Hostaway Retains Triple Crown of OTA Recognition Across Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo in 2026

For the vacation rental industry, the three platforms that matter most are Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo. Each runs its own partner program. Each sets its own criteria. And each year, they independently evaluate the software providers that connect to their platforms, looking at integration quality, reliability, feature depth, and the experience delivered to hosts and guests.

Hostaway has once again earned the highest designation from all three, simultaneously, for 2026.

• Airbnb Preferred+ Software Partner for the fourth consecutive year, rated Excellent in both Integration Quality and Feature Offering

• Booking.com Premier Plus Connectivity Partner is the new highest tier, introduced by Booking.com in 2026, achieved in its first year of existence

• Vrbo Elite Connectivity Partner for the sixth consecutive year, every year since the program launched in 2021

This is the Triple Crown of recognition from the top three OTAs in the short-term rental industry worldwide. Not because the bar is low, but because it isn't.

The standard keeps rising and so does Hostaway

OTA partner programs aren't static. The criteria that earned recognition in 2023 aren't the same criteria being measured in 2026. Platforms evolve, traveler expectations shift, and the technical benchmarks rise with them.

Booking.com made that explicit this year. Previously, the highest tier in their Connectivity Partner Programme was Premier, a status Hostaway had held consecutively since 2023. For 2026, Booking.com introduced a new ceiling: Premier Plus, reserved for partners that have gone beyond reliable connectivity to actively collaborate with the platform and drive meaningful outcomes for property managers. Hostaway landed there in Premier Plus's first year.

For Airbnb, vacation rental software partners were assessed across two dimensions: Integration Quality and Feature Offering. Hostaway rated Excellent in both. That consistency across both technical performance and functional depth reflects the breadth of what we build for property managers using the platform.

And with Vrbo, six consecutive years of Elite status says something different from any single-year award. It's a track record. The program evaluates API performance, data accuracy, synchronization quality, and ongoing collaboration with Vrbo's technical teams. Hitting that mark once is achievable. Hitting it every year since the program launched takes sustained investment.

The bar keeps rising. The recognition reflects that Hostaway has gone beyond keeping pace with it.

What each award means and how Hostaway earned it

Airbnb Preferred+ Software Partner

Airbnb's Preferred Software Partners program identifies vacation rental software providers that meet their standards for quality, performance, and connectivity. Within the program, Preferred+ is the top tier, awarded to partners who demonstrate consistent performance and a strong ability to support property managers using Airbnb at scale.

For 2026, Hostaway was rated Excellent in:

Integration Quality: the reliability, stability, and technical performance of our Airbnb connection. For property managers, this translates directly to listings, pricing, availability, and messaging staying in sync, in real time.. Updates made in Hostaway are reflected on Airbnb instantly.

Feature Offering: the depth and breadth of Airbnb features we support for our customers. This includes centralized reservation management, automated guest messaging, dynamic pricing, a unified inbox, smart lock and keyless entry management, reporting and analytics, maintenance and property management, expense tracking, automated invoice generation, and more, all accessible from a single platform.

Earning Excellent in both categories for the fourth year in a row reflects not just what we built originally, but what we've continued to develop as Airbnb's own platform has evolved.

Booking.com Premier Plus Connectivity Partner

Booking.com's Connectivity Partner Programme recognizes software providers that help accommodation partners manage their businesses more efficiently through strong, reliable connections to the platform.

Premier Plus is the new highest tier, introduced in 2026. It is awarded to a select group of partners that have demonstrated outstanding technical connectivity, a broad suite of critical solutions, consistent high-level performance, and exceptional service across the booking experience.

Eddy Veldhuizen, Senior Director Connectivity Partnerships at Booking.com, put it this way:

"Premier Plus partner status recognises Connectivity partners for their excellent performance and quality of service delivered to drive their properties' success. It's great to see our long-term partner Hostaway's achievement of reaching Premier Plus. This reflects their commitment to offering the full breadth of critical solutions and outstanding service to our customers and mutual accommodation partners."

Hostaway had held Premier status with Booking.com since 2023. When they raised the ceiling, we were ready for it.

For property managers, Premier Plus recognition means working with a provider that Booking.com has specifically identified for the quality of its connection, the breadth of its solutions, and its role in helping short-term rental properties succeed on the platform.

Vrbo Elite Connectivity Partner 

Vrbo's Connectivity Partner Program evaluates software providers across three tiers: Elite, Preferred, and Integrated. Elite is the top designation, reserved for platforms that consistently demonstrate the highest-quality connections and extensive property management functionality across Vrbo's ecosystem.

Hostaway has held Elite status every year since the program launched in 2021. That longevity isn't a coincidence. Our engineering and partnerships teams work closely with Vrbo on an ongoing basis, adopting new API capabilities as they become available, monitoring connection health continuously, and ensuring that the integration evolves alongside the platform. 

The result for property managers is a Vrbo connection that works reliably at scale: listings stay accurate, bookings flow without friction, and the operational overhead of managing Vrbo through Hostaway stays low. Six consecutive years of Elite status is the clearest signal we can offer that this isn't a point-in-time achievement. It's how we operate.

What Hostaway’s continued Triple Crown status means for property managers

Recognition from OTA software partner programs isn't just a credentialing exercise. For property managers evaluating or already using Hostaway, it translates into tangible day-to-day outcomes.

Reliable integrations mean fewer errors

When your channel manager holds the highest connectivity designation from Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo, your listings are accurate, your availability is synchronized, and your pricing is consistent across channels. The risk of double bookings, stale rates, or dropped reservations is avoided, not because we say so, but because the platforms themselves have evaluated and verified the quality of our connections.

Top-tier status means a closer partnership with the platforms themselves

At this level, it's not just a certified connection but an ongoing working relationship with OTA technical teams. When platforms evolve, APIs update, or new capabilities roll out, Hostaway is closer to the source. That translates into a more stable, up-to-date experience for property managers on all three channels. 

Consistent performance means confidence at scale

Whether you manage 10 properties or 500, the underlying integrations need to work the same way every day. That's what multi-year recognition at the highest tier reflects: not just a connection that passes evaluation once, but one that holds up over time –– under load, as the platforms themselves change, and expected standards rise.

For smaller operators, Hostaway's automation tools, unified inbox, and streamlined workflows reduce the manual work of running a professional operation. For growing portfolios, dynamic pricing, reporting and analytics, and operations management make it possible to scale without adding overhead. For enterprise operators, the platform offers the depth, reliability, and 200+ integrations needed to run a complex, multi-market business from a single system. 

The Triple Crown is a signal about the connectivity layer. The platform built on top of it is what makes it useful, at any size

Ready to see what a top-rated platform can do for your business?

Hostaway's Triple Crown recognition reflects the quality of the connections underpinning everything our customers do on Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo. If you're evaluating vacation rental software, or wondering whether your current platform is holding you back, we'd love to show you what's possible.

Schedule a free demo and see how Hostaway helps property managers streamline operations, automate workflows, and scale with confidence.

Learn more about each individual award:

• Airbnb Preferred+ Software Partner 2026

• Booking.com Premier Plus Connectivity Partner 2026

• Vrbo Elite Connectivity Partner 2026