Automating Property Bookings with Hostaway 🏘️

Booking management is the backbone of every rental operation — and often, its biggest headache.

For hosts managing 10–100 units, manually tracking reservations across Airbnb, Booking.com, and direct sites leads to double bookings, missed payments, and chaotic calendars.

According to AirDNA’s 2024 Global STR Report, property managers lose an average of £3,800 annually per unit due to delayed responses, mismanaged calendars, and inconsistent pricing.

This guide shows how to use Hostaway, one of the leading short-term rental management platforms, to automate every step of the booking process — from lead capture and dynamic pricing to check-in coordination — all while maintaining control and brand consistency.

💡 Why Hostaway?

Hostaway is an all-in-one short-term rental platform that connects with major OTAs (Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia) and provides automation across reservations, guest messaging, and revenue management.

Key features include:

• Unified booking calendar across all channels

• AI-powered guest messaging and scheduling

• Dynamic pricing via integration with PriceLabs and Wheelhouse

• Real-time availability updates

• Owner statements and performance dashboards

💡 Operators using Hostaway report an average 25–40% increase in occupancy rates and 50% reduction in operational time within the first six months.

Step-by-Step Setup

Step 1: Connect Your Channels

Go to Channel Manager → Add Channel, then connect your Airbnb, Booking.com, and direct booking site.

Hostaway automatically syncs availability, rates, and restrictions in real time.

Step 2: Automate Booking Confirmations and Calendar Updates

Under Automation → Message Templates, select “Booking Confirmed.”

Set up automated confirmation messages that include check-in details, WiFi info, and house rules.

Enable automatic calendar updates to block dates instantly when a booking is received.

🧩 Pro Tip: Use {guest_name} and {property_name} dynamic tags for personalized messages.

Step 3: Add Smart Pricing and Minimum Stay Rules

Navigate to Pricing & Availability → Dynamic Pricing, and connect PriceLabs or Wheelhouse.

These tools analyze demand, seasonality, and competitor data to optimize nightly rates automatically — increasing revenue by up to 30%.

Step 4: Create Automated Pre-Arrival and Post-Stay Sequences

Under Guest Communication → Workflow Automation, design sequences like:

• T–7 Days: Welcome email + check-in instructions

• T+0 (Check-in day): Automated reminder with entry code

• T+1 (After check-out): Review request + cleaning trigger

Each message can be scheduled relative to the guest’s booking date — with conditions for channel, length of stay, and property type.

Step 5: Automate Cleaning and Maintenance Scheduling

Go to Tasks → Automations → New Rule and set triggers such as “Booking Checkout.”

This automatically assigns cleaning tasks to team members or vendors, notifies them via SMS or email, and syncs task completion status in your calendar.

Step 6: Integrate Payments and Invoicing

Under Payments → Integrations, connect with Stripe or Payoneer.

Set automatic charge schedules (e.g., 50% at booking, 50% at check-in) and enable invoice auto-generation with tax breakdowns for each stay.

Combine this with Xero integration for full accounting automation.

Step 7: Monitor Performance with Dashboards

Hostaway’s Reports → KPI Dashboard displays occupancy rate, revenue per unit, booking sources, and average response time.

Use this data to adjust pricing rules, identify underperforming listings, and optimize resource allocation.

📈 Case Study: Latitude Stays, Lisbon

Portfolio: 32 serviced apartments

Challenge: Double bookings and inconsistent communication led to 9% revenue loss quarterly.

Implementation: Integrated Hostaway with Airbnb, Booking.com, and PriceLabs, automating all booking and messaging workflows.

Results after 6 months:

• Occupancy rate increased from 71% → 90%

• Double bookings eliminated completely

• Response time reduced from 4 hrs → 12 minutes

• +18% uplift in average nightly rate

• Zero missed cleanings due to automated task triggers

Why This Works?

Automation minimizes human error while maximizing revenue and efficiency — giving operators 24/7 system reliability even across time zones.

📌 Final Takeaway

For short-term rental operators, booking automation isn’t just convenience — it’s competitive advantage.

With tools like Hostaway, managers can eliminate errors, unify communication, and scale operations sustainably — no matter how many channels they manage.

🚀 Get Started

• Hostaway Free Demo – Explore automation and channel sync tools

• PriceLabs Integration – Add smart pricing automation

• Zapier Integration – Extend automation to 1,000+ tools

• Connect to Xero – Auto-sync accounting

Alternatives: Guesty, Lodgify, OwnerRez, Smoobu