Help Center

HostMoat walks you through a quick setup flow when you first create your account. Here's the recommended order to get up and running: 1. Create your property: Go to Settings after signing in. If you don't have a property yet, you'll see a form to add your first one — enter your property name, address, and basic details. 2. Connect your calendars: Go to the Calendar view and click "Manage Feeds." Paste your Airbnb, VRBO, or Booking.com iCal URLs to start syncing bookings automatically. HostMoat checks for updates every 2 hours and extracts guest details from each booking. 3. Set up automatic emails: Go to Guests > Guest Emails to configure booking confirmations, pre-arrival instructions, checkout reminders, and post-stay review requests. Each template fires automatically at the right time — you write it once and HostMoat handles delivery. 4. Connect Stripe (optional): If you want to collect payments online — for invoices, deposits, or direct bookings — go to Settings and connect your Stripe account. This step is optional for hosts who manage payments outside HostMoat. 5. Start managing: With your calendar syncing and emails set up, HostMoat will automatically create guest records, send the right emails at the right times, and keep your booking register up to date. Add expenses, send invoices, and explore the rest of the platform at your own pace. Your account starts with a 30-day Pro trial — full access to all features, no credit card required.

Click "Try Demo" in the navigation bar on any page to jump into a fully interactive demo with sample data. You can create bookings, view the calendar, explore invoices, and try all 30+ features. The demo uses a shared account that resets every hour, and your session expires when you close your browser. No emails are sent and no real payments are processed. When you're ready, click "Start Free" in the demo banner to create your own account.

Sign up at hostmoat.com with your email address. We use passwordless authentication — you'll receive a magic link via email to sign in. No password to remember or manage.

After signing in, go to Settings. If you don't have a property yet, you'll see a form to add your first one. If you already have a property, click "+ Add Property" in the Property card header to add another (up to your plan's limit). Your active property can be switched from the sidebar dropdown.

In your Calendar view, click "Manage Feeds" and paste your Airbnb, VRBO, or Booking.com iCal URLs. HostMoat syncs every 2 hours automatically. You can also trigger a manual sync anytime. Starter includes 1 iCal feed; Essential and above include unlimited feeds.

Your dashboard shows key metrics at a glance: upcoming check-ins, revenue this month, occupancy rate, and recent bookings. Click any stat to drill into the details.

Click "Add Booking" on the Calendar page. Enter guest name, dates, nightly rate, and source (Airbnb, VRBO, direct, etc.). The booking appears on your calendar immediately.

HostMoat offers Starter (free), Essential ($9/mo), Pro ($19/mo), Pro 5 ($39/mo), and Pro 10 ($59/mo). Starter includes a dashboard, calendar, guest CRM, 1 iCal import feed, seasonal pricing rules, and weekend premium. Essential adds unlimited iCal sync, automatic booking emails, inquiry auto-responder, email import, and expense tracking with booking sync. Pro adds contracts, invoicing, staff management, tax tools, and supports 2 properties. Pro 5 and Pro 10 extend Pro to more properties.

HostMoat imports bookings from iCal feeds provided by Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com. It also exports your HostMoat bookings back as an iCal feed, so changes flow both ways. Sync runs every 2 hours. During import, HostMoat parses the iCal DESCRIPTION field to extract guest details including phone number, email, guest count, and confirmation code, then automatically creates or updates guest profiles in the Guest CRM.

Connect all your platform calendars to HostMoat, then add HostMoat's export URL to each platform. This creates a two-way sync loop. For extra safety, also connect Airbnb and VRBO directly to each other.

HostMoat provides a public calendar widget you can embed on your website. It shows real-time availability and lets guests submit inquiry forms. Find the embed code under Guests > Booking Widget. Toggle "Show nightly prices" to display per-night rates on each available day — prices reflect your base rate, seasonal pricing rules, and weekend premium. If your property has an active Booking Site, you can also enable "Show 'Book Direct' link" to display a button at the bottom of the calendar that links guests to your direct booking page.

