Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights

Is agentic AI about to take real work off your plate – not just give you more information?

In this episode of AI-Powered Hosting, from Host Planet and BOOM, Moran Goldboim unpacks where the short-term rental industry really is with AI, why trust and lack of experience are the biggest blockers, and the next leap: from information to action.

Learn what day-to-day tasks AI can already handle, how to think about architecture over features, why connected data is a game-changer, and how property management companies will be structured and run differently as AI models get more reliable.

This series helps you build a smarter, more successful and more sustainable short-term rental business — with AI as a practical tool, not hype.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Where the STR industry is with AI right now – and why experience matters more than trust

• From information to action: what agentic AI actually means for property managers

• The day-to-day tasks AI will take off your plate

• Why architecture beats features when building with AI

• How connected data unlocks real automation

• How the property manager UX will shift substantially

• Why AI models need a way out to eliminate hallucinations

• How far are we from fully trusting AI? And how org structure will change

TIMESTAMPS:

01:20 Where the STR industry is with AI right now

03:10 Trust is a big thing in AI – but lack of experience is the core challenge

04:35 The next leap: from information to action

06:03 What day-to-day things will AI take off a property manager's plate

08:54 How to understand agentic AI

10:52 Start with architecture over features

12:54 Connected data is a game-changer

14:10 The user experience for property managers will shift substantially

16:30 AI models need a way out to eliminate hallucinations

19:45 How far away are we from people completely trusting AI?

22:02 How AI will change the way property management companies are structured and run

🔗 Explore BOOM: https://www.boomnow.com/?utm_source=HostPlanet&utm_medium=Sponsor&utm_campaign=2026

📬 Connect with Moran on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shahar-goldboim-80820b95/

AI-Powered Hosting is a six-part series from Host Planet and BOOM exploring how 

artificial intelligence is transforming the short-term rental industry – from 

automation to full agentic execution. Quote 'Host Planet' to get 50% off PMS onboarding with Boom: https://www.boomnow.com/?utm_source=HostPlanet&utm_medium=Sponsor&utm_campaign=2026

#AgenticAI #PropertyManagement #ShortTermRental #VacationRental #PropTech #AIAutomation #Airbnb #HostPlanet #BOOM #AIPoweredHosting

Planning to attend a major short-term rental conference this year – but not sure how to actually get value out of it?

In this episode of the Host Planet Podcast – powered by Lodgify – Anne Gardner, Executive Director of the VRMA, breaks down everything you need to know about VRMA International 2026, heading to Nashville from 4-6 October.

Host Planet is proud to be a Media Partner for this year's event.

In this conversation we cover:

- How to leverage an event this size – whether you manage one rental or thousands

- Making the most of the side events and where the real connections happen

- Why industry growth is driving international visitors to major events

- What's new at VRMA International in 2026 and what attendees walk away with

- How VRMA advocacy is supporting the short-term rental industry

Chapters:

1:06 Get 20% off Lodgify: https://www.lodgify.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=creator-collab&utm_campaign=host-planet

1:47 VRMA International is heading to Nashville (4-6 October)

2:59 How to leverage such a huge event

4:48 Make the most of the side events

6:16 Industry growth is driving international visitors

7:39 Why Nashville is a natural fit

8:59 How VRMA International has grown – and what's new in 2026

10:06 Suitable whether you manage one rental or thousands

11:37 How VRMA advocacy supports the industry

13:42 Promoting the positive impact of short-term rentals

14:37 What attendees will walk away with

15:47 STR competitors often work together

17:02 Where the most valuable connections happen

17:59 Why these events matter

19:20 VRMA International tickets: https://www.vrma.org/annual-conference

The Host Planet Podcast is sponsored by Lodgify. Get 20% off here: https://www.lodgify.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=creator-collab&utm_campaign=host-planet

Links:

VRMA 2026 tickets: https://www.vrma.org/annual-conference

Anne Gardner on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-gardner-mba-cae/

Anne Gardner email: [email protected]

Host Planet Roadshow: https://www.hostplanet.club/host-planet-roadshow

Bath tickets (event on 7 October): https://www.hostplanet.club/hp-roadshow-bath

#VRMA #VacationRentalManagement #ShortTermRental #VacationRentals #Airbnb #PropertyManagement #Nashville

New Airbnb host? Katie Bessant from The Holiday Hive shares the most common mistakes new hosts make – and exactly how to fix them before they cost you bookings, reviews, and ranking.

In this episode of The Independent Host, powered by Lodgify, Katie breaks down where most new hosts go wrong across pricing, photos, house rules, and cleaning – plus the quiet mistake that could be hurting your Airbnb ranking and what people keep getting wrong about the algorithm.

