HostAI is an AI-native platform that helps boost direct revenue growth for vacation rental managers. Direct bookings have become a crucial strategy for property management companies looking to increase revenue and build lasting relationships with guests.
HostAI is integrated with Guesty, providing a seamless onboarding experience. Two long-time Guesty users, Renjoy and Sojourn, partnered with hostAI to successfully uplift their direct revenue using hostFront, an AI-powered booking engine, and hostDistro, an automated ad campaign tool.
Sojourn covers Washington, D.C., the Tidewater region, and Northern Virginia. Dunniela Kaufman Levin, CEO of Sojourn, describes its unique position as follows: “We are a full-service hospitality brand that also provides property management focused in the furnished world. We host and manage both short-term and monthly rentals.”
Renjoy focuses on full-service management in Colorado Springs and Florida Gulf Coast, offering property owners a hands-off experience while maximizing their rental income. Reid Cowan, Marketing Director at Renjoy, explains: “Renjoy was founded by three friends who, after managing their own short-term rentals, discovered how challenging it was to find quality local management. Driven by this need, they set out to create a company that blends exceptional hospitality with innovative solutions in the short-term rental industry.”
The importance of direct bookings
Both companies recognize direct bookings’ critical role in their overall strategy, albeit with slightly different emphasis.
Sojourn sees building an independent brand as a way to create lasting relationships with guests and improve yield for property owners. Dunniela (Sojourn) explains: “Direct booking allows you, first of all, to create a direct relationship with the guest, which I think is very important because we want to become a consistently known brand.”
For Renjoy, direct bookings represent an opportunity to diversify booking channels. Reid notes: “We didn’t really focus on it too much initially. But in this past year and a half, it’s been super important…How can we diversify our booking channels and take control of our own revenue, not just rely on Airbnb and other OTAs out there?”
Challenges in growing direct bookings
Before partnering with hostAI, both companies faced hurdles in growing their direct bookings across booking conversion and return on marketing spend.
Renjoy’s most significant challenge was creating a cohesive booking experience that instilled trust in potential guests. They started with a booking widget but quickly realized it wasn’t enough to give guests the confidence to book directly. He emphasized that the website’s end-to-end design and booking flow played a strong role in driving direct bookings.
Sojourn, on the other hand, grappled with developing an online ad strategy and competing with larger, well-funded companies. “We are not a venture-backed company, we have built the company from the ground up based on revenue generated. As a result, the amount of money we could allocate to that effort has always been a balancing act.”
Partnering with hostAI
Both companies found hostAI to be a partner that helped them achieve their direct booking goals. hostAI is able to abstract away the complexities of building an online business, and are partners every step of the way.
A well-designed booking experience for guests and property owners, Reid was looking for something plug-and-play, affordable, and integrated with Guesty. Since working with hostAI, the property owners that Renjoy works with have given positive feedback on how their properties look professional and classy. “They love it. It’s super easy.” Guests also find an intuitive experience “If you’re familiar with Airbnb and those property pages, you’ll be pretty familiar with hostAI’s pages… people are used to that, [which] translated well on how people look through pages, look at pictures, see the check-in, check-out dates and book a reservation.”
Expertise in driving direct traffic, Dunniela was drawn to the direct marketing expertise of the hostAI team. “We know our market, but we aren’t experts at online marketing. We have a local competitor that kept coming up ahead of us on Google searches. Amirali looked into it and thoroughly explained why it was used, and, in so doing, we learned a lot about how Google search works. They take the time to explain things to you, and if there’s something you want to achieve, they work with you.”
Results and future outlook
Both companies significantly benefited from partnering with hostAI, allowing them to put more revenue back into their respective businesses. Looking ahead, both companies are excited about the potential for continued growth in direct bookings with hostAI’s support.
The partnership with hostAI yielded significant results:
- Renjoy tripled their direct bookings from 2% to 6%
- Sojourn increased direct bookings from 7% to 10%
Looking ahead, Renjoy is optimistic: “With our first year complete, we’re targeting 20-30% direct bookings, which I truly believe is achievable.”
The right partner for your growth story
The experiences of Renjoy and Sojourn demonstrate the transformative impact that a focused direct booking strategy, supported by the right partner, can have on vacation rental businesses. By leveraging hostAI’s expertise and technology, these companies have not only increased their direct bookings but also gained valuable insights into their markets and improved their overall online presence.
For other vacation rental companies looking to boost their direct bookings, the message is clear: partnering with experts like hostAI can provide the knowledge, tools, and support needed to compete effectively in today’s digital landscape. As Dunniela aptly puts it:
“It doesn’t need to be that hard, but you do need to have some expert knowledge… I really feel like hostAI are experts. They understand the inner workings of search optimization and how to use AI to help target the potential guest. I really appreciate their expertise..”
