Contact our Edinburgh short-let teamContact our Edinburgh short-let team, here to help.

Who to contact for what, how quickly we reply, and what to do in an emergency. Find the section for you: guests, owners, neighbours or local partners.

01Contact Stays In: response times at a glance

We're a small team, so the quickest answer depends on how you reach us and what it's about. Here's what to expect from each.

Guest hours run every day, weekends and bank holidays included.

Messages sent out of hours

Messages and emails from owners, partners and other enquiries that arrive in the evening or at the weekend are picked up the next working day from 9am. Guests staying with us are answered until midnight every day, and messages after that are picked up from 9am. If it's an emergency during a stay, call the phone number. The emergency line stays on all night, every night, while you're staying with us.

Meeting us in person

Our team works across the homes we look after in Edinburgh and East Lothian. Phone, WhatsApp and email all reach the same people. If you're an owner and would like to meet, we can come and see your home. You can read about who we are on our about page.

02Guests contacting us before and during a stay

If you're staying in one of our homes, the guest team is there for you from 9am to midnight every day, and on the phone 24/7 for emergencies.

Before you arrive

• Questions about the home, the area or getting there: WhatsApp or text is quickest.
• Your arrival details are sent once we've checked your ID. We check every guest before an access code goes out, for your safety and the neighbours'. If you haven't received your details, check that your ID has been sent, then message us.
• Early check-in or late check-out: request it in the app up to 24 hours before. It depends on the bookings either side of yours, and it's confirmed once accepted and paid.
• Changes to your booking: it's best to ask through the platform you booked on, so the change is recorded there.

During your stay

The house guide in the home answers most questions: Wi-Fi, heating, bins, quiet hours and local tips. If something isn't working, message us with a photo where it helps, and tell us the address or booking name so we can find you straight away.

After you leave

Left something behind? Message us with what it is and where you think you left it, and we'll let you know if it turns up. If you'd like to share how your stay went, a review on the platform you booked through helps future guests, and you can read what others said on our reviews page.

Booking for work or a group?

Company bookers, contractors and visiting professionals often have questions about invoices, longer stays or several homes at once. Our pages on company accommodation, contractor stays and visiting professionals answer the common ones. Families coming for graduation can read about graduation stays, and rugby fans about homes near Murrayfield.

03Emergencies during a stay, day or night

If something goes wrong during a stay, call +44 (0)131 560 6614. The line is answered 24/7, including overnight. For emergencies, please call rather than message, so we know straight away.

Call 999 first if anyone is in danger

For a fire, a medical emergency or a crime in progress, call 999 first. Once everyone is safe, call us and we'll take it from there.

What counts as an emergency

• You can't get into the home, or can't lock it
• Water coming through a ceiling, or a leak you can't stop
• No heating or hot water on a cold night
• No power in the home
• A smoke, heat or carbon monoxide alarm that won't stop
• A smell of gas. Open the windows, don't use light switches, leave the home and call the national gas emergency number, then us
• Anything that makes you feel unsafe

What can wait until 9am

A slow drain, a missing spare towel, a dripping tap, a question about bins or the TV. Message us and the guest team will pick it up first thing. If you're not sure whether it can wait, call. We'd rather hear from you.

What happens when you call

We'll talk you through anything you can safely do, then send someone if it needs a person on site. Our maintenance team fixes the smaller things and books trusted trades for the bigger jobs.

Owners can read how we handle repairs and winter checks on our Airbnb management page.

04Owners we look after and your named person

Every owner has a named person on our team. For most things, start with them. For anything urgent about your home, call the main number, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm.

Where to go for what

• Bookings and your calendar: your owner login shows every booking as it arrives. Block your own dates there whenever you like, and we let the home around them.
• Your statement: it shows every booking, every deduction and our fee. If a line needs explaining, email it to us and we'll go through it. The pricing page shows how each figure is worked out.
• Repairs: we book and check them, and agree anything larger with you first. If you'd like to suggest a contractor or approve a quote, WhatsApp is quickest.
• Certificates and the licence: email documents to info@staysin.co.uk so they're kept with your home's records. We track renewal dates, and our licence renewal page explains the process.
• The Visitor Levy: we collect it, file the returns and pay the council. It's shown line by line on your statement. See the Visitor Levy guide.
• A concern about a guest or a neighbour: call us. We'll act on it and tell you what we've done.

Introducing another owner

If you know someone thinking about a short let, put them in touch. If they sign with us, we pay you 3% of their home's net booking revenue. Details are on the owners page.

05Where to start if you're thinking about a short let

If you own a home in Edinburgh or East Lothian and are thinking about letting it, you don't need to call to get started. Choose whichever suits how you like to work.

