Hostaway

Incredible onboarding and features

Opmerkingen: Fantastic! I'm thrilled that we can promote our listings on multiple channels and manage them all in one place. Additionally, the support structure is excellent—the guides are very helpful, and you can always connect with someone at any time if you have questions.

Pluspunten:

I had multiple sessions with an onboarding specialist, [sensitive content hidden]. These sessions included setting up all of our listings across relevant channels and exploring all the features Hostaway offers. This included calendar sync, reservation management, smart locks, inbox integration with all channels, automated tasks like cleaning, Stripe setup for receiving payments, and creating our own website (which was very straightforward). Without the onboarding and walkthroughs with [sensitive content hidden], setting everything up would have been a daunting task. So far, everything syncs up well and on time!

Minpunten:

The integration with Booking.com could be smoother, but this appears to be an issue on Booking.com's side, not with Hostaway.

Eerder overwogen alternatieven: Guesty en Lodgify

Redenen om over te stappen op Hostaway: Hostaway's accessible and available support was a major factor in my decision. Additionally, the cost structure of Hostaway is more attractive to me since it is a fixed cost rather than a percentage-based fee. Furthermore, I understand that Lodgify and Guesty use third-party APIs, whereas Hostaway has its own APIs. This means I expect Hostaway to resolve any issues much faster without relying on third parties.

Exceptional Support and Comprehensive Features

Opmerkingen: I highly recommend Hostaway for anyone looking for a reliable and feature-packed property management solution.

Pluspunten:

The platform is user-friendly, integrates seamlessly with various channels, and offers excellent automation features, which save a lot of time. What stands out is the customer support. Billy, in particular, with his professionalism and deep knowledge made a significant difference in my experience.

Minpunten:

Some features feel a bit outdated, and the mobile app could be more intuitive. Additionally, there were minor glitches during peak usage periods, but the whole team was quick to provide solutions.

Eerder overwogen alternatieven: Smoobu en Avantio

Redenen om over te stappen op Hostaway: Hostaway provides a modern, intuitive platform that simplifies property management tasks. The other platforms are outdated and difficult to navigate, making them less efficient for daily operations.

Tripled their fee after three months, DO NOT TRUST THEM.

Opmerkingen: Bait and switch, plain and simple. Waste of 3 months and thousands of dollars.

Pluspunten:

We did an exhaustive search of similar companies to manage our 22 nightly rental cabins in Alaska. Switched from Checkfront and Resnexus. Spent three months getting set up, countless hours learning and adapting, all while paying $600/month for the software. Finally got it all working right and thought we were set. BUT SEE CONS!

Minpunten:

Without warning, Hostaway starting charging our guests a 2% "guest service fee," nearly tripling the cost of their service. It went from $600/month to $600/month + 2% of $600,000 gross. Assuming this was a mistake we called tech support, and got a million excuses. "Costs have gone up," "Other software systems also charge a fee," "the customer pays it," etc. We asked if we had agreed to it, and they claimed the license agreement says "prices may change without notice." I guess it does, but tripling the price without notice seems beyond excessive. We're now looking to start the whole process over again.

Great Customer Support.

Opmerkingen: [sensitive content hidden] made my experience with Hostaway and enjoyable one. He was clear and concise he understood my concerns.

Pluspunten:

The sharing of screen and learning some new things on how best to run my business

Minpunten:

There was nothing that I didn’t like on this occasion. [sensitive content hidden] was very helpful and easy to understand.

Eerder overwogen alternatieven: Hostfully Property Management Platform

Redenen om voor Hostaway te kiezen: It was more for hotels and places that had many rooms or options at the same locality

Overgestapt van: Seekom

Redenen om over te stappen op Hostaway: Price and support. I don’t remember entirely as it was too long ago.

Really great solution for Short Term Rental automation

Opmerkingen: Very happy I switched to Hostaway. This will make managing my multiple Airbnbs much easier.

Pluspunten:

Tons of functionality and very easy to use. It has everything from automation for all the major booking channels, to easy customization and setup on your direct booking site. It also has upcharges and cross sells and the ability to host clients pages.

Minpunten:

It takes a while to go through the onboarding but it's well worth it.

Eerder overwogen alternatieven: Lodgify

Redenen om voor Hostaway te kiezen: I needed more functionality and the ability to work with more booking channels

Overgestapt van: Guesty

Redenen om over te stappen op Hostaway: Seemed to have a more comprehensive solutions set.

