Our Channel Management feature is extremely powerful and can greatly simplify your channel advertising. Learn how it works by reading our Channel Management Overview article. The most powerful part of our Channel Management is the API Integrations we have with certain channel partners.
However, each API Integrated channel has different sets of fields they support with lots of overlap between them. Even if they support the same field, there are differences in what the field means or how you are limited in using it.
To make matters worse, some of the fields have hidden interactions with various channels. For instance, if you select both option A and a different option B, you may get some third option C appearing in the channel that doesn't appear in OwnerRez at all.
Airbnb has released a feature in which an API-connected host can make changes to listing content directly on Airbnb. This prompts Airbnb to "lock" those modified fields so they can no longer be overwritten by the OwnerRez API connection. This can be any listing field, attribute, or amenity. At present, only rates and availability are exempt from this locking. However, making those changes may "lock" these fields so they will no longer be overwritten by the OwnerRez API connection.
This document is an attempt to record and explain these complexities. As the channels are constantly adding new amenities and features, it will likely not be fully up-to-date - if you find a new such interaction, please let us know!
- Airbnb
- Airbnb API unsupported amenities
- Airbnb Air Mattress
- Airbnb "Cooking Basics"
- Airbnb "Essentials"
- Airbnb "Beach Essentials"
- Airbnb "Pool"
- Airbnb "Heated Pool"
- Airbnb No Children
- Airbnb Infants
- Airbnb Hot Tubs / Jacuzzis
- Airbnb Professional Properties
- Airbnb Common Spaces
- Airbnb Baths and Showers
- Airbnb Room Photos
- Airbnb Bed in the Bathroom?!?!
- Airbnb Murphy Beds
- Airbnb Free Parking
- Airbnb Paid Parking
- Airbnb Kitchenette
- Vrbo
- Others
Airbnb
Airbnb API unsupported amenities
When API integrated with Airbnb, OwnerRez will push all amenities that the API connection supports. However, there are some amenities that Airbnb doesn't support in their API, so they can't be pushed once API connected.
Known unsupported amenities:
- EV Charger description - the presence of an EV charge (that is, the checkbox) is supported, but the text description field is not.
- Arcade games. Note that this is distinct from both board games and game console, which are supported.
Airbnb periodically adds unsupported amenities to their API, and OwnerRez is quick to add support at our end, so eventually these amenities will be useable.
Airbnb Air Mattress
Air Mattresses won't appear on Airbnb due to how they interpret "Other Rooms". Even if it's a private space Airbnb won't list another room as a bedroom as they consider them to be "Common spaces". A potential workaround is to list the Air mattress as being in a bedroom within OwnerRez and include a note on your listing that the air mattress is elsewhere.
Airbnb "Cooking Basics"
Airbnb has a special "Cooking Basics" amenity. In OwnerRez, this is represented by selecting both Spices/Pantry Items and Pots & Pans:
Spices/Pantry Items and Pots & Pans won't appear in Airbnb - but, if you select both of them, you'll get the "Cooking Basics" amenity.
Airbnb "Essentials"
Airbnb has a special "Essentials" amenity. In OwnerRez, this is represented by selecting all of the following: Linens Provided, Towels Provided, Basic Soaps, Toilet Paper.
Airbnb "Beach Essentials"
Airbnb has a special "Beach Essentials" amenity, denoting that you provide several beach-related items:
In OwnerRez, this is represented by selecting the single "Beach Essentials" checkbox under Amenities:
Airbnb "Pool"
Airbnb has only a single "Pool" amenity, so regardless of which type of pool (Communal, Private, Indoor, Heated) is selected in OwnerRez, that will trigger the Pool amenity on Airbnb.
Airbnb "Heated Pool"
Airbnb has only a single "Pool" amenity, so regardless of which type of pool (Communal, Private, Indoor, Heated) is selected in OwnerRez, that will trigger the Pool amenity on Airbnb. We have encountered instances where the "Heated Pool" amenity has been automatically applied to properties with the "Pool" amenity.
