Cloudbeds FAQs

Cloudbeds Brand Guidelines

Visual Brand

Logo Mark

Our logo mark is simply the combination of a cloud and a bed. It symbolizes the partnership between technology and hospitality.

Spacing

Keep approximately 30\% safe area around the mark

Leave approximately 1 “Cloudbed” of space between the logo and other elements.

Logotype Usage

Good:

2 color

Use whenever possible

Not So Good:

Color

Our color palette is fresh, bright, and balanced.

Voice Brand

Cloudbeds is the name of our company, not our software. So, when referring to our PMS, we do not call it Cloudbeds. We call it myfrontdesk. We only use Cloudbeds when referring to ourselves--we, the company.

Cloudbeds is a proper noun and is always plural (because we serve more than one bed with our cloud software). So, it always has a capital C, whether at the beginning of a sentence or in the middle of one. It is always one word, not two, and the “b” is always lowercase.

Usage

Right:

Cloudbeds' software is amazing.

I have feelings for Cloudbeds.

Wrong:

I want to takeCloudbed’s on a picnic

Cloudbeds’s customers are the best.

I find that cloudbeds has the best employees.

Myallocator, myfrontdesk, and mybookings

These are the three names of our three different pieces of software. Our channel manager is myallocator, our PMS is myfrontdesk, and our booking engine is mybookings.

For stylistic reasons, our software product brand names are always lowercase, unless they begin a sentence. Then, the first letter is always capitalized. Mybookings, like our company brand, is always plural (never "mybooking", always "mybookings").

Usage

Right:

Myallocator is amazing.

I really love myfrontdesk.

Wrong:

mybookings is the bee's knees.

My Facebook relationship status with MyAllocator is, "It's Complicated".

I want to take Myfrontdesk on a gondola ride.

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Introduction to Cloudbeds API

Cloudbeds API provides a RESTful interface with JSON-formatted responses to use many of Cloudbeds PMS’ data: guest, reservation, transactions, rooms etc. Our API uses OAuth 2.0 to allow both read and write access to property and guest data.

Most up to date API documentation can be found here: https://hotels.cloudbeds.com/api/docs/

Endpoint: https://hotels.cloudbeds.com/api/v1.1/{method}

HTTPS: Our API requires HTTPS. We'll respond with an appropriate error if you're not using it.

Request Format: HTTP GET and POST (Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded)

Response Format: JSON

Response Header: X-Request-ID is added to response headers in calls with the intent of accelerating support.

API Rate Limit

The Cloudbeds API requires the following rate limits for best experience. Exceeding these limits may result in a temporary suspension of your API credentials. If this occurs, we will notify you directly via email. Once you confirm you have adjusted your integration's rate intervals, we will then reactivate your credentials.

Properties and Associations

Our limit for properties and associations are the same:5 requests per second

Tech Partners

Our limit for technology partners is 10 requests per second

Scopes

When requesting an access token, your application must define the scopes to which it will have permission to access. This is beneficial for both partners and users for a few reasons:

Shows to Cloudbeds' users clearly what actions your application wants to execute

Prevent unexpected behavior from your application

Increases user's confidence in your application, because he knows that it will not do anything beyond the granted permissions.

The required scope for each method is described in the documentation, and your application can handle and request multiple scopes in a single request, and both access and refresh tokens will be limited to the scopes requested initially. If a new scope is required for your application to work correctly, a new user authorization request is needed.

As per OAuth definition, multiple scopes should be separated byspacecharacter. All new integrations must define the scopes in use by the application.

Parameter

Type

Description

scope (optional)

String

List of scopes required by the application (space-separated).

Supported Date/Time Formats

All API calls, parameters and returns that use date and/or time types should use the formats described below:

Date- Date descriptor, in format yyyy-mm-dd (4-digit year, 2-digit month, 2-digit day, separated by hyphens).

Example: 2015-12-31

Time- Time descriptor, in format hh:mm:ss (2-digit 24-hour format, 2-digit minute, 2-digit second, separated by colons).

Example: 23:59:59

DateTime- Date and time descriptor, in format described above, separated by space.

Example: 2015-12-31 23:59:59

Support

Have questions or problems? Contact us at: [email protected]. Send us the value for X-Request-ID (added to the header response), this helps us to accelerate your support.

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API Integration Guide

Do you have an app, tool, or product you want to integrate with the Cloudbeds' suite of hotel management software?

That's great! This articlewill show you what kind of process we have for our technology partners from initial request to going fully live with the integration.

Check out our our most up to date API documentation to understand the possibilities and limitations.

