PMCs managing 50+ units, how are you handling guest communication at scale?

Short-Term & Vacation Rental Discussions
6moFollow

PMCs managing 50+ units, how are you handling guest communication at scale?

Izuchukwu Onukwube
Member since 2026 · 24 posts · 7 votes

I've been talking to a lot of property management companies lately and there's a pattern I keep seeing once you cross around 25-30 units under management.

The guest messaging workload stops being something you can handle with a couple of VAs and canned responses. The volume is too high, the mix of message types is too varied, and the cost of one wrong response to a guest, bad check-in instructions, incorrect late checkout approval, missed maintenance issue, scales directly with how many properties you're running.

Most PMCs I talk to end up in one of three camps:

Camp 1: Stack more VAs. Works until it doesn't, training time, turnover, and consistency become real problems past 50 units. Also the cost creeps up fast.

Camp 2: Try an AI tool like HostBuddy or similar. The feedback I keep hearing is that these tools require a ton of upfront programming to dial in, and even then the responses aren't reliable enough to trust without a human reviewing them. So you end up paying for the AI AND still having VAs babysit it.

Camp 3: Build something custom in-house. Great if you have the dev resources. Most PMCs don't.

The thing I'm curious about is whether there's a fourth option that actually works, AI that's reliable enough to trust, sounds like your brand (not a generic bot), and doesn't require weeks of programming to set up. And critically, one that can be white-labeled so you can present it as part of your own tech stack to the property owners you're trying to win.

For the PMCs here running 50+ units:

  • 1. What are you currently using and how's it actually working?
  • 2. If you've tried AI tools, what made you stick with them or drop them?
  • 3. Would white-labeling matter to you, or is that not a priority?

Not trying to pitch anything here, I'm building in this space and the best product decisions I've made came from PMCs telling me what's actually broken about the current options.

4Reply
274 views

Most Popular Reply

Calvin Baughman
Member since 2023 · 78 posts · 37 votes
6mo

1. I use Hostaway and Turno across all my properties. It lets me communicate with guests and schedule high-quality cleanings automatically, and I’ve seen a noticeable boost in both my reviews and occupancy rate.

2. I've experimented with AI-driven processes rather than specific tools, and honestly, I wasn’t too impressed. I prefer keeping automation simple. When you rely too heavily on AI, you risk losing your tone and brand personality, which can make guests feel less engaged. Not saying it's not important or I don't use any of it, but it's a bit like dealing with a bot for customer support, it often comes across as impersonal.

3. Definitely!

2Reply
See this reply in the discussion

15 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Calvin Baughman
    Member since 2023 · 78 posts · 37 votes
    6mo

    1. I use Hostaway and Turno across all my properties. It lets me communicate with guests and schedule high-quality cleanings automatically, and I’ve seen a noticeable boost in both my reviews and occupancy rate.

    2. I've experimented with AI-driven processes rather than specific tools, and honestly, I wasn’t too impressed. I prefer keeping automation simple. When you rely too heavily on AI, you risk losing your tone and brand personality, which can make guests feel less engaged. Not saying it's not important or I don't use any of it, but it's a bit like dealing with a bot for customer support, it often comes across as impersonal.

    3. Definitely!

    2Reply
    • John UnderwoodPro Member
      Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
      6mo
      Quote from @Calvin Baughman:

      1. I use Hostaway and Turno across all my properties. It lets me communicate with guests and schedule high-quality cleanings automatically, and I’ve seen a noticeable boost in both my reviews and occupancy rate.

      2. I've experimented with AI-driven processes rather than specific tools, and honestly, I wasn’t too impressed. I prefer keeping automation simple. When you rely too heavily on AI, you risk losing your tone and brand personality, which can make guests feel less engaged. Not saying it's not important or I don't use any of it, but it's a bit like dealing with a bot for customer support, it often comes across as impersonal.

      3. Definitely!


       Do you use the same cleaners over and over again? If so are the Turno fees so low that it makes sense to keep using them for scheduling cleanings also or do you just eventually contract the cleaners direct?

      1Reply
    • Izuchukwu Onukwube
      OP
      Member since 2026 · 24 posts · 7 votes
      6mo
      Quote from @Calvin Baughman:

      1. I use Hostaway and Turno across all my properties. It lets me communicate with guests and schedule high-quality cleanings automatically, and I’ve seen a noticeable boost in both my reviews and occupancy rate.

      2. I've experimented with AI-driven processes rather than specific tools, and honestly, I wasn’t too impressed. I prefer keeping automation simple. When you rely too heavily on AI, you risk losing your tone and brand personality, which can make guests feel less engaged. Not saying it's not important or I don't use any of it, but it's a bit like dealing with a bot for customer support, it often comes across as impersonal.