It is possible to correct this amenity on Airbnb. However, that will "lock" this field so it can no longer be overwritten by the OwnerRez API connection.
Airbnb No Children
If your property does not allow children, make sure to set that in your Property Rules. For Airbnb to honor that restriction, you'll also need to go to the Amenities page for the property, and in the "Suitability" section provide a brief explanation of why children are not allowed. For example:
Airbnb Infants
Airbnb Hot Tubs / Jacuzzis
Airbnb has only a single Jacuzzi/Hot Tub amenity. If you've got an indoor whirlpool tub, you'll need to select the Hot Tub amenity for it to appear at all - but, you may also want to note specifically in your listing description that even though Hot Tub is the amenity shown, it is not an outdoor style one that people may be thinking of.
It does not matter whether you select "Hot Tub" or "Jacuzzi" in OwnerRez (or both) - it'll still end up as the Jacuzzi/Hot Tub amenity in Airbnb.
Airbnb Professional Properties
Most listing channels allow you to categorize your property listing to better describe what it is - a House, a Room, perhaps an Estate, maybe even a Lighthouse. Generally this is pretty straightforward - there's a list, and you pick what's most appropriate. Each channel has its own list, of course, so OwnerRez offers a list for each major channel in the Amenities area to choose from.
With Airbnb, though, it's not that simple - some of the entries on their list are considered "professional hospitality businesses". If you choose one of those types, your account will be converted to use the Simplified Pricing mode (sometimes called host-only fee) -- so we don't show them in the property type list by default.
These special property types are considered "professional hospitality businesses":
- Bed And Breakfast
- Hotel
- Boutique Hotel
- Farmstay
- Lodge
- Hostel
- Minsu
- Ryokan
- Pension
- Heritage Hotel
- Casa Particular
- Aparthotel
- Resort
- Serviced Apartment
In order to be able to choose any of the above property listing types, edit the settings on the Airbnb API connection in OwnerRez and enable the "professional hospitality business" option.
Then go back to the Amenities page for the property and you'll see those items appear in the list.
Airbnb Common Spaces
You can designate a room as a "common space". You can even put a bed (e.g. a sofa-bed) in that room. But it may not appear exactly as you intend.
Airbnb has some magic where, if you have a common-space type room, and also have a living-room type room, they only show the living room - the common space vanishes entirely. This happens because they used to combine all non-bedroom beds into one common-space room, then later on they added the concept of distinct room types.
If your common-space-type room is not appearing in your Airbnb listing, change its type to living-room or some other type. That should fix it.
Airbnb Baths and Showers
Guests want to have a detailed, accurate understanding of the facilities they'll have available when they are at your property. OwnerRez supports the ability to configure your rooms specifically, including the specific facilities available in each bathroom - bathtubs, showers, etc.
Unfortunately, Airbnb doesn't support this level of detail - in particular, they do not have an amenity of "shower". The assumption is that, if you have a bathtub, you have a shower - if that isn't correct, and you only have a tub with no shower, you'll need to select the tub (since you do in fact have one), but also to make sure to clearly explain the absence of a shower in your property description.
And, what about the opposite - a standup shower with no bathtub? Airbnb doesn't support that either, and doesn't allow the obvious solution of selecting "bathtub" - because you do not in fact have a tub. The problem with doing that is that your amenities won't show any way for guests to clean themselves, which might put off some from renting.
The takeaway here is, if your bathroom is anything other than a regular bathtub with a shower, be very careful to specifically detail exactly what you do and don't have, in your property description. Otherwise you'll be liable to a protest from a guest with a forced refund, bad review, and possibly delisting for fraud.
Airbnb's "The Space" field
Airbnb displays a field labeled "The Space". In OwnerRez, this field is populated from the Short Description or the Accommodations Detail field - they both display in that "About The Space" area on Airbnb, one at the top with no header and then one under a "The Space" header.
