ChatGPT + Hostaway: How to Connect Them in 2026
ChatGPT can work with Hostaway, but not through an official plugin: as of September 2026 there is no Hostaway plugin in ChatGPT and Hostaway hasn’t shipped its own MCP server. You connect them by hosting an MCP server built on Hostaway’s self-serve API and adding it as a custom plugin in ChatGPT’s Developer mode. Once it’s in, ChatGPT can pull reservations, calendars, and guest threads when you ask. What it can’t do is act when a booking lands, because no Hostaway event can start ChatGPT.
What ChatGPT can do with Hostaway
Hostaway’s Public API is self-serve. With a server built on it, you can ask ChatGPT to:
- Read reservations. Dates, channel, guest details, price, and payment status for any booking.
- Check the calendar. Pull a listing’s availability, or block and unblock nights.
- Work the guest inbox. Read conversations on a reservation and send a reply. The API can send by email, channel, SMS, or WhatsApp, with no attachments.
- Run turnovers. Create, update, or delete cleaning and maintenance tasks.
- Pull the money. Finance reports, expenses, and owner statements, plus reviews (read only).
How to connect ChatGPT to Hostaway
- Create an API key. In the Hostaway dashboard, go to Settings → Hostaway API and click Create. Give it a name and pick a Partner; for your own tools, choose the generic Hostaway Public API option. Hostaway shows your Account ID and API Key once, so save both. Hostaway’s API key guide walks through it.
- Know how the key works. Your server trades the Account ID and API Key for an access token, which Hostaway says stays valid for up to 24 months.
- Get a server with a public URL. ChatGPT only talks to remote MCP servers over HTTP. The Hostaway servers on GitHub run locally over stdio for Claude Desktop or Claude Code. The most complete, prosperkartik/hostaway-mcp, offers 10 read-only tools across listings, reservations, calendar, conversations, and financials. To use one in ChatGPT, you wrap it in an HTTP transport and deploy it on a host like Render.
- Solve sign-in. ChatGPT’s Create MCP App form offers OAuth, No Auth, or Mixed, with no field for a static key, so you need an OAuth layer in front of the server. No Auth would leave your guest list and door codes open to anyone with the URL.
- Turn on Developer mode. In ChatGPT, go to Settings → Security and login and switch it on. OpenAI offers it on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education accounts on the web.
- Add the plugin. Open Plugins, click Add, choose Create MCP App, and paste the server URL.
- Test with a read. Ask “list this week’s check-ins” before you let it touch a calendar or a guest.
The Zapier shortcut is thin. Zapier’s Hostaway MCP exposes three actions: Add Host Note to Reservation, Update Reservation Custom Fields, and Find a Reservation, which needs the Hostaway reservation ID up front. It can’t read guest messages, the calendar, or tasks.
Hostaway’s own AI is not a ChatGPT integration
Hostaway runs ChatGPT inside its own product. AI Replies, part of Hostaway’s guest messaging, drafts answers in the Hostaway inbox from your rules, the reservation, and the listing, and you can set a rule to Auto-reply so it sends without approval. Hostaway says it’s available to all users on request with no add-on fee. AI CoHost answers questions about your portfolio inside Hostaway.
Both live inside Hostaway. Neither connects to your ChatGPT account or reaches your own inbox, your cleaner’s calendar, or an owner who emails you directly.
The limits that matter
- No Hostaway trigger in ChatGPT. ChatGPT’s scheduled tasks run a prompt on a clock, and tasks created in ChatGPT Work can use plugins. OpenAI documents event-triggered tasks only for Gmail, Slack and GitHub events. Hostaway can fire a webhook on reservation.created, reservation.updated, message.received, task.created, and task.updated, but ChatGPT has nowhere to receive it.
- Custom plugins in unattended runs are fragile. See why a connector is unavailable in a scheduled task.
- Sending is rate-limited. Hostaway caps its send-message endpoint at 30 requests per minute per account, so a bulk “message every arriving guest” prompt can stall partway.
- You maintain the server. The community code isn’t backed by Hostaway, none of it has more than two stars, and it holds a token to every guest and door code you have. Read it before you run it.
