zoning plan and the letting duration. In Flanders we also arrange the Logies registration with Toerisme Vlaanderen. What exactly is needed for your address, we work out during the introduction.
stef · point of contact
book a call
A quick chat with Stef.
No sales talk. We discuss your property, region and goals, and whether specialstays is a fit. You get concrete figures straight away.
Video call
30 minutes · Google Meet · screen sharing possible
By phone
15 minutes · Stef calls you on the number you provide
Rather speak to someone now?
Give us a call. You reach Stef or a colleague from the same team, not a call centre.
frequently asked questions
The questions owners ask first.
What does specialstays cost?
35% all-in of the gross rental turnover, excluding VAT, identical in both models: 20% distribution plus 15% management. That covers distribution across 10+ channels, pricing, guest communication, reviews, administration and operational control. No separate management, marketing or platform fee, no set-up cost and no booking fee per reservation.
What is not covered by the 35%?
Cleaning, linen and consumables are stay costs: we plan and check them, the work itself is passed on at cost or settled through the guest. Materials and technician hours for maintenance are owner costs. Tourist tax goes to the municipality, we handle the administration. Photography and any styling at the start are agreed separately up front.
Which channels will my home appear on?
Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO, Expedia, Natuurhuisje, Holidu, Micazu, Belvilla, Google and Tripadvisor, plus direct bookings through specialstays.com. Which channels we activate depends on your type of home and your region, all with one calendar and one pricing strategy underneath.
What is the difference between 360° Management and Zij-aan-zij Partner?
The rate, the platform and the dashboard are identical. With 360° Management we also handle the physical work: cleaning, linen, check-in and check-out and small repairs through our execution partners. With Zij-aan-zij Partner you keep that work yourself and we run distribution, pricing, guest communication and reviews, with 24/7 back-up.
What do I still have to do myself?
With 360° Management, nothing. You are not a point of contact for guests and you receive a monthly report plus a live dashboard. With Zij-aan-zij Partner you only do the local work you want to keep: cleaning, linen, welcome and key handover, recorded per home so it is clear who does what.
What is the difference between specialstays and Belvilla or Roompot in Limburg?
Three things: we are local (offices in Maastricht and Dilsen-Stokkem, someone from our team visits you in person), we run multi-channel instead of a single proprietary platform, and we work with two models: 360° Management or Zij-aan-zij Partner, at the same rate of 35% all-in. Our owners achieve an average +37% gross revenue compared to what they earned before.
Do you work across all of Limburg or only around Maastricht?
From the Meuse banks in Belgian Limburg to the hills of South Limburg: Heuvelland (Vaals, Valkenburg, Gulpen-Wittem, Eijsden-Margraten), Meuse Valley (Echt-Susteren, Roermond, Maaseik), Hoge Kempen (Maasmechelen, Genk, Lanaken) and Maastricht city. For addresses outside Limburg we refer you to a fellow operator.
What do you do with the tourist tax?
We collect it and remit it automatically to the correct municipality. Rates differ per municipality; we track the current rates and apply them at booking. You don't need to file or remit anything yourself.
Do I need a permit in my municipality?
That depends on the zoning plan, the municipality and the letting duration. In Flanders the Logies decree applies, with a registration requirement at Toerisme Vlaanderen. We look into what's needed per address and help arrange the process.
Shall we grab a coffee sometime?
We're happy to visit. No obligation, always with a concrete proposal on the table.