Leisr Stays scales from 10 to 85 listings with Hostaway

At a glance

• Company: Leisr Stays

• Managing Partner: Ethan Layer

• Founded: 2022

• Team: 6 (as of October 21, 2025)

• Portfolio: 85 active listings across NC, VA, and SC

• Locations: Western North Carolina, Lynchburg (VA), and Myrtle Beach (SC)

• Services: Full‑service property management

• Previous platforms: Guesty and other major PMS competitors

• Onboarding time: 1 week

• Hostaway customer since: January 2023

• Key result: Grew from 10 to 85 listings without increasing headcount

• Website:leisrstays.com

Leisr Stays is a tech‑forward, full‑service short‑term rental manager operating across Western North Carolina, Lynchburg, Virginia, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. After adopting Hostaway in January 2023, the company grew from 10 to 85 listings while keeping operations lean and guest experience front and center.

“At this point, Hostaway is the backbone of our business. We’re in it every hour of the day.” — Ethan Layer, Managing Partner, Leisr Stays

About Leisr Stays

Born from a passion for technology, hospitality, and real estate investing, Leisr Stays brings a tech‑native lens to property management. The team’s experience self‑managing before launching the company in 2022 shaped an approach that blends high‑touch hospitality with modern systems and integrations.

“What makes us different is our background as technology natives and operators. That perspective lets us move fast without sacrificing guest experience.”

Before Hostaway: outgrowing clunky tools

As the portfolio began to scale, the team tested several major PMS competitors and previously used Guesty but found those tools outdated, hard to manage, or missing key capabilities for a fast‑growing manager.

“The others we used were outdated or clunky. We needed something intuitive, robust, and ready to scale.”

After hearing about Hostaway from a YouTube influencer and demoing alternatives, Leisr Stays chose Hostaway for its clean UX, reasonable pricing, and depth of features.

Why Hostaway

• Intuitive, easy‑to‑learn interface for a lean team

• Robust feature set suited to a growing management portfolio

• Strong and expanding integration ecosystem

• Fast product velocity and receptive roadmap

• Helpful, responsive support

“Almost every idea I have is already on the roadmap or ships within months. Hostaway is very in tune with customer needs—and they build quickly.”

Onboarding in a week

Leisr Stays went live on Hostaway in January 2023 and completed onboarding within a week. The quick start let the team standardize processes early—before rapid portfolio growth made change management harder.

“It was very seamless overall.”

How Leisr Stays uses Hostaway today

Hostaway powers day‑to‑day operations across the portfolio:

• Central reservation management and calendar control

• Smart‑lock connectivity for secure, efficient turnovers

• Financial reporting and owner transparency

• A growing set of integrations that tie the stack together

“Hostaway’s integrations are unmatched.”

Results

• Scaled from 10 listings at go‑live (January 2023) to 85 listings as of October 21, 2025—without ballooning headcount.

• Kept teams focused on hospitality while Hostaway handled the operational backbone.

• Benefited from rapid platform improvements over time; “it keeps getting better and better.”

“I can’t imagine life without Hostaway. We wouldn’t have grown at this rate without software that’s simple to use.”

Advice to fellow managers

“Having a solid PMS is fundamental. After using three other competitors, I can confidently say no one does it better than Hostaway—both the software and the team.”

Before Hostaway vs. After Hostaway

What’s next

Leisr Stays plans to add about 50 listings per year and double down in existing markets, aiming to become one of Hostaway’s top‑performing users as the portfolio expands.

Company details

• Name: Leisr Stays

• Website: https://www.leisrstays.com/

• Primary markets: Western North Carolina, Lynchburg (VA), Myrtle Beach (SC)

• Contact: Ethan Layer, Managing Partner

“From reservations to smart locks to financial reporting, Hostaway is our single source of truth.”

FAQs

Why did Leisr Stays switch from Guesty and other platforms to Hostaway? 

Leisr Stays tested Guesty and several other major property management systems while scaling its short-term rental portfolio, but found those tools outdated, hard to manage, or missing capabilities needed for a fast-growing manager. Leisr Stays chose Hostaway for its clean UX, reasonable pricing, and depth of features after demoing multiple alternatives.

How long did Leisr Stays' onboarding with Hostaway take? 

Leisr Stays completed onboarding with Hostaway in just 1 week and went live in January 2023, letting the team standardize its processes early, before rapid portfolio growth made change management harder.

What results has Leisr Stays achieved since adopting Hostaway?

Since going live on Hostaway in January 2023, Leisr Stays has scaled from 10 to 85 listings across Western North Carolina, Lynchburg (VA), and Myrtle Beach (SC). The vacation rental management business was able to achieve this growth without ballooning headcount; the team still operates lean, at six people as of October 2025. 

What Hostaway features does Leisr Stays rely on most? 

Leisr Stays runs its day-to-day operations on Hostaway's central reservation management and calendar control, smart-lock connectivity for secure and efficient turnovers, financial reporting for owner transparency, and a growing set of integrations that tie the whole stack together. Leisr Stays Managing Partner Ethan Layer said they find Hostaway’s robust feature set, strong and expanding integration ecosystem, and fast product velocity and receptive roadmap together with responsive support are suited for a growing short-term rental management portfolio.

What makes Hostaway's product development stand out to Leisr Stays? 

Leisr Stays has found that feature ideas are often already on Hostaway's roadmap or ship within months of being requested, a pace Managing Partner Ethan Layer credits with keeping the platform closely in tune with what growing short-term rental managers actually need.

What's next for Leisr Stays? 

Leisr Stays plans to add roughly 50 listings per year while doubling down in its existing markets, with the goal of becoming one of Hostaway's top-performing customers as the portfolio continues to expand.