NOTE: Your property needs to be set up within your Booking.com account before you can activate the API connection with OwnerRez. Please use the following instructions to help you complete your Booking.com listing and its connection to OwnerRez.
Also:
- Booking.com (BDC) API-connected properties are not eligible for Request to Book (RTB).
- It may take up to 24 hours for newly connected listings to be live and bookable on Booking.com.
To connect OwnerRez to Booking.com, follow the steps below.
- Add your property to Booking.com
- 2024 Booking.com Extranet Access
- Set up channel integration settings in OwnerRez
- Guest Communication
- Map Booking.com Properties in OwnerRez
- Complete Booking.com Know Your Partner (KYP) form
- Finding your Booking.com property ID
- Configuring credit cards from Booking.com in OwnerRez
- Booking.com Payments
- Confirm the connection in Booking.com
- Disable any Booking.com Calendar Imports (iCal) in OwnerRez
- Monitoring the integration
- Cancellation Settings
- Delist
Add your property to Booking.com
Booking.com allows either individual room listings or whole-house bookings, but not both for the same property.
Log into your Booking.com account and click on List your property.
Users may have to complete their registration by clicking on Get started.
For this example, we're setting up a condo or apartment type property. Your property may be different but the process is essentially the same.
Select the appropriate property type.
If users select Apartment, they can choose One or Multiple apartments. Click Continue.
Users will be asked to verify the apartment type by clicking on Continue.
Next, users will be asked, "Where else is your property listed?"
Note that if your property is listed on Airbnb, you can speed up registration by importing it directly to Booking.com. Our example assumes that the property is already listed on Airbnb and users can paste their Airbnb listing in the appropriate field. Click Apply, then Continue.
Add Property Details on Booking.com
Users will see the listing details import displayed, click Continue.
If not imported, enter the Property Name and click Continue.
Add the property address and click Continue.
Move the map to Pin the location of your property and click Continue.
Booking.com Property Verification
Users should note that Booking.com has new partner restrictions regarding accessing credit cards and prepayments.
Adjust the Property Details and Save as appropriate and click Continue..
Select the appropriate Breakfast details and click Continue.
Enter the property Parking details and click Continue.
Select the Languages the user speaks and click Continue.
Enter the House Rules and click Continue.
Enter the Host profile details and click Continue.
In our example, photos were imported from Airbnb but users can import their own photos by clicking on Upload photos.
Users can drag and drop their photos into arrange them in their desired order. Users will need to certify that either they took the photos themselves or that they have permission to use the photos by clicking in the appropriate checkbox and click Continue.
Select the appropriate amenities that are available for guest use and click Continue.
Select how you will receive bookings from Booking.com and click Continue.
Select the Guest payment options and click Continue.
Add your nightly base rates and click Continue. Once users are API connected with BDC any rate added here will be overwritten with your OwnerRez rates.
Users can select their Cancellation Policies and Rate Plans per guest by clicking on the Edit buttons on this page. Cancellation Policies are set directly on Booking.com, so users should pay close attention to their selection.
IMPORTANT: Users' Booking.com Cancellation Policies should match their OwnerRez Cancellation Policies. Having different Cancellation Policies between Booking.com and OwnerRez can lead to guest conflicts.
Users can make selections to the Non-refundable rate plan and Weekly rate plan by clicking on the Edit buttons on this page. Click Continue.
Users should note that their rates are set in OwnerRez but will be affected by choices selected here.
It is especially important to note that Surcharges configured in OwnerRez have some limitations. For more information, be sure to review the Booking.com Rates and Fees support article.
On the Availability page, users choose the first date that guests can check-in. OwnerRez recommends that users choose a date in the future to allow for a complete API connection with OwnerRez. Note that BDC guests can start booking immediately.
Connect with Channel Manager on Booking.com
Before you complete this section, be sure to review the 2024 Booking.com Extranet Access section.
Further down the page, users are asked about syncing availability with another website. Users should select, Yes, I'll connect with a Channel Manager. Select the desired 30+ night stay selection and click Continue.
Users should enter their short term rental license number and click Continue.
On the next page, users will certify and accept the BDC terms and click on I'm Not Ready.
Users still need to connect OwnerRez.
On the pop-up modal, select I want to connect my channel manager. Click Submit and continue registration.
Booking.com will process your property listing. When complete, users can connect OwnerRez. Users should note that the Booking.com listing number (all numbers) will be listed at the top of the page after their Property Name. Our example is obfuscated for privacy. Click Connect.
