Hostaway + STR Squad · The cross-functional AI command layer
Keep Hostaway. Add the Squad.
STR Squad is the cross-functional AI command layer that sits on top of Hostaway. Hostaway stays your system of record and keeps connecting your channels and marketplace apps. The Squad puts 42 AI agents on 12 specialist teams to work across all of it: guest messages, turnovers, maintenance, reviews, pricing, risk and finance. It works for a few units or thousands of doors.
A 30-minute walkthrough with our team, on an operation shaped like yours.
The short answer
Does STR Squad replace Hostaway?
No. STR Squad works on top of Hostaway, not in place of it. Your Hostaway account, channel connections, owner portal and marketplace apps keep running exactly as they do today. The Squad adds an AI command layer that works across your whole operation, reading the signals from every system and routing each one to a specialist team.
- Keep Hostaway as your system of record
- 42 AI agents on 12 specialist teams
- One command surface for everything
Your system of record
What Hostaway does brilliantly
Hostaway serves property managers from a few units to thousands, with channel connections, a partner marketplace, owner tools and team tools in one system of record. The Squad is designed to make every part of it count for more.
Channel management
Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Expedia, Google Vacation Rentals and Marriott Homes & Villas, with top-tier partner status at the biggest channels.
A deep marketplace
Hundreds of partner integrations, from pricing and locks to cleaning and accounting, so most tools you want already plug in.
Owner portal and statements
Automated owner statements and payouts, plus a self-serve portal for your owners.
Built for teams
Tasks, users and permissions for operations teams running listings at scale.
Direct bookings
A direct-booking website builder, so your own brand takes reservations too.
One inbox
Email, SMS and WhatsApp alongside channel messages in a single unified inbox.
Already using Hostaway’s AI? Keep it.
Hostaway’s AI CoHost answers questions about your business and suggests changes for you to approve. Keep it running. The Squad works alongside it, across Hostaway and every marketplace app, vendor and team around it, with twelve specialist teams, a shared memory of how each property runs, and one command orchestrator deciding which signal goes where. For groups running more than one system, it is one command layer across all of them.
How it fits
A layer on top of Hostaway, working across everything around it.
Hostaway runs the reservation. The work that lands on you moves between people and tools: the guest thread, the cleaner’s photo, the vendor’s quote, the rate worth a second look. The Squad works across all of it.
- You getOne operation you can see and runEvery property, every signal, one command surface.
- We addSTR Squad42 AI agents · 12 specialist teams · one command orchestrator
- You already haveHostawayPlus the marketplace apps, vendors and teams around it. Everything stays where it is, and the Squad starts from your calendar link.
No changeover. Hostaway keeps running exactly as it does today. Nothing to rip out, no switchover, no operations paused. Whatever you run, we meet your stack where it is: calendar-link sync that works with any PMS, and deeper connections built one PMS at a time, with you as a design partner.
What the Squad adds
One command center. A specialist for everything.
Hostaway holds the record. The Squad works the signals: every guest message, booking change, cleaner update, review and payout goes to one command orchestrator, which routes it to the team built for it. Every team is itself a crew of specialist agents.
- Guest Messaging
- Maintenance
- Finance
- Pricing
- Benchmark
- Fraud & Risk
- Alerts
- Upsell
- Reviews
- Housekeeping
- Calendar
- Bookings
Guest Messaging
Reads each thread against the property’s own house rules and drafts the reply in your brand voice for your OK, alongside the automations you already run.
Housekeeping
Watches every turnover against the calendar, flags the ones at risk when a booking moves, and keeps your cleaner in the loop.
Maintenance
Triages the issue, matches a vendor, estimates the cost and schedules the fix, with your OK at the step that spends money.
Reviews
Collects reviews from every channel, drafts the response, and spots the pattern worth fixing before the next stay.
Pricing
Reads your PriceLabs or Beyond rates next to the calendar and flags the nights that look out of step with the market.
Finance
Rolls revenue, payouts and per-property performance up from your reservations into one view, and flags anything worth a second look.
Upsell
Offers early check-in, late checkout and extras at the moment a guest is most likely to say yes.
Alerts
Grades every incident from Critical to Info and routes it to whoever owns it. What doesn’t need you never reaches you.
Every module, one by one: see all STR Squad features.
Cross-functional, in practice
A Tuesday across 140 doors on Hostaway, with the Squad on top
Illustrative example
Here is what cross-functional looks like for a property management company running 140 doors on Hostaway across two markets, with an operations team in each.
- 6:50 AMMorning BriefingEach market manager gets the overnight in one plain-English summary: 14 guest threads handled, two maintenance issues in progress, one arrival flagged. Three items need a person.
- 7:30 AMGuest MessagingOvernight threads were drafted in the brand’s voice from each property’s operating notes, ready for one-tap approval. Every one is in the audit log.
- 9:45 AMHousekeepingA cancellation opens a night in the beach market. Housekeeping flags the turnovers it changes for the crew lead, and the open night is flagged as a gap worth filling.
- 11:20 AMMaintenanceThree units report the same AC fault. Maintenance groups them, matches one HVAC vendor, and holds a single dispatch for the ops lead’s OK.
- 2:00 PMFinanceA payout lands short against its booking. Finance flags the variance with the reservation attached, well before month-end owner statements go out.
- 5:40 PMReviewsA theme surfaces across the mountain market: guests keep asking about parking. Responses are drafted, and the answer is added to every affected property’s operating notes.
