Learn why cleaning fees from Hostaway may not appear on Booking.com reservations, what settings must be managed in the Booking.com Extranet, and how to fix the issue for future bookings.
What is this?
When managing your Booking.com listings through Hostaway, you may encounter situations where cleaning fees or other charges are not applied to reservations as expected. This issue arises due to limitations in the synchronization process between Hostaway and Booking.com. Below, we outline the cause and steps to resolve this issue effectively.
Synchronization Limitations Between Hostaway and Booking.com
While Hostaway provides tools for managing your rental properties, it does not have the functionality to sync certain listing settings, including cleaning fees, taxes, and guest charges, with Booking.com. After integrating with Booking.com, any listing settings configured in Hostaway are not automatically reflected or managed in Booking.com. As a result:
- Cleaning fees set in Hostaway are not applied to Booking.com reservations.
- Updates to such settings must be made directly in the Booking.com extranet.
Configuring Cleaning Fees in the Booking.com Extranet
To ensure cleaning fees are applied correctly to your Booking.com reservations, follow these steps to configure the fees in the Booking.com extranet:
- Log in to your Booking.com extranet.
- Navigate to the "Property" tab and select either "Policies" or "VAT/Tax" (the section name may vary depending on your account setup).
- Scroll to "Additional Fees & Charges" or locate the "Cleaning Fee" field.
- Enter or update your cleaning fee, ensuring it is marked as a mandatory fee.
- Save your changes.
Note:
- These changes will only apply to new reservations. Existing bookings will not be updated retroactively.
- For reservations already made without the cleaning fee, you may need to adjust your financial records or communicate directly with the guest to add the fee manually.
Responsibility of Managing Fees and Settings
It is important to understand that the responsibility for setting up and maintaining cleaning fees, as well as other charges like taxes and guest fees, lies with the user and should be managed directly in the Booking.com extranet. Hostaway does not push changes to these fields. For any discrepancies or incorrect settings, it is recommended to review your Booking.com extranet configurations and update them as necessary.
Troubleshooting Specific Issues
If a cleaning fee is set up correctly in the Booking.com extranet but is still not applied to a specific reservation, consider the following steps:
- Verify the fee setup in Booking.com to confirm it is configured as a mandatory fee.
- Check whether the reservation was made before the cleaning fee was added or updated. Fees configured after the reservation date will not apply retroactively.
- If the settings appear correct but the fee is not applied, contact Booking.com support for clarification and resolution.
Key Takeaways
- Cleaning fees and similar charges must be managed directly in the Booking.com extranet, as Hostaway does not sync these settings.
- Changes to cleaning fees apply to new reservations only and will not affect existing bookings.
- Manual adjustments may be necessary for past reservations where the fee was not applied.
By proactively managing your settings in the Booking.com extranet, you can ensure a smoother experience for both you and your guests.