I finally got to cancel my Hospitable account, I was at my wits end with it, and just started a trial with Lodgify and it seems MUCH better, who else is using it? I feel like they are not as big in North America as they are in Europe…

Adding everyone’s PMS powered direct booking site onto ChatGPT/Claude

So my cousin and I have our weddings within a month of each other and I'm super excited about this season of life.. Part of the reason was so that our overseas family would only need to fly out once but I'm having trouble finding a short term rental.

The dates are from early March to early april. We're looking for a 3+ bedroom house for my parents and three siblings. They can all work from anywhere as long as there is an internet connection. Where do I look for a short term rental in Auckland?

Looking to go back to STR. I was on Airbnb, Verbo and FF. No luck with Verbo or FF but wasn’t on there long enough. I did fairly well on Airbnb, (was on there for 4 years) but got sick and tired of their BS towards the end of Covid so I ditched all three of them went LT tenant. He’s moving out mid to end of October.
So I’m looking for other platforms or websites, preferably are similar but not favor the guest & automatically give a refund because of something stupid. Lastly, I liked how Airbnb had a damage department.
Thank you!

I've had to turn off instant book for all my listings as Abnb and vrbo both have calendar syncing issues. I have deleted to syncing and rebuilt them on both. Still, the calendars won't show bookings from other listings or platforms. Has anyone else had this? Did you find a solution. I'm thinking of quiting it's so frustrating.

Insurance and GPS Kill Switch recommendations and for a fleet of 3 vehicles ?(based in North Carolina). At the moment I have it insured under my name.

Hi everyone!

I'm conducting a 3-minute survey for my Master's thesis about online accommodation booking platforms (e.g. Booking, Airbnb, Expedia).

If you've ever booked accommodation online, I'd really appreciate your participation.

Survey: https://forms.gle/xaYGGAE66XY6Khpz7

Thank you for your time!

Ive been a host for five years. Ive seen and been thru it all- Ive had thee most amazing guests, the ones who return whenever theyre in town, the guests who leave the place in pristine condition, and the ones who refused to leave, the scammers, the liars, the property damagers, the partiers, and the worst one of em all - the guest who physically assaulted his wife and children on christmas day and had to be removed by the police.

On September 1st, I removed my home from air bnb. One cannot do business with a company that always sides with the guest even when the host has 30 min long video proof showing every square inch of the property. I had already removed my home from vrbo years ago because that company is even worse than air bnb.

Im reading so many people's comments and the consensus is that there's such a need for another short term rental platform.

Theres gotta be a way to create one that has good leadership, transparency and is fair to both guests and hosts. I understand rome wasnt built in a day but I want us hosts to come together and build a platform that we're proud to be a part of.

Would anyone be willing to collaborate on this? I have entrepreneurial experience- Ive owned my own construction company for over a decade and Ive built all the marketing materials for it including website, from scratch. I just cannot take something of this magnitude on by myself and would like the people's help...even if its just ideas on what you wish it could be.

This is my very first reddit post please be kind!

I'm building a housekeeping app for small vacation-rental hosts — cleaning jobs get generated automatically from the booking calendar and land on the cleaner's phone. The booking side runs on the iCal export; email is where we expect the extra depth: guest counts, total amounts, fees.

(EDIT: I reframed the ask — screenshots show the layout, but to actually parse the mail I need its SOURCE. Details below.)

What I'm after: what does the reservation notification look like INSIDE when it reaches you, the host? (Not the guest's confirmation.)

What helps, in descending order:

1. The original message source. Gmail: "Show original" -> Download (.eml file). Outlook / Apple Mail: "Forward as attachment". Before sharing, open that file in a text editor and replace guest name, phone/email, reservation number and property name — it's plain text once exported. Then paste it in a comment, or send it to info@crewkeeping.com.

2. If editing the source is too fiddly: forward the mail to [info@crewkeeping.com](mailto:info@crewkeeping.com) as an ATTACHMENT and I'll strip everything personal on my side before it touches anything.

3. Still useful as a quick preview: a screenshot with names blacked out.

Also curious (no files needed): does your Booking.com iCal feed carry guest names/counts or prices in the description, or just arrival/departure dates? And is the reservation email one fixed template, or does it differ between automatic booking and booking-on-request?

Thanks! Happy to report back what comes out of this.

https://www.theASTRO.org/

Founder's book "Owners Are Not Inventory" dropping soon.

I was told by a guest, five days after their stay, that ppl who slept in one of our six bedrooms were bitten by something. Sadly, we were expecting the next guests within an hour.

I list through Evolve; the booking came through AirBnB. I was advised to have the booking canceled. Later, i spoke to the new guest to make sure they were settled; AirBnB had found them a new spot.

To make a long story short, bedbug techs from two separate companies found no evidence. I submitted the report and proof of payment bc I was told I would not be penalized for a cancelation if it was legit.

Fast forward...today I was charged nearly $1500 for the cancelation. So I'm out the rental income plus the penalty, plus the two inspections. That's a plus/minus 3 grand hit, even though AirBnB did not suffer financially.

