Ask Recal is an AI assistant built into the Recal property management dashboard. It sits in the bottom bar on every page and already knows what you're looking at, so you can ask about your bookings, tasks, messages, enquiries or properties in plain language — or hand it the work itself, from blocking dates to importing a spreadsheet of reservations.

Can an AI assistant actually manage vacation rental bookings?

Yes, within clear guardrails. Ask Recal can create bookings from a spreadsheet, block off dates, cancel a booking, add tasks or set up a new property — but every change to your data is shown to you for confirmation before it happens. It acts on your real portfolio data, not a generic chat context.

Does Ask Recal make changes without asking?

No. Reading and answering questions is instant, but any action that changes your data — a new booking, a blocked date, a cancellation — is proposed first and only executed once you confirm it.

How does double-booking protection work in Recal?

When an imported calendar overlaps an existing booking, Recal holds the clash as a conflict instead of dropping it silently. It appears on your calendar and bookings list, you're notified with exactly what it collides with, and a triage view lets you resolve each conflict deliberately.

What does Recal's maintenance module include?

A portfolio-wide maintenance view with property health scoring, calendars, timelines and team rotas. Each property gets its own maintenance board and recurring service schedules — a gardener three times a week, daily cleaners — that create tasks automatically, plus an inventory tab for zones, consumables and fixed assets.

Ask Recal: The AI Assistant Built Into Your Property Management Dashboard

Property management software has promised "less admin" for a decade. This release is Recal doing something more direct about it: an AI assistant that lives inside your dashboard, works on your actual portfolio, and takes the work off your hands — alongside automatic double-booking protection, a full maintenance and inventory system, and a redesigned property page.

Here's what's new, and why it matters operationally.

An AI assistant that lives where your data lives

Most AI tools for property managers are a chat window bolted onto the side: you describe your situation, it gives you generic advice. Ask Recal is the opposite. It sits in the bottom bar on every page of your dashboard, and it already knows what you're looking at — so you never explain context.

Ask it anything about your bookings, tasks, messages, enquiries or properties, in plain language:

"What's free in August for a group of eight?"
"Which properties have a changeover this Saturday?"
"What did the owner of Casa Vivalto last ask us about?"

Or hand it the work itself. Drop in a spreadsheet and it books a month of stays. Tell it to block off dates, cancel a booking, add a task, or set up a whole new property. It reads PDFs and images too — a booking confirmation, a scanned inventory list, a photo of a meter reading.

One rule holds everywhere: nothing changes without your confirmation. Ask Recal proposes the action, shows you exactly what it's about to do, and only does it when you say so. AI in property management only works when it's accountable — that constraint is deliberate.

Double-booking protection, built in

Double bookings are the most expensive failure in short-term rental operations, and most of them start the same way: an imported calendar quietly overlaps a booking you already have, and the software drops one side of the clash without telling you.

Recal now refuses to do that. When an iCal import collides with an existing booking, the clash is held as a conflict — visible on your calendar, flagged on your bookings list, with a notification naming exactly what it collides with. A dedicated triage view walks you through resolving each one, so every conflict gets a deliberate decision instead of a silent guess.

If you run cross-listed properties on multiple platforms, this is the difference between finding out from your dashboard and finding out from a guest at the door.

Maintenance and inventory, portfolio-wide

Maintenance is where property management tools usually stop and the spreadsheets start again. This release closes that gap:

A portfolio-wide maintenance view with property health scoring, calendars, timelines and team rotas — see the state of every property at a glance.
Per-property maintenance boards with recurring service schedules. A gardener three times a week, daily cleaners, a monthly pool service — set the rhythm once and the tasks create themselves.
An inventory tab for every property: zones, consumables and fixed assets, so "are we out of pool towels at the villa?" has an answer that isn't a phone call.

A redesigned property page

Properties are now organised into tabs, so the page scales with how much you manage on it. The new Prices tab gives you a full pricing calendar with named, colour-coded seasons, per-day rates, and one-click copy of an entire year to the next — seasonal pricing you can set in minutes instead of an afternoon.

Also new in this release

Roles and permissions for co-hosts, staff and owners — everyone sees what they should, and nothing they shouldn't.
Multiple calendar subscriptions per property, with sanitised exports.
Billing self-service — promo codes, in-app card verification, and downgrades that wait for your period end.
A dedicated owner portal on mobile.
Cancel and restore bookings without losing the record.
Clickable stats that break down exactly what they count.
AI-generated property descriptions.

Under the hood: around 200 fixes, including a full timezone-accuracy pass and a security hardening sweep.

The direction of travel

Recal has always been the operational layer under your bookings — one calendar for every property, one place for tasks, messages and owner reporting. This release adds the layer above it: software that doesn't just show you the work, but does it with you.

The full list of everything in this release is on our changelog. If you manage short-term rentals and want an AI assistant that works your real data — not a chatbot with amnesia — Recal is ready when you are.