The Booking Site feature lets you create a branded booking website for your property. Go to Guests > Booking Site to configure it. Setup tab: Enable the site, choose a subdomain slug (yourslug.hostmoat.com), set booking mode (inquiry only or instant book), configure payment options (full or deposit), and optionally attach a contract template that auto-sends on booking. Pro users can connect a custom domain — add a CNAME record at your registrar pointing to sites.hostmoat.com, then click "Provision Domain" to set up SSL automatically. Use "Check Status" to verify DNS propagation and SSL activation. Content tab: Write a hero tagline and about description, select amenities from a predefined list or add custom ones, set property details (guests, bedrooms, bathrooms), and enter coordinates for a location map. House rules come from your Guidebook automatically. Toggle "Calendar Prices" to show nightly rates on each available day in the booking site calendar. Photos tab: Upload property photos with drag-and-drop. Photos are auto-compressed to JPEG. Set a hero photo, add captions, and drag to reorder. Pro plans allow up to 30 photos per property. Preview tab: See a live preview of your booking site in desktop or mobile viewport.

Set turnover buffer days per property in Settings. This blocks extra days after checkout on external platforms to give cleaners time to prepare for the next guest.

Email import lets you forward Airbnb booking confirmation, update, and cancellation emails to a unique per-property address to enrich your booking data with pricing, fees, and guest details that iCal sync can't provide. Setup: Go to Settings and enable Email Import for your property. Copy the forwarding address (e.g., [email protected]). Gmail auto-forwarding (recommended): In Gmail Settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP, add the HostMoat forwarding address. Gmail sends a verification email — HostMoat automatically forwards it to your inbox so you can click the confirmation link. Important: after confirming, hard refresh Gmail (Ctrl+Shift+R or Cmd+Shift+R) — the new address won't appear in filter options until you do. Then create three separate Gmail filters (Gmail does not support OR in the Subject field within a single filter): 1. New bookings: From "[email protected]", Subject "Reservation confirmed" → forward to your HostMoat address. 2. Booking updates: From "[email protected]", Subject "Reservation updated" → forward to your HostMoat address. 3. Cancellations: From "[email protected]", Subject "Canceled" → forward to your HostMoat address. Tip: find an existing Airbnb email of each type, click the three-dot menu > "Filter messages like these" to create each filter more easily. What gets extracted: guest name, revenue/payout, nightly rate, host service fee, cleaning fee, guest count, confirmation code, and reservation URL. Note: Airbnb does not include guest email or phone in confirmation emails. How matching works: HostMoat matches by confirmation code first, then by guest name + overlapping dates, then by date-only overlap. If a match is found, the booking is enriched. Otherwise a new booking is created. For "Reservation updated" emails, financial data (revenue, fees, dates, guest count) is overwritten with the new values. Cancellation handling: When a cancellation email is detected (subject contains "Canceled" or body mentions cancellation), HostMoat matches the booking by confirmation code or dates, sets it to cancelled, and updates the revenue to the cancellation payout amount. Cancellation notification emails are automatically sent to the guest and staff. Currently supports Airbnb only. VRBO and Booking.com support coming soon.

The Booking Detail Register (labeled "Booking Log" in the sidebar under Operations) is a comprehensive table view of every booking on your property. Each row shows the guest name, check-in and checkout dates, number of nights, revenue, nightly rate, source platform (Airbnb, VRBO, Direct, etc.), confirmation code, guest count, and pre-arrival form status. Searching and filtering: Use the search bar to find bookings by guest name. Filter by source platform or booking status (confirmed, tentative, cancelled). Sort by any column header. Booking detail modal: Click any row to open the full booking detail modal. From there you can edit booking details, view linked invoices and contracts, check the guest's pre-arrival form status and responses, and see the guest's portal link. Exporting: Click the CSV export button to download your full booking register for accounting, tax preparation, or record-keeping. Form status column: The "Form" column shows the current state of each booking's pre-arrival form — Sent, Viewed, In Progress, or Completed. A dash means no form has been sent yet.

When a guest checks out and another checks in on the same day, the calendar highlights that day with a red-tinted background, a warning icon next to the date, and coral-colored booking bars. This makes tight turnovers easy to spot so you can coordinate cleaners and avoid missed turnovers.

When a booking is cancelled — whether manually, through iCal sync detecting a removal on Airbnb/VRBO, or any other way — HostMoat automatically sends a cancellation confirmation email to the guest (if a guest email is on file) and notifies staff members who have the "Booking Cancellations" notification enabled. You can toggle this per staff member on the Staff page. The cancelled booking also appears on the Cancellations page where you can track estimated revenue loss, refund amounts, and rebooking status.

