Guest calls · vacation rentals
AI Receptionist for Vacation Rentals
Check-in day shouldn't mean your phone owns your evening.
A 24/7 AI phone system for short-term-rental hosts. Answers lockbox and wifi questions at 11 PM, captures direct-booking inquiries, and keeps check-in day from owning your evening.
What this fixes
- ×Every check-in day brings the same calls at the same hour: 'the lockbox won't open', 'what's the wifi password', 'where do we park' — usually between 9 and 11 PM.
- ×Direct-booking inquiries from your own website go to voicemail, and the guest just books the same dates on Airbnb instead — with the platform taking its 15%.
- ×Cleaner coordination eats your morning: confirming turnovers, late checkouts pushing the schedule, 'is unit 3 ready?' texts in both directions.
- ×At 5+ units, the question volume scales linearly with doors but your phone capacity doesn't.
What it actually does
- ✓Answers guest calls 24/7 with property-specific answers: lockbox code flow, wifi, parking, checkout time, house rules — pulled from your guidebook per listing.
- ✓Captures direct-booking inquiries (dates, party size, property, budget) and texts you a summary so you can confirm before the guest re-books on a platform.
- ✓Escalates true urgencies — lockout with no code workaround, water leak, no heat — to your cell within 60 seconds; logs the rest for the morning.
- ✓Works alongside your PMS (Hostaway, Guesty, OwnerRez) so reservation data and guest phone numbers stay in sync with your existing setup.
The cost math
Virtual assistant or guest-communication service
$1,200-2,500/mo for VA coverage, or $5-12/unit/mo services that only handle messages — calls still land on you
Hand-deployed
$8k one-time deployment + ~$100/mo provider usage
Net
Pays back inside a year vs a VA; recovered direct bookings (no 15% platform fee) stack on top
When this isn't the right first move
If you run 1-2 units and most guest questions arrive through Airbnb messaging, the platform's automation plus a good digital guidebook may be enough. This earns its keep at 4+ doors or when you're pushing direct bookings.
Maintenance still needs humans. The AI answers, triages, and routes — it can't reset a breaker or let a locked-out guest in. Keep your handyman and backup-access plan in place.
Best fit
- Hosts and co-hosts managing 4+ doors where guest calls interrupt every evening
- Operators building a direct-booking funnel who can't afford to miss inquiry calls
- Anyone juggling cleaner coordination, guest questions, and a day job at the same time
Not for you if
- Single-unit hosts whose guests communicate entirely through Airbnb messaging
- Property managers with 50+ doors and a staffed guest-services desk (different scale)
Want this for airbnb, vrbo, and direct-booking str hosts?
Send me your workflow and I'll reply with a one-page deploy plan — or tell you to fix something else first.