If you like to read first

• A quick range. The Airbnb income calculator shows a typical year for your area and size, from real market data.
• Our fees. Everything is on the pricing page: from 15% + VAT of net booking revenue, which is 18% including VAT, and 10% + VAT for the first four months for new owners who sign a one-year agreement by 31 December 2026.
• The rules. Our licensing guide explains which licence you need, and why planning comes first in Edinburgh.
• Free guides. Fourteen plain-English guides for Edinburgh owners, from the Fringe to tenement flats.

If you'd like something made for your home

Answer four quick questions, about a minute, and we'll send a free plan by 11am the next working day: earnings month by month on your dates, the licence route and every cost.

If you'd rather talk

Book a call and we'll confirm a time within 2 working hours. Calls take about 15 minutes, with no pressure to decide.

If you already host

Send us your listing link for a free listing review, or read our pages on hosting it yourself and switching manager.

If you'd like us to get in touch first, pick "Owner" on the form above and tell us a little about the home.

06Neighbours of a short let: noise, bins and anything on the stair

If you live next to, below or above one of our homes, you can reach us directly. You don't need to go through the owner, and you don't need to wait.

If it's happening now

Call +44 (0)131 560 6614, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm. Out of hours, WhatsApp +44 7898 116933: our guest team is on until midnight and can contact the guests. Tell us the address and what's happening. We'll contact the guests straight away and follow up with you to say what we've done.

If it can wait

For things like bins left out, a door left open on the stair or a question about a home, send a message using the form, WhatsApp or email. Choose "Neighbour" so it reaches the right person, and we'll reply within one working day, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm.

We'd rather you called early about a small thing than waited until it became a big one.

How we try to make sure you don't need to call

• Every guest's ID is checked before they get an access code
• Quiet hours from 10pm, no parties, and guest numbers within the licence
• Noise sensors that measure sound levels only, never recordings
• Bins taken out and the stair kept clear at every changeover
• A letter to every household in the building with our number, as the licence requires, every year

Not sure if it's one of ours?

Ask us. Give us the address and we'll tell you, and give you a number to keep. If it isn't one of our homes, contact the owner or manager first, using the details they've given you. If it isn't sorted, the City of Edinburgh Council's licensing team is the next step. In East Lothian, contact East Lothian Council.

Our page for neighbours has more, and our Edinburgh licensing guide explains the rules every short let has to follow.

07Cleaners, trades and photographers who'd like to work with us

The homes we look after depend on good local people: cleaners, electricians, plumbers, gas engineers, joiners, decorators, fire assessors and photographers. We're always glad to hear from more of them.

How to get in touch

Choose "Partner" on the form, or email info@staysin.co.uk. It helps to tell us:

• What you do, and any trade registrations or certificates that go with it
• Which parts of Edinburgh and East Lothian you cover
• When you're usually available, including weekends
• A website, photos of recent work or a portfolio, if you have one

What working with us looks like

Short lets run on changeover days. A guest checks out in the morning and the next one arrives in the afternoon, so cleaning has to happen in between, and repairs often need to fit the gaps between bookings. August is the busiest month by far, and graduation weeks, Hogmanay and rugby weekends are busy too. We plan ahead where we can and tell you early when we can't.

Safety work matters to us as much as it does to the council. Every home needs current certificates for its licence: an EICR, PAT testing, a fire risk assessment, a legionella assessment and, where there's gas, a gas safety certificate. Our licence requirements page lists them, if you'd like to see what the homes need.

Other enquiries

For anything else, including press and business enquiries, email us and the right person will reply. The company behind Stays In is Select Letting Solution Ltd. You can read about the three co-founders on our about page.

08What to put in your message for a faster answer

A few details at the start of a message save a round of questions and get you an answer sooner. Here's what helps, depending on who you are.

Guests

• The name the booking is under, and your dates
• The address or the name of the home
• A photo, if something isn't working

Owners

• The address of your home, or the postcode if you're new to us
• For statement questions, the month and the line you'd like explained
• For a new home, the number of bedrooms and roughly when you'd like guests. Better still, start a free plan, which asks for all of this

Neighbours

• The address of the home, and which flat if it's a tenement stair
• What's happening, and when it started
• A number we can call you back on, if you'd like a follow-up

Partners

• What you do and where you work
• Your availability

Documents and photos

Send them by email rather than WhatsApp, so they're kept with the right home's records. That includes certificates, insurance documents and owner statements from a previous manager if you're switching to us.

And if you're not sure who to ask, just send it. It reaches the same small team either way, and we'll pass it to the right person. Our short-let glossary may help if a term on a statement or a council letter is new to you.

Booking for a household moved out by a flood, leak or fire? See insurance accommodation in Edinburgh. Coming for the Fringe with a show? Our page on Fringe accommodation for performers has the details.

Questions about any of this?

Message us on WhatsApp on +44 7898 116933, or get in touch. We reply 9am to midnight, and the emergency line is there 24/7.