On this Hospitable Town Hall, the company launched their new Vrbo Partner Connection. It's built on Vrbo's latest APIs and offers self-serve onboarding, faster connection speeds, and better reliability compared to the previous legacy connection used by most hosts.

The integration is available across 44 countries on day one, including the United States, Europe, Mexico, Brazil, and Asia Pacific regions. Key features include fully integrated listing management from within Hospitable, payment terms with installment options, and the ability to set Vrbo discounts and promotions directly through the platform.

Hospitable also announced its merchant-of-record capabilities for Vrbo payments in the US, UK, and Australia, where it will process payments, handle taxes and chargebacks, and provide chargeback protection.

On this episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast, our guest is Jonathan Sukhia, CEO of Topkey.

Jonathan shares insights on expense management, trust accounting, and financial automation for short-term rental operators. Discover how to streamline your financial processes, avoid common pitfalls, and scale your business effectively.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
1:50 - Why Topkey was created
7:53 - The importance of financial management
11:25 - Understanding trust accounting
15:06 - Keeping STR accounting organized
17:43 - Integration with Hospitable

This Hospitable Town Hall covered various product updates, including the launch of Optimize for Airbnb, updates to the MCP (AI integration) server, recent improvements to app performance, particularly in inbox load times, Vrbo official integration, and more.

On this episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast, our guest is Mark Lumpkin from STR Cribs.

Mark shares expert insights on transforming properties into profitable short-term rentals, covering renovation timelines, red flags, design strategies, ROI, and guest experience enhancements.

Connect with Mark on Linkedin.

Timestamps:

0:10 - Introduction

2:10 - Preparing a house for short-term renting

3:45 - Property red flags

5:56 - Designing a lasting property

8:10 - Maximizing ROI

10:33 - Creating a memorable guest experience

15:40 - Adding small upgrades on a budget

18:05 - Avoiding costly mistakes

This Hospitable Town Hall covered company updates following their recent retreat in Montenegro and new product features.

Key product updates included Hospitable MCP (Machine Learning Connect Platform), which allows integration with AI agents like ChatGPT; improvements to the Tasks app with a new list view and upsell displays; and updates to the Vrbo official integration, launching June 10th.

On this episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast, we’re talking to Keith Clarke, a San Diego-based host who has unlocked the secret to repeat business.

With 10 properties in Encinitas and a 65% repeat-guest rate, Keith is here to tell us why he still prioritizes personal check-ins, why he never charges for an early check-out, and how treating people like individuals, not line items, is the ultimate growth strategy.

Check out http://encinitasbungalows.com/

Timestamps:
0:10 - Getting started with the short-term rental business
8:34 - Screening guests in person
12:46 - Property portfolio
15:11 - Getting repeat bookings
22:00 - Solving business challenges

This Hospitable Town Hall focused on the launch of Align Insurance Services, a new sister company that provides asset protection services, including owner's insurance, entity setup, and property management insurance for short-term rental operators.

Other updates included the Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration, new payment schedule features for team management, improvements to the Vrbo integration waitlist, and enhancements to the Direct guest portal for payment history and receipts.

In this episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast, we chat with Cathleen Cataldo - founder of Discovered in Travels.

Cathleen shares her unique approach to short-term rental management, blending fashion industry insights with hospitality.

She discusses branding, personalized guest experiences, leveraging family expertise, and future growth strategies in the competitive Poconos market.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Introduction

2:25 - Applying trend forecasting to short-term rentals

3:35 - Branding for short-term rentals

5:35 - Boutique company vs large establishment

7:50 - Creating unique guest experiences

11:35 - Running a family-owned property management business

13:03 - Future plans

17:35 - Rapid fire round

This Hospitable Town Hall was dedicated to the new Property Manager Marketplace, a platform that connects property owners seeking management services with qualified property managers. The team presented the marketplace's features, explaining how it addresses the challenges both owners and managers face in finding trustworthy matches.

The system uses a readiness-and-fit scoring system to match owners with suitable managers, providing detailed information about properties and owners' goals to help managers make informed decisions.

In this episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast, we talk with Pierce Hattie from KeyNest to explore innovative key management solutions for short-term rentals.

We discuss how KeyNest's network of secure key points and new integrations with Hospitable streamline operations, enhance security, and improve guest experiences across Australia, as well as globally.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
2:09 - Understanding KeyNest's operations and customer base
4:02 - KeyNest vs lockboxes
8:25 - How KeyNest works in Australia
9:33 - KeyNest integration with Hospitable
11:20 - Guest Experience with KeyNest
13:25 - Reducing operational load
17:51 - Trends in key management and check-in processes
20:57 - KeyNest's future plans