Hostaway work that runs on its own: Carly
Short-term rental work arrives as email and messages all day: booking confirmations, cleaner replies, owner questions. That’s where an assistant with standing workflows earns its keep.
Carly is an AI executive assistant that works over email and text. It runs workflows in the cloud on a schedule or when an email, calendar event, or form comes in, with no chat open, and you set them up by describing what you want in plain English.
Connecting Hostaway to Carly takes one step: create an API key under Settings → Hostaway API, open carlyassistant.com/integrations, and paste in your Account ID and API Key. There’s no server to host and no OAuth layer to build. More on what it covers on the Hostaway integration page.
Then ask for things like:
- “When an Airbnb or Booking.com reservation email arrives, look the booking up in Hostaway, email Claire the turnover window before the next check-in, and add it to the cleaning calendar.”
- “Every morning at 7, text me today’s check-ins and check-outs from Hostaway and flag any same-day turnovers.”
- “Every hour, check Hostaway for guest messages that haven’t had a reply in two hours and text me a summary of each.”
- “When Josh emails that a unit is clean, mark that turnover task done in Hostaway.”
- “On the first of the month, pull each owner’s statement figures from Hostaway and draft an email to every owner with the totals.”
Carly connects to thousands of apps, so the same workflow can send from Gmail or Outlook, put the turnover on Google Calendar, or log it in Google Sheets. Pricing: Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month.
If you still like asking questions in ChatGPT, add the Carly plugin and set up those workflows from inside a chat.
ChatGPT vs Carly for Hostaway
| ChatGPT (custom MCP server) | Carly | |
|---|---|---|
| Look up reservations and calendars | Yes, in a chat | Yes, in a chat, email, or text |
| Setup | API key, host a server, add OAuth, Developer mode, Create MCP App | Paste Account ID and API Key at carlyassistant.com/integrations |
| Server to host | Yes | No |
| Write back (tasks, calendar, messages) | Only if your server adds write tools | Yes, through your API key |
| Booking email arrives, cleaner gets the turnover | Only while you’re in the chat | Yes, when the email lands |
| Morning arrivals and departures | Scheduled task, if the plugin works unattended | Yes, on a schedule in the cloud |
| React to a Hostaway event | No Hostaway trigger to fire on | Scheduled check, or the OTA’s email |
| Sends the message itself | Results land in ChatGPT | Yes (Gmail, Outlook, SMS) |
| Price | Paid ChatGPT plan with Developer mode | Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month |
ChatGPT with a Hostaway server is a quick way to check a booking at your desk. Carly is the assistant that gets the cleaner scheduled while you’re driving between properties.
Frequently asked questions
Does ChatGPT have an official Hostaway integration? No. As of September 2026 there is no Hostaway plugin in ChatGPT and no official Hostaway MCP server. You add a community or self-built server as a custom plugin in Developer mode, or use the Carly plugin with your Hostaway API key.
How do I get a Hostaway API key? Go to Settings → Hostaway API in the dashboard, click Create, name the key, and choose a Partner (use Hostaway Public API for your own tools). Copy the Account ID and API Key right away, since Hostaway only shows them once.
Isn’t Hostaway AI already ChatGPT? Hostaway’s AI Replies uses ChatGPT to draft guest messages inside the Hostaway inbox. It’s a Hostaway feature, not a connection to your ChatGPT account, and it stays inside Hostaway.
Can ChatGPT message my cleaner when a new booking comes in? Not from Hostaway directly. ChatGPT’s event triggers support Gmail, Slack, and GitHub events. Carly can start from the booking confirmation email, check the reservation in Hostaway, and send your cleaner the turnover time from your own inbox.
Can ChatGPT send guest messages through Hostaway? Only if your server includes a send tool. Hostaway’s API supports it, but the most complete community servers are read-only.
Related: Claude + Hostaway · ChatGPT + Guesty · AI agents for Airbnb hosts · Connect an MCP server to ChatGPT
Ready to automate your busywork?
Carly schedules, researches, and briefs you—so you can focus on what matters.
See what people say
"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."
