- Where it gets stuck
- Your PMS drafts the routine replies and your lock integration sends a code, but the sync-failure alert lands in an inbox nobody watches at 4 pm, and nothing connects it to tonight’s arrival or to a unit that isn’t cleaned yet. Whoever is on call answers those from memory late at night, and the answer depends on who picks up.
- What the workflow does
- A reply is drafted from the booking, the house manual and what the crew reported today, so an early check-in is checked against the clean before anyone says yes. Before arrivals, a sync failure is put in front of whoever is on call with the time the lock last connected and the backup lockbox code from your internal property notes, so someone is sent or the backup is shared before the guest arrives. The AI never stores door codes; they come from the lock system or your property notes.
AI for short-term rental managers
On Monday a guest’s review mentions the stained sofa your cleaner photographed on Friday and posted in the crew’s group chat.
Your PMS drafts the easy guest replies. We connect what it keeps in separate places: the cleaner’s photo in the group chat, a code that didn’t sync, an owner asking about a repair. You or whoever is on call approves each draft.
We have no short-term rental client yet. The test runs on your own messages for an agreed period. Your team approves every draft. Before you decide, you see three numbers: reply time on arrival day, issues caught before the next guest, owner questions answered the same day.
Today
- Tonight’s door codeLock log shows the code never syncedGuest waits on the doorstep
- Unit 4 missing two towelsPhoto lost in the cleaning crew’s group chatNext guest finds out first
- Owner questioning a repair chargeReceipt in email, payout in the Airbnb reportOwner waits two days for a reply
With the workflow
- Alert to whoever’s on callSync failure flagged in the afternoon, with the backup lockbox code from your internal property notesPerson on call approves
- Turnover task listBuilt from the crew’s photos and notes, restock added to the next cleanOps manager assigns
- Answer to the ownerThe charge explained from the statement, the channel payout and the receiptYou check the figures
Three moments where things still slip
The first comes up daily, the second weekly, the third at the end of every month.
Early check-ins and door codes that failed to sync
Turnover problems stay in the crew’s group chat
- Where it gets stuck
- A cleaner photographs a stained sofa or notices two towels missing, posts it in the group chat between two turnovers, and it scrolls away under the next twenty messages. The next guest mentions it in a review.
- What the workflow does
- After each clean, the crew’s photos and notes (from Breezeway, Turno, a form or a WhatsApp chat; iMessage groups can’t be read, so those reports move to a form) become a task list for that property: restocking, repairs, damage documented with photos and dates inside the platform’s claim window (on Airbnb, before the next guest checks in and within 14 days of checkout). The ops manager assigns the tasks, and anything that affects tonight’s arrival comes first.
Owners question payouts and charges
- Where it gets stuck
- Your PMS produces the statement, but the questions come after it: why the payout differs from the price on Airbnb, what the plumber’s service call covered, why a cleaning fee shows up twice. Each answer means lining up channel payouts, your management fee, cleaning fees and receipts.
- What the workflow does
- When an owner asks, a reply is drafted that explains each questioned line and the incident behind a repair. You check the figures before it is sent.
These are examples of flows to scope with you. The first one runs as a test on your own messages: we agree up front how long it runs and how many minutes a day your team spends approving, and at the end you see the same three numbers and decide whether to continue.
Which flow should you start with?
Three questions, about a minute. The answer points to one of the moments above, or to a smaller step when a workflow would be too much.
Answer the three questions to see where to start.
This is an exercise: nothing is sent when you use this selector.
Do we have to change our PMS?
No. The workflow reads what is already in your PMS and the cleaning reports, prepares the reply or the task, and sends it through your PMS once someone on your team has approved it.
- A message, booking or clean comes inA channel message through your PMS, a text or the crew’s turnover report.
- The booking and house manual are readThe reservation in your PMS, the cleaning schedule, the lock log and the house manual.
- A reply or task is preparedWith the facts it relied on shown next to it.
- Someone on your team decidesWhoever is on call or the ops manager approves, edits or drops it.
- Back into your toolsThe reply goes out through your PMS and the task is noted there.
- PMS
- Channel manager
- Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com via your PMS
- Smart locks
- Cleaning app or group chat
- Gmail
Three conditions before anything acts
Your existing tools
The workflow runs inside the tools you already pay for, with the access rights they already have, so the team keeps its usual screens.
A named person approves
Every draft waits for a named person. Nothing goes out in the company’s name without that approval, and exceptions go back to a human.
Every step leaves a trace
Sources, drafts, corrections and approvals are recorded, so you can see why an output was prepared and improve the next one.
Two ways to work with us
Managed AI agent serviceWe build, run and maintain one defined flow, with named approvals, a written boundary and a record your team can take over.See the managed service →Leverage AssessmentA recommendation on the first flow worth testing, the alternatives (including no AI) and an action plan, reviewed by a person.See the assessment →
What rental managers ask before a first test
Which rental companies is this for?
Companies that manage short-term rentals on behalf of owners, from a few dozen listings to a few hundred, where the founder or a small operations team still answers guests, coordinates the cleaning crew and handles owner questions. A host with two units rarely needs this.
Our PMS already drafts AI replies. What does this add?
What is usually left is the work between them: cleaners’ reports that arrive by text or chat instead of the app, an early check-in that depends on today’s clean, and owner questions that need several documents at once. The workflow covers those gaps and records every correction.
Can you connect our PMS, the Airbnb inbox or the way the crew reports?
Tell us on the call which PMS, channel manager and lock system you use and how the crew reports today (Guesty, Hostaway, Hospitable, OwnerRez or others; Breezeway, Turno, a form or a group chat): we check what each allows (a direct connection, an export or the notification emails) before anything is built, and we tell you which steps would stay manual.
Where do guest and owner data go?
The workflow reads only the accounts agreed in scope, and owner statements are visible only to the people named on the access list. It writes only what someone approved: a reply sent through your PMS or a task added to it. A signed agreement on how guest and owner data is handled comes before the test, each client deployment is isolated, the hosting and the model provider are named in writing before the build, and if you stop after the test, the access is removed.
What should we start with?
The flow that costs you the most bad reviews or late nights, usually guest messages around arrival or the turnover reports. Use the selector on this page, then bring three real examples to a 30-minute call.
Have you done this for other rental companies?
No, not yet. Our documented client work is in professional services. For a rental company, we scope one flow, test it on your real messages with someone on your team approving each output, and decide with you whether it is worth continuing.
Will guests get automatic replies at 3 am?
Not during the test: every reply waits for a person, and the draft reaches whoever is on call where they already are, usually a text, with its sources. Whether some answers, like a parking question the house manual already covers, can later go out on their own is your decision, based on what the test shows.
Bring three guest threads or turnover reports from this week to a 30-minute call.
Blur names, codes and addresses; nothing needs to be sent beforehand. On the call we look at where information slips between guests, cleaners and owners, which tools hold it, and whether one flow is worth testing.