About HostConnect
Two hosts from Taupō who got tired of fighting the tech.
We're Michael and David. We built HostConnect because running our own holiday homes taught us that great hosting shouldn't require becoming a systems engineer.
How it started
It started with our own places
Michael spent 14 years in New Zealand property management, building one of the largest management businesses in the Taupō region from scratch, and eventually selling it. Along the way he saw the same thing over and over: brilliant hosts with beautiful places, quietly losing money to systems that weren't set up properly.
David came at it from the other side. Twenty years in e-commerce and digital marketing, and a high-performing Taupō holiday home of his own, which he runs remotely, with a second under way in Papamoa. He'd built the pricing, channel and messaging stack for his own place and watched it outperform managed properties that were paying 20% for the privilege.
When the two of us compared notes, the idea was obvious: hosts don't need another app, and they don't need to hand over their business. They need someone who's actually done it to set the engine up properly, and keep it running.
We're not selling software we wouldn't use; we run our own properties on it every single day.
The two of us
Different specialties, same obsession
Between us: hospitality and systems. Every HostConnect property gets both.
Michael Hendra
Sales & hospitality
The people side. 14+ years managing NZ holiday homes at every scale, a management business built and sold, and a boutique portfolio he still runs today. Michael has lived every hosting headache you've had, usually twice.
Lifted one of his own places from $110k to $130k gross by adding a single channel.
David Roberts
Tech, marketing & systems
The engine room. 20+ years in e-commerce and digital marketing, now channelled into pricing engines, channel connections and automation. David builds the quiet machinery behind every HostConnect property, including his own.
Runs his Papamoa place remotely, on exactly the stack you'd get.
What we believe
The rules we run this by
i.
Your business stays yours
Your accounts, your reviews, your income, your guests. We're the engine underneath, never the name on the door.
ii.
Plain English, always
If we can't explain what a tool does for you in one sentence, we don't expect you to pay for it.
iii.
Skin in the game
Everything we recommend runs on our own properties first. If it doesn't earn its keep there, you'll never hear about it.
iv.
Honest advice over easy sales
If the numbers say you're better off as you are, we'll tell you so. No pitch, no pressure. That's the Host Connect way.
Come say hi, we're easy to talk to
Half an hour, no obligation, and you'll leave knowing more about your property's potential either way.