VRS650 - Amber Hurdle – Keeping the Human in the Loop: Building a Strategic AI-Driven Brand
Release Date: 02/11/2026
Vacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Most people in short-term rentals describe how they got started with a slight apology...
info_outlineVacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Five days before recording this episode, Heather added an AI agent called Viktor to...
info_outlineVacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Twenty-five years ago, Heather could get on the phone with every guest who booked...
info_outlineVacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode started on LinkedIn. Gil Chan posted about hyperlocal property...
info_outlineVacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Paul Anderson first appeared on the Vacation Rental Success Podcast in 2021, when he...
info_outlineVacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Gil Chan came at the short-term rental industry from a direction most operators...
info_outlineVacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This episode almost wasn't the one you're hearing. Heather had already recorded,...
info_outlineVacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sab Mulligan came into the short-term rental industry from a decade in media...
info_outlineVacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by StayFi Your ultimate tool for Vacation Rental WiFi marketing allowing you to collect guest emails automatically via custom captive WiFi login splash pages. Drive repeat direct bookings and convert your OTA bookings to book direct for their next visit. Visit and use code VRSUCCESS for 50% off 3 months of StayFi service. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Jodi Bourne is back for the latest installment of the new regular segment with Heather, built around a simple premise: AI is moving...
info_outlineVacation Rental Success
This Episode is Sponsored by Lodgify If you have been thinking about building your own direct booking channel and reducing your reliance on the OTAs, Lodgify is worth a serious look. It brings your booking website, channel management, guest messaging, and unified inbox into one place. VRS listeners can get 20% off yearly and bi-yearly plans with code VRS-20, valid through to the end of June. Visit Lodgify and use code VRS-20 to get started. ...
info_outlineAmber Hurdle is back for her fourth appearance on the podcast - and once again, she’s lighting up the conversation with her bold, insightful take on branding, leadership, and the evolving role of AI in business.
A year after her last visit (when ChatGPT was just becoming mainstream), Heather reconnects with Amber to explore how the AI landscape has shifted - and how short-term rental pros can ride the wave without losing their voice. From crafting a strategic AI approach to retrofitting your team structure and refining your brand voice, Amber offers practical, no-nonsense advice with her signature energy and clarity.
This episode is packed with fresh thinking on how to infuse your humanity into AI-generated content, maintain consistency across platforms, and future-proof your brand with the right systems. Whether you’re a one-person team or running a 100+ property operation, you’ll take away actionable ideas you can implement today.
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📣 Midroll Sponsor: STRAIT Chat & the AI Ambassador Program
This episode is brought to you in part by the STRAIT Chat Community - an exclusive space for short-term rental pros who want deeper conversations, smarter systems, and more collaborative learning.
And if you're curious about using AI in your business - whether it's for guest communication, operations, or even marketing - check out our AI Ambassador Program. It's designed to help you learn, lead, and get hands-on with the tools shaping the future of hospitality.
🌐 Learn more and join us at VacationRentalFormula.com/AI
Are you listening to this podcast on the move? Get to the show notes here:
https://www.vacationrentalformula.com/podcast/VRS650