      3. Definitely!

      Calvin, this is the exact concern I hear most often and honestly it's the right concern to have. Most AI tools in this space generate responses that are technically correct but tonally generic, the kind of polite, slightly stiff replies that immediately feel robotic to guests. And once a guest senses they're talking to a bot, the whole interaction loses its warmth.

      The way I'm approaching it is different. Instead of the AI generating responses from scratch in some default 'helpful assistant' voice, it learns your actual communication style from your past guest messages, the phrases you use, how casual or formal you are, even the small things like whether you sign off with your name or just leave it open. So when it drafts a response, it sounds like you wrote it, not like a chatbot.

      The other piece is that you don't have to let it auto-send. You can run it in draft mode where it writes the response and your team approves it with one tap before sending. That way you get the speed of AI on routine stuff but you never lose control of how your brand comes across.

      Curious, if an AI tool could genuinely match your tone and let you keep humans in the loop on anything important, would that change how you think about it? Or is there still something about the AI approach that wouldn't sit right with you regardless?

      0Reply
  • Rafael RodriguezBusiness Member
    Member since 2025 · 10 posts · 3 votes
    6mo

    As much as AI has improved in the recent years, it can't yet handle all the possible scenarios that can come up in guest communications.  

    0Reply
    • Izuchukwu Onukwube
      OP
      Member since 2026 · 24 posts · 7 votes
      6mo
      Quote from @Rafael Rodriguez:

      As much as AI has improved in the recent years, it can't yet handle all the possible scenarios that can come up in guest communications.  

      Completely agree, and I think anyone selling AI as a full replacement for human judgment in guest comms is overselling it. The edge cases are where things go wrong, and edge cases in hospitality often involve real money or bad reviews.

      The way I think about it: probably 70-80% of guest messages are repetitive and predictable (WiFi, check-in, parking, local recs). AI handles those reliably. The other 20-30% are where judgment matters, complaints, late checkout requests, maintenance issues, anything emotionally charged. Those still need a human.

      The mistake most AI tools make is trying to handle 100% autonomously. The version that actually works is AI handles the routine stuff fast, and intelligently flags the messages that need a human to step in. You're not replacing your team, you're freeing them up to focus on the conversations that actually need them.

      What's your current setup, mostly VAs, or a mix?

      0Reply
  • Ryan MoyerBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Orlando Kissimmee Davenport Salt Lake City, Park City · Member since 2019 · 993 posts · 1k+ votes
    6mo

    Option 1, though I kind of lucked into a cheat.

    The first VA I hired was a former recruiter. I hired her because she was sharp and communicates well (most guests and clients have no idea she's not American). She had no knowledge of STR.

    But now I've trained her in STR and she practically runs half my company. So whenever we need a VA, she uses her recruiter background to find the right personality etc, and she trains them in STR.

    Takes all the guesswork out with VAs where you usually have to hire someone with no STR experience to get a VA that is actually a great employee.

    Cosmic Vacations4.9174 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
    • Izuchukwu Onukwube
      OP
      Member since 2026 · 24 posts · 7 votes
      6mo
      Quote from @Ryan Moyer:

      Option 1, though I kind of lucked into a cheat.

      The first VA I hired was a former recruiter. I hired her because she was sharp and communicates well (most guests and clients have no idea she's not American). She had no knowledge of STR.

      But now I've trained her in STR and she practically runs half my company. So whenever we need a VA, she uses her recruiter background to find the right personality etc, and she trains them in STR.

      Takes all the guesswork out with VAs where you usually have to hire someone with no STR experience to get a VA that is actually a great employee.

      That's actually one of the smartest VA setups I've heard. Hiring for communication skills and personality first, then training the STR knowledge in, is the opposite of what most operators do, and the fact that you have someone who can both run operations AND recruit/train her replacements is a genuine competitive advantage. Most PMCs would kill for that.

      Honestly, this is the case where I don't think AI replaces what you've built. When you have a senior VA who knows your operation deeply and can train new ones to your standard, you've solved the consistency problem that breaks most teams at scale. The AI tools are most useful for operators who don't have that, where every new VA is a fresh ramp-up cost and quality is uneven.

      Where I see AI potentially adding value even for setups like yours is on the speed side, the 2am 'what's the WiFi password' messages where even a great VA isn't going to be at their sharpest. But that's a much narrower use case than 'replace the VA team,' which I think is where a lot of these tools oversell themselves.

      How big is your team now and are you mostly hiring through your senior VA's network at this point?

