What is Google Vacation Rentals?
Google Vacation Rentals is a channel that allows you to show your listings when people search for accommodation on Google
Vacation rentals appear next to hotels and guests can go to the direct booking website (our booking engine) to complete the booking.
Reservations will appear in the Hostaway Dashboard as Google reservations and will have the same options and details as Hostaway direct bookings.
What are the guidelines for brand name & logo to be approved by Google?
The logo must be square, at least 72x72 pixels, in PNG format, transparent or non-white background, and no more than three letters
The name must be user-friendly (no: shortTermRentalzHouston or forestcottage, yes: Blue Lake Cabins, Miami Beach Rentals), should be mostly text, and not numbers, capitalized when suitable
Can a set pricing or rules specific be added to Google?
No, Google uses the Booking Engine so all of the Booking Engine settings apply to Google reservations as well.
Since Google reservations come from the Booking Engine, how does Hostaway distinguish between a Booking Engine reservation and a Google reservation?
We use URL parameters for that, which means that some guests who arrive from Google may be marked as Booking Engine reservations if they do not book immediately. The other way around is not possible.
How to capture Google Vacation Rentals payments?
Auto-payments need to be set up for Google so that guests are charged correctly.
Read more about Hostaway: Auto-payments.
My pictures set in Hostaway are not the same as in Google, why?
Please note that Google will re-order the pictures. This is the same for the main image. This cannot be changed at the moment.
To update the photos on your listing, go to the Listings tab in Hostaway, select the listing you want to update, and then click on the Photos section to add, remove, or reorder the images as desired. However, please note that Google does not respect the order of the photos set in Hostaway. The primary photo shown on Google will be determined by Google's own algorithms and may not match the order you have set in Hostaway.
How can I see how my listings look like on Google once they are published?
Go to your Hostaway Dashboard > Listings > Click on the Google icon next to the listing
You can also do this from the Monthly Calendar
You will be taken to the listing as appears on Google
Please note that the link the Google icon will take you to might not display the price & availability of the listing. To find this information you may search for the listing at https://www.google.com/travel/
How can I create a Booking Engine for my listings to be shared in Google VR without compromising my WordPress site?
The Hostaway Booking Engine will not affect the WordPress site
However, for Google VR to work the listings must be live on the Hostaway Booking Engine
This means that the Booking Engine Hostaway site and WordPress will be available on the Internet. However, it will be hard for guests to find the Hostaway site unless they have the exact link. It will not be in the first few pages of results.
How long does it take for my Hostaway listings to be indexed on Google Vacation Rentals?
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It typically takes 2-3 weeks for Hostaway listings to be fully indexed by Google after being exported to the Google Vacation Rentals channel.