Uvika Wahi
Alternative Accommodations Powered Booking.com’s Q3 2025, And the Trend Isn’t Cooling
📌TL;DR- Booking.com’s alternative accommodations business, which includes homes, apartments, and unique stays, outpaced hotel growth again in Q3 2025. Fueled by demand from U.S. travelers, Asia’s recovery, and long-haul cross-border trips, the segment grew in both listings and bookings. The company’s hotel-grade infrastructure helped it scale AA smoothly, while the Genius loyalty program and multi-vertical ecosystem (flights, cars, attractions) increasingly route travelers into vacation rentals. After three quarters of consistent gains, alternative accommodations now play a central role in Booking.com’s overall growth strategy.
Why Booking.com Suddenly Sounds More Confident Than Airbnb (and Vrbo)
📌TL;DR- Booking.com’s Q3 2025 performance reflects a steady rise in alternative accommodation bookings and a stronger position in the U.S. market. The platform’s infrastructure, loyalty program, and multi-vertical travel stack are giving it an edge as guest habits shift and regulations tighten. With reliable payouts, increased U.S. brand visibility, and a broader supply mix, Booking.com now offers short-term rental managers a more stable and scalable option, especially for those diversifying away from single-channel dependence.
Lake.com Is Betting Big on AI Discovery: What Property Managers Can Learn
📌TL;DR- David Ciccarelli, co-founder of Lake.com, created the platform to make it easier to find quality waterfront vacation rentals—something major OTAs often overlook. Lake.com lists only properties within about 15 minutes of a lake or similar body of water and is built with professional property managers in mind, offering direct PMS integrations for automated syncing. It uses structured data and natural-language content to improve visibility in AI-driven search tools like Google and ChatGPT. With conversational search and AI booking channels on the horizon, Lake.com is positioning itself for the shift from traditional filters to intent-based, AI-powered travel planning.
Sonder Shutdown: A Sudden End to a High-Profile Hospitality Experiment
📌 TL;DR- Sonder has abruptly shut down and entered Chapter 7 liquidation, ending all U.S. operations immediately. Guests were displaced mid-stay and employees lost access without warning. The collapse stemmed from a fragile master-lease model, SPAC-era overvaluation, mounting financial losses, and the sudden end of its Marriott partnership. The Sonder shutdown marks a major turning point for hybrid hospitality and a warning about scaling asset-heavy models under a tech narrative.
Airbnb Tests Instacart-Powered Kitchen Stocking: What Professionals Managers Need to Know
📌TL;DR- Airbnb is testing Instacart-powered kitchen stocking where guests order groceries in-app and hosts unpack and store them for a $25 payout. Useful for guests, but operationally demanding for property managers. More importantly, it signals Airbnb’s move toward a broader host services marketplace and deeper control of the guest journey.
Where Guests Are Really Booking in 2025: Beyond Airbnb, Booking.com & Vrbo
📌TL;DR: Major OTAs still drive bookings, but property managers are losing control over visibility, pricing, and policies. This article explores the best alternatives to Airbnb and Vrbo in 2025 — including Holidu and Whimstay — and explains how to choose the right channels for your guests, region, and business goals.
New Vrbo Updates Show It’s Making Reliability Its Core Identity
📌TL;DR: Vrbo has introduced a new suite of updates centered on trust and reliability. The rollout includes VrboCare, a refreshed guarantee program, a new “Loved by Guests” badge, and stricter, listing-level Premier Host standards. Together, these changes reinforce Vrbo’s positioning as the “safe to book” platform, focused on consistent, verified guest experiences. For property managers, the takeaway is clear: reliability is now the metric that drives visibility.
From Reel to Reality: How Expedia Using AI to Turn Instagram Inspiration into Bookable Trips
Expedia’s new AI Trip Matching feature lets travelers turn Instagram Reels into real-world itineraries. Here’s how it works, what problems it solves, and what it reveals about the future of discovery for short-term rental managers — where visibility begins long before the search.
