Report also finds 84% would hand pricing decisions to AI, and almost a third have dropped a standalone tool in the past year
SAN FRANCISCO, 2 SEPTEMBER 2026 – Short-term rental operating system Hospitable has published new research today on how short-term rental professionals manage cost, risk, and technology¹. The findings cover guest damage and recovery, tech stack consolidation, and attitudes toward AI.
Guest damage is common, and two-thirds of those affected pay for it themselves
Three in five (60%) hosts and property managers experienced guest-caused property damage in the past 12 months, including more than a third (36%) who dealt with damage multiple times.
Recovering those costs is proving difficult. Among operators who experienced damage, two-thirds (66%) ended up paying for repairs themselves because their insurance or booking channel would not cover the cost. This leaves operators carrying a financial risk that can be difficult to predict and, for those dealing with repeated incidents, can become a recurring cost of doing business.
Hosts and property managers are consolidating their tech stacks
The research also found that many STR businesses continue to operate across several different systems, but there are signs this fragmentation is reversing. More than half (56%) are using two or three separate systems across pricing, cleaning, accounting, and messaging, and more than one in five (22%) are using four or more.
However, in the past 12 months, almost a third (30%) have stopped using a standalone tool. The most common reason was that their property management software had added the same functionality, pointing to a shift towards broader platforms that can manage more of the operation within a single system.
AI trust is now mainstream
Six in ten (60%) already trust AI to take actions on their behalf or would be willing to try it, compared with just 9% who would not trust AI to act for them at all.
That trust varies significantly depending on the task. 84% would allow AI to make pricing decisions, 70% would trust it to generate owner reports, and 68% would use it to identify underperforming listings.
Pierre-Camille Hamana, CEO and Founder of Hospitable, said: “Hosts and property managers have become used to carrying a huge amount of the operational burden themselves. When something goes wrong, they often pay for it. As their businesses grow, they add more tools, more subscriptions and more things to manage. There’s clearly an appetite for technology that can take responsibility for more of the day-to-day running of the business, whether that means bringing more operations into one place or trusting AI to make decisions on their behalf.”
Access the full report here.
