Question 1

What can Hostella answer automatically?

Accepted Answer

Property-specific questions like Wi-Fi, check-in, check-out, house rules, appliance instructions, local recommendations, and simple service requests.

Question 2

What happens when the AI is not sure?

Accepted Answer

The message moves into the approval queue with the guest context, risk reason, and a suggested reply. A manager can approve, edit, reject, or escalate.

Question 3

How do you count “AI messages”?

Accepted Answer

One AI message = one outbound reply generated by Hostella's AI. Inbound guest messages don't count. Manual replies you type yourself don't count. Only AI-generated outbound replies tick the counter.

Question 4

How is this different from Hospitable, Guesty, or Hostfully?

Accepted Answer

Hostella is messaging-first AI. Hospitable, Guesty, and Hostfully are full PMS systems (property management — listings, dynamic pricing, smart locks, accounting). We don't compete on the PMS side — we plug into your existing setup as the AI messaging layer. Many of our customers use a PMS for everything else and Hostella for guest replies.

Question 5

Which channels and OTAs do you connect to?

Accepted Answer

All major ones via official APIs: Airbnb (Solo+), Booking.com Connect API (Operator+), Agoda host inbox (Operator+), Vrbo / Expedia messaging API (Operator+). Plus WhatsApp Business, Telegram Bot API, Email, SMS and iCal calendar import on every tier. Replies go back through the original channel — guests stay in their preferred app.

Question 6

What's a BYO API key — and do I save money?

Accepted Answer

You can plug your own Anthropic API key (sk-ant-...) in Settings → AI Provider. When enabled, Anthropic bills your account directly for AI usage — Hostella's quota counter doesn't apply. Net effect: at high volume (3,000+ messages/mo), BYO is usually cheaper than paying our quota overage fees. Below that, our included quota is the better deal.

Question 7

How long does setup take?

Accepted Answer

For a pilot property, the first version can be prepared after we have the house rules, guest message examples, staff contacts, and escalation rules.

Question 8

Is there a setup fee?

Accepted Answer

Solo and Operator: no setup fee. Group: €499 one-time fee covers a 90-min onboarding call, custom AI persona tuning per property, and channel integration setup. Enterprise: included in the contract.

Question 9

Can I cancel anytime?

Accepted Answer

Yes. There are no contracts. Cancel from /billing whenever you want — your AI agents keep running through the end of the billing period, and you can export your property rules and conversation history if you leave.

Question 10

What happens after the 14-day free trial?

Accepted Answer

We notify you 3 days before the trial ends. If you don't add a card, your workspace switches to read-only mode — your data stays put, you can come back anytime and pick up where you left off. No autorenewal trap: you only get billed once you explicitly add a payment method.

Question 11

What counts as a “villa” for billing?

Accepted Answer

One villa = one unique property listing. If the same physical building has 4 separately-bookable suites, that's 4 villas. You can change your villa count any time — pro-rated within the billing cycle.

Question 12

Do you offer refunds?

Accepted Answer

Within the first 30 days, yes — full refund, no questions asked. After that, we refund prorated unused time if you cancel within the first 6 months.

Question 13

Is guest data private?

Accepted Answer

Guest messages and property rules stay in your workspace. We use them to answer your guests and do not turn them into public training data.

Question 14

Where is my data stored?

Accepted Answer

Supabase Postgres (Tokyo region by default, EU/US optional). All sensitive data — including BYO API keys — is encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM. We're SOC 2 Type II in progress (Q3 2026 target).

Questions, answered.

Product & AI

Channels & integrations

Setup & onboarding

Pricing & billing

Data & privacy

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