Real Local Tips for Your Guests

Vanio recommends real restaurants, bars, and things to do near each property — verified, current, and personalized with your favorites.

What this does

When a guest asks "where should we eat tonight?" or "is there a good coffee shop nearby?", Vanio answers with real, current places near your property. Every recommendation is a real business with real hours, ratings, and contact info — never made up.

This works automatically for every property as soon as you've added the address. You don't need to set anything up.

Where the recommendations come from

Vanio pulls live data from Google Places, the same source that powers Google Maps. That means:

Real business names and addresses
Current opening hours (including "open now" status)
Up-to-date star ratings
Phone numbers and websites
Distance from your property

Because the data is live, you don't have to worry about recommending a restaurant that closed last year.

What gets searched

When a guest asks for a recommendation, Vanio searches for the relevant category nearby:

Restaurants and cafes
Bars and nightlife
Coffee shops and bakeries
Grocery stores and pharmacies
Tourist attractions and activities
Beaches, parks, and viewpoints
Gas stations, car rentals, and transit

Results are ranked by a mix of rating, distance, and how well they match what the guest asked for. If they say "a romantic dinner spot," Vanio picks higher-rated, sit-down restaurants. If they say "somewhere quick for breakfast," it picks nearby cafes that are open right now.

How guests see it

Vanio replies in chat (or whatever channel the guest is using) with three to five places. Each one shows the name, rating, distance, today's hours, and a phone number or website. Guests can tap to call, get directions, or read reviews.

90-day cache

The first time a property gets a question about, say, "best Italian restaurants," Vanio fetches the results and saves them. The next guest who asks something similar gets an instant answer without a fresh lookup. After 90 days, Vanio refreshes the data automatically so nothing goes stale.

This keeps responses fast and avoids unnecessary lookups, while still keeping the information current.

Adding your personal favorites

Generic Google results are good, but your local knowledge is better. To add your own picks:

Open the property in your dashboard.
Go to Knowledge → Local Tips.
Tap Add a favorite.
Enter the place name, what makes it special, and any notes ("ask for Maria, she runs the place").

Your favorites are always shown first, before any Google results. Guests see your personal recommendations as the host's picks, which feels much more genuine than a generic list.

Turning it on or off

Local recommendations are on by default. To turn them off for a specific property, go to Property → Settings → Guest Communication and toggle Local recommendations off. Vanio will stop offering them and will only share the places you've added manually.

You can also disable specific categories — for example, turn off bars and nightlife if you run a family-focused property.

Common questions

Can I block a specific business from showing up? Yes. Open Local Tips and tap Block next to any place.

Does this cost extra? No, it's included.

Will Vanio recommend a competitor's rental? No — short-term rentals are excluded from the search.