Alexa in Vacation Rentals: 7 Ways You Can Level Up Your Guest’s Experience

Introduction

As a vacation rental host, you may have begun to explore the use of AI at your rental(s).   After all, we have entered the era of digital assistants. ChatGPT is available via a browser and an app, and Amazon has sold more than 500 million Alexa-enabled devices. This technology is beginning to be used everywhere - but it is particularly well suited to vacation rentals. There is particular magic in making AI available in-property, as a feature of your rental. That’s where Alexa comes in. 

The target audience for this guide are short-term rental (STR) hosts in the US, UK and Canada. This is because special Alexa capabilities are available from Amazon and AIPEX in these countries. Broader support is planned in future releases. 

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Use Cases

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Create an Amazing First Impression the Moment Guests Arrive

First impressions matter—especially in a vacation rental. The first 5 minutes a guest spends inside your property often set the emotional tone for the entire stay. With AIPEX, that moment becomes intentional, welcoming, and unmistakably premium.

A Warm, Personal Arrival—Without Being There

When guests walk through the door, the Guest Arrival Card appears automatically on the Echo Show screen. This is not a generic “how-to-use-Alexa” screen—it’s your space, your brand, and your welcome. Guests immediately see that this home is thoughtfully set up for them, and that help is always nearby.

The Arrival Card can:

• Greet guests by name
• Prompt them with simple examples like “Ask me about the house, local restaurants, or things to do nearby”
• Reinforce that assistance is available anytime, just by speaking

This visible, in-property moment removes uncertainty and answers the unspoken guest question: “What do I need to know right now?”

Welcome Them With Video

Beyond text, AIPEX allows you to deliver a welcome video that plays right at arrival. This can be:

• You, the owner or host, welcoming guests personally
• A branded video with an AI avatar introducing the property and setting the tone

Guests consistently respond more positively when they see a face behind the stay. It creates trust, warmth, and a sense of connection—without requiring you to be present or repeat yourself for every reservation.

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Provide an AI Virtual Concierge for Your Guests

Vacation rental hosts have insight and knowledge to the local area that can make a big difference to the guest experience. This is nothing new - for years we have had a welcome binder with information for guests or a guidebook available on their phone. With AI, guests can get that same kind of personalized information delivered in a way that is like having a real concierge right at your vacation rental. Just speak a question, and get it answered. This natural interface offers the promise of replacing a welcome binder or a guidebook with a conversation. The Virtual Concierge is available through an in-property device via an Amazon Echo Show. It is also available to guests on their phone prior to their arrival, but the focus of this guide is on the in-property experience with an Alexa device. 

By simply asking a question, guests will have immediate access to all the things you would like to make available to them. Your customized content is delivered in a conversational interface with visual queues from a screen as well. You can extend a personal welcome to each group, and then share your ‘insider’ tips. That can include specifics on your property itself, as well as information about the local area - places to go, things to do and events to attend. 

Defining your custom content is as easy as logging in to the Virtual Concierge Management Portal, and simply adding items that you would like to share information about with your guests - what the item is, and what Alexa should say about it. There are extensive features available, such as responding with images and video, and providing links to additional information.

Here are just a few of the kinds of things you can provide your guests with the Virtual Concierge. More than 900 topics and options are available!

• A welcome video
• Check in & check out information
• How to connect to the internet
• Instructions for dealing with garbage & recycling
• How to use Alexa to contact the owner or manager
• Restaurant recommendations
• Insider tips on local attractions
• Proactive recommendations based on the weather at the property

But how do guests know that all this is possible just by speaking? The Virtual Concierge has a feature called ‘Home Cards’ which are text and images that are displayed on the screen of Echo Show devices. With this digital signage display, you can let guests know about special things they can do with the system. Just give them examples of the things they can ask for, right on the screen.

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Fill Your Vacation Rental with Voice Controlled Music

Music is one of the core use cases for the Amazon Echo. After all, the device is called a Smart ‘Speaker’ for a reason. Based on the availability of popular streaming services, our expectations are now that we can get basically any type of music in the world, and get it immediately. The Amazon Echo is a perfect way to deliver against this expectation. 