Integration Stages

1. Partnership and Planning

To request partnership complete our form: Become a Partner

Our team will review your application and will reach out to learn more. We do our best to respond to every request but our response time will depend on the number of partnership requests currently in our queue. Requests are responded to in the order they are received.

After we have a chance to review your application and understand the opportunity for a mutually beneficial partnership, we will share our Connectivity Agreement for signature. This agreement has been standardized across all partners and outlines basic requirements / expectations of our API partners. In order to protect both parties, some partnership opportunities may also require our mutual NDA to be signed.

Once agreements have been signed, we will add the integration to our partner backlog. We only on-board new partners when are sure we have sufficient development resources to support you throughout the process. In the mean time, you will be able to start putting together a high level integration flow document which is required before API credentials are provided.

2. Getting Ready For Development

Once we're both ready to start development we'll ask you to provide us with the document outlining the integration functionality, calls you'll be using and a few other details. Please see the list below under Integration Flow Document.

In order to later pass certification you will need to follow our guidance in the following areas:

OAuth 2.0

User Authorization Flow Options

Connecting & Disconnecting Apps

Integration Flow Document

Integration Flow Document helps us ensure we have details to provide you with the API credentials, spot any major issues on time and provide adequate support during development.

Please include the following info:

Send us your app's redirect URI. It's needed for OAuth flow and it must be HTTPS.

Note: You can provide us with a test URI, you can swap it in your Cloudbeds Partner Account later.

Send us an email address and contact name to be the owner of your Cloudbeds Partner Account. Additional users can be added in your Cloudbeds Partner Account later.

Describe the integration flow.

How will you implement OAuth steps?

Which flow will you implement based on User Authorization Flow Options guide?

Which API calls do you plan to use and how? Make sure you've consulted our existing App Blueprints.

Will you be supporting the group users based on the documentation multi-property users/management ?

Will you be generating a new account in your system by pulling property data from Cloudbeds?

Note: We are supportive of versioning but we expect a 2-way integration for the first version of the integration.

Which languages, currencies and countries does your application support?Will you need any new API methods or parameters during your development?

What are the possible features for future versions of the integration?

Do you have any potential challenges or concerns for the integration development?

If you plan to charge customers for access to the integration, what is the pricing model?

What are the approximate start and end dates of your development process?

Feel free to send us the document in any shape or form convenient for you (email, pdf, Google doc, docx etc.) Flow charts are also welcome ;)

Additional API functionality needed by partners is reviewed and added to our development pipeline when possible. While we do our best to accommodate feature requests, we cannot provide a set target date for delivery of new features.

3. In Development

After we review the high level integration flow document, you will be provided with:

Cloudbeds partner & test account. Before certification your app can only connect to your test account.

Partner-level API credentials

Developer support via email

Support is provided through email. Response time is 1-2 business days

Phone and live chat are currently not offered for dev support

Make sure you're subscribed to our Newsletter and follow our Changelog ! We'll keep you up to date with the changes on our API.

4. Getting Ready for Certification

Once the integration from your side is completed, there will be a short certification call to run through some simple scenarios and verify everything works as expected.

The following must be submitted before a certification call can be scheduled:

URL of your app’s Knowledge base article.

App content submitted in your partner account on the App Details page.

5. Certification Call

The following will be verified during the certification call:

OAuth 2.0 - We'll be checking how you implemented OAuth. Your redirect URI must be HTTPS and on your production environment. You'll be connecting your app account to a new Cloudbeds account. We'll provide the credentials on the call.

User Authorization Flow Options - You will be showing the end-user (property owner) flow to see all of the functionality of the integration.

Note: If an active data pull is involved, make sure your system has a method to run this during the call. All of the API calls you're using must be showcased.

Connecting & Disconnecting Apps - Your app integration should correctly handle having an API session/connection canceled by a user inside of Cloudbeds. You'll have to disconnect the app and reconnect again.

Account Creation (optional)- If using the Cloudbeds API to create a new account in your software, make sure that you can validate the data pulled during the call.

Supporting Group Accounts (optional)- If your app supports group users we'll verify if app is able to correctly parse data from multiple property accounts Eg: Property select menu, UI designation for property involved, etc

Certification outcomes

If your app passes certification, you can begin the pilot testing.

If your app does not pass certification, we’ll provide concrete feedback on what needs to be fixed. After those fixes are implemented, another certification call can be scheduled.

Please make sure you have at least one property that would be interested in being your test pilot. We try our best to provide test properties but can't guarantee it.

6. Pilot Testing

In this stage, your app is only available for a select number of pilot properties. This process is typically about two-weeks, but can vary depending on whether any additional fixes are needed. We allow up to 5 pilot test properties.

