Booking.com Info & FAQs

This article covers the most frequently asked questions about the Booking.com integration with Homhero.

Auto Bill VCC Cards
When this toggle is enabled under Online Booking Settings > Payment Method, Homhero will automatically process any Virtual Credit Cards (VCCs) for any reservations that are 1 day after the arrival date. 



Each morning, Homhero will charge any eligible VCCs that meet this criteria and send the Property Management Company (PMC) a report via email detailing all successful and unsuccessful VCC transactions. This process is fully automated and requires no manual intervention, however, you have the option to charge the card manually before the day after arrival, provided the funds are available. To confirm which date the funds will be available from, please view the 'Internal Notes' section of a Booking.com reservation.

Booking.com Descriptions
Currently it's only possible to push the Short Description from Homhero to Booking.com. Please find some examples below of where this is setup in Homhero and what this looks like online. The description that displays at the top of the listing on Booking.com, feeds from the Booking.com side.

Homhero - Booking Engine > Listings > Booking.com Listing > Details tab > Short Description



Booking.com



Booking.com Facilities and Services (Attributes)
All Booking.com attributes defaults to “Unknown” instead of the previous default of “Included”. This change was made to improve accuracy, as some amenities were previously appearing on Booking.com as included when they were actually paid services — for example, Horse Riding.
Important: This update takes effect for all future updates starting April 4, 2025.

Booking.com Integration Enhancements

• Reporting API Integration: Homhero supports the Booking.com Reporting API, enabling more seamless and automated reservation updates.

• Enhanced API Logging: Improved logging provides greater visibility into API activity for better tracking and troubleshooting.

• Cancellation Rules Update: Reservations can only be cancelled 24 hours after the last failed credit card transaction reported via the API. All cancellations are blocked until this timeframe has passed.

• No-Show Functionality: The ability to mark a 'no show' has been added to the reservation view for easier reporting and compliance.

Handling Invalid Credit Cards 
When a credit card has declined on a Booking.com reservation, Homhero will attempt to charge the card up to 3 times. The host can cancel bookings with invalid credit card details before or after the 3rd attempt if the booking has met the conditions for being cancelled as described further below.

More information can be found here: Handling invalid credit cards from Booking.com

How to find your Property ID, Room ID, and Legal Entity ID (LEID) in Booking.com’s Extranet?
Below are the steps to help you find your Property ID, Room ID, and LEID within the Booking.com Extranet.

• Property ID: The Property ID is a unique numerical identifier assigned by Booking.com to each property listed on their platform. It helps Booking.com and third-party systems (like Homhero) recognise and manage your specific property within the system.
  
  
  1. Log in to the Booking.com Extranet.
  2. At the top center of the page, locate your property name.
  3. Your Property ID will appear next to the property name (a numeric code)
     
     
     
     
• Room ID: Room ID is similar to the Property ID.  The Room ID is a unique number assigned to each individual room type within a property. While it usually begins with the same digits as the Property ID, it includes extra numbers to distinguish between different room types (e.g. Studio, 2-Bedroom Apartment). Room IDs are essential for mapping and syncing availability, pricing, and restrictions between systems.
  
  
  1. Log in to the Booking.com Extranet.
  2. Open Rates & Availability.
  3. Find the Room ID displayed next to each room name.
  4. It typically starts with the same digits as your Property ID, followed by two extra numbers.
     
     
     
     
• Legal Entity ID (LEID): The Legal Entity ID (LEID) is a unique identifier used by Booking.com to represent the legal business entity that owns or manages the property. It’s typically required for financial, contractual, and integration purposes, particularly when linking financial data or working with payment gateways.
  1. Log in to the Booking.com Extranet.
  2. Click the picture of your accommodation in the top right corner.
  3. You can read the LEID behind Legal Entity ID.

Itemised Booking.com Packages
There are several packages types in Homhero that are not supported by Booking.com when the itemised toggle is turned on under OTA Options. These include:

• Per Additional Guest Per Booking
• Per Additional Guest Per Night
• Per Additional Guest Per Night By Beds

When any of these types are selected, we automatically disable the Itemised toggle to ensure the additional guest pricing becomes included in our LOS pricing, rather than being split out as a separate charge.

NSW STR Exemption Support Added
The Booking.com integration includes support for the NSW Short-Term Rental (STR) exemption. This update ensures that properties qualifying for the exemption can be accurately managed and reported within the system, aligning with NSW compliance requirements.

Parking
You will notice that 'Parking' is not available as a Feature to be mapped via the MANAGE Features page in Homhero. However, you can add Parking to the 'Services' section in your individual Booking.com Listing Settings instead. You do have the option to select one or multiple Parking services to feed to Booking.com. I have attached an example of where this is setup in Homhero and what this looks like online.

Homhero - Booking Engine > Listings > Booking.com Listing > Details tab > Services 



Booking.com



Reviews
You can view and respond to Booking.com reviews directly via Homhero. This can be done via two sections:

Booking Engine > Reviews (This will show you a list of all reviews in Homhero)



Booking Engine > Listings > Open Listing > Reviews tab (this will show a list of all reviews for the listing selected)



Security Deposits (Damage Deposits)
Security Deposits for Booking.com can be setup and managed on the Homhero side. We have listed the below areas that need to be setup in Homhero to ensure this information feeds correctly on Booking.com.

1. Channel Management - Charge Security Deposit
Channel Management > Connections > Booking.com > DEFAULT Booking.com Settings > Pricing tab > 
Charge Security Deposit

This setting determines when you would like to charge the Security Deposit from the guest

2. Settings - Add Security Deposit
Settings > General Settings > Add Security Deposit

This setting is required to determine if your Security Deposit will be taken as a Pre-Auth or Refundable Security Deposit.

The following Security Deposits types can be setup in Homhero:
- Pre Auth (this will be a preauthorization from a credit card provided on the booking)
- Security Deposit (The guest will need to pay this when the final balance is due)
- Security Deposit (The guest will need to pay this at time of booking) This type does not feed to Booking.com

3. Property Management - Setting Security Deposit on the Area

Property Management > Areas tab > Edit Area > Security Deposit

This setting is where you dictate which listings the Security Deposit applies to. If NO Security Deposit is applied here, then no Damage Deposit will be required when booking that listing via Booking.com.



Smart Flex Reservations
When a guest makes a Smart Flex Reservation, this allows the guest to pay later and have more flexibility around cancelling their booking. You can check if it's a Smart Flex Reservation by looking in the internal notes of the Homhero reservation. Homhero handles Smart Flex Reservations by removing the previous VCC when a real card comes through.

Updating your Listing Address
If the address of your Booking.com listing changes in Homhero, you will need to reach out to Booking.com Customer Support to have it updated on their platform.

Transferring Booking.com Reservations to another Property
Yes, this is possible. It will be treated as a relocation, and the partner must contact Booking.com customer service to process the change. Alternatively, you can ask the guest to cancel their reservation at Property A, provide a reason, and share a link to Property B for them to make a new booking.

Updating your Booking.com guest messaging email
Starting 19th August, Booking.com introduced a new feature called the "Allow list" to prevent phishing attempts targeting your properties and guests. When suspicious activity is detected, this feature is activated and will block any emails from reaching guests unless the email address has been used for regular guest communication over the past 60 days. This extra layer of security helps prevent your guest messaging from being abused.

If you wish, you can adjust which email addresses are able to message your guests in the extranet using the instructions in this Partner Help article. If you don’t want to make any changes to the email addresses Booking.com has identified, no action is needed.