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Booking Engine Localization

Safna
  • Updated

Introduction to Multilingual Support

Previously, the only way to translate your Booking Engine was through the Google Translate widget, which provided automatic translations but limited customization.

With our new Booking Engine Localization feature, you can now configure specific languages for each Booking Engine, giving you greater control over your guests' experience.

Currently Supported Languages

  • English
  • Spanish
  • French
  • Italian
  • German

Translation Management System

Hostaway continues to leverage Google Translate for initial automatic translations. Once Google completes the translation process, you can manually refine the following key content:

  • External listing name
  • Property descriptions
  • House rules
  • Dynamic fields in the Booking Engine pages section

This enhanced localization feature allows you to create a more personalized and accessible booking experience for international guests.

 

Where can I activate the languages I want to offer in my Booking Engine?

You can choose the languages you want to offer in the booking engine and guest portal to enhance the guest experience, following the next steps: 

  1. Go to your Hostaway Dashboard > Settings > Language Settings
  2. Click the toggle near the language you want to translate

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  3. Use the “Translate” button next to each active language to automatically translate all guest-facing content across your listings
  4. In individual listings, you can manually edit translations and preview how your content appears in different languages
  5. In each booking engine, you can select which active languages to display and set a default language for guests.

 

Managing Your Translations

You can control your multilingual content from three convenient locations we explain below:

  • Booking Engine Settings - Configure language preferences
  • Listing Edit Mode - Modify translated content for specific properties
  • Booking Engine Translations Tab - Centralized management of all translations

 

1. Booking Engine settings

You will be able to add, hide, or remove languages for the Booking Engine in the Language settings.

Please follow the next steps to manage Language settings:

  1. Go to your Hostaway Dashboard > Booking Engine > Settings
  2. On the Basic tab > Scroll down > Language settings > Open Language settings
  3. Choose and manage languages between French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese
  4. Done

Every new language will be turned off by default when added. You need to turn the toggle on, next to the language so it would be visible in the Booking Engine.




At any moment you can turn the toggle off next to each language and it will not be visible in the Booking Engine anymore. This will not delete saved translations, just hide them in the Booking Engine.

The red cross next to the language is to delete it. By pressing it a warning message will be shown and you will need to confirm the deletion of the language. After that, all translations will be deleted with no possibility of retrieving them.

 



  • The default language is the one that will be displayed to guests by default
  • The first default language will always be English, but it is possible to change this to any other language that is visible in the booking engine. This means the language toggle needs to be turned on, to change it to the default language
  • The default language can’t be hidden or deleted
  • English language can’t be deleted
  • In the cases when there are no languages added or only the default language is turned on, there won’t be a language selector in the booking engine.

Notes

  • Sometimes, actions with adding or removing language can take a bit longer. During this time these actions will be disabled. Side pop-ups can be closed, but no other similar actions will be allowed
  • Hostaway does not detect automatically changes made after language is added. So it is highly recommended to add languages as the last step, before publishing the Booking Engine
  • These settings are done at the Booking Engine level, so it is possible to have multiple Booking Engines with different localization settings. This applies to dynamic fields where you enter your text. For static fields, such as amenities, any changes made after languages are added will be displayed correctly.

 

2. Listing Edit mode

You can manually adjust translations of some fields that belong to the listing.

In the translations tab, under listing, the language drop-down will show all possible languages through all Booking Engines.

For example, Booking Engine 1 has the Spanish language, and Booking Engine 2 has the Italian language. Under the listing both languages, Spanish and Italian, will be displayed.

 

This tab is visible only in edit mode. It means, that when you create a listing for the first time, this setting will not be visible.

If the value is empty in the original field, it will not be displayed in this tab either.

Here are all the fields that support manual editing of translations under the listing:

  • External listing name
  • Description
  • House rules

These fields will automatically be translated when a new language is added, but you can edit translations if they see the need. After saving, it will be displayed in the Booking Engine.

By changing the original text, new translations will not be provided. Any desired changes need to be done manually for each language.

When switching between languages it pre-saves changes so it would not be lost. But final changes need to be saved before exiting the edit mode.

The value of the right (original) displays what is entered now, not what is saved. So the host can edit the original text and it will be displayed on the right side instantly.

 

3. Booking Engine Translations tab

You can manually adjust translations of fields that belong to booking engine pages, like title, header, body text, etc.

Pre-made pages are displayed first and custom pages are shown last.



Here we show the original values that are saved.

You can switch the language without saving and don’t lose the changes they made. But navigating between tabs, even in the same language, will delete changes, if they were not saved.

 

Additional Information

There are no limits on character or word count in translation fields. However, we recommend checking the appearance of the Booking Engine, as different languages may require more or fewer words to convey the same idea.

These fields are translated at the moment:

  1. Listing

    • External Listing Name

    • Description

    • Amenities

    • House rules, but only the ones that are selected from the list and not manually added to the field House Rules under listing settings

    • Cancelation policy

  2. Booking Engine pages

    • Title

    • Header

    • Sub-title

    • Body text

When no language is added for any of the booking engines, an empty state will be displayed.




Limitations and Recommendations

  • If you make manual corrections and auto-translate everything again, the manual changes will be lost. Therefore, we recommend that you make manual changes as the last step before launching the Booking Engine
  • The language settings will only be accessible from the booking engine, not from the listings page
  • Currently available languages are English, Italian, French, Spanish & Portuguese.

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