But, Airbnb really doesn't want this area empty. So, even if you clear both of those fields in OwnerRez, whatever was already displaying in Airbnb will stay there. You have to have something there - so, at least put in a few words in order to replace whatever was there before that you wanted to get rid of.
Airbnb Room Photos
Airbnb now allows you to associate specific photos with specific rooms or amenities. This helps guests know exactly what each room looks like.
But there's a catch - in order for Airbnb to display photos associated with your rooms, you must associate at least one photo for every room. If you skip any, they'll all be ignored.
Airbnb Bed in the Bathroom?!?!
Would you believe Airbnb allows you to list a bathroom with a bed in it?
You can actually configure this in OwnerRez, too - but, OwnerRez considers this to be an error, and does not push the bed via any API connections.
Airbnb Murphy Beds
Murphy beds are a classic way to provide a full-sized bed in minimal floorspace. Since they usually use a real mattress, they're more comfortable than an air mattress or futon, so it makes sense to advertise them specifically. OwnerRez and Vrbo allow you to do that.
Unfortunately, Airbnb does not - if you select the "Murphy bed" option in OwnerRez, it will appear in Airbnb as a floor mattress, since that's the closest option they have.
Airbnb Free Parking
Airbnb's property search has a filter for Free Parking. In Accommodations, OwnerRez also has a checkbox for Free Parking - but, they are not the same thing.
To add paid parking for your Airbnb listing, users should navigate to that specific Property > Accommodations > Vehicles. Check both Parking and Free Parking On Premises. Free parking on the street isn't good enough.
Don't forget to click Save.
Airbnb Paid Parking
To add paid parking for your Airbnb listing, users should navigate to that specific Property > Accommodations > Vehicles. Check both Parking and Paid Parking On Premises.
Don't forget to click Save.
Airbnb Kitchenette
Airbnb does not currently support kitchenettes, so even if you select Kitchenette in your Property > Amenities > Kitchen & Dining, it won't be pushed to Airbnb.
In addition to checking the Kitchenette amenity in OwnerRez, we recommend that you also check the Kitchen amenity and type Kitchenette within the amenity field in OwnerRez so that it will be pushed to Airbnb.
Vrbo
Health & Safety and Vrbo
The health and safety amenities are populated automatically based on your property rules.
1) The "Is Your property implementing" section expands to show the safety procedures you've selected, and will automatically load those from OwnerRez:
2) The "self checkin" option populates based on whether you've selected that sort of checkin in the Guest Instruction section.
3) The time between bookings is determined by your Property > Rules > Changeover Restrictions settings.
Vrbo API unsupported amenities
When API integrated with Vrbo, OwnerRez will push all amenities that the API connection supports. However, there are some amenities that Vrbo doesn't support in their API, so they can't be pushed once API connected.
Known unsupported amenities:
- Basic soaps
- Beach chairs
- Beach towels
- Blender
- Coffee Grinder
- Hangers
- Kettle
- Kitchenette
- Lanai/Gazebo (covered)
- Lobster Pot
- Outdoor furniture
- Outdoor Fenced Pool
- Paper towels
- Safe
- Shampoo
- Shower Gel
- Toilet paper
- Limited number/sizes of pets
- Limited number/ages of children
- Parking information
Known buggy amenities with open Vrbo issue reports:
- EV car charger
- Fire pit
Unfortunately, it is also not possible to set these amenities directly in the Vrbo control panel - or rather, it is, but it may not stick.
Vrbo periodically adds unsupported amenities to their API, and OwnerRez is quick to add support at our end, so eventually these amenities will be useable.
Vrbo Cot
Vrbo always displays cots as Murphy beds. We recommend that you add that information to your Property Description and add a note in the room details (Properties > specific Property > Listing Content > Rooms > + Add Bedroom.
