On this episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast, we sat down with Ashley Hagel, the Customer Success Manager at Clearing.

We discuss when property managers should move from spreadsheets to dedicated trust accounting software, the importance of compliance, and how automation can streamline financial reporting.

For more information, go to: https://www.getclearing.co/

Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
0:44 - When does a host need trust accounting software
3:17 - Understanding trust accounting and compliance risks
5:30 - Common mistakes in owner reporting and audit challenges
7:06 - How Clearing automates trust accounting for property managers
10:50 - How to tell you've outgrown your setup
13:52 - Hospitable x Clearing integration
16:05 - Preparing infrastructure for scaling to 100 units

On this Hospitable Town Hall, the team announced the launch of Split Payouts, a new feature that allows property managers to automatically split payments with property owners on Direct Premium and Vrbo Partner Connection reservations.

The team explained the history and technical foundation that made this feature possible, including Hospitable's role as a merchant of record and its tax remittance capabilities.

Hospitable also provided updates on the Vrbo Partner Connection, the Tasks app, and the Home Dashboard, highlighting new features and improvements.

This is a slightly different episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast, where we delved into a very important topic: short-term rental advocacy. Our guests are representatives from the Right to Rent Collaborative, Florida Alliance for Vacation Rentals, and Colorado Short-Term Rental Association.

We explore the often overlooked, yet vital role of advocacy organizations in shaping the future of short-term rentals across the US, the efforts of various state associations, their challenges, and the importance of community and professionalization in the short-term rental industry.

For more information, visit:

https://r2rcollaborative.org/
https://floridaavr.org/
https://coloradostra.org/

Timestamps:

0:00 - Introduction
3:55 - Right to Rent Collaborative
9:50 - STR advocacy in Florida
13:32 - STR advocacy in Colorado
16:00 - The importance of advocacy
21:05 - How Right to Rent Collaborative's grants work
24:45 - How the grants are used in Colorado
26:23 - How hosts can contribute to the Right to Rent Collaborative and local associations
32:00 - How the $1/stay contributions help FAVR
33:40 - How the $1/stay contributions help COSTRA
36:00 - Future trends in STR advocacy

At this Hospitable Town Hall, the team provided updates on the Task App, announcing its expansion to Portuguese language support.

Hospitable shared updates on the Owner Portal, including new controls for sharing private guest feedback with owners, and the new Home Dashboard.

In this episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast, our guest is Eli Stoughton, the owner of Lahaina Studio.

Eli shares his extensive experience in short-term rentals, lessons learned from wildfire impacts, and how AI and multi-channel strategies are shaping his business.

Discover practical insights on insurance, platform diversification, and leveraging AI tools like Hospitable MCP.

For more information: https://lahainastudio.com/

Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction to Eli and his hosting journey
1:21 - Eli's background and entry into short-term rentals
2:26 - Eli's involvement in the Hospitable community
4:01 - Lessons from wildfire impact and insurance strategies
6:21 - Expanding to Booking.com and Vrbo: Why diversify?
9:33 - Managing complexity with Hospitable software
10:51 - Differences in guest demographics across OTAs
12:19 - Tips for new hosts on Booking.com and Vrbo
14:53 - Understanding Hospitable MCP integration and AI
17:42 - AI's potential to transform property management
20:17 - Goals for Eli's rental business in the coming year

At this Hospitable Town Hall, the team introduced the new Home Dashboard, which prioritizes critical issues, daily operations, and growth opportunities for hosts.

Hospitable explained how the dashboard now surfaces urgent alerts, highlights exceptions in check-ins, checkouts, and tasks, and recommends relevant features based on account data. The session also covered other product updates, including MCP, the guest portal, thermostats, and more.

In this episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast, our guest is Paul Buonopane, COO at Stay. We explore how Stay is revolutionizing direct bookings for vacation rental owners and managers. Paul shares insights on building trust, integrating with Hospitable, and strategies to diversify booking channels for resilience.

For more information, visit: https://staywithstay.com/

Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
0:53 - Direct Booking Channel Stay
3:23 - Stay's Purpose
6:00 - Building Trust with Travelers
7:37 - Getting Listed on Stay
8:51 - Diversifying Your Booking Strategy
12:00 - Getting Started with Direct Bookings
13:30 - Direct Booking Misconceptions
15:15 - AI in Vacation Rental Business
16:50 - Host Success Stories at Stay

At this Hospitable Town Hall, the team discussed updates on VRBO partner connection, Task App improvements, smart thermostats, new integrations, and more.

In this episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast, our guest is Sam Thrash, Head of Partnerships and Client Success at Ownwell. Sam explains how property owners, especially short-term rental hosts, can reduce their property tax bills through appeals and understanding assessments.

Discover practical tips, common misconceptions, and how Ownwell simplifies the process.

Go to http://ownwell.com/partner/hospitable for more information and 15% off.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
1:14 - What Ownwell does
3:41 - Property tax assessment
5:40 - Appealing the assessment
7:08 - Property tax misconceptions
9:10 - Potential tax benefits
10:50 - Documents needed for the appeal
13:10 - How Ownwell handles the appeal process
17:15 - Pricing model and success-based fee
18:43 - Partnership with Hospitable

In this Hospitable Town Hall, the team presented data on the success of early check-in and late check-out upsells, which generated significant additional revenue for hosts. They also announced the launch of the Nest thermostat integration, demonstrated improvements to the Tasks app, provided updates on the Vrbo partner connection, and more.