A percentage of your revenue — nothing more. No hidden fees, no monthly retainers, no surprise deductions. Here's exactly how our fee structure works, what it covers, and why it's structured the way it is.
SereneHost charges a single management fee, calculated as a percentage of your gross booking revenue. That's it. We don't add markups to cleaning, maintenance, or supplies. We don't charge monthly retainers. If your property isn't booked, we don't earn.
Creating, optimizing, and maintaining your listing — on Airbnb with the Essential Plan, or across Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com and more with the Premium Plan. This includes copy updates, photo management, policy configuration, and search ranking maintenance.
All guest messages from first inquiry through post-checkout review response. 24/7 coverage. Average response time under 30 minutes. Guest satisfaction is one of the primary drivers of your nightly rate. On the Essential Plan, you handle guest messages yourself.
Scheduling cleaning teams for every turnover, quality checks, and supply restocking. Cleaning fees are charged directly to guests — we don't mark up the cleaning cost.
Dynamic pricing on both plans — rate adjustments based on demand signals, local events, competitor rates, and booking pace. The analytics infrastructure behind this is what makes the 50% revenue uplift possible.
Triaging maintenance issues raised by guests, coordinating tradespeople for minor repairs, and flagging significant issues to you for authorization. We don't mark up maintenance costs.
Monthly payout statements itemizing gross revenue, cleaning fees, platform fees, our management fee, and your net payout. Available by the 5th of each month.
Transparency is part of the service. Here's exactly how a typical month's revenue flows from a guest booking to your bank account — with real numbers for a hypothetical 2-bedroom unit in East Vancouver.
Both plans put our listing, pricing and photography work behind your property. The difference is who looks after guests and the day-to-day: on Essential you do, on Premium we do.
| Feature | Essential Plan · Self-Serve | Premium Plan · Full Service |
|---|---|---|
| Management fee | 9% | 13% |
| (Launch promo) | — | (normally 18%) |
| Listing platforms | Airbnb only | Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com + more |
| Listing creation & management | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dynamic pricing engine | ✓ | ✓ |
| Professional photography | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cleaning & turnover management | ✓ | ✓ |
| Monthly statements | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free STR licensing consulting | ✓ | ✓ |
| Support | Email support | Dedicated owner manager |
| Guest communication (24/7) | You handle | ✓ |
| Keyless smart check-in | You handle | ✓ |
| Reviews management | You handle | ✓ |
| Guest ID screening | — | ✓ |
| Maintenance coordination | — | ✓ |
| Group insurance (guest-funded, $0 to you) | — | ✓ |
| Restocking & supplies | — | ✓ |
| Live owner dashboard | — | ✓ |
| Direct-booking site (early 2027) | — | ✓ |
| Revenue guarantee (50% uplift) | — | ✓ |
| One-time setup fee | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| Setup fee waived up front | ✓ | ✓ |
We believe surprises belong in your booking calendar, not your invoice. Here's a complete list of costs that are outside our management fee — so you can plan accordingly.
Your annual STR licence is a municipal requirement in your name. Vancouver licences run ~$1,000/yr for a Type 1 (principal residence). Burnaby, Richmond, and other cities have their own fee schedules. We track renewal dates and send reminders — but the licence cost is yours, not ours. See our Regulations section for a full breakdown by city.
We coordinate maintenance on the Premium Plan — but the cost of the work is yours. For routine issues (drain blockage, appliance repair, broken lock), we'll get quotes and coordinate, adding the cost to your next monthly invoice with your authorization. Capital projects (new appliances, flooring replacement, repaints) are planned jointly and paid by you directly. We do not add a markup on maintenance costs.
Cleaning fees are charged to guests on every booking. This money flows through to your cleaning team — SereneHost does not keep any portion. The cleaning cost on your payout statement is exactly what the cleaner was paid, with no markup. You will see this as a deduction on your monthly report — but remember that guests paid it, so it's net zero to you.
The on-site work needed to run your property — turnover checks, restocking, meeting contractors — is included. If a guest or property issue cannot be resolved remotely and needs an extra trip, it is billed at $100 per visit during office hours (9 AM to 6 PM) or $150 after hours. It only ever covers that extra workload.
Straight answers to the most common questions about how and when we invoice.
Airbnb pays you directly — it releases host payouts about 24 hours after guest check-in for most bookings, and we never hold your Airbnb income. At the start of each month we send one invoice for the previous month's fee, plus any supplies or other pass-through costs, payable by Interac e-Transfer within 14 days. Other channels such as Vrbo and Booking.com do not pay owners directly; if you opt in, we collect those payments for you and send you the balance within seven business days after month end. Your monthly statement reconciles every booking.
The $1,000 setup fee covers initial consultation and launch support, staging planning, the professional photography session, the marketing plan and pricing strategy setup. We waive it up front, in good faith. It is only charged if you end the agreement within six months of your first guest, if fees are not paid on time, or if agreed responsibilities are repeatedly left undone and delay the launch.
The revenue guarantee is written into your Premium Plan agreement. After twelve months of hosting, we compare your gross short-term rental income (excluding cleaning fees) with your previous gross long-term rent for the same length of time, and repeat the comparison on a rolling twelve-month basis at each monthly invoice. If income is below 150% of your previous rent, our fee is charged at half the agreed rate. If it is below 125%, we waive our fee until income reaches 125%. The guarantee applies when you give us a copy of your most recent tenancy agreement before your first guest, stay opted in to multi-platform listing and dynamic pricing, and block no more than 30 nights in the period. It adjusts our fee; it is not a payment to you.
Yes. You can upgrade from Essential to Premium at any time with 30 days notice — the new fee applies to bookings confirmed after the switch date. Downgrading from Premium to Essential is possible at the annual renewal with 30 days notice. If you downgrade, the revenue guarantee obligation ends at the downgrade date.
Very rarely, a short-notice booking cancellation by a guest may trigger a platform fee that we'll show transparently. If a maintenance issue requires a specialist trade on an emergency basis (e.g., flooding at 2 AM), the emergency call-out rate will appear as a maintenance deduction with the invoice attached. We never add to these costs — every deduction on your statement has a corresponding invoice you can request at any time. If something appears on your statement that you don't understand, email us and we'll explain it within 24 hours.
Your agreement runs for one year and renews automatically, which is what keeps your 13% launch rate locked in for as long as you stay. You are never stuck: either of us can end it with 60 days' written notice, and the listings, reviews and booking history in your own platform accounts stay yours. Ending without that notice carries a charge of $100 for each month left in the term, so a simple heads-up is all it takes to part on good terms.
⚠ Note: Fee percentages shown reflect SereneHost's current promotional rates for new clients. Standard rates noted in parentheses. Revenue guarantee terms and conditions are defined in your individual service agreement. All figures in Canadian dollars. Cleaning and maintenance costs are examples only — actual costs depend on property size, condition, and service frequency. Our fees are subject to GST. Late-payment charges apply only to overdue invoices, as set out in your agreement. Last updated: October 2026.