Vrbo Sleeper Sofa
Whether your sleeper sofa is a double or queen, Vrbo will always display your sleeper sofa as a double by default, as the term 'double' is intended as a 'catch-all' by Vrbo for certain types (or sizes) of beds.
While it's tempting to change it on the Vrbo platform, OwnerRez will overwrite any changes there overnight.
One workaround is to list your sleeper sofa and add a note in the room details (Properties > specific Property > Listing Content > Rooms > + Add Room) that it is, in fact, a queen sofa bed/sofa, not a double sleeper bed/sofa.
Vrbo Outdoor Showers
Many beach houses have an outdoor shower you can use to rinse the salt and sand off before you go into the house. This is an important amenity that your guests will want to know about.
OwnerRez supports this as a special bathroom type - one with a shower, but with no toilet. Airbnb recognizes this as well, and will display the outdoor shower properly without counting it as a "proper" bathroom.
However, Vrbo does not - an outdoor shower will appear in your total number of bathrooms. So, make sure to clearly state in your description the reality of your bathroom configuration, so guests aren't confused or disappointed.
Vrbo bathtub and shower
Vrbo does not support a bathroom that includes both a bathtub and a shower. There can be only one. OwnerRez recommends choosing "Combination Tub/Shower" when adding Property > Listing Content > Rooms > Bathroom > Features.
Vrbo Water Parks
Adding Water Parks to your property's Local Attractions & Activities (Property > Listing Content > Location > Local Attractions & Activities > Attractions > Water Parks) will be displayed on Vrbo as an "On-site" Water Park.
Others
Studio
Even though Vrbo does, Airbnb does not support studios with beds as an amenity. However, users can add their studio as an Other Room.
- Select Studio from the Type dropdown list.
- Check or uncheck the Ensuite Bathroom.
- Include the type of bed that is in the studio by adding a number in the Beds section.
- Click Save.
- Connect the photos of their studio to their studio "room."
Crib Notes
Is a crib a bed? It sure seems like one, if you're a baby. But, most guests looking for an apartment with "two beds" won't be too pleased if one of them turns out to be a crib.
And, surprise surprise, the channels handle this ambiguity differently:
Airbnb has three relevant options:
- crib Amenity
- pack-n-play Amenity
- crib in a specific Bedroom, selected as you would a bed type
Vrbo supports only a pack-n-play or travel crib as a crib amenity.
If you put a crib in a bedroom in OwnerRez, that gets sent to both Airbnb and Vrbo as a bed of type "crib" - and, it's treated accordingly, including increasing the number of beds as well as the "sleeps" count in each room and overall. A crib is assumed to contain one person. In addition, if you have a crib in any bedroom in OwnerRez, that will be sent to Airbnb as their crib amenity. Note that there is not a separate crib "amenity" in OwnerRez.
If you set the "pack-n-play" Amenity in OwnerRez, then that gets sent to Airbnb as a pack-n-play Amenity and to Vrbo as a crib amenity.
The general understanding is that a "crib" is somewhat large and solid piece of furniture that's not readily collapsed or moved from room to room, whereas a pack-n-play is a folding portable device that is commonly stored in a closet and easily set up whenever and wherever needed.
Security Cameras
The listing channels require disclosure of any security cameras or similar monitoring systems. If this isn't done, guests can demand a full refund, and your property may even be delisted. OwnerRez lets you inform guests of surveillance equipment, in the Amenities area under Cameras/Surveillance. If this option is selected, it will be automatically transmitted to Airbnb via the API connection, meeting their requirements.
Unfortunately, Vrbo's API connection does not support this setting - just checking the box in OwnerRez won't do anything on Vrbo. Best practice is to specifically state the presence of surveillance equipment in your Description, that way nobody can argue they weren't informed in advance.
Bunkbeds
Airbnb and Vrbo correctly display bunkbeds as counting as 2 beds.
You should clearly state in your description that these are in fact bunkbeds, and the mattress sizes, to avoid any possibility of confusion.