shortrental.ai

Quickstart: from signup to first auto-reply in 15 minutes

The minimum viable setup to get Shortrental.ai answering guest messages today.

Updated: Apr 11, 2026

This guide walks you from a fresh account to a live AI agent answering real guest messages. Budget 15 minutes.

1. Create your account

Go to app.shortrental.ai/signup and create an account with your work email. No credit card required for the 14-day trial.

You'll land on the onboarding wizard. It asks three questions:

  • How many listings do you manage?
  • Which channels do you use? (Airbnb, Booking, Vrbo, Direct, Other)
  • What's your primary language?

Answer honestly — it tunes defaults for your workspace.

2. Connect Airbnb (or your primary channel)

Click Connect Airbnb on the onboarding screen. You'll be redirected to Airbnb's OAuth flow. Approve Shortrental as a co-host. We'll sync:

  • Your listings
  • The next 180 days of reservations
  • Guest profiles for each active booking
  • The last 30 days of messages (for training)

This takes about 90 seconds per 50 listings.

3. Review your listings

After sync, open Listings in the sidebar. For each listing, we've auto-imported:

  • Photos, description, amenities
  • Check-in / checkout times
  • Minimum stay rules

Click any listing and fill in the House Manual tab. The more you put here, the better your AI will answer. Specifically add:

  • WiFi name + password
  • Exact door / gate instructions
  • Parking details
  • House rules (smoking, pets, parties)
  • Local recommendations (restaurants, shops, transport)

4. Turn on the AI — in Shadow Mode

Go to AI Assistant → Settings. Flip the main toggle to On and leave the mode set to Shadow Mode.

In Shadow Mode, the AI reads every incoming guest message and drafts a response — but nothing is sent until you approve it. This lets you verify the AI's tone and accuracy before trusting it live.

Open Inbox. Any guest message from the last 24 hours will now have an AI draft next to it. Review a few. Edit where needed.

5. Flip to Live Mode

After 24–48 hours of Shadow Mode review (and once the AI is clearly matching your tone), go back to AI Assistant → Settings and switch to Live Mode.

From this moment:

  • Every incoming guest message gets a reply in under 30 seconds, 24/7
  • The AI only escalates to you for refunds, legal issues, damage claims, or complex negotiations
  • You get a daily digest of everything the AI did

Congrats. You now have an AI property manager.

Next steps