Hosting tips

When a guest enters one of my listings, the property literally springs to life. They are welcomed by name by an AI Avatar on the TV, rolling out a digital 'red carpet' immediately. Within seconds, guests can tell the smart home their ideal temperature, or even mention they're hungry—prompting the microwave to fire up and start popping popcorn.But my favorite automation solves the classic 'Group Amnesia' problem. We've all had bookings where the lead guest knows the rules, but the rest of the group is totally clueless, right? To fix this, I have a motion-triggered announcement that plays the night before departure. It ensures the whole group hears the checkout time and procedures, so no one is left guessing. Or if I need a vehicle moved or the trash to be taken out, I use my mobile smart remote to both program the message and set the motion trigger.When it's time to leave, guests simply load the dishwasher and hit a physical 'Checkout' button on their way out. That single press adjusts

Hi Community!With Vrbo announcing its new 12% commission effective October 29, 2026, I have a few questions about how this change will affect hosts using the Vrbo Partner integration through Hospitable.I've reviewed Vrbo's announcement and reached out to my Vrbo account manager, but I haven't received clear answers to some important questions.1. Does the new 12% commission apply to all listings connected through Hospitable's Vrbo Partner integration?Are there any differences based on the integration type or payment processing setup?2. What happens to the Traveler Service Fee?Will Vrbo continue charging guests a separate service fee on top of the new 12% host commission? If so, what percentage should we expect? Is there a published formula? Looks like this fee is dynamic and a mystery, lol. 3. What is the actual total cost of a booking?Between Vrbo's 12% commission, payment processing fees, and the Traveler Service Fee, I'm trying to understand the combined impact on both hosts and gues

Has anyone else experienced this? I was getting most my volume from VRBO. As soon as I moved it to be managed through Hospitable, I’ve gotten zero bookings through VRBO and only coming from Airbnb.  at first, the connection was the issue and I figured that out but I’ve confirmed I’m live on VRBO.  I'm in South Florida so I am in SLOW season. But last year I definitely had more bookings than I do right now. 

We used Happy Guest and want to share our experience so other hosts can make an informed decision. During a financial audit of our account, we found charges that didn't match reservations or usage of the platform, or what we'd been agreed to: policy coverage that was added without our knowledge or approval, duplicate charges on the same reservation, and charges applied to guests who never even used the Happy Guest portal, despite being told directly that non-use of the portal meant no charge would apply (and instructions on how to avoid the charges). When we raised this, it took multiple escalations over about three weeks to get any real engagement. One rep's responses felt scripted and didn't address our questions to the point we thought we were being answered by AI. We were eventually told by phone that there is no signed written agreement, that pricing and policies are based on what was discussed in the original sales call rather than anything in writing. We were told they were goin

Is anyone using Happy Guest? My STRs are smaller, single family properties (both 2 bedrooms). I am considering using Happy Guest so I can list on VRBO and have accidental insurance coverage as well as a rental agreement. My concern is Happy Guest requires me to purchase a policy on all guest, including my Airbnb guests. I worry about getting pushback from Airbnb guests on the two options to either 1) purchase the coverage for $37 OR 2) put a $1000 hold on their cc. $37 is a lot to add on considering what my price point is and some may not have $1000 room on a credit card.  I have reviewed two properties that use Happy guest and looked through their guest reviews and BOTH properties had an unfavorable review due to having this pop up after making their reservation. Both properties clearly state this requirement prior to booking but as we all know most guests do not read all the info prior to booking.  For those using Happy Guest, what has been your experience? 

Who has an STR VA or small VA team you personally use and would recommend? I have 5 properties and already automate most guest messaging through Hospitable. I need reservation approvals, 24/7 maintenance/emergency response, vendor sourcing and dispatch, cleaner/vendor coordination, and follow-through. Marketing/social media experience would be a bonus. I'm not looking for full property management. Please only recommend someone you personally use or have used.

I am considering using PriceLabs. I currently have dynamic pricing turned on with Hospitable. I am a new host and am unsure which is better. Should I stick with Hospitable dynamic pricing? 

Quick question for other property managers - when you send end-of-year 1099s to owners you manage for, what income figure do you report?Net reservation income (after Airbnb/Vrbo's host service fee is already deducted), or the full gross amount before that fee comes out?I’m trying to nail down what’s more of the standard practice. If I recall correctly, the Hospitable owner statements default to only showing the Net reservation income as opposed to showing the Gross.

👉 Priced too High? Too Low?👉 Not knowing your value?👉 Not knowing the market? I want to hear your opinion!

My question is, what method is everyone using to find a property for purchase, when you are looking to add to your portfolio? Does anyone have a solid place to find leads or STRs that are already setup / turn key?

I manage $1.3 million in bookings  and 2200 reservations a year and I’m on many platforms. Booking.com is by far the absolute worst. I do everything you’re supposed to do, we require a deposit, we require ID verification all that kind of stuff through charge automation but somehow we still just get absolute nightmare guests. Anytime I have to interact with Booking.com‘s customer support. It is a joke. Case in point, a guest recently Booked for six people at my house, paid the damage deposit, gave the names and ages of the guests, and then 30 people showed up at my house. When I contacted Booking.com about this, they said that they cannot cancel this guests reservation without their consent, which is just incredible. Does anyone have any contact with people that actually work in Booking.com like some kind of higher level rep or someone in the PR team or something? I just don’t understand how their service offerings can be so bad.

