How to set up my AI Assistant?

How to set up and activate your AI Assistant

Setting up your AI Assistant on Nowistay is quick and straightforward. The AI Assistant automatically responds to guest messages on Airbnb, Booking.com and other platforms, saving you hours every week while keeping your guests happy with fast, accurate replies in their language.

This guide walks you through the entire process: from creating your account to choosing how to connect your properties and configuring your AI Assistant preferences.

Step 1 : add your properties

Method 1: Connect via the Nowistay PMS (Recommended)

This is the recommended and most powerful method. Nowistay becomes your channel manager, centralizing the management of your listings, bookings, availability, and pricing, all from one place.

When to choose this method

• You don't currently use a PMS or channel manager
• Or you're willing to switch to Nowistay as your channel manager to simplify your workflow
• You want the most reliable, feature-rich connection with your booking platforms

Why is this the best option?

• AI handles messages from the very first contact, including pre-booking inquiries and questions, not just post-booking messages
• Unified management: manage availability, pricing, and bookings across Airbnb, Booking.com, and other platforms from your Nowistay dashboard
• No separate PMS subscription needed: Nowistay replaces your channel manager (one tool, one subscription)
• Calendar automatically synced: no need to set up iCal or manual calendar connections
• Greater reliability: direct integration means fewer sync issues and faster message delivery
• ChatGPT / Claude connector
• Automatic messages fully integrated
• Smartlock support
• Automatic guest reviews
• Direct booking widgets for your website
• More features added regularly: this integration is actively developed with new capabilities

Create your account and add your properties

Before activating the AI Assistant, you need to add your properties to Nowistay. When you sign up and start adding properties, a guided onboarding flow walks you through the process with simple questions.

The onboarding questions

When you click "Add a property" from your properties dashboard, you'll be guided through a few questions:

Question 1: "Do you use a channel manager (PMS) software?"

• Answer "No, I don't use a PMS".

Question 2 (if no PMS): "Do you list on Airbnb?"

• If you answer "Yes", you'll be redirected to Airbnb to authorize the connection. Nowistay imports all your listing data automatically: property details, photos, descriptions, and calendar.
• If you answer "No", you can create your property manually by filling in the details (if you only list on booking.com for instance).

Select the properties you want to import during the setup

Then click import, it will create the properties automatically.

More details on the setup

For Airbnb: During the onboarding flow, answer "No" to the PMS question and "Yes" to the Airbnb question. You'll authorize your Airbnb account, select your listings, and import them. It takes about 2 minutes.

👉 Full step-by-step tutorial: Connect the AI Assistant to Airbnb

For Booking.com: You first need to activate the Nowistay PMS as your connectivity provider in the Booking.com extranet, then connect the property from your Nowistay dashboard using the Synchronization option.

👉 Full step-by-step tutorial: Connect the AI Assistant to Booking.com

Method 2: Connect via a supported PMS / channel manager

If you already use one of these PMS / channel managers and want to keep using it, Nowistay integrates directly with them:

• Beds24
• Smoobu
• Lodgify

When to choose this method

• You already use Beds24, Smoobu, or Lodgify and are happy with your current PMS
• You want to keep your existing setup while adding AI-powered guest messaging

Limitations

As you keep your 3rd party PMS, this method won't let you use PMS features like automatic messages, MCP connector for Claude/ChatGPT, smartlock integration, direct booking, etc.

How to set it up

During the onboarding flow, answer "Yes" to the PMS question and select your PMS from the list. You'll then connect your PMS account and your properties will be automatically synced.

👉 Activate the AI Assistant with Beds24

👉 Activate the AI Assistant with Smoobu

👉 Activate the AI Assistant with Lodgify

More integrations coming soon: the Nowistay team is actively working on connecting with other PMS and channel managers like Guesty, BookingSync, and more.

Method 3: Direct connection (with a listing co-host) - deprecated

This method is available if you already use a PMS that is not yet supported by Nowistay and you don't want to switch to the Nowistay PMS. With this approach, Nowistay connects as a co-host to your Airbnb or Booking.com listing to handle messaging, while your current PMS continues to manage availability and pricing.