The Independent Host is sponsored by Lodgify. Use code HOSTPLANET60 to get 60% off Lodgify. Offer valid until 31 August 2026: https://www.lodgify.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=creator-collab&utm_campaign=host-planet

⏱️ Timestamps:

1:12 Katie's journey in the world of short-term rentals

3:44 The most common mistakes new hosts make

7:02 How not to price your rental

12:27 The importance of photography

14:28 Check out Lodgify: https://www.lodgify.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=creator-collab&utm_campaign=host-planet

15:11 How Lodgify has helped Katie's hosting journey

16:40 What hosts get wrong when creating house rules

17:50 A mistake which might be quietly killing your ranking

19:40 What people get wrong about the Airbnb algorithm

21:26 What to do during a crisis 

25:03 Is the damage reversible?

26:31 The importance of getting cleaning right

27:43 Get in touch with Katie

🔗 Connect with Katie:

The Holiday Hive website: https://theholidayhive.com/

The Holiday Hive Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theholidayhive/?kuid=ca9c0158-8acf-43b0-afa1-edb9b676331a-1787338585&kref=https%3A%2F%2Ftheholidayhive.com%2F

Subscribe to Host Planet for practical advice on building a smarter, more successful and sustainable short-term rental business. Join thousands of hosts and property managers across the globe by subscribing to our free weekly newsletter: https://www.hostplanet.club/

Direct bookings are the highest-margin channel most hosts still ignore – no OTA commission, full control of the guest relationship, and a booking engine you actually own.

In this episode of Build for Growth, we sit down with Roger Gould, Director of Business Development at Hostfully, to break down exactly how to start, scale, and win with direct bookings.

IN THIS EPISODE:

▶ Why direct bookings matter (and what they're worth to your bottom line)

▶ Where to start: building a direct booking website you control

▶ How to turn lookers into bookers

▶ How to gather guest data you actually own

▶ Using a Hostfully digital guidebook to boost conversions

▶ Guest verification and insurance for direct bookings

▶ Payment processing that protects you

▶ Getting your direct booking rates right

▶ The complete direct booking strategy, step by step

CHAPTERS:

1:50 Get free PMS onboarding and 30% off digital guidebooks for life with Hostfully: https://www.hostfully.com/host_planet

2:54 Why direct bookings matter

4:16 Where to start: You need a direct booking website

5:28 Don't be intimidated by technology

7:03 How to turn lookers into bookers

10:25 How to gather guest data

12:08 How to utilise a Hostfully digital guidebook effectively

18:22 The digital guidebooks are mobile-friendly

19:46 Guest verification and insurance for direct bookings

20:54 Payment processing for direct bookings

22:16 Getting the rates right on your direct booking website

24:21 The direct booking strategy

28:11 Get in touch with Roger: [email protected]

🎁 Hostfully is offering Build for Growth listeners FREE PMS onboarding + 30% off digital guidebooks for life. Find out more: https://www.hostfully.com/host_planet

📧 Email: [email protected]

📅 Book a Hostfully demo with Frank Bosi: https://cal.mixmax.com/frankbosi/demo?re=IiY1x2YuQXZuFGbwR3cvhGQzVWbhpmI&rn=ISelxmchZFIzVWbhpkI&messageId=UjWJnyJQ1a9zxhP2C

This episode is part of the Build for Growth series from Host Planet, in partnership with Hostfully.

#DirectBookings #VacationRental #AirbnbHost #ShortTermRental #Hostfully #BuildForGrowth

Revenue managers don't lose the room because their data is wrong – they lose it because they can't explain it.

Dr Zak Ali (President, ISTRM) joins STR Pricing Pulse to walk through Beyond's Revenue Meeting Guide: lead with the answer, back it up with the numbers, and end with a decision senior management can act on.

Download Beyond's Revenue Meeting Guide: https://go.beyondpricing.com/revenue-meeting-guide-3q26

In this episode:

- Why "growth feels like success" can be dangerously misleading

- How to frame revenue at risk without losing the room

- Why good automation (and AI) should increase your control – not reduce it

- The most common mistake revenue managers make in the room

STR Pricing Pulse is brought to you by Host Planet and Beyond. Discover more about Beyond's world-leading revenue management software for short-term rentals: https://beyondpricing.info/launchbase

⏱️ Chapters

0:00 Episode starts

1:53 The importance of communicating with management

5:02 Why people struggle to explain things to management

9:09 Lead with the answer, back up with numbers, end with the decision

12:30 Growth naturally feels like success (but it could be misleading)

16:17 Beyond's Revenue Meeting Guide: https://go.beyondpricing.com/revenue-meeting-guide-3q26

