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The Nowistay AI co-host (also called the Nowistay AI assistant) is a fully autonomous AI that handles guest communication for your vacation rental. It replies to your guests' messages automatically on Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia and WhatsApp, in over 90 languages, around the clock — no manual review needed. This article walks through what it can do today, the channels it works on, and the current limitations to know before you turn it on.
The AI co-host can handle a very broad range of guest messages — including the ones that usually wake you up at night:
When it isn't confident, the AI co-host escalates the conversation to you and pauses, so you can take over before a wrong answer goes out.
The AI co-host uses your digital welcome guide as its main source of knowledge. The more detail you provide — operating procedures, equipment instructions, house rules, local tips — the more accurate and helpful its replies will be.
The welcome guide can also be shared directly with your guests, regardless of their booking platform (Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO, direct, etc.). Send them a link or generate a QR code for easy access.
You can also add specific instructions in the private knowledge base to control how the AI co-host handles particular topics (e.g., “never accept date changes without my approval”).
The channels the AI co-host can reply on depend on how you connected your property to Nowistay. Here is what to expect for each setup.
If you connect your property with the Nowistay PMS method, Nowistay becomes your channel manager. In that case, the AI co-host is fully compatible and can reply 24/7 on Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia and WhatsApp.
If you connect your property using the direct OTA method, the AI co-host is only compatible with Airbnb and Booking.com. This is the setup where you add Nowistay as a co-host on your Airbnb and/or Booking.com listing.
To get the full set of features Nowistay offers, we highly recommend switching to the channel manager method.
In this case, the AI co-host will reply on whichever channels you have connected inside your third-party PMS.
When Nowistay is your channel manager, the AI co-host responds to messages from travelers at any time — both for booking requests (inquiries) on Airbnb and once reservations have been confirmed. There is nothing else to set up; the AI co-host replies natively.
With other synchronisation methods, behaviour can be more limited. With the direct OTA connection (the co-host added integration), the AI co-host only replies to pre-booking messages when it has been granted full permission on Airbnb, and the very first message is always excluded (subsequent ones are replied to). also be aware that it can happen that messages are never received on rare occasions using the Direct OTA methods. Airbnb does not guarantee 100% reliability with that method.
To avoid that we highly recommend switching to the channel manager method.
When connected to a compatible PMS (Beds24, Lodgify or Smoobu), behaviour depends on the third-party software. Some require enabling a setting to activate answers to inquiries — for example, on Beds24 you need to turn on inquiries.
In all cases, we recommend using Nowistay as your channel manager to get the most out of our features.
Each AI co-host is linked to one property. To use the assistant for another rental, you must:
The AI co-host is an intelligent assistant that automatically answers your guests' messages on Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia and WhatsApp. It replies 24/7 in over 90 languages, using information from your welcome guide and property settings.
It answers guest questions about check-in, WiFi, house rules, local recommendations and more. It can also handle early check-in and late check-out requests by coordinating with your cleaning team, and it can sell your additional services (late check-out, airport transfers, etc.).
Yes. The AI co-host responds automatically — no manual review needed. Your guests get instant answers even at 3am, and you can still jump in and reply manually whenever you want. Learn how the co-host interacts with guests.
No. Messages appear to come from you, the host. The AI co-host can even sign messages with your first name. From the guest's perspective, it looks like they are communicating directly with you.
The AI co-host automatically escalates the conversation to you and pauses temporarily while you respond to the guest. You receive a notification with the full context so you can take over in seconds. Set up your notifications to be alerted instantly.
The AI co-host supports over 90 languages. It automatically detects the guest's language and replies in that same language.
Yes. The AI co-host uses your welcome guide as its main knowledge source. You can also add specific instructions in the private knowledge base to control how the AI co-host handles particular topics (e.g., “never accept date changes without my approval”).
The AI co-host responds on Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia and WhatsApp. All conversations are visible in one unified inbox on Nowistay.
VRBO calendar and booking sync are supported, but VRBO does not yet allow automated messaging on their platform. You can connect your VRBO listing and use WhatsApp as an alternative for VRBO guest communication.
The AI co-host does not negotiate prices, but it can handle most questions and availability checks.
Yes, you can pause the AI co-host at any time — either globally or for a specific guest conversation.
👉 Next step: How to activate your AI co-host
