Use this guide to understand how listing management and channel integrations work in Hostaway, including setup, syncing, publishing, and ongoing maintenance.
🔗 Mapping and Unmapping Listings
Before You Start
Before mapping or unmapping any listing, it's crucial to check your markup settings. After completing the mapping or unmapping process, you must restore the markup to its original state to ensure accurate pricing.
⚠️ Important Considerations
Pricing Impact
If markup isn't properly restored after mapping or unmapping, your listing prices may become incorrect, which can affect guest satisfaction and revenue.
Booking.com
- Minimum Stay: When you map or unmap a listing, Booking.com's minimum stay settings will be reset to empty. Make sure to update these settings after any mapping/unmapping actions.
- Mark-up: When you map or unmap a listing on Booking.com, the markup automatically resets to 100% in Hostaway and must be manually adjusted afterward.
Calendar Values
Your calendar availability and pricing won't automatically change when mapping/unmapping listings. Check these separately to ensure they remain accurate.
🔄 Reservation Synchronization
Future Reservations
Airbnb & Booking.com: Future reservations automatically import when you connect and map your listings to these platforms. This doesn't apply to direct bookings made through your channels.
Past Reservations
Airbnb
- Past reservations import automatically for up to 1 year
- For reservations older than 1 year, you'll need to upload a CSV file (this is uncommon)
Booking.com
- All past reservations must be manually uploaded using a CSV file
Direct Reservations
- Both past and future direct reservations must be manually uploaded through Hostaway using CSV files.
🌐 Channel Integration Comparison
The table below shows the key differences between various booking channels integrated with Hostaway:
| Feature | Airbnb | Booking.com | Vrbo | Hostaway | Expedia | Marriot |
| Connection Type | API | API | API | API | API | API |
| Import Listings to Hostaway | ✅ Yes* (Recommended) | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Export Listings to Channel | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (LEID) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Mapping Support | ✅ Yes (rarely used) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Content Syncing | Manual (click Save & Export) | ❌ No (Only First Export) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes** | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Messaging | ✅ API | ✅ API | ✅ API | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (only email) | ✅ API |
| Reviews Support | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No |
* Import Listings > For Airbnb, we always recommend creating the new property directly in Airbnb first, and then importing it into Hostaway — although exporting also works correctly if needed
** Content Sync > We can export content updates to Airbnb, Vrbo, and the Booking Engine
💳 Payment Processing
Airbnb: Handles all payments directly
Booking.com:
- Booking.com Payment: They handle payments (2.7% commission) but don't collect damage deposits
- Guest Credit Card: More control, can charge damage deposits, but you handle payment issues
- Virtual Credit Card: Guaranteed payment, but limited to check-in/check-out charging
Vrbo: You handle all payment processing
Hostaway Direct: You handle all payment processing
Expedia: Similar to Booking.com with payment and virtual credit card options
Marriott: Handles all payments directly
✈️ Cancellations and Refunds
When processing cancellations and refunds, be aware that charges are not automatically adjusted in Hostaway.
Key Points:
- Manual intervention is required to process refunds for OTA bookings
- Refund amounts must be calculated based on the specific cancellation policy in effect
- The refund process should align with the channel's designated actions and procedures
- Each OTA may have different refund processing requirements and timelines
🔧 Special Features
- Seasonal Rules: Only supported by Airbnb
- Preparation Time: Only supported by Airbnb
- Invalid Credit Card Reporting: Booking.com specific feature
- Length of Stay Limit: Maximum 27 days for some channels
- Reservation Freezing: A Special Expedia feature for managing bookings
- Reservation Import Window: Upon initial connection, Expedia only exports reservations made within 30 days of the API connection date for future check-ins; however, this may not be the case for all properties. Not all reservations within 30 days of the API connection will be imported, so missing reservations need to be added as direct bookings in Hostaway to block your calendar and avoid overbookings
📝 Quick Reference
✅ Remember: Always check and restore markup settings after mapping/unmapping
✅ Future Reservations: Auto-import for Airbnb and Booking.com
✅ Past Reservations: May require CSV upload depending on the channel
✅ Direct Bookings: Always require manual CSV upload for both past and future reservations