You connect Hostaway to your AI assistant with a small MCP server: a local program that wraps the Hostaway Public API and exposes it as tools. Once connected, Claude, the Gemini CLI, or ChatGPT (via a hosted connector) can read your listings, reservations, calendar, and tasks and answer questions in plain English.
The setup paths
It's free, takes about 20 minutes, and is read-only by default, so the assistant can look but not change anything. The three steps are the same whichever assistant you use:
- Get your API credentials. In Hostaway, open Settings then Hostaway API and copy your Account ID and an API key. The Public API is self-serve, so no partner approval is needed.
- Run the MCP server. A small Node.js file wraps the API and exposes read-only tools for listings, reservations, calendar, and tasks.
- Ask in plain English. Point Claude, Gemini, or ChatGPT at the server and ask things like "what checks out tomorrow?" or "which listings have a gap next week?"
The hosted API route
For a tool that has to keep running unattended, you call the Hostaway API directly rather than going through an assistant. Our Hostaway API guide covers the auth model and the limits to design around.