Pilot testing outcomes

If no issues are encountered, then your app leaves the closed beta pilot and is available for all users as an open beta.

If mild issues encountered, they can be fixed without returning to test account. Example: Unexpected formatting, excessively high polling intervals.

If severe issues encountered, partner is provided with concrete feedback on what to fix and returned to their test environment. Once the issues are fixed, a new call can be scheduled to re-certify the app. Example: Data corruption, broken API calls/OAuth paths.

Dev support is provided within 1 business day. There is no support on the weekends, however no issues should arise over the weekend since Cloudbeds' policy is not to release anything to live environment on Fridays. Live chat and phone aren't available.

7. Open Beta

A brief period (typically 2-4 weeks) to check for any remaining issues and collect feedback from your users about any UI or integration improvements. Any number of accounts may be connected.

Beta testing outcomes

If a significant integration-breaking bug is found, your app might be returned to pilot-testing or pending certification.

If no issues occurred we'll remove "beta" flags and labels from your app.

8. Maintenance and support

Congratulations! Your app has officially launched for all Cloudbeds users. Property owners across the world are now able to utilize your technology to improve their daily lives.

Maintenance

In case you'd like to develop new integration features or do any kind of maintenance work, let us know and we'll provide you with a separate set of test API credentials. Any major change will require a certification call and Knowledge base article updates.

Support expectations and process

You are expected to solve any urgent issues reported by end user or Cloudbeds support the same working day (day after or Monday if holiday or weekend).

You are expected to provide responses to onboarding and customer service questions (concerning integration) within 24 hours.

In case of issues for which you need developer support from Cloudbeds please send your request to [email protected] and we will respond within 24 hours (day after or Monday if holiday or weekend). Provide us with as many details as possible (e.g. methods, results, error messages) this will speed up our investigation.

Going forward you are expected to keep up with the customer support quality outlined above. Cloudbeds support won't be able to investigate the integration for the mutual customers.

Up to 2 violations result in a written warning.

Up to 5 violations result in withdrawal of the app from app directory. Keeping active sessions working.

Up to 10 violations result in terminating the app (integration). Canceling all active sessions.

1. Make sure to subscribe to our API newsletter ! We'll update you on any changes to our API.

2. During development we expect you to respond to us regularly and set clear expectations on the progress you've made. It's okay to postpone or take more time, as long as you keep us in the loop.

3. Please don't promote or advertize the integration with Cloudbeds until Pilot Testing phase.

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API Security Standards

As an extension of the Cloudbeds API License Agreement, you will comply with the following API Security Standards (“Security Standards”):

1. Security Audits

1.1 Audit. Cloudbeds reserves the right to periodically audit the systems to ensure compliance with the requirements of this Exhibit. Non-intrusive network and application security scans may be performed randomly without prior notice.

1.2 Audit After a Security Breach Incident. For purposes of these Security Standards, a “Security Breach” is defined as a breach of security of your facility, systems or site where Cloudbeds Content or Cloudbeds User Data has been acquired by an unauthorized person. In the event of a Security Breach, Cloudbeds may suspend or terminate your access to the API and Cloudbeds Content and Cloudbeds may conduct a security audit.

1.3 Cloudbeds Results and your Response. Cloudbeds will provide you with detailed results of any security audit performed by Cloudbeds pursuant to these Security Standards. You will be granted thirty (30) days to resolve any issues Cloudbeds has identified through a security audit. Should you fail to resolve such identified issues, Cloudbeds may immediately suspend or terminate your access to the API and Cloudbeds Content without notice.

2. Security Incidents and Response

2.1 Notification and Timing. You agree to immediately notify Cloudbeds in writing upon your discovery of a Security Breach. You agree to use commercially reasonable efforts to notify Cloudbeds of your detection of a Security Breach no more than twenty-four (24) hours after detection of a Security Breach. Notwithstanding the foregoing, under no circumstances will more than two (2) days pass between your detection of a Security Breach and Cloudbeds being notified.th

2.2 Notification Format. Your notification of a Security Breach in accordance with the requirements set forth above will take the form of an email to [email protected]. Such notification email will include: a problem statement, expected resolution time (if known), and the name and phone number of your representative that Cloudbeds can contact to obtain incident updates.

In the event of any security deficiency or intrusion involving the Application, Cloudbeds APIs or Data, you will make no public statements regarding such deficiencies or intrusions (e.g., press, blogs, social media, bulletin boards, etc.) without prior written and express permission from Cloudbeds in each instance.

