Pass the Keys Launches a Quality Guarantee Based on Guest Reviews

Pass the Keys is rolling out a “Quality Guarantee” that puts its management fee at risk if a guest has a bad stay. 

The company, which manages more than 1,700 properties across 65+ locations in the UK and Spain, says any eligible stay that receives a guest review below 4 stars on Airbnb or below 7/10 on Booking.com triggers an automatic waiver of the owner's management fee. Stays rated at 3 stars or below also trigger a formal quality audit into operational performance and maintenance, followed by corrective action.

The guarantee applies to stays of fewer than seven nights. Mid-term and extended bookings are excluded.

How It Works

The program is currently available to new hosts joining Pass the Keys in select pilot cities, with plans to roll it out nationwide.

Pass the Keys CEO Alexander Lyakhotskiy framed the move as an accountability measure. "Property management should be accountable for performance," he said. "By linking our management fee directly to guest satisfaction, we are aligning our incentives closer with those of our hosts."  

So if a guest has a bad stay, the manager eats the fee. It's a clean alignment of incentives, and it puts Pass the Keys' revenue on the line for outcomes it controls, like cleanliness, check-in simplicity, and maintenance responses. 

Pass the Keys operates a franchise model similar to Casago, combining centralized systems with local operators who handle day-to-day management. For that model to work at scale, consistent quality across franchisees matters. A guarantee like this gives owners a concrete metric to hold their manager to, and gives Pass the Keys a framework to identify underperforming locations before they become a pattern. The company likely feels confident offering the guarantee as Pass the Keys' portfolio currently holds an average guest rating of 4.79.

The company also rolled out AI-powered guest messaging across its franchise network last year, and this guarantee adds another layer to the pitch that franchise-scale management can deliver boutique-level accountability.