Room Names and Accommodation Types
Step-by-step: How do I fix the duplicate room name error?
Step-by-step: How do I fix the duplicate room name error?
Each room must have a unique name. If you use duplicate names, synchronization will fail and the hotel will not be opened on Booking.com.
When activating a new hotel from Channel PRO, use the available name options according to the accommodation type. For example, if the accommodation type in the VRMS is apartment, you will have a list of different apartment names to choose from. Accommodation 1 can be set as standard apartment, property 2 as deluxe apartment, and property 3 as apartment. If all three properties were set as apartment, a synchronization error would occur and the hotel would not be created or opened.
If the hotel already exists, update the names from the Booking.com extranet before activating it.
Keep in mind that the list of room names on Booking.com is limited based on the accommodation type. For example, if the property/hotel type is chalet, you only have five different room names to choose from. Also, if you have a large number of properties linked to the same hotel, it may not be possible to select a different room name for each property. If this is the case, Booking.com can modify the room names for you, for example, luxury apartment A, luxury apartment B, luxury apartment C, etc.
Step-by-step: How do I link an existing room name from Booking.com?
Step-by-step: How do I link an existing room name from Booking.com?
When activating a hotel that already exists on the portal:
From Channel PRO, when activating a hotel that already exists on Booking.com, select the option “Link property from Booking”.
Enter the existing property ID in the corresponding field.
When you do this, a list of available rooms will automatically appear in the ROOM field.Select the room that already exists on Booking.com, which you can identify because it appears with the room name followed by its ID
(the ID consists of the hotel ID + 01, 02, 03, etc.).
Important notes / Things to keep in mind
⚠️ Do not select a room without an ID, as this will create a new room on Booking.com.
If a new room is created by mistake:
The new room will be linked to Channel PRO.
The original room will remain unlinked.
You will need to manually delete the existing ID from the Booking.com extranet.
What should I do if the accommodation type is different in the VRMS and on Booking.com?
What should I do if the accommodation type is different in the VRMS and on Booking.com?
Check that the accommodation type in the VRMS matches the hotel type on Booking.com.
If there is a difference between the two:
With a full connection, the accommodation type is automatically synced from Avantio.
With a partial connection, a mismatch may occur and an alert will appear in Channel PRO.
Correct the accommodation type:
Either from the VRMS, in the accommodation profile.
Or from the Booking.com extranet:
Property > Property layout.
Important notes / Things to keep in mind
⚠️ If the accommodation type does not match, synchronization may be affected and could even prevent the hotel from being opened.
⚠️ If there are future bookings, the option to change the room type or name may be blocked. In that case, you will need to contact Booking.com to request the change manually.
Cancellation Policies
Step-by-step: How do I change the cancellation policy?
Step-by-step: How do I change the cancellation policy?
Identify the type of connection you have with Booking.com: full or partial.
If you use a full connection:
Change the cancellation policy directly in Channel PRO.
You can do this from the portal settings or from the accommodation activation profile.
The policy will be automatically updated in the Booking.com extranet.
If you use a partial connection:
Change the cancellation policy manually in the Booking.com extranet.
Path: Extranet > Property > Policies.
Make sure it matches exactly with what is set in Channel PRO.
Rates and Limits
What should I do if I exceed the rate limit on Booking.com?
What should I do if I exceed the rate limit on Booking.com?
The connection with Booking.com allows a limit of 100 rates per group of accommodations (called Hotel on B.com).
When planning your pricing strategy and the cancellation policies you will assign to your accommodations, you need to consider the following way of calculating and be careful not to exceed the limit of 100. If this limit is exceeded, the accommodation will have a synchronization error and data will not be updated correctly between the VRMS and the portal.
Consider how many different types of discounts and surcharges you have. For example, if you had the following setup:
simple 10% discount from March 1-30
long-term rental discount for bookings over 5 nights, 15% from March 15 to April 30
simple 20% surcharge from April 20-30
long-term rental discount for bookings over 7 nights, 18% from March 15 to June 30
These discounts add up to 4 different types of discounts and surcharges. You always need to add +1 because Booking.com creates an additional rate line for the Base Rate (Standard Rate) that does not have any discount or surcharge.
That makes 5 so far.
2. Consider if you have set up a surcharge for additional guests.
Let's say the accommodation has a capacity of 6, but there is a surcharge for additional guests starting from the 5th person. (4 people pay the normal price, the 5th and 6th person pay the surcharge).
Continuing with the previous structure, the 5 types of discounts we had are multiplied by 2.
That makes 15 so far (the initial 5 for rates for 4 people + 5 for 5 people + 5 for 6 people).
3. Consider the cancellation policy you will apply.
For example, if you have the NON-Refundable policy enabled, this will duplicate the entire rate structure created so far.
So, the 15 will become 30 rate lines.
Tip: to avoid this, you can set the Non-Refundable as a Promotion instead of a rate, so it won't duplicate your rates. This also applies to early booking and last minute discounts, which can be set to sync as promotions from the general Booking settings in Channel PRO.
4. Finally, consider how many Rooms you have grouped under the same Hotel ID. You need to add one more line for each room grouped under this hotel ID. For example, if you have 3 rooms (accommodations/rooms) under one hotel id, you should add another 3 lines to the total rates we've been calculating.
This brings us to a total of 33 rate lines for one accommodation (room).
Always remember that the limitation applies both at the room level and at the hotel level on Booking.com. Continuing with this example, if you had 15 accommodations (rooms) under the same Hotel ID, even if each one individually is below the 100 rate limit, at the hotel level you would be exceeding the maximum of 100. Therefore, you should reduce the number of rates from each accommodation or group fewer accommodations under the same hotel id.
Bookings and Errors
I received an error email when registering a booking, what should I do?
I received an error email when registering a booking, what should I do?
Payments and Commissions
Booking.com is managing payments on my behalf. Will the payment charge be shown in addition to the commission when the booking enters the VRMS?
Booking.com is managing payments on my behalf. Will the payment charge be shown in addition to the commission when the booking enters the VRMS?
Previously, only the commission charged by Booking.com was shown in the VRMS booking record, not the payment charge (usually 1.1%). However, we have developed a new feature (January 2022) so that both the commission and the payment charge will be shown in the expenses section of the portal. This payment charge only applies if Booking.com is managing guest payments.
It is important that the general portal settings are configured in Channel PRO so that the system records the commission provided by the portal. This way, you will receive the exact amount charged by Booking.com in the custom commissions field.
It's important to note that both amounts will be combined in the custom commissions field. However, you can review the breakdown of charges in the Booking.com extranet.