3. Security Precautions: Best Practices.

You agree to adhere at all times to reasonable security practices, as specified in current industry literature on topics relevant to your interaction with Cloudbeds. In the event such best practices conflict with these Security Standards, you will comply with these Security Standards.

4. Data Security: Data Storage.

You agree to maintain reasonable safeguards to protect the security of all the information that you process, access, or store, whether provided by a Cloudbeds User to you or obtained from Cloudbeds through the API.

At no time will you collect or store Cloudbeds User passwords, credit card numbers, or financial information in any form. Cloudbeds Access Credentials[46] must be kept secret and confidential and under no circumstances be exposed to the public.

If Cloudbeds believes that Access Credentials have been compromised, Cloudbeds reserves the right to immediately terminate access and issue new Access Credentials to you.

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User Authorization Flow Options

There are two simple ways the user can initiate the connection between your app and Cloudbeds.

This article will explain the different approaches and how to fully set them up.

A diagram below shows both user flows.

A) Connecting from Cloudbeds Marketplace

This flow allows the user to connect and disconnect the apps only from Cloudbeds Marketplace. There's no need for you to implement any changes to your app UI.

1. In your Cloudbeds Partner Account, navigate to App Details page and scroll to Connection Settings section. Select the "Use OAuth URL" option.

When a user navigates to your app landing page in Cloudbeds' Marketplace and clicks "Connect App" they will immediately initiate the authorization with your app.

When the user clicks "Approve" and API session is established, "Connect App" button will change to "Login" and redirect to your login page.

2. After the user has authorized the connection you will redirect them to your Login / Register page. Make sure you are able to link the correct auth code to the correct account.

B) Connecting from your app

This flow allows you to manage the connection process from your app. Users will have to be logged into your app to initiate the connection process. Cloudbeds Markteplace will redirect the users to your Login/Register page. Users can always disconnect the apps from Cloudbeds.

1. Use our script for "Connect to Cloudbeds" button and implement it into your app's UI. Find the script in App Details page in your Cloudbeds Partner Account.

2. When connection was established hide the Connect to Cloudbeds button or make it clear to the users that there's an active connection, and they can't initiate the connection again.

2.1. If you allow the user to disconnect the apps in your UI, make sure to send us state=disabled in the postAppState call.

2.2 If the user can't disconnect the apps in your UI, make sure you're subscribed to our app state webhook so you're notified when they disconnect the apps in Cloudbeds' myfontdesk.

3. In your Cloudbeds Partner Account, navigate to App Details page and scroll to Connection Settings section. Add your Login/Register page URL and save. When a user navigates to your app landing page in Cloudbeds Marketplace and clicks "Connect App" they will be redirected to your launch URL.

When the user clicks "Approve" and API session is established, "Connect App" button will change to "Login" and redirect to your login page.

"Connect to Cloudbeds" button

We've created a script for a button that can replace OAuth link in your app's UI. We recommend embedding this button instead of building a UI element within your app.

You will find the script in App Details page in your Cloudbeds Partner Account.

Example of the script:

Login URL

Always add the URL to your app's login page. After the user has authorized your app (regardless of the flow A or B) the main action button in the Marketplace will change from "Connect App" to "Login". This allows us to send the user directly to your login page.

Diagram showing A and B options

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Elavon Connection Guide

In order to be able to configure Elavon as your payment gateway you need to have a Payment Processing feature enabled for your account. You can check more details about this feature here: Payment Processing Overview

Configuring your Elavon Payment Gateway

On your myfrontdesk account, click on Manage and choose Payment Options.

Select Elavon from the list and enter the credentials provided by Elavon or your bank

The SSL Merchant ID is the same as your Account ID

For User ID and Pin, follow the instructions here.

Click Connect Gateway

The credentials to be entered here are not the same ones you used to login to their extranet, but the API Credentials.

Finding your credentials

If you can't find your credentials, you can search for them on your Elavon account.

Login to your Elavon account here

Click on User > Find / Edit

Click on Find in the form. There's no need to enter any detail there.

Click on the User ID you are looking the PIN for

Error: The value for the first name (ssl_first_name) field is too long.

Click on Terminals.

Copy the PIN from this page and paste it on myfrontdesk.

Things to Note

Our Elavon connection is through Elavon Converge, not Elavon Fusebox.If you are attempting to connect through Elavon Fusebox, you will need to contact Elavon support and request to switch to their Converge/VirtualMerchant software.

Contact your Elavon sales or technical support representative and ensure that your account is enabled for eCommerce and not just Phone/Catalog.

If you want to enable IP Address Options, please add the following IPs to your account: 146.088.098.245 and 146.088.098.236. If the connection is still not working, we recommend disabling the "IP Address Filter" feature in Elavon.

