Connecting to Booking.com

Minimum requirements to connect

In order to connect the Property Manager’s (PM’s) property to the Booking.com, the following requirements must be met:

• Property name must contain at least 1 lower case letter and should not have any special characters;

• Property type is selected;

• Maximum number of guests is provided;

• Address (Post code and Country) and Location (Geo-coordinates) need to be complete;

• Licence number must be filled if the property is located in certain locations, for example France or on a French-administered territory, but you may be asked to fill it in for other locations, too. Please, refer to your local law.

• Amenities: each property has Kitchen selected, unless its Property type in Rentals United is Vacation home;

• Description is provided;

• Photos: at least 10 photos are uploaded (minimum width: 1024 px; minimum height: 683 px), main picture is selected;

• Bedding composition: the number of beds equals the value set in Maximum number of guests;

• Prices and availability are set within the next 365 days;

• Arrival information is provided;

• Cancellation Policy is selected;

• Payment methods is provided;

• Company profile: the mobile number must be filled in.

Add new properties

Follow the below procedure if you already have some properties created in Rentals United and you want to create new Booking.com listings.

1. In Rentals United platform, go to the Services tab.

   

2. Select the proper list to search for Booking.com.

   

   • Find Services lists the channels you are not yet connected to,

   • My Services lists the channels which you have already established connection with and channels that are in the process of being connected.

3. Type the Booking.com name in the search box or scroll down through the list of available channels.

4. Unfold the Booking.com section by clicking the Down arrow button.

5. Click the Property Settings button.

   

6. Connect the property.

   Depending on whether you already have some properties connected to the Booking.com or not, you are presented with two different options.

   • Click if it is the first property to be connected.

   • Click if you already have some properties connected.

7. A dialogue window appears with the question if the property is already published in Booking.com.

   • If the property is listed in Booking.com, terminate the process and map your properties to the Booking.com listings.

   • If the property is not listed in Booking.com, click No.

8. Provide the required information and click Next.

   Note: Different channels require different information to successfully identify your account:

   • For Booking.com it is Legal Entity ID.

   • For Despegar it is the Provider ID.

   If you cannot find this information in your agreement with the channel, please contact the channel directly.

   Legal Entity ID is validated by Rentals United. If the data provided by the client does not match the data in the channels' systems, an error will be displayed. Make sure you provided a proper ID.

   Tip: How do I get Legal Entity ID (LEID)? 

   If you want to connect to Booking.com, but you have not signed a contract with them yet, or you want to sign another contract, you can save time and do it directly in Rentals United without the need to contact the channel representative. See Signing a contract.

   

9. Choose the properties to connect to the channel. You can read about the different ways of filtering and selecting properties here..

   

10. Click Next. You will see here the summary of all selected properties. Review the list and check if all properties that you wish to connect are included.

    

Click Next to proceed.

11. The content quality is analysed. The process should take up to a few minutes.

12. The summary of properties’ content is displayed.

    

    If some properties are not ready to publish, improve the content.

    1. Check the content quality by unfolding the section with warning.

       

       Verify if any data is missing or incorrect. It is possible to display the errors by unfolding the section. For more detailed summary of errors, download the XLSX report by clicking the Download Quality Check button.

    2. Click the Improve button. The Edit property page is opened in a new tab.

    3. Correct the content indicated in the report in the Edit property page.

    4. Go back to the Property List and click the Re-check button. If no further errors are displayed, the property is ready to publish.

       

13. If the properties are ready to publish, adjust the mark-up for each of your properties. You can additionally set up the booking mode for each property: Instant booking or Request to book. See here.

    

14. Click the Publish properties button.

15. The published properties enter the Pending status.

    Tip: Each property created this way in Booking.com will become a hotel with only one room type. If you want to have multiple properties under the same hotel, you can use the Change mapping option and add additional properties to this connection. Note that Despegar does not support multiple room types under the same hotel.

Mapping properties to existing listings

If you already have properties in Booking.com and only want Rentals United to manage prices and availability, you may map properties between the two systems. Before you start mapping the properties, make sure that:

• you have already selected the Connectivity Provider following the steps at Setting Rentals United

• you have rates paired up with rooms in Booking.com extranet

1. In Rentals United platform, go to the Services tab.

   

2. Select the proper list to search for Booking.com.

   

   • Find Services lists the channels you are not yet connected to,

   • My Services lists the channels which you have already established connection with and channels that are in the process of being connected.

