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Use case

Digital guestbook and check-in for cabins and holiday homes

Replace the paper folder with a guidebook guests open from a QR code, collect every guest's contact details at online check-in, and invite past guests to book direct. Bookings come in from your OTA calendars by iCal.

Who this is for: Owners renting out one to ten cabins, apartments or holiday homes through Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com or their own website.

Last reviewed: October 2026

The problem

Instructions for the sauna, the heating or the boat live in a folder or in messages you resend every stay, and the OTA keeps the guest relationship after check-out.

How cabin and holiday home owners use Staying

  1. Connect your calendars. Paste the iCal export link from Airbnb, Vrbo or Booking.com into Staying and paste Staying's feed back into the OTA. The Free plan includes one calendar connection; Starter includes unlimited.
  2. Build the guestbook once. Start from a template, fill in WiFi, house rules, check-out steps, map and local tips, then print the QR code for the cabin wall.
  3. Guests check in online. Each guest confirms their details and marketing consent in the portal, in their own language (30 languages).
  4. Invite them back directly. After the stay, Staying asks for a review and sends a direct rebooking invitation. Direct bookings through your Staying booking page carry 0% Staying commission.

Which plan fits: Free (€0)

Free covers 1 property with up to 5 rooms or units, one iCal calendar and 100 guest messages a month. Starter (€49/month) covers up to 10 properties and 25 units with unlimited calendars.

Every plan is self-serve and billed monthly or yearly in euros, with 0% commission on bookings and orders. See the pricing page and the plan limits.

Best for

  • Owners who want a guidebook guests actually open, plus online check-in, without a PMS
  • Owners who get guests through several OTAs and want their contact details for next season
  • Owners hosting international guests who read the guide in their own language

Not the best fit for

  • Owners who only want a single free guide and nothing else: a guide-only tool such as Gjesteguiden.no is simpler
  • Owners who need rates and availability pushed to the OTAs: that needs a channel manager
  • Owners who need smart-lock codes sent automatically: smart-lock integration is not generally available

If one of these applies, see the alternatives or keep your current tool and run Staying next to it.

Customer results

We do not publish customer case studies for this use case yet. Every product fact on this page is checked against the product itself; plan limits come from the same table the billing system uses.

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