Very powerful tool with very good onboarding and support

Opmerkingen: its a very good product, its complex but so powerful with all these funtions, the onboarding was really good and Fatih helps me a lot to do all important settings

Pluspunten:

very fast, powerful functions, fast and reliable channel manager, powerful statistics, multiple booking engines, unified inbox with connection via sms and whatsapp, best onboarding team ever

Minpunten:

translation to german (especially in the booking engine), some missing funktions for german market (adress and company name as standard field in checkin form)

Eerder overwogen alternatieven: Lodgify

Redenen om voor Hostaway te kiezen: missing functions, a little bit slow, not the right for more listings

Overgestapt van: Smoobu

Redenen om over te stappen op Hostaway: more functions, very fast, pricing, API,

The best tool I've ever used

Opmerkingen: The best!!! ... and I really mean it. After going through some bad experiences with 2 other providers, I can honestly say that Hostaway is miles ahead.

Pluspunten:

Their onboarding process was so incredibly smooth, partly due to the super user friendly system but also their fantastic onboarding team. [sensitive content hidden] who was helping me with the onboarding was top of the class. Absolutely amazing. Their app is also super user friendly. I have all my properties in one place finally.

Minpunten:

There really wasn't anything I didn't like.

Eerder overwogen alternatieven: Guesty Lite en Hostfully Property Management Platform

Redenen om voor Hostaway te kiezen: Amenitiz - not reliable and not user friendly Eviivo - was ok but not as user friendly app as Hostaway

Overgestapt van: eviivo

Redenen om over te stappen op Hostaway: User friendly app and dynamic pricing. Option to integrate my other property despite having different accounts (this was a bonus I didn't expect)

Review and feedback

Pluspunten:

Works well; support is quick and effective [today [sensitive content hidden] helped me in like easy hours via e-mail]; using mail templates

Minpunten:

In Hungary we have to register all the guests' data to a system (called NTAK and VIZA) and HA is not capable to do this therefore we must use a 3rd party system manually to do that. This kind of implementation (multi ntak) would be awesome and I am sure many users in Budapest and in Hungary come to use HA.

Good but could be great! Has the potential for sure.

Opmerkingen: There are quite a few items that are not up to the competition but now fees are being added like the competition.

Pluspunten:

The reservation capability and the listing building.

Minpunten:

The new fees coming out, the accounting not being trust accounting, while this support person was fantastic - majority are not and the capabilities of the booking engine are way too limited, procedure for adding pictures is way more difficult than it has to be. Should be able to deactivate units and not have to delete them completely.

Chose Hostaway for your business

Opmerkingen: Extensive onboarding support, I was very surprised by the time and effort put in by Hostaway here.

Pluspunten:

Great support, comprehensive functionality, constantly improving, customer focused organization

Minpunten:

No WhatsApp integration for our crew. No multilingual support for UI. Both very important for us operating in Indonesia

Eerder overwogen alternatieven: Guesty

Redenen om over te stappen op Hostaway: Not sure, but they pale in comparison. Hostaway is head and shoulders above other contenders.

Better than all 3 that we tried (Guesty, Eviivo, Lodgify).

Opmerkingen: Friendly staff, easy and professional onboarding.

Pluspunten:

After having nightmares with Guesty and the very expensive Eviivo (Lodigfy doesn't even deserve my attention--sorry:(

Minpunten:

So far nothing---I like it a lot. Easy to work with, friendly, and PHONE SUPPORT that actually helpful. Guesty's phone support (if you're to get it), is useless. Their agents are not trained well. They will simply create a ticket which you could have done from the email---It was very annoying.

I used Hostaway for around 8 months now, im quiting...

Opmerkingen: Its good untill you start fact checking the data and incorrections and try contacting the support.

Pluspunten:

Supports a few diffrent softwares API's, but most of the other channel managers now do too..

Minpunten:

The company policies are terrible, and there is a significant amount of bugs. The support team often blames the user, but in my case, it was always the system's fault. I had to spend an enormous amount of time providing step-by-step instructions on how things happened, and even then, I was assumed to be at fault. They overcharged for the service by almost 2x. Luckily, I noticed it after a couple of months. However, the worst part was that I almost had to beg them and prove multiple times there was an overcharge just for them to realize they had charged double the service price multiple times. The same happened multiple times with their finance service. I undercharged my customers multiple times, losing a ton of money. The worst part was that the same issue occurred twice, and both times they did not even bother to look into their system. I had to spend about 5 hours on emails and video calls just for them to fix it. They also do not follow through on what they promise. After the first finance issue, I asked their support to agree to compensation if it was not my mistake; they would compensate for the error. In response, after the issue was finally addressed and proven to indeed be a system error, they sent a nonsensical ChatGPT answer back. I am extremely disappointed and very unhappy with the service. It was my most stressful 8 months out of all other services I have used in my 5 years of hosting using different channel managers.

Simply BLOWN AWAY

Opmerkingen: GLOWING! Truly a PARTNERSHIP w/ GREAT PEOPLE!