17:45 How to build and deliver better-than-expected results

21:54 How to frame revenue at risk to management

25:57 Good automation should increase control

29:51 The most common mistake revenue managers make in the room

32:56 Zak's advice for revenue managers heading into the room

35:40 Join us at Revenue Management Intelligence in Leeds, 25 September

Use code LEEDS for 50% off tickets for Revenue Management Intelligence: https://istrm.org/events

#RevenueManagement #Airbnb #ShortTermRental #VacationRental #HotelRevenueManagement #DynamicPricing #Beyond #HostPlanet

Registration schemes on hold. A tourism levy fight nobody's sure we can win. Business rates squeezing operators. Janet Uttley, Chief Executive of the Short Term Accommodation Association, joins Host Planet – powered by Lodgify – to break down exactly where STR regulation stands right now, and what a good registration scheme would actually look like.

We also get into the STAA's first 12 months of targets, how they're working alongside PASC UK and the ASSC, and whether the new government (and Andy Burnham) will move the needle for hosts.

This episode is powered by Lodgify — get 20% off with code HOSTPLANET20: https://www.lodgify.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=creator-collab&utm_campaign=host-planet

Timestamps:

1:05 Get 20% off Lodgify with code HOSTPLANET20

1:52 Janet's first few months at the STAA

2:58 The make-up of the STAA

4:05 STAA targets for the next 12 months

5:48 Collaborating with other industry bodies like PASC UK and the ASSC

7:07 What the STAA does and why operators should be interested

9:13 The registration scheme is on hold

11:21 What does a good registration scheme look like?

13:48 Tourism levy update… a battle we won't win?

18:13 Business rates

20:34 The impact of the new government on short-term rentals. Will Andy Burnham help us?

21:55 Collaborating with destination marketing organisations

24:38 Short Stay Summit

28:13 Supporting the Host Planet Roadshow

30:39 Find out more about the STAA and the Short Stay Summit

Contact Janet Uttley: [email protected]

Host Planet Roadshow: https://www.hostplanet.club/host-planet-roadshow

The Host Planet Podcast is powered by Lodgify — get 20% off with code HOSTPLANET20: https://www.lodgify.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=creator-collab&utm_campaign=host-planet

#ShortTermRentals #Airbnb #STAA #Lodgify #HostPlanetPodcast

Christin Schmidt spent 20 years working inside Booking.com – and in this episode of Built to Book, she reveals exactly what most hosts get wrong about their OTA ranking, why reviews matter differently on Airbnb vs Booking.com, and how to build an OTA vs direct booking strategy that doesn't leave money on the table.

Built to Book is a six-part series from Host Planet and Smoobu, built to help hosts optimise revenue, ranking, and guest experience across every channel.

⏱️ Timestamps

1:18 What hosts misunderstand about their ranking on Booking.com

3:26 If you want to boost your ranking tomorrow, this is what you should do

4:18 Do all the OTAs rank properties the same way?

5:58 Are reviews more important on Airbnb than on Booking.com?

6:38 Should hosts think about OTA commission differently?

9:07 How the OTA algorithms actually work

13:17 Preferred Partner and Genius… worth it?

16:38 Don't just put your rates up if you join a programme!

18:04 The most counterintuitive thing to do to boost your ranking

19:59 How to convert an OTA guest to a direct booker

21:08 Get 20% off Smoobu: https://www.smoobu.com/en/hostplanet/?utm_source=hostplanet&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=podcast_2

21:57 The early signals a listing is starting to struggle

24:35 What should your rates be on OTAs vs your direct booking website?

27:07 Should your direct booking website always be a bit cheaper than the OTAs?

28:10 If you're auditing a listing with bookings, where to start?

29:38 The OTA change nobody has adapted to

🎧 Built to Book is brought to you by Smoobu – get 20% off your subscription: https://www.smoobu.com/en/hostplanet/?utm_source=hostplanet&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=podcast_2

👉 Subscribe to Host Planet for more short-term rental strategy, OTA optimisation and channel manager advice: https://www.hostplanet.club/

#BuiltToBook #Smoobu #BookingComTags

Turnover management is one of the toughest parts of running a short-term rental – and it only gets harder as you scale.

In this episode of Turnover Tactics, brought to you by Host Planet and Turno, we sit down with Isa Bortolossi from Turno to unpack what's really going wrong behind the scenes of most cleaning operations – and how to fix it before it costs you a booking.

Isa shares the craziest turnover story she's seen, breaks down the recurring problems her team spots across thousands of support tickets, and explains why anticipating issues beats firefighting them. We also get into the numbers: over 40% of Turno's projects last year were same-day turnovers, and Isa reveals the Turno Cleaner Guarantee and the hand-rating system hosts actually trust.

