Houseboating.org

What Houseboating.org does

Houseboating.org is a privately held, direct-to-consumer online travel agency that aggregates houseboat vacation rentals across 13 lake and waterway destinations in North America, including Lake Powell, Lake Cumberland, Lake Mead, Shasta Lake, Dale Hollow Lake, Lake Roosevelt, Lake Mohave, Bull Shoals Lake, Lake Don Pedro, Everglades National Park, Smith Mountain Lake, St. Johns River, and Voyageurs National Park. The platform lists over 200 houseboat styles ranging from 36-foot to 90-foot vessels with capacities of 6 to 16+ sleepers, plus complementary add-ons such as watercraft rentals, docked/floating cottage options, and Lake Powell anchoring services. It originated in 1998 as part of the Go Travel Sites family of travel websites with Lake Powell bookings and was formalized under President Tom Berens in 2004; the company is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, with a team of approximately 6-10 reservation agents and support staff.

The core product is a centralized booking platform with destination-specific rental portals, a "My Trip" customer management portal, and a reservation agent support layer accessible via toll-free phone (888-454-8825), text (801-214-0576), and online request forms. Underlying technology is described as an "online booking platform and reservation management system" with no disclosed proprietary AI, API, or SDK components. The platform is supported by an extensive SEO-optimized content library (128+ blog posts, destination guides, pricing tables, photo galleries, and FAQs) and a 60,000+ subscriber monthly newsletter.

The business model is transaction-fee based: Houseboating.org acts as an intermediary/booking agent connecting individual and group vacationers with marina operators, earning commissions and service fees on each rental. Per-booking GMV varies widely by vessel and season, with 5-day Lake Powell rentals ranging from roughly $1,855 (entry-level, off-peak) to over $21,000 (premium), and 7-day premium houseboats at Antelope Point reaching up to approximately $24,500. The go-to-market is a hybrid of content-led/SEO top-of-funnel demand capture and a sales-led, agent-assisted booking experience that the company positions as a key differentiator against automated booking platforms. Revenue is not publicly disclosed.

Name

Houseboating.org

Legal name

Houseboating.org

Website

https://houseboating.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Houseboating.org is a privately held online travel agency that books houseboat vacation rentals across 13 North American lake destinations, serving individual families and groups via an agent-assisted, commission-based platform with over 200 houseboat styles listed.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Vacation Rental Booking Services

NAICS

Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Water (48721)

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000)

akta.pro primary industry

Houseboats & Floating Stays (THAMADAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

River Cruise Booking & Distribution (Direct/Agents/OTAs) (THAEACAF)

Keywords

• Houseboat rental bookings
• Vacation rental platform
• Online travel agency
• Houseboat vacation planning
• Watercraft rental services

Headquarters

HQ city

Not specified

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Houseboat Rental Bookings: The company acts as an intermediary/booking agent connecting customers with houseboat rental operators across 13 lake destinations. Revenue is generated through booking commissions and service fees from marina operators. Customers book and pay for houseboat rentals through the platform, with the company facilitating reservations and providing customer support.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Houseboating.org operates as an online booking intermediary connecting individual consumers with houseboat rental operators across 13 lake destinations in North America. Revenue is generated through booking commissions and service fees paid by marina operators on each reservation, with knowledgeable reservation agents providing phone, text, and online form-based booking support. The platform surfaces 200+ houseboat styles, complementary watercraft add-ons, docked houseboat options, and destination-specific pricing and content.