Pluspunten:

[sensitive content hidden]!!! I LOVE [sensitive content hidden] O!! He has been the most amazing guide! Incredibly helpful, funny, nice, intuitive, and friendly mentor in this setup process I could’ve ever asked for!! I didn’t even dream that a person like this existed in my industry. I dreamed of having STRs & unfortunately, I have been struggling to streamline the backend processes of this business with Guesty for Hosts. I have felt solo the entire time learning on my own by desperately surfing the Internet and researching resolutions. Guesty offered me ZERO assistance setting up, and long waits to speak with uneducated employees who could not easily answer my questions. [sensitive content hidden] took away ALL of those issues! He eradicated all of those concerns and easily handled any questions that arose, I just am soooooo thankful to have found this company, the intuitiveness of the software, and the people that you have hired are simply amazing. [sensitive content hidden] was amazing, everyone I’ve encountered has been amazing, punctual, friendly, & professional. If I could give 20 stars, I would! I feel as though I have partners now, and I am no longer alone, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

Minpunten:

Haven't found anything yet. Maybe HTML abilities in the message templates & automation? Would be nice to have a preview of them before sending them out? But I am sure you all are working on this already!

Hostaway is Best in Class!

Opmerkingen: 5 Stars! Excellent platform so glad I chose it!

Pluspunten:

Versatile. Like the calendar layout. Very detailed. Lots of fields. Nice Google booking engine - easy. Prices and fees are great. Best in class customer service - awesome!!

Minpunten:

GENERAL: Missing Hide button (you have to block your calendar before going live). Go live button. Mass email function? Does it feed inbox to Breezeway and vice-versa? Automated Messages: SMS Message cannot be longer than 140 characters. Missing guest book that has a UI and is an app. No workflow notices to PMS manager if owner makes a rate change in their own calendar – no approval process. Missing an automated message for modified reservations. No way to import previous reviews with past dates. Owner statements are not automated to owner emails. Cant upload videos. CALENDAR Preset holidays names on the correct dates, or allow owner to enter rolling date events such as their birthdays, etc. Variable date increases button (All Listings) so I can increase all clients rates on certain dates. Owner increases the rates, but we approve. TASKS: No pictures, videos allowed. No payment method for completed tasks. No requiring photos when done.

SUPER PMS PLATFORM ! and [sensitive content hidden] is an AWESOME On-Boarding Expert !!!

Opmerkingen: SUPER PMS PLATFORM ! and [sensitive content hidden] is an AWESOME On-Boarding Expert
!! RECOMMENDING 100 % !!!

Pluspunten:

I had the chance to work with [sensitive content hidden] for the on-boarding program He is super professionnal and super cool : 10/10 !!! The platform has everything you need, from multi-calendars to messages automations, etc : many many functionalities and granularity Also, the possibility to create in a few seconds a new direct website integrating all accodomation listing with a booking engine is AWESOME ! In just 4 sessions, I have now integrated all the communication and calendar of my different platforms (AIRBNB, BOOKING, VRBO) and this has clearly changed my life! :)

Minpunten:

Very small request for R&D teams : Adding chinese language for the website

Eerder overwogen alternatieven: Guesty

Redenen om over te stappen op Hostaway: On-boarding process was offered, and [sensitive content hidden] (Sales AE) made an interesting discountA lot of direct integrations with application in their marketplaceCreating a direct booking website is included into the offer

Hostaway Onboarding

Opmerkingen: Our onboarding specialist [sensitive content hidden] has been really great helping us get everything set up and answering all of our questions. Very knowledgable, helpful and freindly!

Pluspunten:

The onboarding process Set up Ease of use

Minpunten:

We have not run into any issues or problems. So far we like everything about Hostaway.

Best Property Management Software on the market

Opmerkingen: Always top tier. Customer service is the best on the market.

Pluspunten:

Excellent customer service, efficient and the wait time is short. Reps are knowledgeable and extremely helpful.

Minpunten:

There is nothing i don't currently like about HostAway, they are constantly updating and improving their product.

Love it! Get it now!

Pluspunten:

What I have truly enjoyed about Hostaway is its ease of use! And a lot of the different features and options that it has to make additional monies. We had a competitor prior to Hostaway, and the channels really didn’t speak well to the Integration service that we had. And it came to a point where I had to handle everything manually, and I had bookings overlap, which made our guest very unhappy when I had to cancel. Keep everything neat and tidy. Working with my sales consultant has been wonderful as well! Answering every question I’ve ever had. And working with the on boarding. Team has been wonderful as well. I absolutely love this product.

Minpunten:

One thing I think that Hostaway could work on is the website feature that it offers. If you’re going to offer a website, it should not be as rudimentary and basic as it is. There are limited amount of pictures that you can add, and the fonts are very boring and the color schemes are also very basic. It’s OK for what it is but it does not suffice if you really want to promote your product. my suggestion would be that if it is too expensive to have a nicer website for Hostaway, then maybe offer a tiered program. And let the customer choose what they want to pay. I have not been 100% happy with Customer Service. A lot of times my questions had to be asked to higher-ups as well as the lack of response to them. The issues I’ve had have worked themselves out by themselves. But I would like help as soon as I make that phone call , and, of course, having English as a first language speakers would help also. The good thing is I haven’t really had to call Customer Service as the system is pretty simple to use.