Log expenses in the Expenses & Income page with a category (cleaning, maintenance, supplies, utilities, etc.), amount, date, and optional notes. HostMoat auto-maps these to Schedule E tax categories. All finance pages are grouped under the Finance section in the sidebar. Period filtering: Use the period selector to view transactions by month, quarter, or full year. The summary cards update to show income, expenses, and net profit for the selected time range. CSV export: Click "Export CSV" to download the currently filtered transactions for your accountant or tax records. Linking expenses to bookings: When adding or editing a transaction, select a booking from the dropdown to associate the expense with a specific stay. Linked expenses appear on the booking detail view alongside revenue, so you can see per-booking net profit. Sync booking revenue: Click "Sync Bookings" to automatically create income transactions for bookings that have revenue but no linked income entry. This eliminates manual double-entry — each synced transaction is linked to the booking with the correct date and Schedule E category. Recurring expenses: Check the "Recurring" box when adding a transaction and select a frequency (monthly, quarterly, every 6 months, or yearly). When a recurring expense is due, a banner appears at the top of the page — click "Generate Now" to create the next occurrence and advance the due date. Use this for mortgage payments, utilities, insurance, and other regular costs.

Create invoices in the Invoices page with line items, tax, and due date. Send to guests via email — they receive a secure payment link to pay by credit card or ACH bank transfer via Stripe. Track my cost: When creating a new invoice, enable the "Track my cost for this service" toggle to automatically log an expense for what you paid the vendor. Enter your cost amount separately from the guest-facing invoice total. If the amounts differ, HostMoat shows your markup percentage so you can see your profit margin at a glance. The expense is created automatically when the invoice is saved — no need to go to the Expenses page separately. Voiding invoices: If you need to cancel an invoice that has already been sent, click the Void button in the action column. Voiding is available for invoices with a status of sent, viewed, or overdue. Voided invoices remain in your records for audit purposes and can be filtered using the Voided tab at the top of the Invoices page. Offline payment tracking: When a guest pays outside of Stripe — by cash, check, or wire transfer — click "Mark Paid" to record the payment. Stripe payments are tracked automatically when guests pay through the invoice link. Each paid invoice displays a badge showing the payment method: "Stripe" for online payments or "Offline" for manually recorded payments, so you always know how each invoice was settled.

Configure automatic reminders per property: choose how many days before due date, on due date, and how many days after to send reminders. HostMoat sends them automatically and logs each reminder.

When you send a contract, you can enable auto-invoicing to automatically create deposit and balance invoices. The deposit invoice is sent to the guest immediately when they sign the contract (due the same day). The balance invoice is created as a draft and automatically sent a configurable number of days before its due date. Configure the send timing in Invoice Reminder Settings (the gear/Reminders button on the Invoices page). The default is 7 days before the due date. Both invoices appear in your regular Invoices list and are linked to the booking.

Invoices are automatically emailed to guests when created. Staff members can opt in to receive notifications for invoice events (created, paid, voided) in their Staff settings under Notification Preferences. All invoice emails are logged in the Admin Email Activity section.

Your base pricing settings are managed from the Pricing tab in the sidebar. Editing: The Base Rate card at the top of the Pricing tab shows your current nightly rate, cleaning fee, and weekend premium. Click the Edit button on that card to update any value. Fields: - Nightly rate: your default per-night price for all dates not covered by a seasonal rule - Cleaning fee: a flat fee added once per booking regardless of length of stay - Weekend premium: a percentage surcharge applied on top of the applicable nightly rate for Friday and Saturday nights (e.g., enter 20 for a 20% uplift) Recommended rates: If your property has booking history, the editor shows a suggestion banner based on your last 12 months of bookings. It recommends a nightly rate (historical average with a 5% inflation uplift), a cleaning fee (historical average), and a weekend premium of at least 10%. Click "Apply Suggested Rates" to populate all three fields at once. The banner only appears when there is enough historical data — it won't show for new properties. Saving: Click Save on the card to apply your changes. The new values take effect immediately for all future pricing calculations.

