Rohul Amin knew the frustration of temporary housing all too well. After months of working remotely in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago, he understood how difficult it was to feel comfortable while traveling. This personal experience sparked an idea: what if travelers could have essential items such as home office supplies, air purifiers, espresso machines, baby strollers, and more delivered directly to their temporary accommodation?
In 2020, Amin launched Homey Rentals from New York City. His service provides travelers with practical items from espresso machines to baby strollers, catering to business travelers, remote workers, and families trying to make temporary spaces feel more like home.
Managing inventory before Booqable
Managing the business was becoming increasingly complicated. As Rohul explained, “Before Booqable, we built a custom setup using a Postgres database and several API calls to keep values updated as reservations and changes came in. It worked, but we quickly realized that at that rate, I’d be spending more and more time building features instead of focusing on the heart of the business.”
Their main challenges were straightforward:
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Tracking available items
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Creating accurate email confirmations
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Quickly adding new product variations
The custom-built system was consuming time and energy that could have been spent improving customer experience.
Finding a better solution with Booqable
Eventually, the team realized they needed a more efficient way to manage their growing rental business. Booqable offered a practical alternative to their complicated self-built system. Reflecting on the transition, Rohul noted, “Booqable gave me a complete system out of the box, so we could stop coding and start scaling. It let me shift my energy back to growth and customer experience, which is where it really counts.”
Booqable’s availability feature solved several immediate problems. When customers browse the online store, they see a clear calendar showing item availability. Green dates indicate full availability, yellow shows limited stock, and red marks fully booked periods.
“Guests love seeing what’s available and getting instant clarity on what dates certain items are available,” Rohul shared. “That transparency helps them book faster and with less frustration.”
The Booqable mobile app also made inventory management much simpler for Rohul and his team. Team members can now scan barcodes when preparing and returning items, ensuring accurate real-time updates. This means customers always see current availability, reducing confusion and preventing double bookings.
Improving SEO with product tags
One unexpected benefit came with Booqable’s product tagging. When Rohul added a portable bidet to his rental catalogue, he realized customers might search using different cultural terms. By adding multiple search tags like “bidet spray,” “health faucet,” and “Muslim shower,” as tags to his Booqable product - this made the product more discoverable within his product catalogue.
Describing a pivotal moment, Rohul recounted, “After we added the portable bidet, some Southeast Asian friends searched for it using the names they knew from their cultures - and came up empty. Thanks to Booqable’s quick tagging system, I added those terms within seconds. When they searched again, the product showed up instantly. It turned a moment of frustration into a ‘wow’ moment, and showed us how important localization is - even in rentals.”
The Booqable backend allows easy tag management, helping his growing team of 5 continuously improve how customers from different languages and cultures find Homey Rentals.
Plans to expand
Homey Rentals plans to expand into other U.S. cities. Booqable will help manage inventory across multiple locations, allowing the team to focus on what matters: helping travelers feel more at home.
What started as a solution to personal travel frustrations has become a practical service that understands the real challenges travelers face. Sometimes, the right tool can make all the difference in turning a good idea into a working business.
