How to Hire an Airbnb Virtual Assistant? (Complete Guide)

Running an Airbnb rental business requires time, effort, and attention to detail.

Hosts need to manage booking, handle any queries from the guests’ side, sync calendars, manage listing, and much more. However, doing so much becomes difficult for many hosts, especially if they are running multiple listings. 

A Virtual Assistant (VA) can help such hosts manage all the hosting tasks for Airbnb and other OTA platforms. They run everything smoothly, while hosts focus on growth. 

But hiring the right VA is more than finding someone who seems competent. You need someone reliable, skilled, and experienced in handling Airbnb-related tasks.

Read this detailed guide to learn how to hire the right Airbnb virtual assistant for you!

Do You Really Need a Virtual Assistant?

You’ll get a person to run your rental venture. Doesn’t it sound great? Well, it does, for sure.

However, before you do so, it is important to know whether you really need to hire a person to help you in hosting or not. For this, go through these scenarios:

1. You feel stressed or overwhelmed.
2. You spend too much time replying to guest messages.
3. You struggle to manage booking, cleaning, calendar, and other hosting tasks.
4. You are managing multiple properties (without any assistance yet)
5. You’re not available 24/7 for your guests.
6. You need time to scale your venture. 

If your answer is YES to any of the aforementioned scenarios (and you have enough budget to pay a virtual assistant), you should hire one.

How to Hire a Virtual Assistant for Airbnb?

You do need to hire a virtual assistant. If so, here is the hiring process you should follow:

1. Know Your Needs
2. Decide Right Hiring Platform
3. Look for Key Skills and Experience
4. Conduct a Proper Interview
5. Run a Trial Period
6. Communicate Responsibilities and Expectations

1. Know Your Needs

Neither all virtual assistants offer the same services, nor all hosts require the same. 

Before you actually start finding or shortlisting virtual assistants for Airbnb, you should understand exactly what tasks you need help with. 

Take a page and pen. Note down the following:

• Tasks take most of your time
• Aspects of your Airbnb rental venture that you can outsource. 
• Responsibilities you want your VA to handle for you.
• Any specific expertise your VA should have.

For your information, Airbnb virtual assistants typically handle these tasks:

Once you know which responsibilities you want to delegate to your virtual assistant, create a detailed job description that outlines them. 

The description should mention the required skills and experience, responsibilities, expected working hours and availability, and other preferences. 

The more specific you are, the better it is.

2. Decide Right Hiring Platform

Once you have created a job description that mentions what kind of assistant you need and their key responsibilities, it is time to start finding one. 

One way is to hire someone you already know. For example, a classmate, friend, or family member who is already interested in hosting on Airbnb. 

If you don’t know anyone like this, you can use an online hiring platform for this purpose. 

The best platform depends on a few aspects

1. Your budget
2. Desired skills
3. Type of virtual assistant you need (beginner, expert, full-time, part-time)

That said, here are different platforms you can use:

-Airbnb Co-Host Network

Airbnb’s official Co-Host Network is a perfect platform to find expert co-hosts. 

All the co-hosts who are on the platform are familiar with the hosting responsibilities. They have proved their expertise by qualifying these conditions set by Airbnb:

• An active Airbnb listing (as host or co-host with full/calendar/messaging access)
• Hosted 10+ stays OR 3+ stays totaling 100+ nights in the past 12 months

• Guest rating of 4.8 or higher.
• Cancellation rate below 3% (exception for valid reasons).
• Verified identity
• Good standing on Airbnb.

All the co-hosts on the Co-Host Network come up with these tough criteria. 

Simply enter your home location to find the available co-host in your area and prepare a list of top candidates for the job. You can message each directly to communicate. 

-Freelance Platforms

The second option is to use freelance platforms to find an assistant.

Some recommended platforms for this purpose are:

1. Upwork
2. Fiverr
3. Freelancer
4. Cohost Market

These platforms are a suitable option if you want to find a freelance-based virtual assistant at affordable rates. However, the only way to assess their expertise is the reviews. 

Therefore, if you are hiring a person from these platforms, make sure you put the candidate through multiple tests, assessments, and interviews to see their capabilities.

-Online Communities and Forums

Another option is to look for candidates through online forums and communities. 

Many virtual assistants and co-hosts often use such platforms to show their interest in working with the primary Airbnb hosts. As a host, you have to go through different posts published by VAs and create a list of interested candidates. 

