r/hostaway_official

We use Hostaway and I’m wondering how to handle this with a VRBO guest. She needed to modify the dates and I guess couldn’t do that in VRBO so she canceled and rebooked. Then a few hours later wanted to cancel the new reservation. I received a cancellation request in hostaway for both but there was nowhere to approve this. Through hostaway I canceled the reservation and chose the renter as a reason why. Now VRBO is coming to us asking about the refund. Wouldn’t they process this? I’m sorta new to managing properties (I just do all the behind the scenes stuff with hostaway and Airbnb) and am so confused on what to do here. Thanks for the help!

What’s one amenity that surprised you with how much guests loved it?

Hot tubs, fire pits, coffee bars, game rooms, pools, pet-friendly stays… anyone seeing some interesting trends.

I took over multiple Air͏bnb properties from a friend who left the business͏ thinking of it as a pas͏sive opportunity. He did tell me about some of the issues but most didnt look huge on their own. It was the constant small stuff stacking up every day. Once bookings started overlapping across different properties it turned into a nightmare. Small delays affected reviews and guest experience, and I had no workflows or help in place. Everything depended on my memory. Mind you, I was also working full time amid all this.

Paused everything for now because I don’t want to repeat the same cycle again. I’m considering pay͏ing to learn the business through udemy, cousera or anything that has proper chapters and structure. because fr͏ee content only explains pieces of the business. My initial thought was to bu͏ild this business to eventually qu͏it my 996 office job in a couple of years. That can only happen if i take it seriously. If anyone has recommendations focused on operations and systems for airbnb management would appreciate it.

Hello fellow hosts I’m new to Airbnb currently using Little hottelier as my pms, I also use pricelabs

Which PMS do you guys recommend I have 12 rooms at the same property

Thank you very much

Blessings

Managing two 2BR apartments in Boston — would love input from hosts in similar setups

Hey everyone. I've been hosting for a little over a year now and recently started experimenting PMS to integrate and manage both units from one place. Wanted to share my situation and get some perspective from hosts who've been through similar decisions.

My setup:

- Two fully furnished 2BR apartments in the same building (I own the building) in Boston.

- Unit 1 is listed on Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com
- Unit 2 is Airbnb only for now

I manage both listing manually including pricing and its becoming very challenging.

What I'm working through right now:

Both units are at 80% occupancy and there is opportunity to increase to 90%. I’m currently experimenting migrating both units to a PMS + connecting PriceLab for dynamic pricing. I have yet to decide on which PMS to go with given my situation.

Could you please recommend which PMS I should start with?

Any advise on how I should go about setting up everything?

Has anyone gone through this? Any gotchas I should know about, especially around the channel markup settings?

Airbnb's 15.5% host-only fee — Since I'm connecting a PMS, I read that I'll be automatically moved to the host-only fee structure. I'm planning to apply sone markup to preserve my net payout. Anyone else done this math and found it held up in practice?

Thanks in advance 🙏

One property is simple. Five is chaos.

Details blur. Standards drop.

The property is the asset. The system is the business.

I standardized everything—naming, workflows, dashboards. One structure across all units.

Organization isn’t optional. It’s infrastructure.

Last week we had situation that went beyond the usual difficult guest.

Started as uncomfortable behavior, then escalated into repeated harassment and eventually physical contact. At that point, it stopped being a hosting issue and became a safety issue. Police were involved and a report was filed.

I also reported it to Airbnb. They followed up later, but realistically there wasn’t much they could do from their side.

It made something pretty clear, most guests are fine, but when something serious happens, the platform isn’t really equipped to handle it in real time, that’s where your own boundaries and local support matter more than anything.

Any host, especially around prevention and handling situations that go beyond normal disputes?

Small things missed. Big impact later.

Cleaning checks. Restocks. Follow-ups.

The property is the asset. The system is the business.

I built a task system with triggers and accountability. Nothing relies on memory.

If it’s not tracked, it’s already forgotten.

There was an incident tied to the unit (party, police involved) right before a new stay. The incoming guests weren’t directly involved, but the situation forced a quick decision on the property side.

Communication ended up being rushed, and they had to come back earlier than planned to collect their things. By the time they returned, turnover was already in motion for the next booking.

From an ops perspective, this is one of those edge cases where timing, communication, and accountability don’t line up cleanly.

Wonder how others handle situations where something happens around a stay, but not clearly caused by the current guest.