Short answer: there is no league table of Cardiff management companies on this page, and you should be wary of one anywhere else. What there is instead is a list of questions that make two quotes genuinely comparable, and Graphite Host's own answer to every one of them, so you can see what a straight answer looks like and ask the same of anyone.
Why this page names no competitors
We used to publish a comparison table here with three named agencies in the columns. We have taken it down, and it is worth saying why rather than quietly replacing it.
We cannot verify another company's terms. Fee bases, VAT treatment, what a setup fee covers and what gets added to a supplier invoice are not reliably published, they change, and they vary between offices and between properties. Anything we wrote in those columns would have been guesswork presented as fact — and the guesses would all have happened to favour us, which is the tell.
The same goes for market averages. You will see "the typical Cardiff management fee is X%" quoted confidently in a lot of places. Ask where the figure came from. Models differ so much in what the percentage is charged on that averaging the percentages produces a number that describes nothing.
So: no table. The questions below are more useful anyway, because they work on whoever you are actually talking to.
The money
1. What is the percentage charged on?
This is the single biggest variable and it is rarely the first thing on a quote. A percentage of the total the guest paid — service fee, cleaning fee, deposit and taxes included — is a much larger number than the same percentage of what reaches your account after the platform takes its commission. Ask for the arithmetic on a sample booking for a property like yours.
Graphite Host: 15% of accommodation proceeds, after the booking platform's commission has been deducted, or after card-processing fees on a direct booking. Cleaning fees, refundable deposits and taxes are excluded from the fee base.
2. Is VAT added on top?
A yes or no question, and the answer changes what you pay for an identical headline rate. Ask it of everyone, get the answer in writing, and do not assume either way.
3. What does it cost to get live, and what does that cover?
Onboarding, listing creation, account setup, photography, linen, locks. The number that matters is the total to launch, itemised, plus what you still pay for separately afterwards.
Graphite Host: a one-off £149 onboarding fee, covering listing creation, account setup, professional editing of the suitable photographs you supply, and a property-readiness audit of condition, furnishings and guest setup. Photography shoots are not part of it — we do not take the photographs, and if the ones you send are not suitable we will say so and ask for replacements — and neither is an initial deep clean.
4. What would I owe in a month with no bookings?
The cleanest way to find out whether there is a monthly fee, a software charge or a minimum, without having to ask about each one separately.
Graphite Host: nothing. There is no recurring monthly fee, so a month with no bookings costs nothing beyond your own ownership costs.
5. What is added to third-party invoices?
Maintenance, repairs, safety inspections and certificates are bought from someone else. Ask whether they reach you at the supplier's price, or with a markup, a coordination fee or a per-invoice admin charge. Small additions to frequent small invoices accumulate quietly.
Graphite Host: third-party maintenance and safety-check costs are re-billed at the exact supplier cost, with no markup and no admin fee. Replacement linen is charged at the exact replacement cost, also with no markup.
The operation
6. Who pays for turnover cleaning, and whose linen is it?
Turnover cleaning is one of the largest running costs in short-term letting, so where it sits moves the economics materially. Some arrangements bill the owner and recover it from the guest cleaning fee; others have the guest pay the cleaner.
Graphite Host: guests pay the turnover cleaning fee and the cleaner receives it, so owners are not charged for normal turnover cleaning. You supply the linen and the cleaners launder it between stays.
7. What does guest cover actually mean, in hours and in substance?
This is where wording does the most work. Cover "at all hours" can mean a monitored inbox or a person on the end of a phone, and the shorthand hides which. Ask what happens, who does it, and what is promised about speed.
Graphite Host: 24/7 human guest communications — a real person reads what a guest sends, whenever they send it. We deliberately do not promise a fixed response time, and the cover is guest messaging rather than anything beyond it.
8. How is pricing set, how often does it move, and who decides?
Automated pricing and judgement are different things, and a quote may mean either or both. Ask which, and what happens when the tool is wrong about your street.
Graphite Host: dynamic pricing updates automatically multiple times per hour, reviewed against the property and local demand. We do not guarantee, forecast or average an income figure for a property we have not seen.
9. What can be spent without asking me?
There has to be a threshold, or every dripping tap waits for an email. Ask what it is and what the exception is.
Graphite Host: repairs above £250 need owner approval. The exception is urgent work where there is a guest-safety or property-damage risk and the owner cannot be reached.
The commitment
10. What are the term, notice and exit terms?
The cheapest-looking agreement becomes the most expensive if leaving is hard. Check the minimum term, the notice period, whether there is an exit or cancellation charge, and the one owners forget: what happens to bookings already on the calendar when you give notice.
Graphite Host: no fixed minimum contract, 30 days' notice, and no exit or cancellation charge. Bookings already confirmed cannot be guaranteed cancelled — we will work with guests — and anything remaining is managed at the normal 15%.
The fit
11. Do you actually work where my property is?
A national footprint and local coverage are not the same claim. Ask who would be handling your property day to day, and where they are.
Graphite Host: we currently work in Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, Barry and Penarth. If your property is outside those five, we will say so rather than take it on.
12. Which channels would my property be listed on?
Graphite Host: Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia, Hotels.com, Agoda, Google Hotel listings and a direct-booking website. Which of those are worth using depends on the property and the guests it suits, so not every property goes on all of them.
13. Will you tell me if my property is not suitable?
Possibly the most informative question on the list, because the answer is either yes with examples, or a sales pitch.
Graphite Host: yes. Layout, access, lease or mortgage restrictions, insurance and local rules all rule properties out, and we would rather say so at the start.
Red flags, whoever you are talking to
- Guaranteed income or occupancy. Demand, nightly rates, competition and rules all move. A guarantee is a pricing decision dressed as a promise, and it is usually funded by taking a lower rate for your property.
- A percentage with no stated base. If nobody will say what the fee is charged on, there is nothing to compare.
- A precise market average with no source. Ask where the number came from.
- "Everything included." Something is always paid separately. A provider who names those things is being more useful than one who does not.
- A long lock-in on a service you have not tried. Reasonable notice is normal; a long minimum term on an untested arrangement is a risk you are being asked to carry.
- Specific criticism of a named rival with no source. Including, for several years, this page.
Using the list
Put two or three providers in columns, run the thirteen questions down the side, and fill it in from what each one tells you rather than from what their website implies. It takes about twenty minutes and it usually changes a shortlist.
Graphite Host's figures are set out in full on the pricing page, including the costs owners meet separately. The longer version of the fee arithmetic is in what to check beyond the percentage, how pricing works locally is on the Cardiff management cost page, and what the day-to-day actually involves is in what owners should expect from management.