Scaling smarter: How Host Wise strengthened operations and unlocked growth with Guesty

Host Wise began as a small experiment in Porto. Two founders tested Airbnb in a single apartment, saw early traction, and quickly realized the opportunity in Portugal’s rapidly growing short-term rental market. Growth was slow at first as the team learned the business hands-on. They expanded only when they were confident they could maintain service quality.

Over time, Host Wise evolved into one of Portugal’s most advanced property management companies. A dedicated tech team, an internal customer support organization, and strong operational systems helped them stand out in a landscape where many operators still work manually.

Today they manage more than six hundred properties in the country’s most competitive hospitality markets.

Host Wise had already cycled through three platforms before arriving at Guesty. They tried to grow on Avantio, Beds24, and Hostify, but persistent issues in each system slowed their development.

The biggest blockers were:

• Unreliable integrations and delayed API data that made revenue management and channel syncing difficult
• System outages during peak summer periods
• Inflexible revenue management tools that could not support seasonal discounting or complex pricing rules
• Limited automation, which became unsustainable as their portfolio expanded
• Unreliable Breezeway sync, creating frequent connection failures between Hostify and Breezeway and leading to operational blind spots

These problems were expensive. Incorrect amenities triggered Airbnb penalties. Slow or inaccurate API connections created pricing delays. Manual workarounds strained the team.

So when the time came to choose a new PMS, the team focused on three non-negotiables: stability, speed, and API strength.

Switching PMS platforms is always daunting, especially at Host Wise’s scale. Their previous migrations were fully self-guided with little vendor support. They expected the same experience with Guesty, but found the opposite.

Guesty provided weekly calls, structured milestones, and real visibility through Rocketlane. Quick responses, fast SLAs, and proactive follow-ups made the process feel human and collaborative. Whenever the team had questions, someone from Guesty was available — whether through the Help Center, support channels, accounting specialists, or direct email.

As part of the migration, Guesty’s team encouraged Host Wise to review and standardize all listing data. This eliminated old discrepancies and completely resolved the Airbnb issues they had faced for years.

Host Wise manages a complex and diverse portfolio across multiple asset types. Operational automation is essential. Guesty has become the company’s central nerve system for day-to-day execution.

What changed after adopting Guesty

• Reliable revenue distribution: Guesty pushes new rates to OTAs twice a day, allowing much faster price adjustments than before.
• Stronger operational automations: Automated messaging across Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia, Marriott, and now WhatsApp ensures consistent communication and fewer missed check-in details.
• Stable third-party integrations: Breezeway now runs without the sync failures Host Wise experienced on previous PMS systems.
• Faster issue resolution: When external partners such as Rentals United or Vrbo had outages or data discrepancies, Guesty jumped in immediately, escalating the issue on Host Wise’s behalf. This pressure moved fixes forward faster than Host Wise could achieve alone.

Growth remains a core priority. Host Wise continues to expand its short-term rental portfolio but is now moving into higher-value assets.

Their forward strategy includes:

• Entering the hotel management market
• Managing entire buildings and serviced apartments
• Continuing toward their target of 1,000 listings in the coming years

Guesty plays a central role in enabling these goals. Its operational efficiency, data accuracy, and automation potential give Host Wise confidence that the system can support larger, more complex portfolios — far beyond what their previous platforms could handle.

• Portfolio stabilized at 600+ properties with clean listing data
• Eliminated Airbnb penalties caused by mismatched amenities
• Reliable API connections
• Improved operational control from automated workflows and WhatsApp messaging
• Successful integrations with Breezeway, Rentals United, and others
• Strong foundation for entering hotel and serviced-apartment management
• Positioned to reach 1,000 listings within the next few years