Airbnb’s October 2025 Host Upgrades: New Tools for Pricing, Cancellations, and Payout Visibility
📌TL;DR- Airbnb’s October 2025 host updates bring new tools for pro managers: dynamic cancellation policies, improved year-ahead price tips, earnings dashboards with YoY comparisons, and payout previews. These features signal Airbnb’s push to become an all-in-one platform for pricing, cancellations, and analytics, reducing the need for third-party tools.
Airbnb’s AI Era Isn’t About Automation, It’s About Emotion and Understanding
📌TL;DR- Airbnb is using AI not just for efficiency, but to make travel more human. New features like “Connections,” improved maps, and flexible carousels aim to foster emotional loyalty by helping guests connect with each other and explore meaningfully. It’s a shift from automation to empathy, making AI a tool for belonging, not just booking.
Airbnb’s New Social Features Reveal a Plan to Link People, Places, and Possibilities
📌TL;DR- Airbnb’s new Connections feature turns Experiences into a social network, letting guests see who’s attending, message each other, and build ongoing travel relationships. Combined with smarter discovery tools and AI-driven personalization, it’s a clear shift: Airbnb wants to be more than a booking app — it’s building a social travel platform. For property managers, this means more emotionally engaged guests, deeper retention loops, and a platform that’s evolving fast toward community and connection.
Italy Moves to Scrap Tax Break on Short-Term Rentals, Prompting Fierce Debate
📌TL;DR- Italy’s draft 2026 budget proposes replacing the 21% flat tax that applies to a host’s first short-term rental property with a uniform 26% rate on all rentals. The Italy short-term rental tax 2026 plan is still under debate and faces political backlash.
Google’s New AI Mode Could Rewrite How Guests Discover and Plan Trips
📌TL;DR- Google’s new AI Mode is transforming how travelers discover and plan trips, combining conversational search, live pricing, curated itineraries, and Google Maps into a single, seamless experience, without ever leaving Google. For short-term rental property managers, this shift could redefine visibility, as AI Mode favors high-quality, structured content and even highlights short-term rentals over hotels in family or group searches. With visual search, paid placements, and direct booking potential on the horizon, managers must optimize their Google listings, metadata, and imagery to stay competitive.
Airbnb Host-Only Fee Deadline Is Almost Here: Your 5-Point Pricing Audit Before October 27
Airbnb’s Host‑Only Fee model officially begins on October 27, 2025, replacing the old split‑fee structure. That means hosts will cover the full 15.5% service fee, unless they adjust prices. This 5‑point pricing audit walks you through how to update markups, cleaning fees, and owner communications to stay margin‑neutral and avoid payout surprises.
Perplexity Travel for Vacation Rentals: How AI Is Powering Trip Search
More than six in ten travelers have already used AI to plan or book a trip, according to a recent ...
Vrbo’s Performance Milestones: Visibility Is the New Currency
Vrbo is introducing Performance Milestones in 2026, a new tiered framework that reshapes how hosts and property managers earn recognition, ...
Vrbo Payments: Expedia Takes Over as Merchant of Record
Expedia Group has announced a pilot for Vrbo Payments, a new system that makes Expedia the merchant of record for ...
Vrbo Tightens Its Premier Host Standards: What Property Managers Need to Know (UPDATED)
Expedia Group just expanded Vrbo’s demand funnel, and now it’s tightening the rules on who gets to benefit from it. ...
Vrbo Just Got a Lot Bigger By Tapping Into Expedia’s Global Network
Expedia Group has announced a slate of updates for its vacation rental brand Vrbo, but one stands out as the ...
Airbnb’s “Stay Grounded” Ad Marks the Official Start of Its Identity as a Lifestyle Platform
Airbnb has a new commercial out called Stay Grounded, animated in its signature whimsical style, set to George Michael’s Freedom! ...