Troubleshooting

Error: The credentials supplied in the authorization request are invalid.

Please check you have entered the correct credentials to your Elavon account. The credentials to be entered on myfrontdesk are not the same ones you use to login to their extranet, but the API Credentials.

Please do no use credentials from any third party gateway provider

If don't know what these credentials are, follow these instructions to find them.

Error: A required field {1} was not supplied in the authorization request.

Check your settings for Payment Fields on Elavon's extranet.

Login to your Elavon account here

Go to Terminal > Merchant > Payment Fields

In the list look for Billing Address and uncheck "Required" for the fields you don't have. Click on each item to edit it.

Try using the payment gateway again

Ideally, you should turn off the requirement for all the of these fields, since you will not always have the information, especially from reservations coming from OTAs.

You can (and should) require Billing Details on reservations made in your own booking engine, but you should not require it from Elavon so you can process all the cards you receive.

Error: SERV NOT ALLOWED

Make sure your Payment Gateway is active.

If it is, contact Elavon support to verify if your account is set up properly

Error: This terminal or user id is not permitted to process this transaction type.

Make sure the user ID being used for Payment Processing has all the rights configured in Elavon. Follow the instructions here to find your users and then click on Rights to configure it accordingly.

Elavon currently doesn't support Russian Cyrillic so the client would need to change the guest name to Latin alphabets on the CC, otherwise the following error will be received:

Here is how the name was mentioned in the system:

Solution: Please, access credit card section and edit the name of cardholder from Cyrylic to Latin letters.

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Cloudbeds Security Features and PCI DSS Certification

Myfrontdesk and mybookings have a number of built in security measures. Listed below are some of the most commonly asked about.

Security Tips

Everyone accessing your Cloudbeds property account should have their own username. This allows you to easily view their activity in the system.

Set up correct user roles and make sure only users you approve have access to financial data.

Never share your username and password with anyone else.

Credit card details should always be entered directly into the system and not written down on a piece of paper.

Credit Card Data

Ensuring the financial security of our customers is a huge priority for us as a company. Cloudbeds does not store credit card information. Rather, it connects to a third-party secure, encrypted, and token-based vault for payments and processing, ensuring complete payment card industry (PCI) compliance.

Payment details can only be accessed by property's authorized users by entering their email and password after clicking on "Show Details" on the Credit Cards tab of that specific reservation's page. The payment details are then retrieved from the secure, third-party vault for viewing.

Cloudbeds does not store credit card data on its servers. It is encrypted before beingsent to and then retrieved from a third-party token encryption vault.

Credit card accessis also blockedfrom our system 14 days after the reservation's departure date. Only the last four digits and the card type will remain.

Credit Card Security Tips

It is not possible for a credit card to be hacked from our servers, since we do not store these cards in our database.

The credit card could have been cloned while making a purchase at another business or vendor.

Only give Credit Card viewing privileges to those individuals in your organization that you trust and that also must see them in order to service the guest. The more personnel with access to the credit cards, the greater the security risk.

If you need help to turn off credit card access to certain myfrontdesk users, please consult this article: How can I be sure that employees have no access to data from the guests credit card?

SSL

SSL encryptionhelps ensure that all data entered by a guestremains private. This can be seen at the beginning of a site'sURL as "https://" instead of "http://".

Allmybookings pages have full SSL certification to maintain asecure connectionforall web traffic includingdata enteredby a guest while making a new booking.

Best Practices

When using an iframe or creating your own widget, make sure to use the completemybookings URL, including the "https://".

While the property'swebsite, which contains the iframe or widget, doesn't needto useSSL, it really should since many customers will not enter their payment details otherwise.

Not having SSL on your website prevents a user from checking that aniframe or widget is actually served securely and from which site it's from. (Examples from the programming site Stack Overflow here.)

Websites without an SSL certificate may not be compatible with a browser's autocomplete feature, especially for credit card details.

For information on how to add SSL to your personal website, please contact either your web developer or your website provider's support team (if you're using a company like Squarespace or Wix).

Database

Guest and account data is safely stored on Amazon AWS servers. We are using RDS database.

PCI DSS Certification

Cloudbeds is PCI DSS certified as verified by Trustwave. Our Certificate of Compliance is attached below:

Certificate_of_Compliance.pdf

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Airbnb blocks off random dates in my calendar - why?

This article discusses how airbnb processes rental requests from unverified guests and/or unconfirmed booking requests, and why those requests may block out your calendar.