Through all of it, Hostaway keeps doing what it does best: the channel sync, the owner portal and the apps your team already relies on. The Squad gives that team a second shift that never clocks out, so nothing falls through.
Glass-box AI
It does the work. You keep the controls.
Every agent action shows its reasoning and lands in an audit log. You choose the level of control, team by team, and you can change your mind any time.
Approve-first
Every action is drafted and waits for your OK: the guest reply, the vendor dispatch, the rate change. This is where every operation starts.
Auto-pilot
When you trust a workflow, let the routine version run on its own. The judgment calls still come to you, and nothing fires silently.
Go deeper: how approve-first AI works in a property management company.
Who it’s for
One condo or ten thousand doors. Same engine.
The same command layer runs for an owner with one property, a manager with hundreds, and a group running several brands. Plans are simple monthly levels sized to your portfolio, with every rate published.
One property and up
Owners & hosts
Running your own home, or a handful of them, on Hostaway? The Squad keeps guests answered, turnovers moving and reviews handled around the clock, then hands you a 90-second morning briefing instead of five open tabs.
See plan levelsDozens to hundreds of doors
Property managers
Your team sets the standard. The Squad gives them a second shift that never clocks out: every signal across every Hostaway property triaged, routed and drafted for approval, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
See plan levelsMany managers, brands or systems
Groups & enterprise
Several management companies, or a mix of Hostaway and other systems? One command layer rolls the whole portfolio into a single view, then drills into any company or property. Every stay makes every office smarter.
Partner with STR SquadIt never forgets. Lockbox rotations, owner preferences, the cleaner’s two-hour turn, the parking question every guest asks: the Squad keeps operating notes for every property and reads them before it acts. Staff turn over; the knowledge stays.
Smarts travel. Data stays home. When one team solves a problem, the lesson reaches every office’s drafts. Your guest and owner data stays in your account.
Getting started
Turning it on is a connection, not a migration.
- 1
Request a demo
Thirty minutes with our team. Tell us how you run Hostaway today, and we will show you the Squad working an operation shaped like yours.
- 2
We connect it with you
Our team connects your Hostaway calendar links, so booked and blocked nights and the turnovers they create land in the command layer. Deeper connections to Hostaway and the tools around it are built with you as a design partner. Your Hostaway setup keeps running exactly as it does today.
- 3
The Squad goes to work
Start in Approve-first, where every action waits for your OK. Widen it one workflow at a time, and flip routine work to Auto-pilot when you are ready.
Walk through it step by step: what turning on STR Squad looks like.
Questions
Hostaway + STR Squad: frequently asked questions
Does STR Squad replace Hostaway?
No. STR Squad works on top of Hostaway, not in place of it. Your Hostaway account, channel connections, owner portal and marketplace apps keep running exactly as they do today. The Squad adds an AI command layer that works across your whole operation, reading the signals from every system and routing each one to a specialist team.
How does STR Squad work with Hostaway?
STR Squad sits on top of Hostaway as a command layer. During onboarding our team connects your Hostaway calendar links, the calendar-link sync that works with any PMS, so booked and blocked nights and the turnovers they create land in the Squad. A calendar link carries dates only, so a deeper connection to Hostaway and the tools around it is built with you as a design partner. Nothing in your Hostaway setup or marketplace apps changes.
Will STR Squad work with the Hostaway marketplace apps I already use?
Yes, and you keep all of them. The Squad is built to sit above your whole stack, so your pricing, lock, cleaning and accounting apps keep doing their jobs exactly as they do today. A connection from the Squad to any one of them is built with you as a design partner, one app at a time.
Can I run STR Squad alongside Hostaway’s AI CoHost?
Yes. Keep AI CoHost. STR Squad works alongside it: 42 AI agents on 12 teams working across Hostaway and everything around it, with one orchestrator routing every signal, operating notes that remember how each property runs, and one audit log for every action.
Our group runs more than one PMS. Can the Squad cover all of them?
Yes. That is what a command layer is for. The Squad rolls every company and property into one command view, whichever system each one runs, and drills into any single office when you need it. One command center for the parent company.
Is STR Squad only for large property managers?
No. The same command layer runs for an owner with one home, a manager with hundreds of doors on Hostaway, and groups running several brands or systems. Plans are simple monthly levels sized to your portfolio, with every rate published. See plan levels.
Who approves what the AI does?
You do. Every operation starts in Approve-first, where each action is drafted and waits for your OK. Every action shows its reasoning and lands in an audit log, and you decide which routine workflows can run on Auto-pilot. How approve-first works.
Is STR Squad affiliated with Hostaway?
No. STR Squad is an independent company, and Hostaway is a trademark of its owner. We built the Squad to work alongside the systems operators already trust, Hostaway included.
How do I get started?
Request a demo. It is a 30-minute walkthrough with our team on an operation shaped like yours, from one property to a multi-company portfolio. Request a demo.
Running something else?
The Squad sits on top of the PMS you run.
Related reading
- Why Your PMS & Tech Stack Vendors Matter More With STR Squad — Not Less
- Connect It, Keep Everything: What Turning On STR Squad Looks Like for a PMC
- Approve-First AI: How Property Management Companies Adopt STR Squad Without Losing Control
- One Door or Ten Thousand: How STR Squad Scales at Every Level
- After the Acquisition: An STR Squad for Every PMC, One Command Center for the Parent
See the Squad on top of Hostaway.
Keep every tool you rely on. Add the cross-functional AI command layer that works across all of them.
Hostaway is a trademark of its owner. STR Squad is an independent company and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Hostaway. Descriptions of Hostaway are based on its public website.