Guest experience terms, defined

Software that handles the guest-facing side of a stay (pre-arrival information, check-in, the guide, in-stay requests and follow-up) separately from the property management system that holds reservations, rates and channels.

In Staying: Staying is a guest-experience platform. It reads bookings from a PMS or OTA calendars and does not replace the PMS or channel manager.

How Staying sits next to a PMS

A web page, opened from a link or QR code, where a guest sees their booking and the property's information and services. Unlike a guest app, it needs no download.

In Staying: Each property gets a branded portal with online check-in, the guidebook and, on Growth and above, in-stay ordering. It runs in 30 languages in any mobile browser.

Set up the portal

The guest confirms their details and accepts the house rules before or on arrival, on their own device, instead of at a desk or by message.

In Staying: Guests confirm name, email and phone, accept house rules and give or decline marketing consent. Staying does not verify identity documents and does not file police or tourist-tax registrations.

Check-in for property managers

The house manual for a rental or hotel in digital form: WiFi, check-in and check-out steps, house rules, appliances, parking and local tips. Also called a welcome book or digital guestbook.

In Staying: Guidebooks are built from 4 templates and 13 block types, can be printed or shared as a QR code, and are part of the guest portal on every plan.

Digital guestbook

Selling services to a guest during the stay, such as breakfast, late check-out, transfers or experiences, after the room itself has been sold.

In Staying: Guests order and pay by card in the portal into the host's own Stripe account, or charge to the room. Staying takes 0% commission; Stripe card fees apply. Available on Growth and above.

Sell in-stay services

A returning guest booking their next stay directly with the host instead of through an online travel agency, so no OTA commission applies to that booking.

In Staying: Contact details and consent collected at check-in let Staying send a direct rebooking invitation after the stay, to a booking page with 0% Staying commission.

A marketplace that sells stays on the host's behalf and charges a commission, such as Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo or Expedia. OTAs usually do not share a guest's real email address with the host.

In Staying: Staying imports OTA bookings by iCal and collects guest contact details through online check-in, because iCal does not carry them.

Exchanging booked and blocked dates between systems through calendar feed URLs (the iCalendar format). It prevents double bookings but carries no rates, prices or guest contact details.

In Staying: Staying imports each OTA listing's iCal feed and exports its own feed back. The Free plan includes one calendar connection; Starter and above include unlimited.

Connect an iCal calendar

Software that pushes rates, availability and listing content to several OTAs through their APIs and pulls reservations back.

In Staying: Staying is not a channel manager. Keep your channel manager or PMS for that and connect it to Staying.

What is not available

A message a property management system sends to another system when a reservation is created, updated or cancelled, so the other system does not have to poll for changes.

In Staying: Direct connections to Guesty, Hostaway, Hospitable and Lodgify are in beta: they use each PMS's API and are switched on per PMS once verified. OwnerRez is not available yet. Until a PMS is switched on, its bookings reach Staying by iCal.

PMS connections

The sign-in page a guest sees before getting online on a property's WiFi network. It can ask for an email address and marketing consent.

In Staying: Staying provides a branded WiFi sign-in page in 30 languages. Sending campaigns to WiFi contacts is part of Starter and above.

A periodic report a property manager sends a property owner, showing bookings, revenue, fees and the payout for the period.

In Staying: Owner statements are part of the Growth plan and above.

For property managers

A guest's recorded, freely given permission to receive marketing messages. Under the GDPR it must be specific, informed and as easy to withdraw as to give.

In Staying: The check-in and WiFi sign-in pages ask for consent separately from the booking, and Staying stores the consent record with the guest profile.

Security and GDPR