For the next section, users must add Owner Rez as their connectivity partner for each property. Otherwise, unadded properties will not appear in the OR mapping dropdown menu.
Under Connectivity partner, click Search.
Type in and select OwnerRez.
Users can review the options and click Connect.
Click on Go to Booking.com Extranet.
2024 Booking.com Extranet Access
Booking.com (BDC) has intensified its cybersecurity efforts to protect properties and guests. As part of this initiative, BDC has made some changes to strengthen the security of your properties' extranet accounts.
Starting July 15, 2024, properties will have the ability to grant or revoke extranet access to OwnerRez. Due to this change, properties must now grant access when making new connection requests for you to access their extranet.
Here's how this change will affect OwnerRez users:
- For new connection requests: Users will have to check an 'Extranet access' checkbox during the connection request process to grant you extranet access.
- For existing connections: Extranet access will remain active by default. Users will be able to uncheck an 'Extranet access' checkbox on the 'Connection Management' page of their extranet if they want to revoke access to OwnerRez.
Set up channel integration settings in OwnerRez
Channel management is centered around the Settings > Channels > API Integrations section in OwnerRez. To add the Booking.com channel to OwnerRez, go there and click the "Connect a Channel" button or use this direct link:
Add Booking.com channel to OwnerRez
A large page of settings will load that will allow you to tweak how you want OwnerRez to process the bookings we get from Booking.com. We have defaulted the settings on this page to what most users should want to use most of the time, so you may not need to change anything at all.
Our integration with Booking.com is very comprehensive and will automatically do things like charge the guest's credit card, notify Booking.com of failures, request new cards from the guest and a lot more. You can turn off some of this functionality, but we recommend leaving it on as it is designed to take the heavy lifting off your shoulders.
Read each setting and the description underneath it to understand what that setting does. If you're confused, just ask us and we'll explain.
Again, we recommend leaving the automatic settings, at the top of the page, in place. You can always change it later if something needs to be tweaked. Also, for more information see the Booking.com Rates and Fees support article.
Please notice the Rate Adjustment section towards the bottom. This is probably an area you will want to configure. Booking.com charges a 15% commission to you for each booking that it places. For most users, this is a pretty steep commission. You may want to pass that fee along to the guest in the form of a higher nightly rate. This Rate Adjustment will help you do that. Select "Only adjust rent" or you may choose to adjust all charges by selecting "Adjust both rent and surcharges." Put your desired percentage in the "Increase by" box.
Then, when our system communicates with Booking.com, we will automatically increase all rates (both nightly and extra-guest amounts) to include the extra percentage mark-up.
For those using our PM (property management) tools, please note that on the booking side, when our system receives a new booking from Booking.com, the 15% commission charge from Booking.com is automatically noted in the booking charges as an expense. This will create an automatic expense for the 15% commission so that the owner is billed on their next statement.
After you're done with these settings, make sure to hit the Save button at the bottom and you've finished this step. You can now move to disabling Calendar Imports.
Guest Communication
See the Booking.com Messaging support article with instructions about how to correspond with guests and how to configure your own email message templates and triggers.
Map Booking.com Properties in OwnerRez
Property mapping is the last step before channel integration is complete. This is a very important step because it ties together which OwnerRez properties go with which Booking.com properties. Without this step, there's no way for our system to know which property is booked when Booking.com sends us information.
If your property is also Airbnb connected, this BDC connection must be Instant Book as well. For more information, see I don't want to do Instant Booking with Booking.com - I only want Request-to-Book.
Before you proceed, be sure to review the Booking.com Rates and Fees support article.
In your OwnerRez account, navigate to Settings > API Integrations > Connect a Channel > Connect Booking.com to configure your Booking.com API connection. Click Save.
After users have their Booking.com API connection saved, click on the Change Property Mappings dropdown list > Connect Properties.
On the Connect Booking.com Properties page, users should enter their Booking.com Property ID in the BDC Hotel ID field and click on Find.
If successful, users will note that the Booking.com Hotel ID will populate the field (highlighted in the example below) and users will be allowed to select the property rate from the Booking.com Room Rate dropdown list. Click Save.
A modal pop-up will appear asking users if they want to overwrite their Booking.com rates, rules, etc. with their OwnerRez data (rates, rules, etc.). Click Yes, overwrite.
And the Booking.com property will be listed as Sync Pending. This completes the configuration on the OwnerRez side.