Background

There is a setting on AirBnb that allows you to check a setting called "Require guests to go through verification" before they can book with you. That setting can be found on this page:

Your Listings - Reservation Requirements - Verified ID

If this option is not selected, guests can book your property directly prior to verifying their Identity with Airbnb.

However, if the option is selected, Airbnb handles unverified guests in a unique way as described below.

Unverified Airbnb Guest requests a Booking

When an unverified Airbnb guest requests a booking for your property, the following process takes place:

Airbnb engages the Verification process with the potential guest

Airbnb blocks off the guest's requested dates in your Airbnb calendar, even though the booking has not been completed or confirmed. In essence, they place a "hold" on those dates

That "hold" is transmitted to Cloudbeds' myallocator as a booking, even though it has not been confirmed.

No email is triggered to the host regarding this process, which is what causes this confusion.

Unverified Airbnb guest completes the Verification Process

If the Airbnb guest completes the Verification process within 48 hours, the booking is confirmed and all is well.

Unverified Airbnb guest Abandons the Verification Process

If the Airbnb guest abandons the Verification process, the "hold" disappears from the Airbnb calendar with no email triggered.

Since Airbnb modifications are not transmitted to myallocator, we are unaware that the hold was removed, and the previously sent "booking hold" remains on our calendar.

Impact

Since this hold still exists in our system, we block off the Availability for that room and date to all connected channels, thus preventing potential sales revenue.

Detection

Because Airbnb does not notify the property when this situation occurs, there is no automatic way to detect when this happens.

Prevention

Currently, the only way to prevent this situation is to uncheck the "Require guests to go through verification".

Note: we are not recommending that you choose this option - this is simply the only way to prevent the scenario from occurring.

What if a verified guest requests a booking that I have not approved yet?

In the event that a verified guest requests a booking, Airbnb will place that booking on your calendar immediately, even if you have not specifically "approved" the booking.

Once that booking has been placed on the Airbnb calendar, it will be forwarded to myallocator and Cloudbeds. Even if you decline the booking later, the booking will already exist on our calendards.

In the event that you decline or cancel any booking for Airbnb, you must also remove the booking from the myallocator/Cloudbeds calendar by canceling it in our systems.

Next Steps

Thissituation can often be unfortunate for hoteliers, here's how you can help:

Contact your Airbnb account manager and ask for one of the following changes to the Airbnb process:

Option 1

If the "Require guests to go through verification" is checked, Airbnb could change the process so that your calendar is not impacted. The guest trying to complete the booking would be provided with a message saying that they will need to submit their booking request later, after their verification process is completed.

Option 2

Airbnb could trigger an email to the host when both:

A verification-pending room block is written to the calendar AND

Once that reservation is either validated or cancelled due to lack of verification

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Can Airbnb be connected with other calendars at the same time as myfrontdek?

If a calendar channel (Airbnb, VRBO, etc)is importing both myfrontdesk's calendar and one from another site,they will override each other.

Having two different sourcesexporting availability info through an iCal URL into a calendar channelwill causeconflicts.

This is because each time Airbnb syncs and pulls data from either external calendar, it willsetitsavailability using the info from the most recently updated calendar.This is similar to how having two PMSs connected to myallocator creates conflicts.

When setting up Airbnb or VRBO, make sure that myfrontdesk/myallocator is the only calendar thatchannelis importing availability information into.

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Setup Guide Summary

Process and Stages:The setup process for myfrontdesk is organized into threedistinct steps. We've designed them to be as easy as possible and make sure that you're confident the information you need is in place before going live. Here's a brief summary of each stage; you can click on the titles of each to go directly to that step's article.

What To Do Before Starting

The information you need to have ready before you begin. This is a vital step to ensure a smooth and quick setup.

Step 1: Mandatory Info

Fillout a few required sections to transform your myfrontdesk account into a reflection of your property. This sectioncoversthe keyinformation toinclude.

Step 2: Distribution

Activating channel management! Learn how to map your rooms and why distribution is one of the most essential steps of the process for your business.

Highly recommended:

Distribution Channel Mapping Guidelines

A walk through of the mapping process between myfrontdesk and your OTAs.

The Cloudbeds Blog

Check out the Cloudbeds blog to get hospitality business tips and tricks on a weekly basis. We share information on topics such as social media, revenue management, booking strategies, and so much more.

Attend a Webinar

We regularly host webinars on a range of relevanttopics within thehospitality industry.

Any further questions?

No problem! Take a look at our full knowledge base.

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What To Do Before Starting

Everyone wants a quick and easy setup experience, and preparing a little bit right at the beginning will help make sure you have a strong foundation moving forward.