If you're heading into peak season and want your cleaning operation to hold up under pressure, this one's for you.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

1:26 Check out Turno: https://turno.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=host_planet

2:17 There's always a new challenge with turnovers

3:31 Isa's craziest story

4:57 Anticipating problems is better than solving them on the fly

6:07 Isa's team and the problems she sees again and again

9:53 What support tickets show about problem operations

11:33 The hand rating trusted by a Turno user

13:00 More than 40% of Turno projects last year were same-day turnovers

15:20 The Turno Cleaner Guarantee

17:57 Isa's top tip for hosts approaching peak season

20:17 Reach Isa and Turno

🔗 Connect with Isa Bortolossi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isadora-bortolossi/

🔗 Learn more about Turno: https://turno.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=host_planet

Turnover Tactics is a Host Planet series in partnership with Turno, helping short-term rental hosts build smarter, more sustainable operations.

🎙️ Subscribe to Host Planet for more short-term rental strategy, automation tips, and host interviews every week: https://www.hostplanet.club/

Direct bookings are more valuable than ever in 2026 – and Becky Ward, CEO of Simply Owners, breaks down exactly how hosts and property managers can win more of them without relying on the OTAs.

In this episode of the Host Planet Podcast – powered by Lodgify – Becky shares the Simply Owners story, why accessible properties are converting more direct guests, how SEO and GEO strategy plays into visibility, and the biggest mistakes hosts make when they try to "go direct" without a real plan.

We also cover the upcoming Host Planet Roadshow in Nottinghamshire, where Simply Owners is the Event Partner – including what attendees can expect, the roundtable sessions, and how to grab your ticket.

🎟️ Grab your ticket for the Host Planet Roadshow Nottinghamshire: https://www.hostplanet.club/hp-roadshow-nottingham

💰 Get 20% off Lodgify with code HOSTPLANET20: https://www.lodgify.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=creator-collab&utm_campaign=host-planet

🔗 Learn more about Simply Owners: https://www.simplyowners.net/

TIMESTAMPS:

1:00 Grab your ticket for the Host Planet Roadshow

1:27 Get 20% off Lodgify with code HOSTPLANET20

2:13 The story of Simply Owners

3:18 How Simply Owners helps people get direct bookings

4:20 How the business is developing

5:59 Accessible properties can achieve more direct bookings

7:59 Focus on SEO and GEO

9:18 Why direct bookings matter so much in 2026

12:20 Where hosts go wrong when they try to go direct

13:54 Host Planet Roadshow Nottinghamshire: taking education to the regions

15:45 What attendees can expect at the Notts event

17:44 The roundtable competitions at Host Planet Roadshow events

19:41 Becky Ward and Lisa Roads on stage

21:18 What people should do to get more direct bookings

Host Planet is the home of everything short-term rental – helping hosts and property managers build smarter, more profitable, more sustainable STR businesses. Subscribe for weekly episodes, guest interviews, and actionable strategy.

#HostPlanetPodcast #DirectBookings #ShortTermRentals

What's the best property management system... for YOU? 🏠

In this episode of Build for Growth, James Varley sits down with Frank Bosi from Hostfully to break down how short-term rental hosts should actually evaluate a PMS – and the biggest mistake operators make when choosing one.

We cover researching PMS options on YouTube, where ChatGPT/Claude recommendations can lead you astray, the must-have features every host needs, and how to pressure-test a system before committing.

🎁 Hostfully is offering Build for Growth listeners FREE PMS onboarding + 30% off digital guidebooks for life. Find out more: https://www.hostfully.com/host_planet

📧 Email Frank: [email protected]

📅 Book a Hostfully demo with Frank: https://cal.mixmax.com/frankbosi/demo?re=IiY1x2YuQXZuFGbwR3cvhGQzVWbhpmI&rn=ISelxmchZFIzVWbhpkI&messageId=UjWJnyJQ1a9zxhP2C

TIMESTAMPS

2:49 Free PMS onboarding + 30% off guidebooks with Hostfully

3:59 What's the best PMS… for me?

6:32 The biggest mistake operators make when choosing a PMS

10:05 How to research PMS options on YouTube

12:50 Where to be careful with ChatGPT/Claude recommendations

17:52 Features every host needs from a PMS

21:22 Why now is the right time to start using a PMS

24:28 How to pressure-test a PMS

27:19 AI that saves time vs. AI that's just a buzzword

29:09 How to choose the right PMS first time

32:53 Frank's elevator pitch for Hostfully

33:52 Connect with Frank + check out Hostfully

#Airbnb #ShortTermRental #PropertyManagementSystem #Hostfully #VacationRental #AirbnbHost #STR