Direct Bookings, AI Magic, and 2025 Forecasts with Michael Elefante

In this episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast, we welcome Michael Elefante, a successful STR investor, entrepreneur, and coach. Michael is the founder of BNB Investor Academy, the most in-depth short-term rental coaching program that teaches people how to find, invest in, and manage STRs successfully.

Michael shares his short-term rental journey and reveals why he launched BNB Investor Academy to help beginner investors scale like he did. We dive into how Michael uses Hospitable's AI, direct booking engine, and top‑notch support to streamline operations and boost profit. Michael also shares fresh 2025 STR trends in shifting guest expectations.  

Press Play now to learn how Michael built a successful short-term rental business, launched a coaching program, and uses technology to manage around 400 properties remotely.

If you prefer to read the highlights, we've got a summary of the key takeaways below.

How Michael Started with Short-Term Rentals

Michael reveals that when he first invested in a short-term rental property in 2019, he fell in love with the process. "I fell in love with hosting people and figuring out strategic ways to maximize my monthly cash flow and my return on investment," he says. "And then I was, low and slow over the years, just kind of started posting online, talking about, educating people around the world."

Michael owns and operates multiple businesses, including an interior design company, a coaching business, and a collective of businesses centered around a property management company. In 2021, he created BNB Investor Academy to help others learn how to invest in and manage rental properties.

How BNB Investor Academy Works

Michael points out that he didn't intend to build the BNB Investor Academy until there was a lot of demand for it. "Before I started, I was taking free calls, just for anybody interested in learning about short-term rentals because I loved it so much," he explains.

He wanted to help others get started, and many people asked him about more formal coaching or an online course. So, Michael first created an online course, but later, he realized that people wanted more than just a course and educational content.

"They wanted handholding, mentorship, true coaching that can help push them along their journey and get into a property faster, learn the ropes, make sure they're set up on good systems, like using Hospitable as a property management software, and all that good stuff. So they can find greater success than they could otherwise on their own."

Michael's coaching program has grown substantially over the years. "I have a full-time team of around 30 people, and we have a strategic partner, such as Hospitable, that helps in the coaching and mentorship for our students, which is great. It's six months of active coaching, and we have maybe 30 coaching calls a week that students can access in addition to one-on-one support."

Managing STR Portfolio

Currently, Michael is entirely focused on short-term rentals and uses, as he calls it, the Airbnb and BRRRR strategy, which works well for them. They look for properties under market value but "need a good bit of work and TLC." They fix them up to increase their value. They also strategically focus on design and add amenities that allow them to charge higher rates, help increase occupancy, and give the property a competitive edge long-term.

"We only have nine properties, but not all are created equal. So, I'd rather manage nine that produce over 2 million a year, which they do in gross rental income, than 50, just because of the ease of management. And I'd rather be a little more strategic."

All their properties are spread out in a few different geographic areas, so they manage everything remotely using "great software tools" that help reduce manual or monotonous work and increase efficiency. "Since we started the property management company in 2022, we have scaled that to around 400 properties under management. So gratefully, I have a lot of support team systems, and SOPs in place to manage not only my and my business partners' properties but all properties for all homeowners we work with."

What Michael Likes about Hospitable

Michael has been using Hospitable for many years, and he thinks the biggest thing that attracted him was the level of support and the responsiveness of the customer support agents, who always help resolve any issues quickly. He also points out that Hospitable offers excellent features that make managing STRs easier and save time.

"Some cool features that Hospitable has released and is planning on releasing are centered around AI. Instead of hiring people or VAs, you have these tools built in at no additional cost to what you're already paying for Hospitable, which is very affordable. And that makes things so much easier, so you can manage a whole portfolio of properties and spend a fraction of the time."

2025 STR Trends

Speaking about trends defining the STR industry in 2025, Michael points out that today's travelers prioritize tailored experiences, sound design, and high-value amenities. "I think anybody out there who is actively involved in the short-term rental industry would probably agree; it's experience-driven. All Airbnb seems to be focused right now on putting experiences in front of guests."

Michael thinks hosts who want to beat the competition in any market should focus on creating memorable experiences, considering their target audience's expectations and preferences. He suggests creating something that guests "don't get to use at home or very frequently in their lives." Michael thinks you can achieve this "through amenities or the location, the setting of the property, and how you deliver that to guests."

Tune in to the full episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast to discover actionable insights from a short-term rental investing expert and get a dose of host-to-host inspiration.