Tell us about your business

Our company was founded in 2015 after helping a friend list their place on Airbnb. We quickly realized the opportunity, and as lifelong entrepreneurs, myself and my co-founder Kevin couldn’t resist getting involved ourselves.

Before long, Host Services Group became Airbnb’s go-to referral for STR property management services in North America whenever a host called.

Today, Host Services Group is a full service property management company for short term rentals.  Handling everything from start to finish, we build a premium listing for our customers’ properties, offering price analysis, secure key exchange, cleaning arrangements, replenishing essentials, concierge services, and much more. We provide accommodations to tv and film productions, theatre cast and crew plus work with executive relocation services.

Our team of experts have hospitality backgrounds and are hosts themselves - we know the industry inside and out!

What was your business like before Hostaway?

Before Hostaway, we were using another property management system (PMS). While it did save us time, we saw how the market was diversifying from Airbnb dominance towards multiple online travel platforms (e.g. Vrbo, Booking.com, etc). In order to scale as much as we planned, we needed to find a system with a more modern, open API and seamless connectivity with these new platforms.

We were also looking for a PMS that offered the ability to create a direct booking website, so we could take control of our customer list,  save on commissions and manage availability better.

After a thorough assessment of various Channel Managers & PMSs, we found that Hostaway fit all of our needs. 

The onboarding process was smooth, and support was fast and reliable - a customer success manager even came to our office to help with training. All-in-all, it took us about a month or so to get everything where we wanted. Marcus, the CEO, also made time to meet us personally, which was a nice touch.

How has life changed after starting with Hostaway?

Hostaway is now our one-stop-shop for all reservations. We are able to do much more with less staff - at least 100% more efficient all around. 

Our entire reservations staff logs in daily. We use it to provide full transparency to our clients, as well as manage content, pricing and availability. Hostaway has real value in the user functionality that allows for most of our clients to be answered by logging in to Hostaway themselves.

During COVID, we lost about 60% of our business. Today, we’ve surpassed our previous, pre-COVID peak, and continue to grow at an accelerated pace with our improved, streamlined operating process.

Today, Host Services Group is the largest and oldest STR manager in Toronto. We’re a staff of more than 25 and in the process of hiring additional staff

We’ll also soon be launching a new Building Support Program. Due to the trust we’ve built with STR-friendly buildings, they’ll soon require all guests to go through Host Services Group for vetting and management.

Any advice for other property management companies who may be experiencing the same challenges you had?

The investment is worth it. Reliability and transparency to clients is critical to your business reputation. Clients don’t want to hear about errors and using a good PMS solves most issues.