ONBOARDING GUIDE for new users on Airbnb
How to create a listing on Airbnb after having uploaded the content on RoomCloud Booking Engine
How Airbnb works
Commission structure
You have 2 option to choose from:
1. Fixed Host fee + variable Guest fee (default commission structure). A fee is charged on both the host and guest side:
● The host fee depends on your cancellation policies. It starts at 3% and increases to 5% as the cancellation policy gets stricter.
● The guest fee varies between 0-20% and is added on top of your rates. If you choose this structure, to ensure price competitiveness, it is recommended to set up a rate multiplier of 0.90 or lower or to apply a 10% rate derive.
2. Fixed Host fee + NO Guest fee
● Fixed host fee of 14% (12% for the first 6 months if you activate the fee within the first 2 months after going online on Airbnb)
● No other fee added on top of your rates which allows you to fully control the final rates displayed on Airbnb
Listings structure
Airbnb requires 1 listing per room type and per rate plan.
Listing creation
● If you are new to Airbnb, you will need to create an Airbnb host account. The listings will be created via RoomCloud (you don’t need to create them on Airbnb).
● If you are already on Airbnb, you will need to create the listings again on RoomCloud. However, you’ll be able to merge the new listings with the one already existing on Airbnb, keeping your reviews and content. See this page to discover how to do it.
Hospitality standards
Airbnb has high-quality standards when it comes to guest experience (minimum quality bar of 4.6 stars after hosting 20 guests). Properties can be suspended if not meeting these standards.
Create an account on Airbnb
Go to airbnb.com and click Sign up.
You can sign up using your email address,
Facebook account, Google account, or Amex.
Creating an Airbnb account is free.
Complete your Airbnb host profile with the following information
- First Name: name of the main contact followed by the property name or simply the property name
- Last Name: this won’t be displayed publicly
- Birthday: of the GM or reservation manager
- Email: where you want all correspondence to go
- Phone number: it will be used for verification and cannot be an answering service
- Profile picture: picture of the GM (recommended), reception staff or simply the logo of your property
- Describe yourself: describe your property and its philosophy
Now that you have an account on Airbnb, connect Airbnb to your Channel Manager
Go to RoomCloud / Dashboard / Mywebsites
https://secure.roomcloud.net/be/owners_area/config.jsp
The first time you connect you will need to click the red Connect with Airbnb button.
Upload the content on RoomCloud Booking Engine
Select Hotel Rooms under the Hotel section in the extranet
Select the New Room button at the top of the page
Fill in the form with the information about the room
Fill in the RATES section to link at least 1 rate to every new room
When you are done, click the orange button at the bottom of the page
Complete or just check the information about the room in the new page
Save any added detail by clicking on the button at the bottom of the form
Finally, update the information on Airbnb by flagging the Send option and clicking the button at the bottom of the page
The software will now show this window
Click Ok
The Onboarding process will now be different for hotels and apartments.
For both of them, the status will change for a few seconds, while the data are sent to Airbnb.
- Apartments will almost immediately see if the data have been sent correctly or not.
There are 3 possible status outputs:
Rejected: the Booking Engine will specify the type of error occurred
On Line: the listing is published on Airbnb
Approved: it means that the room is not yet synchronized on Airbnb
- Hotels will send the data and then they will need to wait for the approval of Airbnb Team
When the data are sent, the status will change to SUBMITTEDThe 2 possible results can be:
A. REJECTED: Airbnb rejects the listing as it doesn’t reach the requested standard
B. ON LINE: Airbnb approves the new listing