HostelsClub is one of the most popular channels among the guests. Check the connection guide to see how the connection works and what should be done to activate it correctly. 



Contents


1. How does the connection with HostelsClub work?

2. Before you activate the connection

3. How to request the connection from HostelsClub?

4. How to enable the connection in FrontDesk Master?

5. How to verify if my connection with HostelsClub is active?

6. How to change price and availability on HostelsClub?

7. How to check if the specific date is synchronized properly on HostelsClub?

8. How to close/open rooms on HostelsClub?

9. How to set up restrictions on HostelsClub?

10. How to disable XML connection?

11. HostelsClub troubleshooting


How does the connection with HostelsClub work?


HostelsClub connection supports the Availability & Rates synchronization and Bookings retrieval.




What information does system receive and send to HostelsClub?


Basics:


  • Bookings Retrieval - if a guest makes a reservation in HostelsClub, 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
  • Cancellation and modifications are NOT supported in the XML connection with HostelsClub

Restrictions supported in HostelsClub connection:


  • Close Rate
  • Close Room





Before you activate the connection


Make sure, if:


1. rooms and room types in the system are set up correctly and the room types correspond to settings in HostelsCLub (if you have two physical rooms assigned to Double Room Shared Bathroom room type in FrontDesk Master, in the portal you should have one corresponding room type, Double Room Shared Bathroom).


2. prices and rates are correctly set up in the system and correspond to settings in the portal.






Please make sure if everything is set up properly before you move to the next step.




How to request the connection with HostelsClub


In order to activate the connection, it is necessary to contact the portal directly. In this case, you can contact your account manager from HostelsClub and request the connection with FrontDesk Master channel manager or send us your property ID on HostelsClub and we will contact the portal for you.



When the connection is activated by HostelsClub, you will receive the credentials (login and password) which are needed to activate the HostelsClub plugin in the Channel Manager. They will look this way:


ID: 111111

Login: HCU009876
Password: P4s5W0rD@ 



Go to the next part of the guide to enable the connection in FrontDesk Master.




How to enable the connection in FrontDesk Master 



In order to fully activate the connection with HostelsClub, open Channel Manager.



Choose HostelsClub 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, login and password that you received from HostelsClub


2. This option disable full synchronization with the portal. Be careful here!

  • Disable All Availability Uploads - this option disable all uploads to HostelsClub so the system will not synchronize prices or availability.



3. Decide if reservations form HostelsClub should be Auto-allocated to beds or not.



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 HostelsClub. In the second one, you have to choose which system room type corresponds to each portal room type.




Please note that if you leave an unmapped room type 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.


Click on Next button to continue.


STEP 3 - rate mapping


In this part you decide which from rate the prices will be sent to HostelsClub:


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).



2. In the table, select the rate 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 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 starts to download future reservations (it can take about 15-30 minutes, depending on the quantity of reservation) from HostelsClub and it sends the one-year global availability and rates update to the portal. 




Congratulations!

The connection with HostelsClub is now active!




IMPORTANT NOTES 


  1. After confirming your XML connection you will not be able to edit rates and availability in HostelsClub back office anymore. 
  2. Rates and availability will be editable and uploaded automatically from FrontDesk Master.
  3. It is critical to making sure that FrontDesk Master contains correct prices and availability.
  4.  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.
  5. 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.
  6.  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 HostelsClub 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 HostelsClub?


When the connection is activated, the system automatically updates all price and availability changes. They are updated on HostelsClub 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 calendar 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's calendar




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 HostelsClub 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 HostelsClub?


In order to check if the availability, rates or restrictions were synchronized properly with HostelsClub, please always check that information directly in HostelsClub back office (not on HostelsClub 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 HostelsClub?


In order to close or open a room on HostelsClub, use Close Room 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.



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 HostelsClub 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 HostelsClub only (it lets you set up different prices and restrictions for selected portal). 

See How can I have different prices on each portal?.


How to set up restrictions on HostelsClub?


Restrictions supported in HostelsClub connection:

  • Close Rate
  • Close Room
  • Minimum Stay is not supported in the connection but the restriction can be set directly in the back office



Close Rate


When Close Rate restriction is active there's no availability for bookings made with the rate in question. For example, if "HostelsClub 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 HostelsClub connection only and it is mapped in Channel Manager, you can use Close Rate restriction in order to close availability on HostelsClub and keep the rooms open at the same time on different portals.

See the instruction: 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 restriction will appear 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.



Close Room 


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 your HostelsClub Account Manager and request deactivating the XML connection with FrontDesk Master.

When it is deactivated on the portal, open Channel Manager in FrontDesk Master. In HostelsClub plugin, click on Disable Now button.



Then confirm the action.


The plugin will appear as disabled.



 HostelsClub troubleshooting





1. How to re-download a deleted booking from HostelsClub?


When the connection between the system and Expedia is working correctly and you receive a new reservation, it will be downloaded to the system with all guest information.

If, by a mistake, the reservation was deleted from the system, you can download it again by opening Reservation View / Online Bookings / Download Bookings:



Put the reservation ID and click on Show Bookings button. If the booking was downloaded correctly it will appear below in grey colour.


Check booking you need to download and click the Download button.



In case you cannot find the booking on the server you can re-download it directly from HostelsClub. In order to do it click on Show Future Bookings in the same Download Bookings window.


You will see the list of all future booking from different channels. The green colour means that the booking exists in the system. However, the red color means that the booking is pending to be downloaded. Check the box on the left side and click the Download button.



Be careful! If you re-download a green booking all the information you have inside the existing reservation will be overwritten and you can lose what you put there before.



2. Why the availability or prices I set in FrontDesk Master are not updated in Expedia Partner Central?


Option 1.

Please open Channel Manager and check if HostelsClub plugin in enabled (green). If it is disabled, the updated will not be sent to the portal and you will not receive any new reservation.


Option 2.

Please check if the problematic rooms and rate are mapped in the Channel Manager. If the room or rate is not mapped, the system will not send the updates to the portal.


Option 3.

Make sure that the currency selected for rates in Channel Manager match the currency in the portal. HostelsClub will not accept any update if the system sends price in the incorrect currency.



If you have any doubts or questions regarding HostelsClub connection, do not hesitate to contact your account manager or [email protected], we will be happy to help!