The Illusion of Favorites Feature: How a Borrowed E-Commerce Feature May Be Hurting Your Vacation Rental Bookings
Everywhere you look, vacation rental websites display a small heart icon. It seems harmless, even smart. Guests can mark their favorite properties, browse later, and share with friends.
On the surface, it feels like progress, a familiar touch borrowed from retail.
But the truth is less flattering. Most versions of this feature don’t help bookings. Some quietly damage them. The issue is not the heart icon itself but the reasoning behind it.
A feature born in e-commerce for managing shopping data was copied into a very different business model, where the buying behavior, emotional weight, and price point make it a poor fit.
This article looks at where “favorites” came from, how online travel agencies (OTAs) adapted them, and why most small and mid-sized property managers would be better off questioning the feature before copying it again.
Where Favorites Really Came From
The heart button was never designed for travel. It came from online retail, where it served two distinct purposes:
1. The analytics cleaner
Smaller retail stores created cookie-based wish lists to protect their analytics. Shoppers who were browsing could click “save” without adding to the cart. That way, the merchant could get cleaner analytics data and tell who was serious about buying and who was not.
2. The customer-data tool
Larger platforms like Amazon and Walmart used wish lists as a way to build user identity. Customers logged in, saved items across devices, and received alerts about price changes, restocks, or similar products. Those favorites became the backbone of personalized marketing.
The business behind them wants to know who you are and how / what to sell you.
When vacation rental website vendors started borrowing design patterns from e-commerce, they usually chose the first model. It was cheaper, easier, and required no sign-in.
But what worked as a lightweight analytics filter in retail became a blind alley in hospitality, where every lost visitor costs far more than a missed sale on a pair of shoes.
Why Vacation Rentals Are Not Retail Shops
Vacation rental bookings are complex. They involve higher prices, longer planning, and often several people deciding together.
A booking is not an impulse buy. It’s a coordinated plan that must survive multiple browsers, devices, and conversations.
Each extra step in that process is an unnecessary friction. A “Save for later” button looks convenient, but in practice it offers an easy way out of the booking flow.
Instead of guiding guests to complete the booking, it tells them they can pause.
Once they leave the site, many never return.
Retail websites can afford this pause because shoppers buy frequently and often come back (think of how many times you add items to an Amazon wish list).
Vacation rental guests, however, may only book once or twice a year. If they leave the site without booking, the chance of return drops sharply.
For vacation rentals, every click that delays payment risks losing the guest altogether. A clear, uninterrupted path to the checkout performs better than a decorated one filled with optional detours.
What the OTAs Learned
The larger platforms learned these lessons early, mainly by watching their own data.
Magic? No, a complex server-side device tracking…
Booking.com
Moved favorites behind a server-side tracking system long ago. Every click on the heart icon now saves the property to an device ID based list, with a prompt to register or login to synchronize the selected properties across devices. That’s how they tie the device ID to a guest. Once attached, you don’t even need to be logged in any more as long as the device ID is matched.
That small change made all the difference. Once users were signed in, Booking.com could connect favorites with personalized messaging, offers, and trip planning.
Airbnb
Went further by turning favorites into a shared planning tool. Wish lists became collaborative spaces for friends or families choosing a stay together. The system doesn’t push guests to book instantly, it helps them agree faster. And automated reminders and deal updates keep the trip top of mind.
Both companies understood the same rule:
The value of a favorite lies in knowing who saved it. A favorite without identity is only a dead cookie in someone else’s browser.
Neither platform claims a direct conversion increase from favorites alone. They use them as part of larger systems that build identity, collaboration, and personalization.
The Mid-Market Copy Problem
Across the mid-sized segment of the vacation rental industry, website vendors often copy what they see on OTAs without understanding how it works, or simply following the vague requests from managers:
I need favorites, my homeowners and guests asked for it!!!
They reproduce the visuals: hearts, wish lists, and save buttons, but none of the complex logic that makes those tools meaningful to your business.
These cookie-based versions create several problems:
- Guests save properties that disappear when they switch devices or clear cookies.
- Managers have no data on who saved what, so follow-up is impossible.
- The button often appears in the middle of the booking flow, interrupting the booking process.
After almost two decades of watching client analytics, we’ve seen the same pattern repeatedly.
These “favorites” look interactive but generate no measurable value.
They feel like progress but behave like noise…
Lessons from Real Experience
In 2014, one of our larger websites (just over 300 properties) implemented a gated favorites system. Guests had to log in or create an account before saving a property. Once they did, the list followed them across devices. They also opted into updates about deals or availability for their saved homes.
That system is still active today and still performs. Because the favorites were tied to real users, the marketing team could reach out to people who had already shown intent. The list became both a planning space for guests and a communication channel for managers.
On smaller sites, usually under 200 properties, we never felt the need for favorites at all.
We built clear sharing tools instead. Guests could email or post listings to friends, using social sharing as their informal wish list. Conversion data stayed consistent, the brand got additional exposure on social media, and the booking flow remained direct.
A larger distribution site we operate, listing over a thousand of vacation rentals, also runs successfully without favorites.
The strength lies in visibility, not in storing wish lists.
These cases show that the feature itself is not the advantage. The business context decides whether it helps or hurts your direct bookings.
What the Research (Or the Lack of It) Tells Us
Despite how common the favorites feature has become, there is no serious research proving they increase bookings in the vacation rental industry (at least not that we’ve accepted as credible).