3. Type the Booking.com name in the search box or scroll down through the list of available channels.

4. Unfold the Booking.com section by clicking the Down arrow button.

5. Click the Property Settings button.

   

6. Connect the property.

   Depending on whether you already have some properties connected to the Booking.com or not, you are presented with two different options.

   • Click if it is the first property to be connected.

   • Click if you already have some properties connected.

7. A dialogue window appears with the question if the property is already published in Booking.com. Click Yes.

8. Choose the identity confirmation method.

   • Email registered in Booking.com

   • Booking.com Legal Entity ID (LEID) - you can use an entirely new LEID or select an LEID used in the past.

   

   In case you have a Booking.com account, but you have not signed a contract with Booking.com yet, an email with the contract is sent to you. We will deliver the email to the address used for the registration in Booking.com and you will be notified about it in the pop-up.

   

9. Provide the required information (Property ID) and click Next. Hotel ID can be found in the Booking.com dashboard. If you are unable to find it, contact the Booking.com Support Team.

   

10. Click Go to Booking.com button below.

    

11. You will be redirected to Booking.com. Follow the on-screen instructions to grant us access to this property in Booking.com.

    

12. Once you complete the steps in Booking.com, come back here and check the box. Click Done.

    

    There may be a small delay in the communication from Booking.com to Rentals United. If you followed the steps in Booking.com and gave us access, but still see the no-access pop-up, try clicking the Done button again after waiting a couple of minutes.

    

13. The hotel data is retrieved. Click the Next button.

    

2. Click the Connect this room button.

   

3. Select the properties you want to map to this room type. One or more properties may be mapped to one Booking.com listing.

   

   Tip: Multiple properties should be selected only if they share the same characteristics (amenities, photos, pricing etc.). If you do so, you will create a multi-unit group in Booking.com. You can learn more on multi-unit groups here.

4. Click Next.

5. The summary is displayed. You can set the rate mark-up now.

   

6. Click the Connect propertyLink & Connect button.

   Pricing used in Rentals United property	Pricing in Booking.com	Pricing model set in Booking.com upon PUSH
   LOS	Standard	LOS
   Daily prices	Standard	OBP
   LOS	LOS	LOS
   Daily prices	LOS	LOS
   LOS	OBP	LOS
   Daily prices	OBP	OBP

   The connection is established. Rentals United sends the prices and availability to the channel and the channel passes correctly all the reservations.

   You can always add more properties under a particular room type. To do this, click the three-dot menu and select the Change mapping option.

Main property for hotel/room type

Selecting the main property for hotel and room type gives you more control over your rental offer in Booking.com. You provide the guest with more detailed information about the booked listing and set realistic expectations. Your guest receives accurate details and is given the opportunity to select the best-fitted room type, which results in higher satisfaction and better experience.

• Clear source of information for hotel / room type

• Avoid confusion when updating hotel / main room types content

• Transparency when organising property content

Main property for a hotel will be displayed in the search results and as the main listing page. See the exemplary listing page here

Main property for the room type will be displayed upon selecting a specific room type from the accommodation type section. See here.

Notes

• When creating new connections, the first property added to a connection is marked as main by default

• If you have a hotel with only one room type and this room type is mapped to only one property, then this property will be selected as main property for the hotel and the room type by default

• The same property can be selected as main for bot the hotel and room type

• Selecting a main property for a hotel and a room type is mandatory. Not having a main property selected will not allow you to update the listing content. You can filter out the connections that do not have the main property selected.

 

Select main property for hotel

1. Hover over the three-dot menu on the cluster level. Choose Select main property for this hotel.

   

2. Select the property from the dropdown list and click Save changes.

3. The main property icon is assigned to the property selected as main for the hotel.

 

Select main property for room type

1. Hover over the three-dot menu on the property level. Choose Select main property for this room type.

   

2. Select the property from the dropdown list and click Save changes.

3. The main property icon is assigned to the property selected as main for the room type.

 

Add new room type

Adding a new room type allows you to extend your offer to better target your guests’ needs. For example, you have been renting only 2-bedroom apartments in your hotel, but you decided to offer a Studio room type, as well. You can add a new room type directly in Rentals United, so that your guests in Booking.com can choose from two room types:

• 2-bedroom apartment

• Studio

 

1. Hover over the three-dot menu on the cluster level. Choose Add new room type.

   

2. From the property list, select the main property for your new room type. We will use this property’s data (photos, descriptions, prices) to fill out information about your new room type. Only one property can be selected as main.