Your guests have the option of either streaming music by saying something like “Alexa, play Taylor Swift”, or connecting their phone to the smart speaker via Bluetooth. That later option provides the ability for guests to listen to their own personal playlists and favorites.

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Set Up New Ways to Communicate Between You and Your Guest

We all know how important it is to communicate with guests before and after their stay. Leading up to arrival the focus is on things like setting expectations, providing great info and learning a bit about your guests to enable that personal touch we all want to provide. After departure, good follow up can ensure guest satisfaction, continuous improvement and repeat bookings. 

What about during a guest’s stay? The Alexa platform provides an innovative way to further differentiate your guest experience with superior communication. Examples include:

• Providing a personal welcome, either through text with Alexa speaking, or audio (in your own voice, or with a video.
• Giving guests a way to contact you that is even easier for them than email, phone or text. After all, the group organizer has your contact information (somewhere), but other guests might not. The system supports a multitude of ways that guests can say they have something that they need help with. These are broken down by department (front desk, maintenance and housekeeping), and you can assign one or more contacts per department to receive the notifications via either text message or email.
• Alerting guests of any important information mid-stay. Examples could include things like a weather warning, or notifying a group about landscape maintenance. 
• Using the digital signage available on the screen of Echo Show devices through the Home Cards feature. Often you just want a sign to let guests know about something - now you can do it digitally!

You can send a message to a guest using the AIPEX portal. Once sent, the device at the property chimes briefly and there is a display indicating that the guest has a message waiting for them. 

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Streamline Check-out and Capture Valuable Guest Feedback

AIPEX transforms check-out from a passive reminder into an active, branded interaction. On the morning of departure, guests see a Guest Departure Card on the Echo Show screen thanking them for their stay and presenting a simple “Tap to Check Out” button.

When a guest taps to check out:

• Your team receives an immediate notification
• Cleaning crews can be dispatched sooner, improving operational efficiency and turnover time

After checkout, guests are seamlessly prompted to rate their stay—while the experience is still fresh.

Smart Feedback That Works for You

AIPEX automatically adapts the follow-up experience based on guest sentiment:

If a guest gives a 5-star rating:

• They can immediately express interest in rebooking, including booking direct instead of through Airbnb or Vrbo
• They are guided to leave a public review (such as Google Reviews), turning positive experiences into visible social proof

If a guest gives less than 5 stars:

• They are prompted to share private feedback via a Voice Review
• Concerns are captured directly and constructively, reducing the likelihood of negative public reviews

Why This Matters

The Guest Departure Card delivers value on multiple levels:

• A smoother, more intuitive check-out experience for guests
• Faster unit turnover and better coordination with cleaning teams
• Higher-quality feedback for continuous improvement
• More 5-star reviews, more direct rebookings, and stronger long-term performance

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Provide Ambient Sleep Sounds to Help Guests Sleep Better

If you are like many, sometimes it is hard to get a good night’s sleep when you are away from home. It becomes especially tough if there are distracting noises like traffic outside or maybe a snoring companion. Alexa provides an easy fix - skills like Sleep Sounds lets you play ambient sounds to help your guests sleep peacefully or block out unwanted noise. With hundreds of options for high quality sounds to choose from, guests will be able to sleep better, relax quickly, or get their baby to go to sleep faster! 

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Enable Smart Home Capabilities like Lighting and Temperature Control

Alexa helps make smart home tech visible to guests. Tech investments that may have otherwise gone unnoticed are showcased with voice control. Adding a voice assistant device provides a futuristic sort of interaction model with smart home components. As noted above, through the ‘Home Cards’ feature of the Virtual Concierge, (text and images that are displayed on the screen of Echo Show devices) you can let guests know about special things they can do with voice commands. In this case, control smart home tech with their voice.

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Conclusion

In-property AI through specially equipped Alexa devices can add value in a number of ways and earn a place in your vacation rental property. Many of the capabilities described above will have a direct impact to your guest experience. Some also add value to you, the host, such as reducing the customer support problems associated with complex entertainment systems, or making it easy to communicate with a group of guests. The pace of development for AI based platforms is staggering, and new functionality is being added constantly. If you haven’t yet taken the opportunity to leverage AI for your business, now may be a great time to consider it.