Complete Booking.com Know Your Partner (KYP) form
The purpose of the Know Your Partner (KYP) form is to collect specific data from partners to comply with various legal and regulatory requirements.
On Booking.com, users should click on Complete the form.
Finding your Booking.com property ID
Many of these steps use your Booking.com property ID. You can find the property ID in Booking.com in several places. The easiest place is the top of the page once you've logged in to Booking.com.
If you've got a multiple room property in Booking.com, you'll use only the 7 digit hotel prefix.
Configuring credit cards from Booking.com in OwnerRez
If you have your listings configured to accept credit cards in Booking.com, those cards will come across automatically to OwnerRez. To enable this, you'll need a direct credit card processor payment method in OwnerRez and you'll need to require address, phone, and CVV (card security code) in Booking.com.
To require address and phone in Booking.com, go to the Policies section on the property and edit the Guest Information section. Set "Can guests book without providing address details?" and "Can guests book without providing a phone number?" to No.
To require CVC (card security code) in Booking.com, go to the Policies section on the property and edit the Guest Payment Options. Set "Would you like to allow guests to book without the credit card CVC code?" to No.
Or, you may have a slightly different option under Payment Preferences, that should be un-checked:
Some properties may not show any options controlling CVC requirements to book. If that's the case, contact Booking.com through the Booking.com messaging section:
And send them a message requesting that they enable CVC required for your account:
"Please make sure CVC is always required. We require phone, email, address and CVC so that credit card payments work on our side."
Make sure to configure your Booking.com API settings in OwnerRez correctly, based on who will be handling the payments and when they will be collected:
Even with all the correct settings as described above, it is not possible to turn on the credit card processing feature all by yourself. You will have to contact Booking.com support to ask them to turn on that option. They are not always willing to do this, particularly not with new accounts that have not processed many successful bookings yet.
Booking.com Payments
For more information, see our Booking.com Property Verification and Payments support article.
Confirm the connection in Booking.com
After OwnerRez has verified and confirmed the settings on our side, you must return to Booking.com and confirm the connection one final time.
Booking.com wants you to read a message about how we do things and what it means for your rates and availability. In particular, you should understand that you will no longer be able to update your rates or availability from the Booking.com portal. OwnerRez, as the channel manager, will do that for you automatically based on the rates and availability you have set in OwnerRez.
Click the big blue button to confirm that you are fine with moving forward. That will be the last thing you need to do in Booking.com.
The last thing to do is configure Booking.com settings in OwnerRez.
Disable any Booking.com Calendar Imports (iCal) in OwnerRez
Take a second to disable any Booking.com-based Calendar Imports in OwnerRez for your properties. This helps make sure that the Calendar Import and Channel Integration features are not fighting each other. We have plans to automatically check for Calendar Imports and disable them in the near future, but that is not yet finished.
To disable them, go through each property, one by one, and click the Calendar Imports tab under that property and look for any Booking.com.
If you find one, select the row and click the Disable button. Keep going through all properties until they are all disabled.
Monitoring the integration
At this point, OwnerRez now has the information it needs to begin communicating with Booking.com on your behalf. We can sync both ways and new bookings will be brought in based on information Booking.com pushes to us automatically. The first sync will bring in and merge any existing bookings you have in Booking.com. That will create a connection to the booking only -- no card info or payments will come across for pre-existing bookings.
Keep your eye on this Booking.com settings page. This page acts as your integration dashboard, allowing you to see when we communicated with Booking.com last and what happened.
The Property Settings tab will show you times and what was changed.
The Sync Actions tab will show you a running log of exactly what was sent or received from Booking.com
If something seems wrong, or you're noticing no activity for a long period of time, reach out and let us know. The Booking.com channel integration took a lot of work by our team and involves a lot of caveats and edge cases. Like our other channel integrations, it will continue to be a work in progress as we fix bugs and enhance what can be done to make your job easier.
Cancellation Settings
Many of our users find that Booking.com guests cancel more often than guests from other channels. This doesn't have to be awful - just make sure you have correctly set your cancellation rules in Booking.com. Booking.com likes to hide them but they're there.
Here are the settings in Booking.com that we recommend:
Some users have reported that these options simply aren't available to them no matter how hard they look. In this case, call Booking.com support and tell them to make the settings for you; they should be able to do this.
Delist
- Follow the instructions in this support article, How do I remove a property or end my partnership with Booking.com?
- Users can contact Booking.com support for additional assistance.