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Show HN: StayThere.ai - Book directly at over 96k short term rentals (staythere.ai)

3 points by wthayer ↗ HN
Hi HN,

I manage short term rentals and always send guests my direct booking. I see others constantly post on reddit asking for tips for direct booking and how to do it.

So I have been aggregating the free direct booking sites PMS's give their hosts into one large booking site with a shared map.

Airbnb, VRBO, Booking and other OTAs have gone too far with their commissions and its costing guests and hosts a lot of money.

You just select dates and click book on the preview and it loads the listing with the dates selected to see if available and if so the price and can book it.

2 comments

[ 4.3 ms ] story [ 17.0 ms ] thread
sightspinner
Are these properties regulated in a similar manner as AirBnB, etc.? Also, one of the main points about staying in an airbnb is there's some amount of accountability so they get good reviews/don't get delisted. Is there some way of telling whether a particular host is a 'safe' bet?
wthayer
That's a fair concern. StayThere only indexes listings from established PMSs like Guesty, Hospitable, Lodgify, and Hostaway. In many cases, those listings were originally imported from Airbnb or other OTAs when the host joined their PMS, which then created their direct booking website and distributed those listings across additional channels.

StayThere doesn't change the regulatory status of a property. Hosts are still responsible for complying with the local laws and regulations wherever they operate, just as they are when accepting bookings anywhere.

So unlike an open marketplace where anyone can create a listing, these properties typically already have an operating history. Longer term, I want to surface additional trust signals like open-format Q&A, years hosting, reputation metrics, and more reviews where available, so guests can better judge whether a host is a safe bet. Some PMSs also aggregate OTA reviews onto their direct booking sites, allowing that reputation to carry over.