From Airbnb’s Early Days to Direct Booking Powerhouse: Erika Sampaio’s Journey

In this episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast, we welcome Erika Sampaio-Doherty, Founder of Manage This Home, a full-service Airbnb property management company servicing the Catskills and Hudson Valley areas. Erika manages 20 STR properties and uses Hospitable to streamline operations (she is our Mogul plan customer). Recently, Erika has hit $500K on Direct.

Erika shares her short-term rental journey from Airbnb's early days to launching a property management business, the challenges she met along the way, and her plans for the future.

Press Play now to discover how Erika has built a thriving property management business and what strategies she uses to get about 35 to 40 percent of bookings from Direct.

Do you prefer to read the highlights? We've got a summary of the key takeaways below.

How Erika Started Her Short-Term Rental Journey

Erika says she started with short-term rentals about 16 years ago when Airbnb was also starting, but they had a different business model then. They leased a building in Midtown Manhattan, close to Bryant Park, renovated those apartments, and then rented them out on Booking.com.

"Back then, Airbnb was new. Nobody knew Airbnb. There was no Hospitable to help us rent through Airbnb. So back then, the big thing used to be Booking.com. And if you wanted to work with one or more channels, you were out of luck. You almost didn't want to work with Airbnb because the cost of overbooking is so expensive. 13 years ago, you didn't have property management software to facilitate your life, so it was costly to make those mistakes."

They had been operating their business for about nine years when the pandemic hit, so they shut down. Then, she and her husband moved to Upstate New York, and their neighbors started asking Erika to help them rent their house on Airbnb because Erika had gone to a hospitality school at Cornell University. "This is when I opened Manage This Home."

First, Erika aimed to manage 20 properties because she wanted to have enough time for her family and enjoy life, but now she plans to grow her business. "I met 20 properties, and now I want to have 30. And, interestingly, it became possible because we have the tools."

How to Drive More Direct Bookings

"Today, about 35 to 40 percent of our bookings are direct," Erika says. She thinks they can only achieve that because they have the tools provided by Hospitable to accept direct bookings safely.

"You can always do direct bookings, but when managing other people's houses, you must do it safely. There's a big difference with that because you still need to have insurance, verify that the person is who they say they are, and that there is no sex trafficking. There are so many things that can happen," she explains.

Erika encourages people to book directly. They created an automated message flow to ensure effective communication with guests throughout their stay and establish a good relationship without being intrusive or invasive. At the end of the stay, they send a message offering guests a 10-15 percent discount if they decide to book a stay again and share a link to their website.

"But at that point, we already have their email, and we ask them if they want to opt into direct communications," Erika points out. Then, every month, they send their guests one or two newsletters.  

"The way that we've been structuring this email is we pick a property that we manage, and we create an itinerary saying, so this is how you can enjoy this property if you book a three-week stay there. And we highlight all the amenities of the property and places around the area."

Erika also underlines the importance of creating a memorable guest experience and building trust. "We have different properties in our portfolio. We have mansions and cottages, everything in between, but most importantly, incredible customer service. And that comes because I'm from the hospitality industry. I'm sure my clients keep returning to us because of the trust."

About Using Hospitable

Erika says she was a legacy user and has recently moved to the Mogul plan. "I'm going through the pain of setting everything up on my end. But I think Hospitable has evolved incredibly over the past two or three years. And the timing works, you know, that it's clear that there is this relationship of trust where I see so much improvement this past two years that I trust that you guys will keep doing everything at that speed."

Erika explained that she switched to the Mogul plan because she thought it could help her scale her property management business better. "Building from 20 to 30, 40 properties requires completely different tools. And the Mogul plan, this is where it makes total sense to grow, at least for me."

Qualities of Effective Property Managers

Erika gave advice to property owners looking for a property manager in their area. "I think that they should have somebody that thinks through the setup process, all the troubleshooting ahead of time before going live, putting the time in and taking a couple of months to set up stock, learn the house, write down that incredible guest book with answers for guests that want to do things on their own, or training videos for us to be able to give our VAs. Take time to do that. I think that's important."

Erika underlines that the STR industry is highly competitive and has been taken over by professionals. "Working with a professional who will bring you a team and set you up for success pays off," she adds.

Tune in to the full episode of the latest Hospitable Hosts podcast to get inspired by Erika's journey into full-service property management and learn about the strategies and tools that help her succeed.