Who owns your Airbnb listing and reviews if you change property manager?

If you change property manager, your Airbnb listing and its reviews stay with whoever holds the listing on their account. Airbnb does not transfer accounts, listings or reservations between hosts. On Booking.com, the property changes hands only if the current contracting party starts the request itself.

Changing property manager: who keeps the Airbnb listing and reviews?

Before you change property manager, one question decides everything: which account the listing was created on. On Airbnb, that account belongs to the listing owner. Everyone else is a co-host. On Booking.com, the equivalent is the contracting party: the person or company that signed the accommodation agreement with Booking.com. Booking.com states that this party can be the property owner or a property management company.

On Airbnb, accounts, listings and reservations cannot be transferred

The Airbnb Help Center is explicit on three points:

• Account: there is no way to transfer ownership of an Airbnb account to a different host, or to merge two accounts.
• Reservations: they cannot be transferred to a new host or account, including through a trip change request.
• Reviews: guest reviews and ratings appear on the listing owner's profile. They are not applied to the co-host directly.

In practice: if your manager created the listing on their own account, you cannot take it with you when you leave. You publish a new listing with no reviews and no history. Airbnb also states that removing and re-creating a listing deletes all information and reviews from the original listing. Reservations already taken stay on the manager's account until they are completed.

Airbnb co-host or listing owner: what each role controls

The set-up that protects the owner is simple: the listing on your account, the manager as co-host. Airbnb allows up to 10 co-hosts per listing, with three access levels:

• Full access: manages the listing, reservations, messaging, calendar, pricing and co-host permissions.
• Calendar and messaging: messages guests, can view the calendar without editing it.
• Calendar: view only.

Three Airbnb rules make this role decisive:

• Payouts: only the listing owner can set up or edit co-host payouts. A co-host cannot view or change the owner's payout method.
• Superhost status: you must be the listing owner. A listing managed as a co-host does not count, even when the co-host is shown as primary host.
• Primary host: a co-host can be displayed as the guests' main contact. If that co-host is removed, the primary host automatically reverts to the listing owner.

If you are currently a co-host on your own property, the situation is reversed: the manager sets your payout and holds your reviews.

How to change holiday home operator on Booking.com: the change of ownership process

Booking.com has a change of ownership process for when the contracting party changes, including when that party is a property management company. The rules Booking.com publishes:

• Who starts it: only the current contracting party can start the request, from the Extranet (Profile, then Contracts, then Transfer ownership). If the new party contacts Booking.com, the current party's consent is required.
• Timing: up to seven days, with no formal service-level commitment from Booking.com.
• What moves with the property: future reservations, access permissions, eligible invoices and debt.
• What is reset: the connection to channel management software, active commercial programmes (Genius, Preferred Partner Programme, Visibility Booster) and message templates. Reservations with a check-out before the transfer date are no longer visible to the new party.

The help page does not list reviews among the items that are reset. On Booking.com, reviews stay on the property page for 36 months, after which they are archived and the overall score is recalculated. The sticking point is who starts the process: a manager who holds the Booking.com agreement and refuses to submit the request blocks it.

Checklist: 10 things to verify in your contract and your accounts

This list applies before you sign with a manager and before you leave one. It complements the clauses in a management contract and the questions to ask before signing.

1. Airbnb listing owner: in the listing's Co-hosts settings, identify which account is the listing owner.
2. Account credentials: the email address and phone number on the owner account are yours.
3. Manager's access level: full access, calendar and messaging, or calendar only. Note who can change permissions.
4. Payouts: the owner account's payout method is your bank account, and you set the co-host payout.
5. Booking.com contracting party: the name on the accommodation agreement and the Legal Entity ID are yours.
6. Primary Extranet account: you hold the primary access, and the manager has a user access.
7. Content ownership: the contract states who keeps the listing, texts and photos when the mandate ends.
8. Duty to cooperate: on termination, the contract requires the manager to remove their co-host access and start the Booking.com change of ownership within a set number of days.
9. Reservations on the exit date: the contract states who hosts guests already booked and who collects those stays, since Airbnb does not transfer reservations.
10. Permit and records: you know whose name the holiday home permit is registered under (see the DET permit process), and you have downloaded statements and invoices before any transfer.

Each missing item becomes something to negotiate before you give notice.

What Flatlab does

Your Airbnb and Booking accounts stay under your name, with your reviews. We manage 17 properties in Dubai, Nice, Paris and Tunisia, with a stable rating above 4.9/5 across our portfolio and the Superhost × 4 years badge. Our mandate is a 20% all-inclusive fee with 3-month notice, detailed line-by-line reporting and an owner console open 24/7.

FAQ

Can you transfer an Airbnb listing to another account?

No. Airbnb states there is no way to transfer ownership of an account to a different host. The listing owner can add co-hosts or change the primary host shown on the listing, but remains the listing owner.

Do I keep Superhost status if I change property manager?

If the listing is on your account, yes: Superhost status is assessed on the listings you own, whoever the co-host is. If the listing is on the manager's account, the status was never yours: a listing managed as a co-host does not count towards Superhost.

How do I change manager on Booking.com without losing reviews?

If the manager is the contracting party, they must start the change of ownership from the Extranet. The property then moves to your account with its future reservations. Booking.com displays reviews on the property page for 36 months.

This article is for information only. It does not replace professional legal advice. Platform rules change: check the cited help pages on the date you act.