HostelWorld is one of the most popular channels among the guests so we enable it very often in our Channel Manager. Check the connection guide to see how the connection works and what should be done to activate it correctly.
Contents
0. How to transform HostelWorld booking list into FrontDesk Master booking import file?
1. How does the connection with Hostelworld work?
2. Before you activate the connection
3. How to request the connection with Hostelworld?
4. How to enable the connection in FrontDesk Master?
5. How to verify if my connection with Hostelworld is active?
6. How to change price and availability on Hostelworld?
7. How to check if the specific date is synchronized properly on Hostelworld?
8. How to close/open rooms on Hostelworld?
9. How to set up restrictions on Hostelworld?
10. How to disable XML connection?
11. Hostelworld troubleshooting
How does the connection with Hostelworld work?
Hostelworld connection supports the Availability & Rates synchronization and Bookings retrieval.
What information does system receive and send to Hostelworld?
Basics:
- Bookings Retrieval - if a guest makes a reservation in Hostelworld, it will be downloaded to the system with all information about the guest and booking rate within one minute
- Availability and Rate updates - the information about each change in the system is sent to the portal immediately.
- Automatic Modifications & Cancellations - each modification made by guest (guest details, booking dates change,...) or a cancellation will be downloaded to the system
And more:
- Cancellations - if you set a reservation as Cancelled in the system, it will be adjusted also on Hostelworld so you do not need to set it manually in the back office
- Hostelworld does not send already made future bookings to the system, so make sure you add them to the system manually.
Restrictions supported in Hostelworld connection:
- Minimum Stay Through
- Close Rate
- Close Room
Before you activate the connection
Make sure if:
2. prices and rates are correctly set up in the system and correspond to settings in the portal.
3. all reservations from Hostelworld and other sources (email, phone,...) are added to the system. Hostelworld does not send to the system already existing reservations, so make sure that the availability is correct because it will be sent to the portal while the plugin is activated.
Please make sure if everything is set up properly before you move to the next step.
How to request the connection with Hostelworld
In order to activate connection with Hostelworld please send a request to your Hostelworld Account Manager. It is the same email address, from which you are receiving emails with new reservations. You can find the example of email you can send here:
"Please enable an XML connection with channel manager FrontDesk Master for my property [PropertyName] (ID: xxxx). Please copy the activation details to FrontDesk Master Support Team at support@frontdeskmaster.com so they could help us set up the connection without any delay. Thank you".
Once the XML connection is enabled you will receive from your account manager the XML password which is necessary to enable the plugin in Channel Manager. The password is not the same as the password you use to log in to Hostelworld Extranet.
How to enable the connection in FrontDesk Master
In order to fully activate the connection with Hostelworld, open Channel Manager.
Choose Hostelworld plugin, and click on the Enable button on the right bottom corner of the window, then confirm the action:
STEP 1 - connection details
1. Enter your property ID and the XML password that you received from the account manager.
2. Disable All Availability Uploads - this option disable all uploads to Hostelworld so the system will not synchronize prices or availability. Be careful here!
3. Decide if reservations form Hostelworld should be Auto-allocated to beds or not.
4. Hostelworld can send you some test reservations and cancellations so that you can see how the connection works. Just enter the bookings amount and click on Add test bookings button.
Click on Next button in order to proceed.
STEP 2 - room mapping
You will see two columns. In the first one, you will the list of your room types from Hostelworld. In the second one, you have to choose which system room type corresponds to each portal room type.
On the right side, you will see also one column more, Max Beds. It shows the room type occupancy on Hostelworld (it should be exactly the same as the room occupancy in the system).
Click on Next button to continue.
STEP 3 - rate mapping
In this part you decide from which rate the prices will be sent to Hostelworld:
1. Please make sure that you send the prices in the correct currency. If you use more currencies, you can also choose the option Automatically convert received bookings to .... and the system will convert the price automatically to the main currency according to the change rate you previously set up in Property Settings. (Setting up currencies).
This point is very important, because if you select an incorrect currency, Hostelworld will not accept the update from the system.
2. In the table, select the rates from FrontDesk Master from which the prices will be updated on the portal.
3. Click on the Save button to activate the connection.
Please note that if you leave an unmapped room or rate the system won't control it at all. No price or availability updates will be sent to the channel and the system won't be able to allocate bookings to beds.
Additional columns
- Adjustment - this option gives you the possibility to adjust the rate prices you send to the channel. You can choose if you would like to adjust the price adding or discounting some specific amount or you can also choose the % option. Note that the adjustment will not visible in Availability & Rate Calendar!
STEP 4 - save the connection
When you click on the Save button in STEP 3, you will see the connection confirmation view. At this moment, the system sends the one-year global availability and rates update to the portal.
Congratulations!
The connection with Hostelworld is now active!
IMPORTANT NOTES
- After confirming your XML connection you will not be able to edit rates and availability in Hostelworld's back office anymore
- Rates and availability will be editable and uploaded automatically from FrontDesk Master.
- It is critical to making sure that FrontDesk Master contains correct prices and availability.
- If you are not sure if FrontDesk Master is set up properly, DO NOT REQUEST XML before verifying the settings and making sure that you know how to manage them.
- Please note that the action of mapping and unmapping rooms by itself does not generate the rate or availability change in the back office. After such action, you must SAVE the connection (go to STEP 4 in Channel Manager to send the synchronization) in order to overwrite previous settings.
