Welcome to Hostfully
onboarding.

We’re happy you’re here!

It’s true—we can’t wait to start working together. But first things first: please take a look over Hostfully’s Platform Management Platform onboarding process including timeline, steps, support, and some frequently asked questions so we can get you up and running quickly.

Onboarding 101

Need help? We’ve got you covered.

The Onboarding Team has members available between 9AM through 8PM (EST), Monday to Friday.*

During your onboarding period, you can always join onboarding group calls or email onboarding@hostfully.com with your questions or concerns.

We also have a comprehensive help desk.

*We do not have Onboarding Team members available outside of these hours for onboarding calls.

24/7

RESPONSIVE CUSTOMER SUPPORT TEAM

95%+

AVERAGE CUSTOMER SERVICE RATING

Technical Support team

Did you know Hostfully’s Technical Support Team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at support@hostfully.com and on chat? So if you have a quick product question, or you’re burning the midnight onboarding oil, we’re here for you.

We also have a comprehensive help desk, with onboarding articles to guide you through the process.

Expectations
& timelines

Here are some useful tools, partners, and considerations to keep in mind as you begin onboarding.

Plan your channel integrations

Channel activation varies based on your integration partners.

Hostfully Direct Booking Website

You can choose between Instant Book or Booking Requests for each property. Get started with Hostfully Direct Booking right HERE.

Timeline: 1 business day

Booking.com

You must use Instant Book. You will also need to establish a Legal Entity ID early on to stay on track for going live. Get started with Booking.com right HERE.

Timeline: 1-10 days

Vrbo

You can choose between Instant Book or Booking Requests for each property.
Get started with Vrbo right HERE.

Timeline: 5-7 business days

Airbnb

You can choose between Instant Book or Booking Requests for each property. Get started with Airbnb.com right HERE.

Timeline: 1 business day

Establish a payment processor

In order to get started, you’ll need to set up an account with a payment processor. We offer Stripe, Vacation Rent Payment, and PayPal.* Before choosing a payment processor, you can speak with your Onboarding Specialist to find the best fit for your needs.

*Hostfully charges 1% on all Stripe and Paypal transactions. If you’re planning to integrate with Vrbo, we suggest using Stripe for full payment integration.

Create a direct booking site

With Hostfully’s PMP, we can assist with the setup of your direct booking channel.
Here is the help documentation to get you started.

We provide useful information on creating your domain name, but you must manage all the DNS and other 3rd party tasks outside of Hostfully. This can be very technical and you may need to hire a technical resource as it is outside the scope of our support. For assistance with setting up an external website or building out a direct booking page, we recommend contacting our integrated website development partners.

1 complete solution in just 3 steps

Here’s a high level onboarding overview so you know what to expect. Usually onboarding takes 45 days or less—assuming you keep up with your assignments and there aren’t any delays from our channel integrations partners.

The process will vary slightly depending upon your desired pacing and needs. A proper setup will save you many hours of time and energy so start off on the right foot, and remember, just take it one step at a time.

During your onboarding period, you can always join group onboarding calls or email onboarding@hostfully.com with your questions and concerns. We also have a comprehensive help desk and informative Hostfully University videos.

Step 1

Join group onboarding call

Within 24 business hours after signing up, you will receive a welcome email from your personal Onboarding Specialist with your first homework assignment and information on when and how to schedule your first group call.

Step 2

Complete your first assignment

In order to stay on track with your onboarding, it’s important to complete your assignment before your first 1:1 call. You can walk through our help video and guide to:

Update account information, add properties
Add rental conditions
Enable a payment processor
Configure pricing or import from a dynamic pricing provider
Create custom templates and triggers to automate messagings

Step 3

Meet with your Onboarding Specialist

After completing your group call and assignment, you will schedule a 1:1 call with your personal Onboarding Specialist who will review your account, answer questions, cover any remaining steps, help you with your reservations and calendar, and provide you with instructions for enabling channels and going live.

Keep an eye on your email.

You’ll receive a whole series of emails with detailed information and easy-to-follow instructions for each step. Of course, we’ll be there with you throughout.

Onboarding videos

Your first assignment

Adding Your Properties

Automate Your Messages with Templates and Triggers

Advanced Messaging Tips

Enhanced Reporting

Direct booking

All of the onboarding extras

Adding Your Payment Processor

Configure Pricing

Final syncing channels

Bringing in Outstanding Reservations

How to Generate Revenue with Hostfully Guidebooks

Auditing your main settings

How to set up your Hostfully owner portal

Check your Airbnb Host Service Fee

Frequently asked
questions

What are Hostfully’s active customer support hours?

Hostfully customer support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What should I not do? What could cost me money?

Do not sync your Hostfully properties to the channels before completing pricing, fees, taxes, and availability otherwise you may receive double bookings or bookings below the price you want.
Do not forget to do mock reservations up to the paywall after connecting to the channels to ensure prices and availability show as you expect.

How do I make sure I set up my taxes, fees, and pricing correctly?

After you adjust fees, taxes, or pricing, we suggest selecting dates on your listing like a guest would and reviewing the order.

What happens when I sync a property in Hostfully with an existing listing?

Once a property is toggled ON within a channel in Hostfully and you connect that property to an existing listing, the data in Hostfully completely overwrites your existing listing. This includes pricing, photos, descriptions and rental terms. Make sure your property is complete in Hostfully before syncing!

How does occupancy tax work when connected with Hostfully? Do the channels handle that for me?

Airbnb:
Airbnb may collect and remit in your market. Otherwise, you will need to manage them. You can find more information here.
Vrbo, Booking.com, and direct bookings:
You are responsible for collecting and remitting your taxes.

What’s the easiest way to add properties to Hostfully?

Importing them from Airbnb! You can do so easily by following this help article.
If you don’t have existing Airbnb listings, you can create properties in Hostfully manually using this help article.

Do I need to import all my reservations for my properties?

Airbnb:
We import Airbnb reservations into Hostfully for 1 year in the past and 2 years in the future. No need to enter those manually.
Vrbo and Direct:
You will need to manually enter your Vrbo and Direct reservations as Vrbo does not have the ability to send them automatically. Here is a help article on how to do that.
Booking.com:
We import Booking.com reservations into Hostfully for reservations with checkout dates in the future. No need to enter those manually.

I don’t know which integrations I need. Can you help?

While our onboarding specialists are well versed with our integration partners, they are Hostfully experts and we suggest speaking with the channel or integration partner directly to ask specific questions about their product/service. We’ve provided some links below to get you started:

Meet the Superstar
Onboarding Team

Rhiana Jones

Coarsegold, CA

Sarah Adams

Jacksonville, FL

Staci Patton

Lake Tahoe, CA

Kana Gordon

Charleston, South Carolina

Pablo Escarcega

Dallas, TX

Hannah Castillo

Menomonee Falls, WI

We’re all here to help.

Together we have a 95%+ average
customer service rating.

Contact info for Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com support for error handling

support

1 (844) 234 2500

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