Studies from online retail show the opposite trend. When buyers save items for later, many never return to purchase them. The decision gets split into two stages: one emotional, one rational. The gap between them kills momentum.
OTAs have quietly acknowledged this by redesigning their systems. Both Booking.com and Airbnb moved toward identity-based favorites not because they love logins, but because they saw what anonymous systems failed to deliver business results. Their actions are the strongest evidence we have: ungated favorites underperform.
Turning Favorites into a Planning Tool
The concept of favorites can still work… if it’s rebuilt with a clear business goal in mind.
A proper implementation should help guests plan, not pause. It should help managers capture real leads, not just clicks.
A planning-driven version of favorites would:
- Require login or verified email so each list connects to a real person.
- Sync across devices for continuity.
- Allow simple group sharing and comments for trip coordination.
- Trigger relevant messages when dates, prices, or availability change.
- Feed preference data into the property-management system for AI recommendations or dynamic offers.
Once identity is part of the process, a favorite becomes a seed for personalization. The system can recognize returning guests, suggest similar homes, or remind them of unfinished bookings. At that point, the feature adds measurable business value instead of serving as decoration.
How Typical Vacation Rental Website Implementations Differ from OTA Models
| Feature Aspect | Typical Vacation rental Website | OTA Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Cookie-based, no login | Account-based with login |
| Cross-device use | Lost between devices | Synced and persistent |
| Data ownership | None | Centralized user profile |
| Follow-up | Not possible | Automated alerts and messages |
| Placement | Sometimes during checkout | Only in discovery phase |
| Measurable effect | Rarely tracked | Fully measured and optimized |
This contrast explains why many independent managers feel disappointed after adding favorites. They copied the interface, not the system behind it.
Deciding Whether You Need Favorites
Before adding or keeping this feature, walk through a short reasoning exercise.
Ask yourself:
- Can guests identify themselves when they save a property?
- Will the list follow them when they switch devices?
- Can your team contact those guests about saved homes or offers?
- Is the button positioned early in the discovery stage, not as an escape route from checkout?
- Does the collected data help you refine your pricing or marketing?
If most of these answers are negative, the feature probably slows bookings instead of helping them.
A safer, simpler alternative is to improve sharing options. When property and search pages can be shared by link or email, guests can collaborate naturally without derailing the booking funnel. Sharing captures the same intent while keeping momentum intact.
Measuring What Really Matters
Every decision about features should rely on data, not assumption. When you test changes to your booking engine or vacation rental website, track clear metrics and define them openly for your team:
- Bookings per visitor (BPV) — the number of confirmed bookings divided by total unique visitors.
- Time to book (TTB) — how long it takes an average visitor to complete a booking after first landing on your site.
- Shortlist-to-booking rate (SLB) — how many saved or shortlisted homes turn into reservations.
- Lead capture rate (LCR) — the share of visitors who become identifiable leads through login or email.
Compare these figures before and after implementing any version of favorites. Run controlled tests over four to six weeks. Only the numbers will tell you whether the heart icon earns its place.
Privacy, Consent, and Transparency
A gated favorites system collects personal data. Guests deserve clarity about how it will be used. A simple message works best:
We’ll save your list and notify you when these homes change in price or availability.
Being upfront builds trust and keeps you compliant with privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA. Clear language also improves opt-in rates. Guests are more likely to register when they understand the value exchange.
Explaining the Logic to Owners and Teams
New features often look like progress to property owners. But innovation only matters when it improves performance. A heart icon that lowers conversion is not innovation—it’s distraction.
Managers and marketing teams should connect technical choices to business outcomes. Shorter, cleaner booking paths produce more revenue than complex ones filled with unmeasured features. Train your reservation staff to use language that keeps the guest moving forward.
The Real Point: Question Every Feature
The deeper message behind the favorites debate is about ownership of strategy. Many managers assume that because a vendor includes a feature, it must be useful. That assumption is dangerous.
Your website exists to serve your business goals, not to showcase every tool in the booking engine vendor’s library.
You know your guests, your seasonality, and your operations better than anyone else. If a feature doesn’t align with that knowledge, or if there is no data proving it helps, pause and think twice before adding it.
A responsible website partner should follow your insights, understand what drives your feature request, and help you gather data to confirm them. The role of technology is to support your judgment, not to replace it.
When we look back at how favorites entered the industry, the story is a reminder of how easily design patterns spread without evidence.
Copying a feature from another sector is not innovation. It’s imitation until it proves its worth in your context.
Conclusion
Favorites were never designed for improving your vacation rental booking conversions. They were borrowed from e-commerce, where they served different goals.
In most mid-market websites today, they remain anonymous, unmeasured, and disconnected from real guests.
The lesson is simple:
Before adding any new feature, ask where it came from, what purpose it serves, and whether it fits your business logic. If it doesn’t, you have every right to say no.
Technology should follow your strategy, not lead it. The best booking engine or direct booking website is the one that reflects how you sell, how your guests decide, and how your property management software turns data into meaningful actions.
If a feature can’t prove that it helps, it probably doesn’t. In vacation rental marketing, clarity still wins over decoration. A clean, confident path to book will always outperform another heart on the page.
Quick Self-Audit: Is Your Favorites Feature Helping or Hurting?
- Does it require login or email?
- Does it work across devices?
- Can you contact the user later?
- Is it shown only before checkout?
- Does it produce measurable conversions?
If most answers are no, your favorites button is not helping your business. It’s distracting your guests from booking.