      0Reply
  • Andrew SteffensBusiness Member
    Tampa, FL · Member since 2022 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    6mo

    I have 60 or so units and 4 full time VA's giving me 24/7 coverage. I am uncomfortable releasing them and implementing AI. I think AI could be used to allay the need to get more VA's if I were to continue to scale, likely over 100 units.

    [email protected]813-563-0877
    Vacation Rentals of Florida53 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
    • Izuchukwu Onukwube
      OP
      Member since 2026 · 24 posts · 7 votes
      6mo
      Quote from @Andrew Steffens:

      I have 60 or so units and 4 full time VA's giving me 24/7 coverage. I am uncomfortable releasing them and implementing AI. I think AI could be used to allay the need to get more VA's if I were to continue to scale, likely over 100 units.

      That's exactly the right way to think about it. The version of AI that works for an operation your size isn't 'fire your VAs and let the bot handle everything', it's 'give your VAs a tool that lets them handle 2x the volume without burning out or compromising quality.'

      The way it would work in practice: AI drafts responses to all the routine stuff (WiFi, check-in, parking, local recs) and your VAs approve them with one tap instead of typing each response from scratch. So a VA who's currently handling 15 properties of message volume can handle 30+ comfortably because they're reviewing instead of writing. Same headcount, double the capacity. And anything that needs real judgment, complaints, late checkout decisions, maintenance issues, still routes to the human like normal.

      That's the bridge to scaling past 100 units without doubling your VA team. You keep the people who already know your operation, and you give them leverage instead of replacing them

      0Reply
  • Derek D.
    Property Manager · Old Orchard Beach, ME · Member since 2015 · 108 posts · 11 votes
    6mo

    Hey @Izuchukwu Onukwube what PMS do you currently use?

    1Reply
    • Izuchukwu Onukwube
      OP
      Member since 2026 · 24 posts · 7 votes
      6mo
      Quote from @Derek D.:

      Hey @Izuchukwu Onukwube what PMS do you currently use?

      Hey Derek, full transparency, I'm not running properties myself, I'm a developer building Hostrexa (the AI guest messaging tool I mentioned in the post). So my PMS exposure is from the integration side rather than as an operator.

      Right now I'm focused on Hostaway and Hostfully for the first integrations, partly because their APIs are the most builder-friendly and partly because that's where the PMCs I've been talking to are concentrated. Actually had a partnership call with the Hostfully team recently, they seem to be opening up their marketplace pretty actively right now.

      What are you currently running, and what made you start looking at other options? Always trying to learn what's working and what's broken from people actually using these platforms day to day.

      0Reply
    • Drew SygitBusiness Member
      Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
      6mo
      Quote from @Izuchukwu Onukwube:
      Quote from @Derek D.:

      Hey @Izuchukwu Onukwube what PMS do you currently use?

      Hey Derek, full transparency, I'm not running properties myself, I'm a developer building Hostrexa (the AI guest messaging tool I mentioned in the post). So my PMS exposure is from the integration side rather than as an operator.

      Right now I'm focused on Hostaway and Hostfully for the first integrations, partly because their APIs are the most builder-friendly and partly because that's where the PMCs I've been talking to are concentrated. Actually had a partnership call with the Hostfully team recently, they seem to be opening up their marketplace pretty actively right now.

      What are you currently running, and what made you start looking at other options? Always trying to learn what's working and what's broken from people actually using these platforms day to day.


      Why didn't your initial post state you are a developer looking for input?

      You are on the edge of violating BP posting requirements...

      [email protected]248-209-6824
      Logical Property Management4.9460 Reviews
      WebsiteView Page
      0Reply
    • Izuchukwu Onukwube
      OP
      Member since 2026 · 24 posts · 7 votes
      6mo
      Quote from @Drew Sygit:
      Quote from @Izuchukwu Onukwube:
      Quote from @Derek D.:

      Hey @Izuchukwu Onukwube what PMS do you currently use?

      Hey Derek, full transparency, I'm not running properties myself, I'm a developer building Hostrexa (the AI guest messaging tool I mentioned in the post). So my PMS exposure is from the integration side rather than as an operator.

      Right now I'm focused on Hostaway and Hostfully for the first integrations, partly because their APIs are the most builder-friendly and partly because that's where the PMCs I've been talking to are concentrated. Actually had a partnership call with the Hostfully team recently, they seem to be opening up their marketplace pretty actively right now.

      What are you currently running, and what made you start looking at other options? Always trying to learn what's working and what's broken from people actually using these platforms day to day.


      Why didn't your initial post state you are a developer looking for input?

      You are on the edge of violating BP posting requirements...

