What if private chef experiences could be your biggest revenue driver? In this episode, Nils Mattisson sits down with Siddhi Mittal, Co-Founder and co-CEO of yhangry, to explore how vacation rental operators can unlock serious incremental income through guest experiences, why AI-powered personalization is about to transform property management and the lesser talked about economics behind staying competitive in an oversupplied market.

Airbnb's announcement that it would offer guest experiences actually became a major bonus for yhangry, as it primed the market and made the entire industry—from property managers to guests—aware and open to the idea. Siddhi notes that Airbnb's horizontal execution on a wide variety of experiences is not strong, creating a clear gap for yhangry to dominate the private chef vertical by focusing on doing one thing "really, really well"

14:25 Unlocking revenue through platform partnerships

yhangry's model demonstrates how property managers can generate meaningful profit without hiring staff or managing logistics; partners simply add affiliate links and receive 30% commission on bookings, turning guest requests into recurring revenue. The economics are compelling: Kate and Tom's portfolio of 200 properties generates £3,000 monthly (£36K annually) in pure profit with zero technical debt or administrative overhead. This revenue stream is particularly attractive because it requires no inventory management, scheduling conflicts or liability - the platform handles vetting, payments, insurance, and customer service entirely. For large-scale operators, this affiliate model creates a secondary income channel that improves overall portfolio margins without complicating your tech stack or operational procedures. The simplicity means you can activate this within hours, making it an immediate play for operators seeking competitive differentiation in an oversupplied market.

Within 3-4 months, AI-powered guest management platforms like Conduit and HostBuddy will enable guests to discover and book experiences without ever leaving their preferred communication interface - email, WhatsApp or SMS. This means the traditional model of sending guests to external websites and clicking through booking flows will become obsolete, replaced by frictionless in-app conversations. Property managers should begin conversations now with AI softwares integrated into their PMS to ensure experience offerings are embedded into guest messaging from the moment of initial contact. The competitive advantage goes to operators who have already mapped their guest journey and identified where experiences naturally fit into conversations (welcome messages, personalization requests, activity planning) so that when AI agents launch, you're ready to serve recommendations immediately. This shift eliminates conversion friction and dramatically improves booking rates by keeping guests in familiar interfaces. 

When third-party operators like chefs provide services in your property, liability questions arise: who's responsible if something goes wrong? yhangry's model clarifies this - the platform carries overall insurance in the UK and ensures individual chef coverage in the US, so property managers and owners are protected by contractual arrangements that place liability on the experience provider. This is critical as regulators increasingly scrutinize guest safety and hold property managers accountable for incidents in their homes. By partnering with vetted, insured platforms rather than arranging independent contractors yourself, you eliminate compliance exposure and simplify risk management. For large portfolios managing hundreds of properties, this de-risking model is essential, you gain revenue upside without regulatory or liability downside, making experience partnerships an attractive way to compete without adding operational complexity.

The STR industry is fragmented across dozens of SaaS tools (email, messaging, payment, calendar, AI agents, etc.), creating silos that prevent unified guest experiences and slow AI implementation. Nils reveals Minut built its own data lake to unify 100+ disconnected providers, enabling AI agents to access guest data from all systems simultaneously rather than maintaining separate tools for each channel. Property managers should audit their current tech stack, identify critical data flows and prioritize consolidation around platforms that offer multi-channel integration (omnichannel inboxes, unified guest profiles, centralized payment systems). The competitive landscape will increasingly reward operators who can serve AI-powered personalization and automation - impossible if your guest data is fragmented across separate platforms.


Episode Resources: 

Siddhi Mittal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddhimittal23 

yhangry Website: https://yhangry.com

Minut Website: https://www.minut.com