1. Guesty Help Center
  2. Getting started
  3. How to Begin
  4. How to Begin

Getting started: Onboarding to Guesty

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Congratulations on completing your onboarding journey! Now that you're done, we want to let you know that we are still here for you every step of the way.

In this video, we'll show you how to make use of all available resources, how to access our comprehensive Help Center, and how to contact/communicate with our 24/7 Customer Experience team.

 


Use this guide to help complete the onboarding process, keep track of where you are in the process, or to refresh your memory on specific onboarding steps when needed.

Below are the main onboarding steps (we recommend following them in the presented order):

  1. Set up your Guesty account.
  2. Connect your Guesty account to booking channels.
  3. Configure your financial settings for your account, listing, and reservations.
  4. Understand and utilize our available automation tools.
  5. Manage your daily operations in Guesty.
  6. Other additional features and important things to know.

 

1. Set up your Guesty account settings

While your account settings can be managed at any time, the first step is to sign in to Guesty.

Follow the checklist below to set up your Guesty account:

  1. Change the dashboard/display language in Guesty (via your Profile icon).
  2. Set up your account settings under the “Account settings” field.
    1. In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Setup mode.
    2. Click Account settings (on the left side).
    3. Upload your company logo and your company’s legal/billing information.
  3. Set a default billing payment method.
  4. If relevant, configure user roles for other team members and create groups.

 

2. Set up your booking channels

Now that your Guesty account is up and running, the next step is to add your booking channels.

  1. If relevant, disconnect your booking channels from your existing/external PMS.
  2. Connect your Guesty account to booking channels.
    You can also connect your booking channels via a channel manager:
    • BookingPal
    • Rentals United
    • SiteMinder

      Note:

      Connecting with a channel manager is optional — you can connect with as many supported channel managers as you'd like.
      Contact us to learn about Rentals United's pricing and account creation.
      Contact SiteMinder and BookingPal to learn about their pricing and account creation.

  3. Connect (import or link) your existing listings from Airbnb and other channels.

    Tip:

    Learn how to create new listings directly in Guesty.

  4. Set up your notifications in Guesty (e.g., notifications for payment statuses, reservation updates, etc.).
  5. Set up your account-related notifications (forwarded to your personal email address).

 

Syncing calendars and reservations

Each channel has its own completion time to finalize the connection process between Guesty and the booking channel or to link/publish listings.
During this time, your Guesty calendar won't sync with the booking channel, therefore we recommend you manage incoming reservations in your booking channels.

Note:

For channels that don’t have a direct integration with Guesty, you can connect via iCal.

Amount of time to connect calendars

Channel

Time to connect to Guesty
Agoda
  • Up to 12 days
Airbnb
  • Up to 24 hours
Booking.com
  • Up to 24 hours to link listings
  • Up to 3 days to publish listings
Misterb&b
  • Up to 24 hours
Tripadvisor
  • Up to 4 days
Vrbo
  • Up to two weeks for account connection
  • Up to 3 days to publish listings

 

3. Set up your financial settings

After connecting your booking channels, it's time to focus on configuring your financial settings.

 

4. Setting up your automation tools

Utilize our automation tools to save time on recurring actions, keep the communication between you and your guests continuous, and more.

Automation tools
Below are the different automation tools and how to set them up:
  • Listing snooze settings
    Set specific times for your listing to be automatically displayed (listed) or snoozed (unlisted) on booking channels.
  • Workflows/message automation and Auto Messages
    Create a series of automated messages throughout a reservation's lifecycle that allows you to streamline communication. You can pick the scheduling time, add sending conditions, and customize the content of your messages to provide guests with the information they need (such as check-in instructions, Wi-Fi passwords, etc.).

    Tip:

    Learn more about our Auto Message best practices, how to add variables to easily personalize your messages, or add Custom Fields as sending conditions.

  • Auto Payments
    Collect payments from guests automatically — including virtual credit card payments.
  • Auto Response (currently for Airbnb reservations only)
    Make sure messages from Airbnb guests are answered in a timely fashion, even when you're unavailable.
  • Auto Reviews (currently for Airbnb and Vrbo reservations only)
    Make sure Airbnb and Vrbo guests are always reviewed by setting up an automatic review and default star ratings.
  • Auto Tasks
    Schedule tasks around the life-cycle of the reservation (such as a mid-stay turn-down service, a maintenance check after check-out, etc.). You can also create calendar-based tasks.
  • Smart Calendar Rules
    Connect listings through their calendars and sync their reservation data, so that a confirmed reservation in one listing's calendar will automatically block those dates on another connected listing's calendar.
    For example: Let's say that Sub-unit A is next Sub-unit B, and they have a thin wall in between them.
    To avoid a situation that the guests will hear one another, you can use Smart Calendar rules to block Sub-unit B from being booked if someone has made a reservation for Sub-unit A and vice versa.  
    This is also useful for making sure your listing’s calendars are synced when a new reservation is created, as well as, preventing double bookings.

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5. Setting up your operation tools

From guest communication to listing management, below is a list of different tools and features to help make your daily operations easier.

Operation features/tools

Below is a list of the operation tools we recommend to set up and utilize:

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Marketplace

To get your business running effortlessly, add additional services for pricing, keyless check-ins, luggage storage, automated reviews, and much more.
Learn more about our Marketplace Partners.


Additional information

Download the Guesty mobile app to access the Inbox and Multi-Calendar, as well as, update reservations on the go.

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