Considering Hostaway for your short-term rental business?
This guide covers features, pricing, and ideal use cases — with insights straight from their team.
Running a short-term rental business means juggling a dozen things at once — guest messages, calendar updates, cleaning schedules, and pricing adjustments. The right property management system pulls all of that into one place so you can actually focus on growing instead of just keeping up.
Hostaway has positioned itself as a platform for operators who are serious about scaling. We reached out to their team to understand what they offer and who they serve best.
Here’s what you should know.
Why Pair Your PMS with CraftedStays?
Your PMS handles operations — bookings, calendars, and guest communication. But the website builder that comes bundled with it? Usually an afterthought. CraftedStays handles what comes before the booking: turning website visitors into guests. We focus on conversion-optimized design, fast mobile performance, and SEO that brings in organic traffic — while syncing seamlessly with your PMS so you’re not managing data in two places.
The Short Version
Hostaway describes itself as “an industry-leading, AI-powered vacation rental management platform designed for professional short-term rental operators.”
Their pitch is efficiency and growth: manage reservations, automate guest communication, sync listings across channels, and boost direct bookings — all from one unified platform. They claim operators save up to 60 minutes per reservation using their system.
Who Should Consider Hostaway?
Hostaway is built for property managers and hospitality brands scaling from 5 to 500+ properties. They serve operators globally across a wide range of property types.
Property types they support include:
- Vacation Rentals
- Urban Rentals
- Aparthotels and Serviced Apartments
- Cabins, Cottages, and Villas
- Bed & Breakfasts and Guest Houses
- Camping and Glamping
- Boutique Hotels and Resorts
- Farm Stays
If you’re managing just one or two properties, Hostaway may be more firepower than you need. But if you’re building toward a larger portfolio — or already managing multiple units — this is the operator profile they’ve designed for.
Three Features That Keep Users Around
When asked what their customers rely on most, Hostaway highlighted three capabilities:
Multi-channel booking management. Grow and manage bookings across major channels (Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Google) with real-time sync on availability, pricing, and calendars. When a booking comes in on one platform, all your other calendars update immediately.
AI-powered guest communication. Automate up to 93% of repetitive guest messages with AI Replies in one unified inbox. Check-in instructions, common questions, review requests — handled automatically so you’re not typing the same responses over and over.
Dynamic pricing. Increase earnings by 25%+ with built-in dynamic pricing that adjusts your rates based on demand, seasonality, and market conditions.
How Channel Management Works
Hostaway has invested heavily in direct partnerships with major OTAs. They hold top-tier partnership status with Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Expedia, Google, and Marriott.
These direct connections mean faster syncing, fewer errors, and priority support when issues arise. For operators listing across multiple platforms, reliable channel management is the difference between smooth operations and constant firefighting.
Pricing Structure
Hostaway uses per-property pricing with optional add-ons for specific features.
| Pricing Element | Details |
|---|---|
| Billing model | Per property/listing |
| Core platform | Included in base price |
| Dynamic Pricing | Available as an add-on |
| Insurance | Available as an add-on |
| Smart Locks | Available as an add-on |
| QuickBooks Integration | Available as add-on |
This modular approach lets you pay for what you actually use rather than bundling everything into a single expensive tier.
Getting Help When You Need It
Support quality matters, especially when a booking issue pops up at midnight. Hostaway emphasizes its support infrastructure.
| Support Channel | What You Get |
|---|---|
| 24/7 Phone Support | Award-winning, always available |
| Help Center | Comprehensive self-service resources |
| Customer Satisfaction | 97%+ rating |
| Global Coverage | Multi-language team for local understanding |
Having phone support available around the clock is a meaningful differentiator — many competitors limit live support to business hours or offer only email support.
The Onboarding Experience
New customers go through a structured onboarding process with Hostaway’s Customer Success Team. Depending on the size and complexity of your account, this includes a series of calls covering:
- Account setup
- Connecting with booking platforms
- Mastering the Hostaway Dashboard for daily operations
The hands-on approach helps ensure you’re not left figuring out a complex system on your own.
Clearing Up Common Misconceptions
The Hostaway team addressed two things they hear often:
“It’s just a Channel Manager.”
Not accurate. While channel management is a core feature, Hostaway is a full-service Property Management System. It handles automated messaging, task management for cleaners, financial reporting, owner portals, direct booking website creation, and payment processing — well beyond just syncing calendars.
“It’s too complex for small hosts.”
The platform is enterprise-grade, which can make it seem like overkill for smaller operators. But many hosts with just a few properties use it successfully because they want the automation to run their business passively. The complexity is mostly in the initial setup — once configured, it simplifies operations regardless of portfolio size.
The Philosophy Behind the Product
When asked what first-time PMS buyers should know, the Hostaway team offered this perspective:
“Think of Hostaway as hiring a 24/7 digital operations manager. Because it’s a robust system, the initial setup takes a little focus — you have to teach the system how you run your business. But once you do, it handles all the heavy lifting: it prevents double bookings, answers guest questions automatically, and schedules your cleaners.”
Their framing: “It transforms your rental from a ‘side hustle’ that requires your constant attention into a professional, scalable business that runs in the background.”
Bottom Line
Hostaway makes sense if you’re scaling beyond a handful of properties, want enterprise-grade automation, or need reliable multi-channel distribution with top-tier OTA partnerships. The 24/7 support and structured onboarding help offset the learning curve that comes with a more powerful platform.
This guide was developed with input directly from Hostaway to ensure accuracy.
Ready to Build Your Direct Booking Website?
If you’re using Hostaway and want a high-converting direct booking website that syncs seamlessly with your PMS, CraftedStays can help. Our platform integrates directly with Hostaway — so your availability, pricing, and property details stay up to date automatically.