How Stay in London Stopped Booking Fraud with Automated Screening

“We needed something that would integrate seamlessly with our property management software, Guesty. And Truvi had it.”

Dainius Podolinskis founded Stay in London 2016 after a career-defining moment at one of the big property management companies. Working part-time to afford his own property investment, he quickly noticed the problems that come with rapid growth.

“They were growing massively and were having all of these quality issues and problems with owners. And I realized that I could do a better job, and that’s what I did… I quit and set up my own company.”

Stay in London now operates as a boutique property management company focused exclusively on London’s most desirable locations. Unlike corporate competitors, Dainius intentionally maintains a small portfolio of around 30 properties across zones 1 and 2, including prime areas like Knightsbridge, Chelsea, and Covent Garden — proving his thesis that smaller can indeed be better.

“We focus on slightly larger, slightly nicer, very central properties. We’re experts in London. We all live in London and want to just focus on that market, which we know so well.”

The fraud problem

Like most property management companies, Stay in London faced fraud, property damage, and other common short-term rental problems.

“The need for insurance and ID checks comes from bad experiences with a few fraud cases where we didn’t verify the ID. The person who made the reservation was actually not the person staying.”

As the business grew, Dainius found that the work of verifying guests, and collecting damage deposits, wasn’t scalable without an automated, integrated solution: “Trying to avoid all of these problematic reservations, problematic guests led us to Truvi.

We looked for a solution that wouldn’t just cover Guest Verification, but also collect a deposit or Damage Waiver. We needed something that would integrate seamlessly with our property management software, Guesty. And Truvi had it.”

Why guests actually prefer screening

“[Guests] really like paying the waiver so they don’t have to worry about any issues. It’s a very smooth process.”

According to Dainius, guests weren’t resistant to Screening requests. Instead, he’s found that many people actually appreciate them.

“We give them the option of either choosing the waiver or paying the deposit. And we’ve noticed that very often, especially for guests that are coming from the US, it’s kind of a standard. They really like paying the waiver so they don’t have to worry about any issues. It’s a very smooth process. What we like and our guests like is that when they get the link, they can pay with Apple Pay or Google Pay very easily.

Of course, we did have cases where guests were uncomfortable with uploading that information, confirming it. And that’s also a red flag from our point of view. If somebody is not willing to tell us who they are, then should we really be handing over keys to a two-million-pound townhouse in Islington?!”

How to explain screening to guests

Dainius emphasizes the importance of transparent communication when it comes to asking for personal data from guests and explaining how it’ll be used.

“We explain that Truvі has all of the data protected, and the need for doing that. Sometimes, we just say, look, in every hotel, when you check in or when you rent a car, they always check your ID. They do store that information on their secure server. We’re doing exactly the same thing online.”

Automation frees up time for what matters

By automating guest screening and damage protection, Dainius can focus on delivering the personal service that sets Stay in London apart.

“Automation is great. It saves you a ton of time. However, a certain level of human interaction is always appreciated. If you want to run a successful Airbnb, you should actually interact with people and show them that there’s a real person.

We’re not planning to have AI talking to our guests. We still want people to do it. AI helps you, but it’s a tool. When they travel, they still want to see that there are local people living there and share their experience.”

Instead of chasing down guest IDs or pursuing damage payments, Dainius and his team can spend their time on guest communication, local expertise, and building the relationships that turn first-time visitors into repeat customers. The risk management happens automatically in the background.

Ready to screen and protect like Stay in London? See pricing to started today.