VRBO's AI Chatbot Answered 1.3 Million Questions Without Notifying Hosts

And no, the AI didn't go rogue. That was the point.

AI is taking over short-term rentals right now, {{contact.first_name}}. In fact, some experts are saying STRs are one of the best use cases for the tech.

This past weeks proved it, too. VRBO revealed its AI plans and some impressive early results at the 2026 Short Stay Summit. And Guesty just launched AI-powered features for their ReplyAI technology.

Here's the scoop.

                                                                                                              READ THE FULL UPDATE                                                                                                                                                                                                        

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VRBO's Smart AI Chatbot Is Already Getting Results

Instead of building a complicated booking agent, VRBO built a simple Q&A chatbot that lives on the listing page. The AI reads the listing description, amenities, reviews, and property details. When a guest asks a question, the system answers instantly. Hosts get no notifications, and guests don't have to wait.

In its first few weeks, this tool answered 1.3 million traveler questions.

VRBO and every other OTA know that conversational search is the future. Listings with very detailed descriptions that answer guest questions clearly will perform better in AI-driven search results and with AI chatbots.

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Why Companies (and Hosts) Are Adopting AI the Wrong Way

A few days ago, at a panel at the 2026 Short Stay Summit, Steve Schwab, CEO of Casago and Vacasa, pointed out that most of the industry noise around AI has been focused on guest-facing chatbots and trip planning tools. Those, he said, have consistently underperformed.

The real wins are happening internally. Before you point AI outward at your guests, point it inward at your operations. According to him, that's where the real profit margin lives.

And Guesty is ticking both boxes with internal operations-focused and guest-facing AI features in their new ReplyAI launch.

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Guesty Launches New ReplyAI Features for Hosts

You've heard them talk about it for a while. But just a few days ago, Guesty finally launched their new AI-powered features for ReplyAI.

ReplyAI Autopilot automatically handles guest messages and queries across the entire booking lifecycle. It sends check-in instructions, checkout reminders, and review requests. But that's pretty standard, right? The cool thing is the AI automatically adapts to your property's tone and voice, so every message sounds like you, not generic AI.

AI Task Creation turns conversations into action items. If a guest asks for early check-in, the system creates a task for your cleaning team. It turns conversations between you, your guests, and your team into tasks. No more manually tracking requests across spreadsheets and scanning all your messages to see if you missed anything.

Both features work inside Guesty's existing platform, so you don't need to juggle multiple tools.

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AI Is Inevitable.

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Earlier this year, Hostaway's CEO claimed hosts who did not adopt AI would go out of business in 5 years. It sounded harsh, but AI is slowly becoming a core part of how short-term rentals work for hosts and guests.

But that isn't a sign to rush and try to adopt everything. Start slow. Focus on the things that work for you and save you time and money. It's better to use one tool efficiently than seven tools with no results.

👉 Read the full update here

Cheers,

The Host Camp Team

P.S. Want to start using Guesty's new ReplyAI features? Get 50% off a Guesty Lite annual plan with our link.

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