You can find virtual assistants on platforms like:

• Airbnb Host Community UK 
• Serviced Accommodation Network UK
• Airbnb’s Finest Hosts (a Facebook group)

Most of the time, candidates you select from these platforms don’t have the necessary expertise. However, they can agree to work at lower prices. 

They are perfect if your focus is to save a few bucks and have the time to train them later. 

3. Look for Key Skills and Experience

To shortlist potential candidates, review their resumes, portfolios, and past client reviews to assess their expertise. 

Match the skills and experience of each person with what you really need. Evaluate communication, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities.

Categorize the candidates as:

• Yes (qualifications meet requirements)
• Maybe (some requirements met, but further review needed)
• No (doesn’t meet minimum requirements).

Move forward with “Yes” and some “Maybe” resumes to the next stage of the hiring process. Assign points to each person based on the importance of qualifications, experience, and skills to objectively evaluate them.

Contact the candidate (in the highest-to-lowest score order) and show your interest in hiring them. If they want the job, call them for an interview.

4. Conduct a Proper Interview

Don’t rush here—take your time and conduct maximum interviews to select a candidate. 

When you have some candidates in the “Yes” category, interview each. Find out whether they really are capable, professional, and reliable to handle hosting tasks. 

Prepare structured interview questions to dig deeper into their skills. For example:

• Have you worked with Airbnb or similar booking platforms before?
• What is your experience with managing Airbnb listings?
• How do you respond to a last-minute cancellation or angry guest?
• How do you manage multiple platforms at once?
• What tools have you used for calendar syncing or automated messaging?
• Can you walk me through a day in your workflow?

If you find any candidate a good fit for the role, assign a small task to further assess them on a practical basis. For example, send them a mock guest inquiry and see how they respond to it. 

Since a VA works from home, ensure they have a stable internet connection. 

5. Run a Trial Period

Suppose you have found the best-fit candidate to be your virtual assistant. 

Before you commit to them long-term, you should run a trial period (1-2 weeks) to assess their skills and work ethics. Assign small but relevant tasks to test their efficiency.

In the trial period, pay attention to:

• How quickly they respond to tasks (ideally <1 hour)
• How do they communicate and respond to guest queries
• Whether they ask good questions
• How well they follow instructions
• If they make mistakes, do they fix them quickly?
• How they handle bookings and cancellations
• Can they manage the reviews and guest feedback

Monitor their response time, quality of work, and ability to follow instructions.

Please note that the scope of what you need to evaluate in the trial period depends on the responsibilities you have assigned to the VA and their expertise.

6. Communicate Responsibilities and Expectations

If the person you hire passes the trial period as well, hire them permanently. 

And when doing so, communicate what they have to do, when, and how in a clear manner. Doing so prevents any future misunderstandings. 

Important elements of clear communication:

• Working hours and days
• How quickly they should respond to messages
• What to do in case of emergencies
• How to report tasks completed
• Who they should contact if they have questions
• Preferred communication methods

Since your VA is working remotely, you must set a regular meeting schedule to keep everything on track. Discuss challenges, feedback, and upcoming bookings. 

The better your communication, the better your working relationship will be.

Which Skills an Airbnb Virtual Assistant Should Have?

An Airbnb virtual assistant needs to communicate well. Right? Therefore, they should be polite, clear, and quick when responding to guests.

Tech skills are key, too. They must know how to use Airbnb, booking sites, and messaging apps. They should also be able to solve unexpected issues guests can face and handle them calmly.

Time management and organization help keep bookings, reviews, and tasks in order.

Some knowledge of short-term rentals is also helpful. Understanding local attractions can improve guest stays. A stable internet connection is necessary.

They should be reliable, adaptable, and good at following instructions.

What Should You Expect to Pay Airbnb Virtual Assistant?

On average, you can expect to pay between $5 to $15 per hour to your virtual assistant, depending on their experience and where they live.

For example, assistants from the Philippines cost less than the U.S., with the same skill set.

If you hire them on a monthly basis, you can expect to pay $300 to $1,500 per month. Again, it depends on the scope of work, the number of properties they manage, and the location.

Conclusion

Hiring the right Airbnb virtual assistant can make your hosting job much easier. It saves time, reduces stress, and helps you offer a better focus on growth.

But to get these benefits, you must hire carefully. Know your needs, search on the right platforms, sort out candidates carefully, test their skills, and communicate well.

A good VA becomes your partner in managing daily tasks and growing your rental business. 

So, take your time and follow each step properly. It may seem like a lot at first, but once done right, it will bring peace of mind and more success.