I’m wondering how other hosts take care of pass thru taxes?

Hello, Our guests, like I’m sure many of yours, leave all Airconditioning units and lights on nearly 24 hours a day which is costly besides the impact on the longevity of the airconditioning units as wellas the energy waste. We installed some smart systems that automatically turn the main airco off and on based on occupancy but it’s not impacting usage as guests will use other remotes. My thought is to let guests pay for their own electricity ⚡️. We rent small houses and have separate meters for the houses. Any recommendations, experience with this option?kind Regards, Zula

I'm building a co-hosting business in the Sacramento / Placer County area. I'm at the point where I need a named backup who can cover guest messages and urgent issues when I'm away or unreachable. It's just me right now, so a full-time VA isn't in the budget yet.For those of you running co-hosting or small management businesses:Where did you find your backup? Is yours a reciprocal swap with another host, a paid VA, or a local handyman or cleaner? What did you put in writing (response times, spending limits, pay)? What would you do differently?Thanks in advance.

We currently have a doozie of a guest in one of our BNBs and they booked a non-refundable stay with us on March 13th and then tried to cancel on the 20th.  I declined since we are NOT the trip insurance but rather a host who is being asked to refund a . . . non-refundable booking. Fast forward 10 days and the guest chose to travel anyways (as would I since they sunk the cost and it’s a beautiful place) and guess who shows up?  A grumpy goose. They are demanding that the hot tub be serviced becuase it was unusable when they arrived (professionally serviced each week, so what do they mean?)  Reading the tea leaves here . . . this person is bitter due to not getting a refund on a non-refundable booking.  So they show up and have an unsurprisingly frustrating stay.  What will their review say? However, all of this is likely retaliation from them not getting to cancel the booking, so is there a way to prevent a review from being left? 

Hello to anyone using VRBO!This is my first booking for VRBO and I need to manually invoice the owner for my 25% Co-Host commission rate. I do not need to do this for AirBnB, because I am already set-up as a Co-Host on that platform to received my 25% commission rate plus the cleaning fee.Is anyone able to help me mirror AirBnB’s fee split for VRBO, so I can explain to the owner how I got to the 25% commission for this VRBO booking? I know AirBnB deducts the Host Service Fee (3%) and the Cleaning Fee, prior to the split and they do this off of the Host’s Payout (not what the Guest paid), and AirBnB does leave in the pet fee, for the Owner and Co-Host to split, but luckily no pet fee here.I guess my last questions other than calculating the 25% Co-Host percentage + Cleaning Fee, is if there is any way for this invoice split to happen automatically? 

This month marks the first time I’ve used the owner statement feature in conjunction with co-host payouts. Overall, the tracking looks good—however, the “Owner Income” field is not displaying correctly.This figure is obviously one of the most important metrics for my owners, but unfortunately, customer support hasn’t been able to provide a solution.For context: The Airbnb payout is remitted directly to us (the co-host). The VRBO payout is sent directly to the owner. Owner payouts are being held by the owner, yet the system does not reflect this under “Owner Income.” Is anyone else experiencing this issue, or found a workaround? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Does any operate in these states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Texas, Vermont, Washington or Puerto Rico? And if you do, are you part of your state’s association for vacation rental hosts and professionals? Hospitable has made it easy to connect & support STR advocacy work happening in your backyard!  When you enroll in the Right to Rent integration, you’ll be supporting your state association by contributing $2 per booking toward the organizations that are working every day to protect your property rights and preserve your right to rent.  And don’t forget to opt in to the Half Stays Local program, and select your state, during enrollment!  Don’t see your state listed? Connect with me, Julie, and let’s work together to change that!  julie@r2rcollaborative.org   

Within Airbnb how many people utilize MULTIPLE discounts like Trip Length, Last Minute and/or Early Bird discounts? Tell me which ones do you have setup or use in Airbnb?  

Hi, i'm looking to invest in an ev charger,What is everybody using what brand? and had the best of luck with

Can anyone recommend a FREE or one time only fee, easy to setup simple digital guidebook, that can highlight things to do in the area? 

Hello,I just launched a studio unit in Atlanta. Could hosts and team explain some tips on improving my booking conversion during orphan nights midweek?https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1765344594586775050?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=a43e58f1-996f-4dca-805f-aa8f60b4ff4b Check out our listing above. Bibiana Aguero     

We have a hot tub and I would LOVE to see anyone’s hot tub agreements and signage around hot tub. Looking for the proper terminology for the rental agreement and creative ways to have Hot tub rules hung.

How far in advance is it proper to open up the calendar for booking?

I built a couple of revenue-recovery automations for Hospitable — looking for hosts to try themI manage several STRs through Hospitable and kept noticing two pretty simple places where revenue was slipping through the cracks: Orphan nights — those annoying 1–2 night gaps between reservations that are difficult to sell normally. Expired Airbnb inquiries/offers — guests who showed real booking intent but never completed the reservation. So I built a plugin/workflow that uses the Hospitable connection to automate both.For gap nights, it finds the vacancy and determines whether it makes more sense to offer the departing guest an extra night or the arriving guest an early arrival. It only works one guest at a time and keeps track of who has already been contacted.For expired inquiries, it looks for genuine booking prospects whose offer expired and can send a targeted follow-up rather than just treating every old inquiry as a lead.I intentionally made it fairly conservative. It won't inven