When to choose this method

• You use a PMS that is not Beds24, Smoobu, or Lodgify and you want to keep it
• You don't want to switch to the Nowistay PMS
• You still want an AI Assistant to handle your guest messages

Important limitations

• Airbnb: The AI Assistant cannot respond to the very first inquiry message (pre-booking). It handles messages once a conversation has been initiated for pre-booking questions and only if you grant full access to the co-host. For messages sent after the booking is made it will answer all messages even if given only calendar & messages permission.
• Calendar not synced automatically: You will need to connect your calendar via iCal so that Nowistay can see your bookings.
• Not 100% reliable: in this mode, some Airbnb messages might not be received by our systems. In this case the AI won't answer. That's why this method is now deprecated.
• No access to the PMS/channel manager features like : automatic scheduled messages, smartlock integration, ChatGPT / Claude MCP connector, direct booking widgets, etc.

How to set it up

For each platform, you'll need to:

1. Go to your property in Nowistay and open the AI Assistant configuration
2. Select the "Direct (OTA)" integration type
3. Follow the platform-specific setup instructions

👉 Connect the AI Assistant to Airbnb (Direct method), see "Option 2: Direct Connection" section

👉 Connect the AI Assistant to Booking.com (Direct method), see "Option 2: Direct Connection" section

Step 2: Subscribe and activate

Once your properties are connected, they will appear in your properties list with a "Ready to activate" badge. To activate the AI Assistant:

1. Go to your Properties page
2. Click on the property showing the "Ready to activate" badge
3. You'll be prompted to subscribe to the AI Channel Manager plan for this property
4. Complete the subscription checkout

Once your subscription is active, the AI Assistant will immediately start handling guest messages.

Step 3: Configure your AI Assistant preferences

After activation, you can customize two important settings from your AI Assistant configuration panel.

Response time

Your AI Assistant waits before responding to messages to mimic a natural human response and avoid appearing robotic. The default delay is 2 minutes.

You can adjust this timing in the configuration panel: shorter for faster responses, or longer for a more natural feel.

Pause duration after email notifications

When the AI encounters a situation that requires your intervention (a complex or unusual request), it notifies you by email and temporarily pauses to give you time to take over. By default, this pause lasts 2 hours (120 minutes).

During the pause, the AI won't respond to that conversation, letting you manage it directly. You can customize this duration in the configuration panel.

The setup checklist

After adding your first property, a setup checklist appears at the top of your dashboard. It guides you through several steps to get fully operational:

1. Create your first property
2. Create your welcome guide
3. Activate the AI Assistant
4. Review property details (check-in, check-out, nightly rate)
5. Add at least one cleaning team member
6. Add your first cleaning checklist
7. Enable cleaning automation
8. Create missing cleaning missions

If you use the direct connection (OTA) method, there is an additional step to connect your calendar via iCal, since this method does not automatically sync your bookings. With the Nowistay PMS or a supported PMS, your calendar is synced automatically, no extra step needed.

You can complete these steps in order, and each step unlocks as previous ones are finished. The checklist helps you get the most out of Nowistay: not just AI messaging, but also team management and cleaning automation.

Quick summary: which method should I choose?

• I don't use a PMS (or want to switch PMS) → Method 1: Nowistay PMS (recommended). Import your Airbnb listing first then connect Booking.com listing and let Nowistay handle everything
• I use Beds24, Smoobu, or Lodgify → Method 2: Supported PMS. Connect your existing PMS to Nowistay
• I use another PMS and don't want to switch → Method 3: Direct (OTA). Connect the AI Assistant directly to your Airbnb or Booking.com listing
• I use another PMS but I'm willing to switch → Method 1: Nowistay PMS (recommended). Simplify your workflow by using Nowistay as your channel manager

Need help?

Our support team is here to guide you through setup or answer any questions. Just reach out at our contact page. We'll get back to you quickly!

With Nowistay, activating your AI Assistant means saving time without compromising the guest experience. You're in good hands!