      I did mention it in the post, "I'm building in this space and the best product decisions I've made came from PMCs telling me what's actually broken about the current options", Fair feedback that it should be clearer though, and I'll lead with it in future posts. Appreciate the heads up

      0Reply
  • Albert Witt
    Member since 2026 · 16 posts · 6 votes
    5mo
    Quote from @Izuchukwu Onukwube:

    I've been talking to a lot of property management companies lately and there's a pattern I keep seeing once you cross around 25-30 units under management.

    The guest messaging workload stops being something you can handle with a couple of VAs and canned responses. The volume is too high, the mix of message types is too varied, and the cost of one wrong response to a guest, bad check-in instructions, incorrect late checkout approval, missed maintenance issue, scales directly with how many properties you're running.

    Most PMCs I talk to end up in one of three camps:

    Camp 1: Stack more VAs. Works until it doesn't, training time, turnover, and consistency become real problems past 50 units. Also the cost creeps up fast.

    Camp 2: Try an AI tool like HostBuddy or similar. The feedback I keep hearing is that these tools require a ton of upfront programming to dial in, and even then the responses aren't reliable enough to trust without a human reviewing them. So you end up paying for the AI AND still having VAs babysit it.

    Camp 3: Build something custom in-house. Great if you have the dev resources. Most PMCs don't.

    The thing I'm curious about is whether there's a fourth option that actually works, AI that's reliable enough to trust, sounds like your brand (not a generic bot), and doesn't require weeks of programming to set up. And critically, one that can be white-labeled so you can present it as part of your own tech stack to the property owners you're trying to win.

    For the PMCs here running 50+ units:

    • 1. What are you currently using and how's it actually working?
    • 2. If you've tried AI tools, what made you stick with them or drop them?
    • 3. Would white-labeling matter to you, or is that not a priority?

    Not trying to pitch anything here, I'm building in this space and the best product decisions I've made came from PMCs telling me what's actually broken about the current options.


     Ai is exactly what you use for this problem as a human might get tired and for get some small details and not get to reply as soon where AI is Jonny on all the time quick reply never gets tired and can go all night and day

    1Reply
  • Albert Witt
    Member since 2026 · 16 posts · 6 votes
    5mo
    Quote from @Izuchukwu Onukwube:

    I've been talking to a lot of property management companies lately and there's a pattern I keep seeing once you cross around 25-30 units under management.

    The guest messaging workload stops being something you can handle with a couple of VAs and canned responses. The volume is too high, the mix of message types is too varied, and the cost of one wrong response to a guest, bad check-in instructions, incorrect late checkout approval, missed maintenance issue, scales directly with how many properties you're running.

    Most PMCs I talk to end up in one of three camps:

    Camp 1: Stack more VAs. Works until it doesn't, training time, turnover, and consistency become real problems past 50 units. Also the cost creeps up fast.

    Camp 2: Try an AI tool like HostBuddy or similar. The feedback I keep hearing is that these tools require a ton of upfront programming to dial in, and even then the responses aren't reliable enough to trust without a human reviewing them. So you end up paying for the AI AND still having VAs babysit it.

    Camp 3: Build something custom in-house. Great if you have the dev resources. Most PMCs don't.

    The thing I'm curious about is whether there's a fourth option that actually works, AI that's reliable enough to trust, sounds like your brand (not a generic bot), and doesn't require weeks of programming to set up. And critically, one that can be white-labeled so you can present it as part of your own tech stack to the property owners you're trying to win.

    For the PMCs here running 50+ units:

    • 1. What are you currently using and how's it actually working?
    • 2. If you've tried AI tools, what made you stick with them or drop them?
    • 3. Would white-labeling matter to you, or is that not a priority?

    Not trying to pitch anything here, I'm building in this space and the best product decisions I've made came from PMCs telling me what's actually broken about the current options.


    I self-manage on the Oregon Coast and hit the messaging wall around property 2 honestly. Not even 50 units — just the 2am checkout questions, the 'where's the WiFi password' for the 10th time that week, adjusting pricing when whale migration season hits and demand spikes. All the repetitive stuff that eats your time.

    Camp 2 is what I've seen too — most AI tools need so much hand-holding they defeat the purpose. The ones that actually work are the ones that understand the context of YOUR properties, not just generic hospitality responses. Like if a guest asks about beach access, the answer is different for every single listing. If the AI can't handle that without you programming every scenario, it's just a fancy auto-responder.

    The white-label question is interesting — for owners like me it doesn't matter, but I could see PMCs caring about that a lot. If you're pitching owners on your management services, having 'your' tech stack vs saying 'we use this third party tool' is a different conversation.

    Biggest thing I'd want: AI that handles the volume but lets me stay in control of the decisions. Nobody wants a bot making judgment calls on a $500 late checkout fee.

    1Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free