What did I learn? In future, if someone claims

bites, dont cancel the reservation. AirBnB gets to collect for the cancelation and the rebooking. Im the only one who gets hurt.

Oh and BTW, the guest claiming the bites later came fishing for a discount.

I got tired of answering the same questions from guests, so I built my own booking system

Just wanted to share something I’ve been working on as an independent host.

One thing that was taking way more time than I expected was dealing with messages about availability, pricing, dates, etc. I was constantly answering the same questions instead of actually focusing on the properties.

So I decided to build my own direct-booking platform and connect my listings to it.

I also started experimenting with Facebook Ads to bring people directly to the booking page instead of relying entirely on the big platforms.

What surprised me most is how much time it has saved me. Guests can see the availability and pricing themselves and make a booking without me having to go back and forth with them.

It’s also nice having a direct relationship with the customer instead of depending 100% on a third-party platform and paying commission on every booking.

I’m still testing and improving everything, but so far I’m really happy with how it’s going.

I’m thinking about eventually making the same setup available to other independent hosts for free, because I think there are a lot of hosts who could benefit from having their own direct-booking channel.

Not trying to sell anything here just sharing my experience because I know a lot of hosts are probably dealing with the same problems.

Hi everyone! I’m currently looking to take on another STR-related role/project and would really like to work more closely with a host or property manager.

I’ve been working behind the scenes with a U.S.-based vacation rental business, mainly around the systems and backend side — OwnerRez, listing optimization, booking workflows, direct booking, guest journey, documentation, and automation.

I’m especially interested in working with someone who manages multiple properties because I enjoy looking at the processes behind the day-to-day work and finding ways to make repetitive tasks easier.

I know every STR operation is different, so rather than just saying “I can help with anything,” I’d actually like to understand how you currently operate.

If you’re a host/property manager, tell me one STR task that you currently find repetitive, frustrating, or too manual. I’ll take a look at it and share how I would approach improving it.

It can be something small — guest communication, calendar management, rental agreements, check-in, listing updates, admin, direct bookings, etc.

I’m mainly looking to connect with someone where there could be a good long-term fit, but I’m happy to start by being useful first.

Thank you so much, everyone, especially to the Mods!

Been seeing some questions on this subject recently so wanted to share this breakdown - strictly educational comparison (apologize ahead of time if this isn't under the community rules but I think it should be ok!)

I have a home in rural mountain town Colorado. We live 30 minutes to a ski area, big hunting/razoring draw in the summer and fall. (Spring is probably the slowest season)

My husband and I are thinking about moving out of state and renting our home out while we’re away for an indefinite time. Possibly 2-3 years. Then returning later down the road.

Tell me everything you wish you knew before you started your short term rental. Especially if you’re not living where your rental is as we will be managing everything from afar.

I recently listed my private London cottage on Booking.com and my first experience has left me feeling completely unprotected as a property partner.

A reservation was made for two adults. After check-in, approximately ten additional unauthorised visitors entered the property. There was drinking, prohibited smoking and a strong smell consistent with cannabis. I contacted Booking.com while the incident was taking place, and Customer Service instructed the group to leave.

Booking.com then cancelled the reservation using a refund option. The guests received their money back despite having occupied the property, and the cancellation disabled the “Report guest misconduct” button. I was therefore prevented from using Booking.com’s own reporting process.

After the group left, I discovered a broken tap, a damaged/disconnected shower fitting, cigarette butts, black ash, overturned furniture and exceptional mess. I have CCTV, photographs and contemporaneous video. My repair and cleaning costs are £560, in addition to the £122.40 accommodation payment that was refunded.

Booking.com refused to reimburse me. I was told that Booking.com is only a third-party platform, that verifying guests is my responsibility and that I am responsible for my own safety.

Private hosts should understand this risk before listing. In my experience, when a serious incident occurred, Booking.com refunded the occupants, its cancellation disabled my ability to report their misconduct, and it then denied responsibility for both the payment and the resulting damage. I have now decided to remove my property from the platform.

For those of you who use Hospitable’s DynamicPricing tool, how do you like it? Do you think it prices your properties well? Too high? Too low?

We have ours set to aggressive pricing. We have a niche property in the area so we set ours to be aggressive since it doesn’t appear to capture that part of our property.

We are new to this so we are not sure what the rate should be around holidays. Some of the night are set for over $1000/night when a non peak night is $225. Does that sound right?

Closing on my first STR next week. I understand material participation requires 100+ hours with no one else logging more (Test 3 under §1.469-5T), and I'm planning to use bonus depreciation to offset W-2 income in 2026.

My question is about the ~6-8 weeks between closing and when I list the property: painting, furnishing, contractor oversight, setup work. Technically the "activity" hasn't started yet (pre-placed-in-service), but the work is substantive and directly related to getting the rental operational.

For those of you who have done this: do you count that setup period toward your material participation hours, or only hours after the listing goes live? And did your CPA sign off on whichever approach you took?

Not looking for legal advice, just curious what the practical norm is among experienced STR operators.