STR Automations for Self-Managers

[Dado Vucak]

Hey all - 

For those of you self-managing your STRs, what kind of automations are you currently using to make life easier? 

My List:

- Auto Generated Smart Lock Codes (built-in integration through channel manager) 

- Set Smart Thermostat to Home Setting 1 Hour Before Guest Check-In (custom automation I created using home automation hub, channel manager, and digital automation platform)

- Set Smart Thermostat to Away Setting @ Check-Out Time (another custom automation)

- Whenever someone books/cancels, that information is automatically ingested into my database. I created a dashboard from this data so that I can see a real-time wholistic view of my occupancy rates, revenue, avg nights/booking, avg guests/booking, etc. across ALL booking platforms (another custom automation using channel manager, digital automation platform, and sql server database)

- Automated Guest Message Check-In Points (standard message templates through channel manager)

- Automated Cleaner SMS Notifications for New Bookings, Cancellations, and Check-Outs (standard option that most channel managers offer)

- Smart Pricing (PriceLabs) 

Future Plans:

- Install smart bulbs so that I can ensure the lights are turned off when the guest checks out

- I would love to figure out how to automate the inventory management piece of that when we're getting low on supplies, they can automatically be re-ordered 

At this point my level of interaction with the business is quite minimal. I'll have the occasional guest question that I need to respond to (that I can't automate unfortunately) and my standard check-in with my cleaners. Aside from that, it hasn't been too bad. 

Now, granted, we're still quite green with only one STR that we've been operating for a few months, however, my plan has always been to treat this as a business from day one. I want to have the systems and procedures in place so that when it comes time to scale, we can do so without creating a ton of additional work for ourselves.

What's everyone else out there doing? I'd love to see what other creative ideas folks have implemented to minimize the stress and time commitment of self-managing STRs. 

Also, if you need help automating some repetitive task, don't hesitate to reach out. No promises that I can solve your problem, but I'd be happy to take a look and see what's possible. 

[Andrew Steffens]

Property manager here, but I feel like I can add a little value here: 

We use Lynx for the home automation (locks and thermostats, pool heaters coming soon).  We are in FL and an issue here is that people set the AC to as low as possible (66-70 in most homes) and then will leave all day for the beach.  We have it set to raise every day at noon for enabled homes to 76.  This does cause some guests to question "why the house gets warm" every day but it is a simple response to not freeze up the AC unit and to conserve energy/reduce costs.  If they are in the home they are free to lower it back down, but most people are outdoors in FL during the day.

Also you may already be aware that AI is being somewhat perfected to handle FAQ's.  We are experimenting now with ChatGPT but nothing 100% solid yet