- Please make sure that the 3 next bookings which you will receive after the synchronization has been enabled, have entered your system. If not then please report it to us immediately to [email protected]
How to verify if my connection with Hostelworld is active?
You can check if the connection with the portal is active in two places:
Channel Manager - if the plugin is green, it means that the connection is activated:
Online Availability - in this part of the system you will see only these portals which are active. If a plugin is deactivated, it will not appear on the list. You can check here what availability was sent to the system recently and check if it was correct.
How to change price and availability on Hostelworld?
When the connection is activated, the system automatically updates all price and availability changes. They are updated on Hostelworld's back office within few seconds.
Price Changes
You can change prices for whole seasons (check the instruction: How to set up prices?) or for selected days only (see here: Quick price changes in the Calendar).
To check if the changes are updated properly, you can change the price on selected day and room in Availability and Rate Calendar:
1. Change the price manually in the Calendar
2. Save the changes.
3. Open your back office or refresh the window if it is already opened and check if the price is updated.
4. Restore season price with right click
5. Check the price update in the back office
Availability Changes
Every time there is a new reservation added to the system (manually or it is downloaded from the portals), moved to another room type, cancelled or modified, the system updates the availability automatically in Availability and Rate Calendar. That availability is sent to Hostelworld and the updates are immediately done in the back office.
You can easily check how it works:
1. Create a new reservation in the system and observe how the availability changes in the calendar.
2. Open the back office to see the availability updated on the portal.
How to check if the specific date is synchronized properly on Hostelworld?
In order to check if the availability, rates or restrictions were synchronized properly with Hostelworld, please always check that information directly in the portal's back office (not on Hostelworld website) and compare it to the data in Availability & Rate Calendar. The information should be always the same in both places.
How to close/open rooms on Hostelworld?
In order to close or open a room on Hostelworld, use Close Room or Close Rate restriction. You can also simply block beds on Bed View to close it with 0 availability. (How to block/unblock beds?)
Close Room restriction
1. Click on Close Room checkbox on the selected date and Save the changes in the Calendar. Then, refresh the back office to see the changes.
In case of Hostelworld, Close Room restriction deletes the availability so the room becomes not available for sale (availability changes to 0).
2. In order to open a room, uncheck the box of Close Room restriction and Save the changes.
If you use Close Room restriction the room type will be closed on all portals connected to the system. In order to close it only on Hostelworld and leave it available on other portals, you can use Close Rate restriction, however, it will work only if you have a separate rate created and connected with Hostelworld only (it lets you set up different prices and restrictions for selected portal). See here: How can I have different prices on each portal?
How to set up restrictions on Hostelworld?
Restrictions supported in Hostelworld connection:
- Minimum Stay Through for all room types
- Close Rate
- Close Room
Minimum Stay
Minimum Stay Through (or minimum length of stay) restriction limits availability by specifying the number of nights that must be booked for stays that include the restriction date in any part of the stay date range.
The Minimum Stay restriction is set in Availability and Rate Calendar, manually for selected days or using Bulk Update option.
To set up the restriction manually:
1. Select it from the list and click on Show button.
2. Enter the restriction value, for example, 2 nights of Minimum Stay Through and Save the changes.
The restriction will appear in the back office.
To set up the restriction using Bulk Update:
1. Click on Bulk Update button and select Restrictions from the option buttons.
2. Select dates, room and rate to which the restriction should be applied and enter the value of Minimum Stay Through or Arrival. Then, click on Run or Run and Close button.
Done! The restrictions will appear in the calendar and will be automatically synchronized to the portal.
In order to remove the restriction, change its value to 1.
Close Rate
When Close Rate restriction is active there is no availability for bookings made with the rate in question. For example, if "Hostelworld Rate" is closed for 2 days there won't be availability for 2 days for bookings made with this rate.If you created a separate rate for Hostelworld connection only and it is mapped in Channel Manager, you can use Close Rate restriction in order to close availability on Hostelworld and keep the rooms open at the same time on different portals. See the instruction here: How can I have different prices on each portal?
You can set the restrictions in Availability and Rate Calendar, manually:
1. Select it from the list and click on Show button.
2. Click on the checkbox in order to close rate on the selected day and Save the changes. The room will appear as not available in the back office.
Uncheck the boxed in order to remove the restriction.
Or using the Bulk Update button:
Select dates, room and rate to which the restriction should be applied and click on the Close/Open buttons in order to close or open the restriction. Then, click on Run or Run and Close button.
When Close Room restriction is active the room type in question is closed, which means the room will not be available on booking channels and FrontDesk Master Booking Engine under any of the rates. See here.
How to disable XML connection?
In order to disable the XML connection, contact directly your account manager from the portal and request disconnecting it from Channel Manager.
When you receive the confirmation that the connection is deactivated, open Channel Manager in FrontDesk Master. In Hostelworld plugin, click on Disable Now button and confirm the action.
The plugin will appear as disabled.
Hostelworld troubleshooting
Not downloaded reservation from Hostelworld
If for some reason (plugin was not active, server issues, Hostelworld outage,...) the reservation could not be downloaded to FrontDesk Master, please remember to add it to the system manually with the original booking ID. If you received any cancellation or modification of the reservation, it will be necessary to adjust the current booking manually in the system.