Product overview

Houseboating.org is a houseboat vacation booking platform offering centralized access to over 200 styles of houseboats at 13 destinations across North America. The platform consists of a core booking engine with destination-specific rental portals, a My Trip customer management portal, and reservation agent support. Add-on products include watercraft rentals (ski boats, pontoons, fishing boats, kayaks, PWCs), docked houseboat options (Floathouzzes, Floating Inn), professional anchoring services, and a newsletter subscription service. The product portfolio covers the full vacation planning lifecycle from destination discovery and comparison through booking, trip management, and post-trip follow-up.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Houseboat Rental Booking Platform Centralized online booking platform that lets individual consumers search, compare, and reserve houseboats across 13 destinations in North America, with featured destination pages, pricing tables, promotional specials, photo galleries, and personalized reservation agent support.
• Destination-Specific Houseboat Rentals Thirteen destination-specific rental portals covering Lake Powell, Lake Cumberland, Lake Mead, Shasta Lake, Dale Hollow Lake, Lake Roosevelt, Lake Mohave, Bull Shoals Lake, Everglades National Park, Smith Mountain Lake, St. Johns River, Voyageurs National Park, and Lake Don Pedro, each with dedicated houseboat listings, marina pricing, specials, and travel information.
• Docked Houseboat Rentals Floating cottage and docked houseboat rental options including Floathouzzes at Lake Cumberland, Floating Inn at Lake Powell, and Harbor Cottage models that remain moored at marinas rather than cruising — bookable through the platform for guests who want the houseboat experience without navigating.
• Watercraft and Boat Add-On Rentals Additional recreational watercraft available to bundle with houseboat bookings, including pontoon boats, fishing boats, speed boats, kayaks, canoes, personal watercraft (SeaDoo/PWC), wakeboard boats, paddleboards, and tubes.
• Lake Powell Anchoring Services Professional anchoring service (Beach Bags Anchoring) for Lake Powell houseboats, providing secure shoreline mooring during monsoonal weather conditions, available as an add-on to Lake Powell bookings.
• 75-foot Yacht Houseboat (Lake Powell Antelope Point) Premium 75-foot Yacht houseboat available for rent at Lake Powell's Antelope Point marina, accommodating 14-16 people with 4 private staterooms, 4 semi-private lower berths, sofa sleeper, 2 refrigerators, and top-deck amenities — a top-of-line vessel in the company's Lake Powell fleet.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Vrbo: Major vacation rental OTA owned by Expedia Group that lists unique stays including houseboats at many US lakes. Competes for the same end customers with a much broader inventory and brand reach, though lacking the houseboat-specialist curation and agent-assisted service.
• Airbnb: Global vacation rental platform that increasingly features unique stays including houseboats. Competes on the discovery layer and increasingly on bookings for unique floating accommodations, putting pressure on niche houseboat platforms via SEO and brand.
• Forever Resorts: Concessionaire operating marinas and lodging at multiple National Park Service sites including Lake Mead and Lake Mohave, with direct houseboat rental inventory. Competes with Houseboating.org as both a supplier (potential partner) and a direct-booking alternative for the same destinations.
• Seven Crown Resorts: Operates marinas with houseboat rentals at Lake Shasta, Lake Don Pedro, and other California/Nevada lakes. Provides direct houseboat bookings at multiple destinations that overlap with Houseboating.org's coverage, making it both a partner and a competitive direct-booking channel.

Emerging players

• Boatsetter: Peer-to-peer boat rental marketplace offering insured boat and watercraft rentals across the US. Comparable marketplace-based intermediation model, but focused on short-term day rentals and peer-supplied inventory rather than multi-day houseboat vacations.

Direct peers

• GetMyBoat: Online marketplace for boat rentals including houseboats, yachts, and personal watercraft. Operates a similar commission-based booking intermediary model, but with broader scope across all boat categories rather than houseboat specialization.
• CruiseDirect: Cruise-only online booking agency with agent-assisted reservations and curated cruise inventory. Closely analogous business model to Houseboating.org: specialized leisure-travel booking intermediary with phone-based agents and commission revenue from suppliers.
• Vacations To Go: Cruise-focused online travel agency with agent-assisted booking across a specialized leisure-vacation category. Operates a comparable niche-booking + agent model, with similar commission economics, though applied to ocean/river cruises rather than houseboats.

Others

• Antelope Point Marina: Lake Powell marina operator offering direct houseboat rentals, including the premium vessels (such as the 75-foot Yacht) featured on Houseboating.org. Functions as both an inventory supplier and a direct-booking competitor for Lake Powell, Houseboating.org's flagship destination.
• Lake Powell Adventure Resort / Aramark Lake Powell: Concessionaire and lodging/houseboat operators at Lake Powell-area marinas (Wahweap, Bullfrog). Functions as both supplier partner and direct-booking competitor for Houseboating.org's largest destination, with pricing on many overlapping vessel classes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/houseboatingorg
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCY2lmVYqgXXPHJ0o6cUF9RA
• Facebookfacebook.com/Houseboatingorg
• Instagraminstagram.com/houseboating_org
• Pinterestpinterest.com/houseboatrental
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/houseboating-org

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Houseboating.org