Using AI to Grow Vacation Rental Business and Save Time

podcast Theresa Holl
By The Hospitable Team

The impact of Artificial intelligence (AI) can be seen across different industries, and vacation rentals are no exception. Designed to enhance and augment human capabilities, AI-powered tools can be a significant time-saver for hosts and give them a competitive edge.

That’s why the new episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast focuses on using AI technology in short-term rentals. Theresa Holl, the co-owner and the head of sales of Lumos Host, a company specializing in providing growth courses and coaching for vacation rental owners, joins us to discuss how hosts can use AI tools to manage their business with greater efficiency and drive more bookings.

Press play now to discover how AI is shaping the short-term rental landscape and how you can take advantage of it to streamline your operations, elevate guest experience, and increase revenue.

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


What AI-Powered Tools Can STR Hosts Use Today?

Theresa begins by explaining common use cases of AI-powered software in the short-term rental industry. “Regarding the biggest categories and topics across AI and tech, it’s going to start with your PMS, right? That will always be your command center, whether it’s Hospitable or any of the others. After that, probably your revenue management and dynamic pricing. Again, some of the all-in-ones will have something like that, but you can do many cool things there.”

AI tools also help Airbnb hosts automate guest communication and enhance the guest experience. Theresa said she’s excited about using AI for guest messaging, which allows hosts to respond to guests faster and “do a lot of fun things with personalization.”

Regarding operations, AI-powered systems can improve your efficiency, saving you time for important tasks. “You’ve got kind of your big four that you have to manage in the STR world. Cleaning, maintenance, guest comms, and your marketing get booked out. … And you can apply technology to those operational aspects, your task management”, Theresa further explains.

Hospitable integrates AI tools into its intuitive platform. It’s all-in-one vacation rental software with everything you need to automate your routine tasks and grow your business faster.

Empower your vacation rentals with AI!

Streamline guest communication, automate reviews, manage the team, and much more.

Where Should You Start?

If you have never used any AI tool before, Theresa thinks conversational AI is a great place to start because it’s text-to-text and simple. Tools like ChatGPT or Jasper.ai can help you create friendly, professional responses to guests so you don’t have to think them up or type them up. You just need to review the drafts before you hit send.  

Theresa also recommends using ChatGPT to analyze your competitors’ reviews, property descriptions, amenities, etc., to provide a summary that can help you determine how to stand out. “You might have an answer that’s not as intuitive. Maybe something is going on in your market. That’s not what you thought. And now you have a way that you can stand out. You can use that to create some business strategies to grow in the future”, she clarifies.

Use AI Tools to Set Dynamic Pricing

Dynamic pricing tools apply complex pricing algorithms that use data and mathematical models to determine the optimal price. They help hosts optimize prices based on real-time market demand and maximize profits.

Theresa points out that many new hosts think about lowering their prices when struggling, but that’s not that simple. “Honestly, you can be leaving money on the table, and a good pricing tool will get you to raise it to the right rate…. don’t forget it’s about not just being the cheapest, but about really what’s going on with the data in your market right now. And how can I maximize revenue without sitting empty and unoccupied,” she explains.

Improve Guest Experience

AI-powered tools allow vacation rental hosts to set a personalized message flow to automate communication and guide guests through their journey, maintaining a human touch so people don’t feel “like a robot is talking to them.”

“Guest experience is very subjective, and people wanna feel like you’re paying attention to them,” emphasizes Theresa. “And to some degree, with AI, you can do that and still have it automated, which is that sweet spot everyone wants. We want efficiency, and we want people to feel special.”

Listen to the full episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast to get more actionable insights from Theresa and learn how AI tools can help you stay competitive and deliver exceptional hospitality to meet and exceed guest expectations.