Amazing tool for property managers!

Opmerkingen: It has been a great experience! Love the webinars and response from the support team!

Pluspunten:

It has make my job lot easier and organized

Minpunten:

Pricing, Booking engine it’s not easy for someone not used on coding or those skills… should have a price and some specialist to assist on designing the booking engines, and that there are still some things that may need to add in order to be perfect hehe

Hostaway review

Opmerkingen: It’s been good overall. Just some things I hope will update or change in the future like I mentioned above. Billy has been one of the main guys who answer my support questions and he is great! 5 stars to him

Pluspunten:

Constantly trying to improve the platform with new things and fixing old issues

Minpunten:

1) Not able to set different cancellation policies with VRBO. VRBO allows you to have a cancellation policy for short term stays and a different one for long term stays. HostWay doesn’t have a connection currently to link correctly with them to do that. 2) Wish users would be able to create different minimum day stays and maximum day stays on different OTAs. 3) If you all had a CRM that would be awesome too 4) If a manual payment like a check is entered. Have it a way to delete it without clicking “refund”. Gives me anxiety thinking they’ll be refunded on a CC charge

Not for individual property managers with less than 10 properties

Opmerkingen: Frustrating and time consuming. I have learned that this software is not, despite extensive marketing plans to attract the small business property management operator (less than 10 properties) This software is not for them.

Pluspunten:

I like the idea. If only all the features worked, and they had better more knowledgeable, customer support. Customer support agents are reading from manuals for the most part, and not nearly as educated on the very difficult and expensive software as the on boarding staff are.

Minpunten:

Hidden costs. Only once subscribed did I realize that by handing over management of VRBO properties to my Hostaway software, when I know I’ll be giving a piece of my revenue from those reservations to Hostaway. I pay $50 a month per property for the Hostaway software and I’m very unhappy that I find out that they’re now taking one percent of the revenue from Verbo properties that hostaway has absolutely nothing to do with.

Eerder overwogen alternatieven: Guesty Lite

Hats off to Hostaway for providing exceptional teachers for onboarding

Opmerkingen: My overall experience with Hostaway has been positive, primarily because of the trainer we were assigned. Not only was he patient but he was also flexible when I needed to make last-minute meeting changes. He never became impatient and patiently reanswered the same quesetion if needed. Also, none of my questions stumped him.

Pluspunten:

I appreciated having six training sessions led by the same expert Hostaway representative. I quickly became comfortable asking questions, and the rep adapted to my learning pace. Every question I asked was answered and I was guided through new skills with hands-on experience.

Minpunten:

I find Hostaway challenging to learn. It is more sophisticated than I probably need with only two properties. If I were starting over, I might choose management software with fewer functions and, therefore, a less overwhelming interface.

Stellar Assistance with Hostaway Onboarding

Opmerkingen: I wanted to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude for the incredible support [sensitive content hidden] provided during my onboarding process with Hostaway. Her assistance was nothing short of exceptional, and I am truly grateful for the time and effort she dedicated to ensuring everything went smoothly. From the outset, [sensitive content hidden] professionalism and expertise were evident. She guided me through each step with clarity and patience, making what could have been a complex and overwhelming experience feel seamless and manageable. Her prompt responses and thorough explanations were invaluable, and I felt reassured knowing I had her support. [sensitive content hidden] dedication to helping me understand the platform and its features was remarkable. She went above and beyond to address all my questions and concerns, and her insights were instrumental in helping me get up to speed quickly. Thanks to [sensitive content hidden] outstanding support, I am now confidently using Hostaway and already seeing the benefits of this powerful tool. I cannot thank her enough for her exceptional service and the positive impact it has had on my business.

Pluspunten:

What I appreciated the most was the help from the entire team and the automation of managing tasks. This gives me the confidence to attend to other matters, knowing that Hostaway is taking care of the rest.

Minpunten:

The integration with Verbo. But it's not your fault!

Eerder overwogen alternatieven: Guesty Lite

Very good solution

Opmerkingen: Experience has been exceptional - responsive help desk makes fixing any issues quick and easy.

Pluspunten:

One solution covers all my hosting software needs

Minpunten:

It would be helpful if it were cheaper..

IT support is amazing!

Pluspunten:

Makes our business more efficient and the customer service is 5 star

Minpunten:

I don't have any cons with hostaway at the moment!

Eerder overwogen alternatieven: Guesty

Redenen om over te stappen op Hostaway: hostaway had more of the necessary features