   

3. From the Room type name dropdown, choose the name for your new room type. The choice of names is limited and follows the Booking.com naming convention. In the Main property section, you can preview the property that you selected as Main in the previous step. If you need, you can change the selection of your main property now by clicking .

   

4. Add more properties to this room type by clicking + I want to link more properties. You should add here as many properties as you want to rent as this specific room type. This way you will maximise availability and the booking opportunities. Click Next to move forward.

5. Add a rate plan to this room type by clicking Add a new rate to this room. You can do this by adding a new rate plan or selecting one from the list of rate plans.

   

6. After you successfully add a rate plan to your room type, it gets updated on the Booking.com Extranet and the guests can book this room type immediately.

   

 

Updating listings

If you make changes to your property's content, e.g. update descriptions or photos, you need to remember to update the listing, too. If you do not update the listing - your recent changes will not be visible on the sales channel and the listing will display outdated information.

Remember that price and availability (ARI) updates are handled automatically and there is no need to update the listing if you change e.g. prices. The details that require updating the listing are static data updates and these include descriptions, photos, property data, fees and taxes and more. For details, see here.

Editing rates

When adding a property to Booking.com, we create only 1 rate plan and call it 'Standard' by default. If you want to diversify your offer, you can create additional rate plans in Rentals United and they will be automatically created in Booking.com.

During the mapping of a Booking.com listing to a Rentals United property, all existing rate plans are imported to Rentals United. You will be able to see and edit them directly in Rentals United.

See how to create and manage rates here.

Manual options for all rates in a group

With these settings, you can override the property data you have in the Edit property page.

1. Click the Manage rates button.

   

2. Scroll down to the Manual options section and click the Activate manual options button.

3. Adjust the available options.

   

   • You can verify the availability of a single rate, as well as the total availability of all rates in the Availability summary row.

   • You can verify and temporarily update total availability by typing the new value. If the field has been edited, it is highlighted in blue. To undo the manual settings, click the blue field, delete the value and click away. The field now contains the default value taken from Step 5: Price and availability.

     Example: You received a reservation from 26 May 2021 to 30 May 2021 for Property 15 from another channel. The availability is blocked. However, you already know that the reservation is cancelled, but the availability has not been updated yet. You may still want to rent the property at this time, hence you can temporarily update the availability and receive reservations for this time.
     Important: Bear in mind that once you change anything in manual options, the settings will be persisting until you manually undo them! For example, if you bump up the availability and a reservation comes in, the availability will not be automatically closed and overbookings are possible! You will have to reset the settings in manual options.

   • You can verify and temporarily update price and minimum stay by clicking the pencil icon next to the relevant rate and typing the new value. The field now contains the default value taken from Step 5: Price and availability. If the field has been edited, it is highlighted in blue. To undo the manual settings, click the blue field, delete the value and click away.

     

   • You can also update availability, price and minimum stay for one rate for multiple days.

     

     1. Click the Batch edit button.

     2. Select rate from the dropdown.

     3. Specify dates.

     4. Update availability, price and / or minimum stay.

     5. Click Save changes.

     Edited fields are highlighted in blue. It is not possible to undo manual settings in batch. To undo the manual settings, click the blue field, delete the value and click away. The field now contains the default value taken from Step 5: Price and availability.

Deactivating rates

1. In Rentals United platform, go to the Services tab.

   

2. Select the proper list to search for Booking.com.

   

   • Find Services lists the channels you are not yet connected to,

   • My Services lists the channels which you have already established connection with and channels that are in the process of being connected.

3. Type the Booking.com name in the search box or scroll down through the list of available channels.

4. Unfold the Booking.com section by clicking the Down arrow button.

5. Click the Property Settings button.

   

6. Search for the property you want to deactivate rates for by scrolling down or filtering the property out.

7. Click the Manage rates button.

   

8. A property management page is opened.

9. Click the Deactivate button.

   

   Note: Deactivating rates

   • If there are multiple rates in a group and you deactivate one - you stop sending availability and prices to Booking.com, leaving the property open to new reservations on the Booking.com channel. This means that new reservations can be made through Booking.com, but the channel will not receive the updates in availability and pricing from Rentals United.

   • If there is only one rate in the group or you deactivate the last rate, you need to choose if you want to either stop sending availability and prices to Booking.com, leaving the property open to new reservations on the Booking.com channel, or to close the availability. If you close the availability, it means you will not receive reservations from Booking.com any more.

