61% of holiday let owners are already using AI – here's what the rest need to know
- Jul 13
- 5 min read
Artificial intelligence has moved from industry buzzword to everyday hosting tool – and faster than most people expected. According to new owner research from Sykes Holiday Cottages, 61% of its holiday let owners have already used AI in some form to support their property business.
In the latest episode of Holiday Let Insider, James Varley sat down with Laura McKellar from Sykes Holiday Cottages to unpack what that number really means: who's using AI, what they're using it for, what's holding the rest back, and where a nervous first-timer should actually start.
The headline stat: 61% of Sykes owners have used AI
When Sykes surveyed its owners, the results surprised even the team behind the research. "It was excitingly higher [than expected]," Laura told us. "It's really exciting to see that that many owners were already finding their feet in AI and starting to use it."
That figure matters for every host, whether you let through an agency or independently. If six in 10 holiday let owners are already experimenting with AI, the question is no longer whether AI belongs in the short-term rental industry – it's how quickly the remaining four in 10 catch up.
The four types of AI user among holiday let owners
The Sykes survey grouped owners into four broad types, each with different needs and concerns.
1. Active, confident AI users (around 16%). These owners use AI regularly. Interestingly, their biggest concern is accuracy – they've used the technology enough to have seen it fail. What wins them over isn't hype but proof: rigorous testing, validation, and guarantees that property-critical outputs are correct.
2. Active and exploring (around 38%). The largest group. They've tried AI and want to learn more, but they want to see how it works before trusting it with their property. For this group, Laura says the key is to "demonstrate it, show steps and control, and don't abstract it away."
3. Aware but not yet using. Not resistant – just lacking encouragement and support. These owners need tooling, guidance, and success stories from fellow hosts showing AI working in the real world.
4. The sceptics. Their main worry isn't the technology itself but what it might cost them: the personal touch. They fear standardised listings, generic guest replies, and losing the voice, quirks and local knowledge that make their property theirs.
What are holiday let owners actually using AI for?
The most common use cases from the Sykes research will feel familiar to anyone already dabbling.
Owners are drafting responses to guest messages and emails, building FAQs, and writing social media posts about local attractions and seasonal events far faster than before. They're using AI to sharpen property and room descriptions, refine amenity lists, and brainstorm ways to make their property stand out. Some are going further – running competitive research, tracking local events, and using AI to spot the right moment for a special offer or a pricing change.
As James put it on the episode, it's the same behaviour we all recognise from home: uploading a photo of your lounge and asking what would make it look better. "It's a great go-to," Laura agreed. "Quick feedback, quick validation, quick ideas."
A real-world example: the broken TV problem
One practical illustration from the conversation: the classic 10pm guest message – "I can't get Netflix on this TV."
Previously, resolving that meant a phone call, a drive to the property, or digging out a paper manual. Now, an owner can identify the exact TV model, pull up the instructions online in seconds, and send the guest exactly what they need – instantly.
"Stuff like that can be asked quite repetitively," Laura explained. "Now you can reply back with that relevant information instantly... it really speeds up those queries and keeps the guest happier with the response times."
Why the personal touch fear is real – and how to manage it
Even confident AI users worry about losing personalisation, and Laura believes that's "perfectly logical."
"Your property is unique to you. You spend a lot of time making that property the best it can be. Owners don't want to see it become another standardised listing," she said. The goal, for Sykes, is to keep each property's unique profile intact – its character, its voice, its quirks – whether AI is drafting a guest reply or updating a listing.
The lesson for hosts: AI should amplify your property's personality, not flatten it. Feed it your voice, your local knowledge and your house style, and review what it produces.
Where should a nervous host start with AI?
Laura's advice for AI beginners is refreshingly simple: start with your pain points.
Look at the admin – the monotonous, repetitive tasks that aren't adding value or improving the guest experience. Writing the same FAQs on repeat. Sending near-identical responses to booking enquiries. These are low-risk, high-reward places to let AI take the strain, build your confidence, and win back your time.
And for owners letting through Sykes, help is on hand: "We've got a lot of AI enablement and expertise in each of our departments now – so don't hesitate to reach out and speak to somebody in the team."
The bigger picture: your guests are already using AI
Perhaps the most important takeaway for hesitant hosts came near the end of the conversation. AI isn't just a back-office tool – it's changing how guests find holiday lets in the first place.
"People are already using it to search for properties," Laura said. "You really just need to embrace it, get behind those changes, and take the benefits."
In other words: even if you never touch ChatGPT, AI is already deciding whether your property gets seen. Optimising your listing content for AI-driven search is fast becoming as important as traditional SEO. Sykes is now building tools to help owners enhance their listings – with more to come.
Key takeaways
61% of Sykes Holiday Cottages owners have already used AI, higher than the company expected. Owners fall into four groups – confident users, explorers, the unsupported, and sceptics – and each needs something different to progress. The most popular uses are guest communication, listing descriptions, social content and local research. The smartest starting point is repetitive admin that adds no value. And with guests already using AI to search for properties, the risk isn't adopting AI too early – it's leaving it too late.
FAQs
How many holiday let owners use AI? According to Sykes Holiday Cottages' owner research discussed on Host Planet's Holiday Let Insider podcast, 61% of Sykes owners have already used AI to support their holiday let business.
What do holiday let owners use AI for? The most common uses are drafting guest responses and FAQs, writing social media posts about local attractions, improving property descriptions and amenity lists, competitive research, and identifying the right timing for special offers.
What's the best first AI task for a holiday let host? Start with repetitive admin that doesn't add value: answering the same guest FAQs, responding to routine booking enquiries, or drafting standard messages. It's low-risk and builds confidence quickly.
Will AI make my holiday let listing generic? Not if used well. The key is keeping your property's unique voice, quirks and local knowledge in everything AI produces – review outputs and feed the tools your own style rather than accepting generic defaults.
Are guests using AI to find holiday lets? Yes. Travellers increasingly use AI tools to search for and shortlist properties, which makes well-structured, detailed, distinctive listing content more important than ever.
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