Here are a few things to make sure you have ready:

List your property on the distribution channels that you want to work with

Before you can connectyourmyfrontdesk accountto OTAs and distribution channels, your property must be active and already listed on the channel.

In other words, if you want to sell on Booking.com, Expedia, Hostelworld, etc, your property must bebookableon their site.

Signing up with an OTA normallyinvolves signing a negotiated contract. Because of this, myfrontdesk cannot create a new OTA account for you. You must first setup your property at each channel before it can be connected.

Tolearn more, take a look at our article about listing your property on distribution channels.

Rates & Availability

You should haveyour complete rates and availability stored centrally in either myallocator (if you already have one with us) or a document stored online (Ex: Evernote, Google docs, Office365, etc).

Because Myfrontdesk is a PMS (Property Management System), it does not upload or import rates and availability from other systems, so having this information now will be helpful when it's time to input your rates and availability in a little while.

If you're changing PMS providers:

Keep in mind that any direct reservations made in your previous PMS provider's system (Ex booking engine, walk-ins, email) will need to be transferred over manually or using our bulk import feature.

Begin preparing to disconnect your previous PMS system. You will not need to fully do this until you reachStep 3: Distribution, but you should let your previous PMS provider knowimmediatelyin case there's a required wait period on your contract with them.

If you currently have a myallocator account:

Make sure that the number of accommodations in your myallocator account isthe same as the number you signed up for with myfrontdesk. If it's not, please contact your sales rep and ask to have this adjusted.

Check that your rooms are currently set up as room-types and that you're practicing one-to-one mapping. If you're not sure what this, please take a look at our distribution mapping guidelines.

Tohave future credit card payment details for your reservations forwarded from Booking.com and Expedia, make sure you have a credit credit password set.

Note:Any bookings previously received by myallocator can be automatically imported into myfrontdesk by our support team once you have completed filling outthe mandatory sections in Step 1.

If you choose to import from myallocator, make sure you have not already manually addedthese bookings to myfrontdesk. Doing this will create duplicate copies of the reservation that will cause your availability to believeit hasoverbookings.

Your myallocator credit card password needs to beup to date to before requesting for reservations to be imported.If the password is not the current one, credit card payment details will not be transferred in compliance with financial security standards.

Other things:

Make sure to resolve any remaining payment invoices and set up billing for your Cloudbedssubscriptionwithin seven days.

Get excited!

Now that you have everything ready to go, it's time to begin

Step 1: Mandatory Info

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Mybookings "BA" Step 1: Adding The Basics (Mandatory Information)

Now that we've prepared, it's time to begin adding the basics. While mybookings has a lot of customization options, this section covers the most necessary ones for your property.

Once these have been completed, you can then progress to step 2 and begin setting up your distribution channels. Let's get to it!

1. Log into myfrontdesk by Cloudbeds

After setting your password with the link provided in your first email, you can always access your property from www.cloudbeds.com or directly through your login page.

2. Next, you'll answer a few short questions about your property

These include your currency, time zone, channel manager and PMS status, and how your rates are designed. Once finished, click on the green "Begin setup" button.

Step 2: Distribution

3. Welcome to your property's interactive getting started guide!

The interactive getting started section does a great job of guiding you through the majority of the setup process. All the pages feature a detailed tutorial and also have tool-tips you can hover over for a quick explanation.

We'll be highlighting the settings in the required sections that you'll need to complete to progress to the next stage.

Note:Remember to click the blue "save" button in the bottom-right corner every time you finish filling out a page.

4. General System Settings

1. Confirm that your Default Time Zone is correct. If you have a myallocator account, make sure the time zone settings in each match.

Note:Mismatched time zone settings can cause bookings to be displayed with the wrong check-in time or even date so this setting isveryimportant.

2. Confirm your default currency. If you have a myallocator account, make sure that the settings in each match one another and also those used on your distribution channels.

Note:Mismatched currencies can cause rate discrepancies and also result in mischarging customers.

If you don't have a myallocator account, one will be created for you in the distribution setup stage.

3. Select whether to allow additional bookings even when your property is at full occupancy. We reccommend you leave this inactive by default. If you do enable it, however, be aware that you are at a significant risk of overbookings.

4. Select whether you activate the Auto No Show, if active, it means that all the reservations that are not checked in the system, will have the status changed to No Show automatically.

5.Select whether you activate the Auto-Assign, if active, it means that all the reservations will be automatically assigned to the available place in your calendar one by one. In case you need to re-assign the room, you can easily drag and drop this booking in the calendar.

6.Select whether you activate the Auto Check out Extension, if active, it means that the reservations that have not been changed to checked out status will be automatically extended by the system.