   Availability can be always re-opened by clicking the Activate button next to the rate.

   

Once the rate has been deactivated, it will still be visible in the Property Settings. If you want to remove it from display, you should follow the below steps. Note that rates can be deleted only if there are no existing reservations that use this rate.

1. From the three-dot menu, select the Confirm removal option.

2. The rate is removed. No additional confirmation is required.

Removing hotels and room types from Property Settings

If you have some properties that are no longer listed in Booking.com, but still appear in Property Settings in Rentals United and pollute your view, you may remove them from Property Settings. After deactivating the hotel or room type in Booking.com, just use the Remove options available in Property Settings to make the property list in Property Settings identical in Booking.com and Rentals United. There are two options available now:

• Remove the whole hotel

• Remove room type

Note, however, that these options can be used only to remove the hotels and room types from the Property Settings list. They do not stop your properties from being rented on the Booking.com website.

1. In Rentals United platform, go to the Services tab.

   

2. Select the proper list to search for Booking.com.

   

   • Find Services lists the channels you are not yet connected to,

   • My Services lists the channels which you have already established connection with and channels that are in the process of being connected.

3. Type the Booking.com name in the search box or scroll down through the list of available channels.

4. Unfold the Booking.com section by clicking the Down arrow button.

5. Click the Property Settings button.

   

1. Search for the property you want to remove by scrolling down or filtering the property out.

2. Once found, decide whether you want to remove the entire hotel or particular room types only. Make sure that you have already removed the same properties in Booking.com dashboard.

   • If you want to remove the whole hotel, hover over the three-dot menu on top of the cluster and select the Remove hotel option. Hotels stuck in the Pending state can be deleted from the Property Settings, too.

     

   • If you want to remove specific room type only, unfold the hotel cluster and hover over the three-dot menu next to the room type to be removed. Click the Remove room type option.

     

3. A notification is displayed. Click the Refresh synchronization settings button to confirm.

   • If you wanted to remove an entire hotel, the following notification is displayed:

     

   • If you wanted to remove a room type, the following notification is displayed:

     

   Note: The Remove option will usually point you to refresh the property set-up in order to maintain synchronization with Booking.com. Hence, make sure to remove the hotel or room type in Booking.com dashboard before attempting to remove it in Rentals United. If you need more information how to proceed with hotel or room deletion in Booking.com, you may want to contact the Booking.com Support Team directly and request detailed instructions.

4. Confirm the process by clicking the Confirm button.

   

5. The summary of changes is displayed. If you removed the hotel or room type correctly in Booking.com, you should see this change in the pop-up.

Handling notifications

Rentals United constantly validates and monitors the quality of your properties’ content in our system as well as in the connection between Rentals United and the channels. Hence, you can easily check the current status of your connection and take proper steps in case improvements are needed.

Notifications may be displayed on two levels: the property level and the rate level.

In order to learn more about the received notifications, click the Check notifications button. In most cases, you are prompted to see what can be done to clear the notification away. Depending on an notification type, you can either:

• Retry - Rentals United attempts to synchronize your property content again

• Clear all - you confirm you read the notifications, but intend no action

• Manage - you need to manually adjust the property’s content according to the prompt

Bulk actions

1. In Rentals United platform, go to the Services tab.

   

2. Select the proper list to search for Booking.com.

   

   • Find Services lists the channels you are not yet connected to,

   • My Services lists the channels which you have already established connection with and channels that are in the process of being connected.

3. Type the Booking.com name in the search box or scroll down through the list of available channels.

4. Unfold the Booking.com section by clicking the Down arrow button.

5. Click the Property Settings button.

   

6. Click the Bulk actions button on top of the page.

   

7. You entered the bulk flow and you can update all your listings at once. Bulk actions may vary across the channels. Bear in mind that some options that are available for Booking.com may not be available for other channels.

   You can read more about bulk actions:

   • Other bulk actions

   • Batch content update

   • Batch refresh synchronisation settings

8. Select the option and follow the steps displayed on the screen.

9. After the operation is finished, you will be prompted that it was successful. Click the OK button and you will be moved to the Property Settings.

   Note: If any process fails for some properties, you will be presented information which properties were not updated and you can try again.

   

Importing bookings

In case you worked with Booking.com and received bookings prior to connecting to it via Rentals United, it is possible to import them into Rentals United to ensure all information is in one place. See more here.