The Check-In
The real scoop on the deals, the data and the drama in short-term rentals.
The Check-In
Latest Episodes
No Website. No OTA. No Problem. The Future of STR Bookings Is Here
On May 27th, a vacation rental was booked without a website, without an OTA, and without a human travel agent. Someone had a conversation with an AI, and the reservation landed directly in the property manager's PMS in seconds. It happened. It'...
Why Saying No to Pets Is Costing You Money
Should you allow pets in your short-term rental? Most operators treat it as a hassle question. The cleaning, the wear and tear, the risk. But when you look at the data across 317 US markets, it turns out to be a revenue question — and the answe...
The Secret to 100% Direct Bookings? Build a Brand Worth Talking About
What does it actually take to run a vacation rental business at 100% direct bookings — no Airbnb, no OTAs, no exceptions?Francesca and Annie from Unique Homestays join Leo at Scale UK to answer exactly that. Unique Homestays is one of th...
The Long Game — What 54 Years in STR Teaches You About Airbnb's Big Moves
Airbnb just announced hotels, car rentals, grocery delivery, airport pickups and a clear signal that flights are coming. But what does all of that look like through the eyes of someone who's been running a family STR business since that's been ...
Direct Bookings in the Age of AI — with Mark Simpson, Boostly
Anyone can build a vacation rental website in an hour with AI tools like Lovable or Replit. So what's the catch? Mark Simpson — founder of Boostly and one of the world's leading voices on direct bookings — joins Leo and Sarah to explain w...