Click on the blue save button in the lower right hand corner when finished.

5. Property Profile

The general profile section includes your basic property info and what customers will see on mybookings. We'll be going through each of the settings here briefly, but you can always read more about this section in the knowledge base.

Make sure your property type is correct.

Write a description for your property, this will appear on your mybookings page, so make sure it's good!

Upload some images for your property. These will be used on your mybookings page.

Keep in mind that this is the information that will be available on your booking engine, so you may not want to have your personal phone number, email address or full name listed as a contact and be visible for your guests.

6. Add Accommodations

Correctly creating accommodation types is one of the most vital settings for your property. This affects your mybookings account as well as the inventory and availability of your distribution channels if you use our channel manager. There are additional customization settings available on this page, but we'll be going over just the basic steps.

Westronglyrecommend creating distinct room types (ex "Standard Dorm" or "Women's Dorm") and not separate individual rooms (ex "Standard Dorm Room 1"). Creating separate individual rooms instead of room types will make your inventory incompatible with the majority of distribution channels. For more information about why creating room types is strongly recommended, please read our Distribution Channel Mapping Guidelines.

To add a new room type:

To add a new room type, click the green "New Accommodation Type" button below.

Name the new accommodation type

Remember that guests will see the names you input. We recommend using normal titles like "Standard Double Room".

Select whether the room is a dorm or a private room.

If it's a dorm, you'll add the number of rooms, room occupancy (number of beds), and then whether it is gender-specific.

Add a description of the room for your guests.

Add the accommodation amenities.

Upload Images of the rooms.

Save

Note:

To rename individual rooms or beds inside of an accommodation type, click on the "edit room names" button.

To delete a room, click on the "x" icon. Once this is done, it cannot be reversed, so only do this if you are certain.

No changes will be finalized on this page until you click the blue "save" button.

7. Room Rates

Once your accommodation types have been created, it's time to add add your rates. This section allows you to quickly control what prices are displayed for each room type based on the date. On this page you may include the base rates for any period, including specific days of the week and minimum or maximum length of stay limitations. These are the standard rates for your rooms and theonlyrates that are sent to your distribution channels.

Note:Per-person rates are used for customizing your mybookings engine and arenotsent to your distribution channels. To allow the greatest level of flexibility, myfrontdesk sends out a standardized Best Available Rate across all your channels. This helps ensure a consistent sync with your multiple OTAs.

You may use Availability Matrix or Base Rates section in order to setup the prices. This is totally up to you.

- Availability Matrix

Go to "Availability Matrix"

Click on the "SET LONG-TERM" button

** You can do the changes from the Availbility Matrix directly.

3. Select the room type

4. Put the dates

5. Choose the options which you are going to setup

6. Add Interval

- Base Rates -

Go to "Base Rates"

Click on the "ADD INTERVAL" button

How To Add An Interval

Select the date range you would like this interval to effect.

Choose a minimum and/or maximum length of stay required to make a reservation.

Closed to Arrival/ Departure settings are used to prevent guests from arriving or departing on specific dates within the range. This is particularly useful when combined with the other rate restrictions.

Select the days you want to set a rate for. Not selecting a day within this range will restrict you from being able to sell inventory on those days unless there is a different interval for only those days added. Create the prices.

Click the blue "Add Interval Button"

Once you have added all rate intervals for your accommodations, click on the blue "SAVE" button in the bottom right corner.

8. Taxes and Fees

Do your rates include any taxes or fees? If you are planning to connect to any channels, you'll want to make sure your taxes and fees are consistent across myfrontdesk and all of the channels.

If all of your taxes and fees were already included in the total room rates you added, then you do not need to fill this out.

Example:If you enter a rate of $100 and do not set up any, the guest will pay $100 because all taxes and fees are included in the rate.

If your taxes and fees were not included in the total room rates you added, then you will need to fill this out.

Example:If you enter a rate of $100 and set up a tax of 10%, the guest will pay $110. This is because all taxes and fees are not included in the rates you have entered. Your 10% tax has been added to the rate.

For details on how to fill this out, take a look at our article on how to create taxes and fees.

9. Reservation Sources

In case you have already created your taxes/fees in the system, please make sure to configure your them to the direct and/or third party sources in order to get them applied automatically once the reservation comes into the system. The detailed instructions are provided in this article : Reservation source specific taxes and fees .

10. Policies

These are the specific details for how you handle the daily operations of your property. For the specifics on setting this up, please read our Policies Feature Overview.

Great! Now that you've setup the core of your property, it's time to move on to!

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Mybookings "AB" Step 1: Adding The Basics (Mandatory Information)