Candice Menard manages short, medium and long term properties in Louisiana and Mississippi.
- Location: Lake Charles, Louisiana & Ocean Springs, Mississippi
- Number of listings: 20 listings, 12 properties (duplicated listings for both short- and mid-term stays)
- Years using Hostfully: 2.5 years
- Favorite features: Listing duplication for multi-market strategy, templates & automations, pre-arrival forms, direct booking site, smart lock & garage door integrations, reporting & KPI tracking
Overview
Before
- No centralized calendar; risk of double bookings
- Manual listing builds for monthly stay targeting
- Inconsistent, manual guest communication
After
- Unified calendar syncs OTAs + direct site
- Faster property onboarding (quick duplication for short- and midterm stays)
- Automated check-ins, reminders, and pre-arrival forms
Impact
- Greater visibility for both short- and long-term searches.
- Hours saved weekly through automation.
- Consistent, branded communication for all guests.
“Adding properties is so easy now! We can do it in our sleep. Hostfully doesn’t just say they’re improving; they show it.”
Candice Menard, Rent It Like a Saint
Before
When a friend first suggested to long-time property manager, Candice Menard, that she list one of her long-term rentals on Airbnb, she looked at her like he had three eyes. “I don’t want to be a hotel,” Candice told her. But curiosity (and a little persistence from her friend) led Candice to try short-term rentals.
Shortly after starting the business, Rent It Like a Saint, Candice knew she needed a property management platform that could handle her growing portfolio, support her dual short- and longer term strategy, prevent double bookings, and sync calendars across multiple channels.
She researched extensively, joining several real estate and property management mastermind groups. She soon realized that before selecting a PMS, she first needed to list out her business needs and clarify her goals: strong integrations, a direct booking website, reliable customer support, scalability for future growth. Finally, she compared four major PMS options. In the end, Hostfully checked every box.
After
Three and a half years later, Candice’s one-time STR experiment snowballed into Rent It Like a Saint, a fast-growing short- and mid-/long-term rental business with 12 physical properties (mostly in Lake Charles, LA), but 20 listings.
Rent It Like a Saint’s multi-market strategy means more mid-term visibility on historically short-term platforms. Sources: Airbnb and Rent It Like a Saint
The secret? Each property is duplicated in Hostfully: one listing optimized and priced for short-term stays, and the other for mid-term stays. The ability to duplicate listings for different stay lengths has maximized occupancy and reduced gaps between bookings. By selectively opening calendar gaps for shorter stays, Rent It Like a Saint captures extra revenue without sacrificing longer term bookings.
Prior to using Hostfully, Candice didn’t track KPIs like occupancy and revenue consistently. Now, she runs weekly reports to measure performance and make strategic decisions. And to help with her strategy, Candice uses integrations through her Hostfully software, including PriceLabs for dynamic pricing, and lists on short- and mid-term OTAs ranging from Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com to Furnished Finder, Zillow, and direct bookings. “Hostfully’s integrations have been huge, and the direct booking link was a game changer,” she says.
Candice duplicates her properties for STR and long-term stays. On her calendar, her team can view all bookings in one place.
With Hostfully’s templates, automations, and pre-arrival forms to streamline guest communication and enforce policies, today Rent It Like a Saint runs like clockwork. “We use Hostfully every single day… for calendars, messages, guidebooks, and reporting. It’s absolutely central to our business.”
Today, Rent It Like a Saint has grown to a six-person team, including those with previous STR experience to balance out Candice’s longer-term rental background. She’s quick to acknowledge the impact and insights of her hires, including Justin Menard, Candice’s son, who joined the company two years ago, and Philippines-based JC Soriano who heads up the company’s Concierge team. With prior PMS experience from Hospitable, Guesty, and OwnerRez, JC shares his software verdict: “Hostfully has been the most user-friendly PMS I’ve ever worked with.”
Candice knows how far she’s come, and is grateful for how much more is possible. She reflects, “You know, Hostfully is like our company. We both want to grow, learn, and improve. They’re constantly integrating our ideas and improving. They don’t just say it — they actually show it.”
Bonus
Candice recalls one of her most traumatic, stressful business moments: as she was integrating with Vrbo, a scammer requested a code, ultimately leading to her business getting hacked. Hostfully’s customer success team immediately became her lifeline.
Even though the hack involved third parties outside of Hostfully, Candice’s dedicated Hostfully customer success manager jumped on calls every other day until Rent It Like a Saint’s account was restored. “It didn’t matter whose fault it was. My Hostfully manager was amazing. She stayed with me through the whole thing. The support hasn’t just been ok. It’s been amazing. Truly amazing.”
Candice emphasizes the importance of doing your research before selecting your software. “The PMS you choose has to fit what you’re actually doing, and where you want to go.” JC adds, “For first-time PMS users, support is the backbone. Hostfully’s support has been tremendous, and that’s what sets it apart.”
