How much demand is there for host assistance?

Hosts in the UK and Europe will be able to get some professional help soon with running your Airbnb. This new company, GuestReady provides 5-star level housekeeping services, linen rental and welcome packs for arriving guests as well as profile management services for hosts. They take care of listing, pricing and guest communication.
How many hosts will utilize companies like this?
I, for one, won’t. I prefer to do it myself and keep the profits.

That’s for those mega multiple listing real estate maggots who are destroying the concept that AirBnb was built on – sharing your home with travelers, not being a hotel in all but name. Frankly, I hope GuestReady and all similar efforts fail spectacularly. And they would if AirBnB TOS required the host to do all those things instead of hiring them out.

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I am looking at freedoms from hosting a private room in my rental (cool your jets people it landlord approved!) and buying a small one bed flat. As I am only planning on living in this for a year or two and then hopefully moving overseas for a few years I will be looking seriously at ABB for this with a management company running the whole thing. I will be buying in a popular ABB area and this will be my retirement home/investment so I want it well looked after. I think remote hosting from a foreign country is fraught with disaster if you don’t hire a reputable company, even though they seem to charge around 20%.

Those I have looked at seem to have very good systems and reliability and fancy software I wouldn’t even know how to download let alone use so they seem to have the skills to maximize my ability to get it rented for the highest price.

The alternative of a long term tenant would not bring much less income (maybe $150 a week less after fees) is an option but I’m sceptical. My 20 years of renting has shown me lots of bad tenants and even more shonky real estate property managers. Not sure I’d be confident having a tenant in there with poor oversight and me away. Plus where will I stay when I want to pop home?

Interested to hear others experiences.