Vacation Rentals
Case Study

How Sunset Stays Transformed Their Rental Photography

12 properties. 3 platforms. From $4,800/year in photography costs to $1,788 — with better results.

At a Glance

Key Results

24%

More bookings

$3K

/year photo cost savings

85%

Editing time reduction

7 days

Implementation

Results based on Sunset Stays portfolio data. Individual results vary based on property, market, and current photo quality.

The Challenge

12 Properties, 3 Platforms, Zero Consistency

Sunset Stays operates 12 vacation rental properties across the Florida Gulf Coast — a mix of beachfront condos, canal-front homes, and inland family houses.

Expensive annual photography cycle

Spending $400 per property on professional photography every 12–18 months. $4,800/year just to keep listings current — and photos were outdated within 6 months after furniture replacements and repairs.

Inconsistent portfolio quality

Each property was photographed by a different local photographer. The beachfront condos looked polished while the inland homes looked amateur. Guests browsing the portfolio saw inconsistent quality.

Manual resizing consuming hours

Every photo needed manual resizing for Airbnb (3:2), VRBO (16:9), and Booking.com (4:3). The owner spent 15+ hours per month just on photo formatting and uploading.

The Solution

7-Day Implementation Across All Properties

Sunset Stays deployed ImageSystems across all 12 properties in one week.

Day 1–2

Account setup, VRBO/Airbnb/Booking.com export profiles configured

Day 3–4

Owner trained cleaning staff — 25–30 photos per property during turnover using personal phones

Day 5–6

First 4 properties photographed and batch-processed through ImageSystems

Day 7

All 12 properties photographed, enhanced, and published to all 3 platforms

The Results

Before & After

Bookings

Before

Baseline

After

+24% across portfolio

Impact

From consistent quality + better photos + platform-optimized formatting

Average Nightly Rate

Before

$165

After

$178

Impact

+8% increase

Photography Cost

Before

$4,800/year

After

$1,788/year

Impact

63% savings

Photo Editing Time

Before

15 hrs/month

After

2 hrs/month

Impact

87% reduction

Platform Photo Score

Before

Below average

After

Improved

Impact

Better Expedia/Booking.com content scores

Update Frequency

Before

Annual

After

Monthly

Impact

Cleaning staff photographs after every deep clean

Results vary. Figures reflect Sunset Stays' specific market, property mix, and starting photo quality.

Testimonial

What They Said

“The biggest surprise wasn't the cost savings — it was how much easier my life got. My cleaning team takes photos during turnover. I upload the batch while having my morning coffee. By lunch, all three platforms have fresh, professional images. I used to dread the annual photographer coordination across 12 properties. Now it just happens as part of our cleaning workflow.”
JT

Jessica Torres

Owner, Sunset Stays

Takeaways

Key Takeaways

1

Cleaning staff can photograph properties during regular turnover — no dedicated photographer needed.

2

Batch processing 12 properties takes less time than manually formatting photos for one property on three platforms.

3

Consistency across a portfolio matters. When every listing looks professional, the whole brand benefits.

4

Monthly updates are better than annual professional shoots. Freshness signals quality to both guests and algorithms.

5

The ROI was clear within the first month. One extra booking per property paid for the entire annual subscription.

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