Holiday letting agencies · Ireland and the UK
AI automation and marketing for holiday letting agencies
Baikou helps holiday letting agencies in Ireland and the UK answer guests day and night, run changeovers without chasing, keep property receipts in order and win more direct bookings. Everything connects to your booking system and accounts, a person approves anything involving money, and it all runs in your own accounts.
- Guests answered day and night
- Changeovers tracked
- More direct bookings
The day-to-day
Where a letting agency’s week goes
A letting agency’s work is not one big job but hundreds of small ones, spread across many homes and owners. Most of them come back every week.
The same guest questions
Availability, pets, parking and check-in times, by email, chat and phone, often in the evening.
Calls at night
A lost key, no heating, a leak: someone has to decide what is urgent.
Changeovers
A cleaner for every check-out, a check that the home is ready, faults passed to a tradesperson.
Receipts and owner statements
Small expenses for each property that are easy to lose before the month-end statement.
Platform commission
Most stays come through the big booking sites, and past guests are rarely invited back directly.
Reviews
Google, Airbnb and Booking.com reviews need asking for and answering, every week.
What we automate
Four areas we automate for holiday letting agencies
Guest enquiries and bookings
An AI chatbot on your website and WhatsApp understands requests in plain language, checks the calendar, suggests homes that are free and takes the guest to a direct booking. An AI receptionist answers calls day and night and passes urgent ones to the person on duty. See AI chatbot and AI receptionist.
Work between stays
An operations agent books the cleaner for each changeover, marks a home ready only when the cleaner sends a photo, and finds a local tradesperson when a guest reports a fault. Anything above the owner’s limit waits for a person. See AI agents.
Receipts and owner statements
A photo of a receipt is enough: the assistant reads it, suggests the property and category, and records the expense for approval, ready for the owner’s statement. See document processing.
Direct bookings and reviews
Emails invite past guests back to the same home on free dates, and a steady routine asks happy guests for reviews and answers every one. See email marketing and local SEO.
We start with the one area that takes most of your team’s time, and add the next once it works.
Demo
What a weekend looks like with automation
Demo on invented data. Not a client, not real guests or homes.
Friday, 22:40 · website chat
A guest writes: “Four adults and a dog, near the beach, three nights in March.” The assistant says it is an AI, checks the calendar and offers two dog-friendly homes that are free on those dates, with a link to book directly. The guest then asks about an early check-in, so the assistant passes the question to the team with the conversation attached.
Saturday, 10:00 · changeover
Guests leave Harbour View Cottage. The agent has already booked the cleaner, who sends photos at 13:10, and the home is marked ready for the 16:00 arrival. The cleaner also reports a slow shower drain. The agent finds a local plumber, agrees a time and a price within the owner’s limit, and adds the job to the log.
Sunday, 02:15 · phone call
A guest is locked out. The AI receptionist recognises it as urgent and calls the person on duty with a short summary. A second caller reports a dripping tap, which is noted for the morning team instead of waking anyone.
Every step is logged, and anything above the owner’s limit waits for a person to approve.
Moving to a new booking system or website
Agencies often change booking system, or rebuild a website that no longer brings direct bookings. We plan the website side of the move: property pages, the booking widget, page addresses and redirects, so guests and search engines find the new pages. The automations above are then connected to the new system. See website redesign.
Ireland’s short-term letting register
Ireland plans a register of short-term lets run by Fáilte Ireland, and the law is still going through the Oireachtas. For agencies it is also a chance to help owners get ready. Our guide to the register explains what agencies should know.
The rules
Careful with guest data, careful with money
Guest names, phone numbers and messages are personal data, so GDPR applies; in Ireland the Data Protection Commission enforces it, and UK GDPR applies in the UK. Data is kept in the EU or in your own accounts, access is limited and we sign a data processing agreement. Assistants say they are AI and do not take card details. A person approves every payment, refund or job above the owner’s limit, and every action is logged. We are not lawyers: for your own obligations, your solicitor has the final word.
Guides
Guides on Holiday Letting Agencies
Plain answers for Irish businesses: what it costs, how it works and what to do first.
Dynamic pricing on Airbnb: rules for Irish holiday letsHow Irish holiday lets use Airbnb Smart Pricing and pricing tools safely: price floors, minimum stays, gaps, school holidays and one system in charge.Read the guide →
Airbnb reviews: a guide for holiday letting agenciesHow holiday letting agencies get better Airbnb, Booking.com and Google reviews: platform rules, what to avoid, replies, and turning complaints into fixes.Read the guide →
Holiday let management software: compare and switchHow to choose holiday let management software in Ireland: five criteria, five systems compared, and how to switch without losing bookings or rankings.Read the guide →
Airbnb host website: a guide to direct bookingsA direct booking website works alongside Airbnb, not against it. What Airbnb allows, the fees it saves, how to build one and get found on Google.Read the guide →
Short-term letting register: a guide for letting agenciesIreland's short-term letting register opens in December. What it means for holiday letting agencies, owners, planning and winning new properties.Read the guide →FAQ
Questions from letting agencies
Does it work with our booking system?
It connects to booking systems that have an API or calendar feeds. The audit checks yours before you commit.
Do we have to replace the tools we use now?
No. We connect to your booking system, accounts and inbox rather than moving you to new ones.
Will guests know they are talking to an AI?
Yes. The chatbot and the receptionist say so at the start, and guests can ask for a person at any time.
Can the agent spend owners’ money?
Only within a limit each owner sets. Anything above it waits for a person to approve, and every action is logged.
What about the short-term letting register?
Our guide to the register explains what agencies should know while the law goes through the Oireachtas.
How much does it cost?
Start with the AI Audit, which has a fixed price on our pricing page. After it you get a fixed price for the set-up.
Do you work with UK agencies?
Yes. The same approach works under UK GDPR, and prices are available in pounds.
Free AI audit
Find out which jobs in your agency can run on their own
Get a free AI audit: where your team’s time goes, which guest questions and changeover tasks can be automated, and what to start with. Report within 2 business days, no calls, no sales pitch.