Seasonal pricing rules let you override your base nightly rate for specific date windows — holidays, peak season, school breaks, or any custom period. Where to configure: Go to the Pricing tab in the sidebar. Under the Pricing Rules section, click "+ Add Rule" (or "Add First Rule" if you have none yet). Rule fields: - Name: a label for the rule (e.g., "Summer Peak", "Christmas Week") - Start and end date: the date range the rule applies to - Nightly rate: the rate to charge for nights that fall within this range - Minimum stay: optionally enforce a minimum number of nights for this period (enforced on your Direct Booking Site) Overlap prevention: The system prevents two rules from covering the same dates. If your new rule's dates conflict with an existing rule, you'll see an error and the save will be blocked. Adjust the dates so no two rules overlap — this ensures every night has an unambiguous price. Editing and deleting rules: Click the Edit icon on any rule to change its name, dates, rate, or minimum stay. Click the Delete icon to remove a rule. Deleted rules immediately stop applying to new calculations. How rules are applied: When a booking or inquiry falls within a rule's date range, that rule's nightly rate is used for those nights instead of your base rate. Nights outside any rule fall back to your base nightly rate. Auto-suggest for manual bookings: When you add a manual booking with dates and guest count, HostMoat auto-calculates a suggested total using your pricing rules. You can accept or override the suggestion. Direct Booking Site: Seasonal pricing is applied automatically to your booking site. Guests see a per-night breakdown and the correct total based on your rules.

The Price Calendar tab on the Pricing page gives you a bird's-eye view of nightly rates across all your properties on a scrollable date grid. How to access: Go to the Pricing page and click the "Price Calendar" tab. What you see: Each row is a property and each column is a date. Cells show the effective nightly rate for that property on that date — factoring in your base rate, seasonal pricing rules, and weekend premiums. A "Vacant" row at the top shows how many properties are available on each day. Color coding: - Green: available at base rate - Yellow: available with weekend premium applied - Blue: available with a seasonal pricing rule override - Red: booked (shows the guest name) - Today's column is highlighted in blue - Month boundaries have a thicker border Navigation: Use the arrow buttons to scroll by week or month. Click "Today" to jump back to the current date. The grid shows 28 days at a time. Hover any cell for a tooltip showing the property name, date, booking status, rate, and which pricing rule (if any) applies. Summary stats below the grid show average vacancy, total bookings in range, and active pricing rules.

Market Intelligence helps you set smarter prices by analyzing your booking history, holiday calendars, and seasonal patterns. How to access: Go to the Pricing page and click the "Market Intelligence" tab (next to "Rates & Rules"). Metrics overview: At the top of the page, stat cards show your Average Daily Rate (ADR), occupancy rate, Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR), and Pricing Health score (0-100). These are calculated from your booking data and update automatically. Demand Calendar: A 12-month color-coded heat map shows demand scores (1-10) for every date. Green cells indicate low demand, yellow is moderate, and red is high demand. Scores are computed from your historical booking patterns, holiday calendars (US and Mexico), day-of-week trends, and seasonal factors. Click any date to see the score breakdown and create a pricing rule directly. Recommendations: Below the calendar, HostMoat generates specific pricing suggestions — for example, adding a holiday surcharge for Fourth of July weekend or adjusting rates during a detected low-demand period. Each recommendation shows the suggested date range, nightly rate, estimated revenue impact, and confidence level. Click "Apply" to instantly create a pricing rule with those values. Once a rule is active, the recommendation card shows an ACTIVE badge with Edit and Remove buttons so you can manage the rule directly from the recommendations view. Pricing Health score: A 0-100 score measuring how well your current pricing rules cover high-demand dates and whether occupancy is trending positively. Above 70 is solid. The score includes a specific action you can take to improve it. Your Airbnb Listing: If you have an Airbnb iCal feed connected, HostMoat automatically pulls your listing's performance data and displays it in a dedicated card. You'll see your trailing-twelve-month ADR, occupancy rate, annual revenue, RevPAR, and guest rating — giving you a quick benchmark of your Airbnb performance without leaving HostMoat. This data refreshes monthly. Market Comparables: The Competitors tab shows nearby listings from AirROI with booked ADR, ratings, min stay, and more. Listings with Airbnb's "Guest Favorite" badge are tagged with a gold label. Check-in and checkout times are shown so you can compare your schedule flexibility against the local market. Getting smarter over time: Market Intelligence uses your property's booking history as its primary data source. The more booking data HostMoat has, the more accurate the demand scores and recommendations become. New properties with limited history will see broader estimates that refine as bookings accumulate.

The weekend premium automatically adds a percentage surcharge to Friday and Saturday nights across all your pricing. Where to configure: Go to the Pricing tab in the sidebar. Click Edit on the Base Rate card, then update the Weekend Premium field (e.g., enter 20 for a 20% uplift). How it works: The surcharge is applied on top of whatever nightly rate applies for that night — whether the base rate or a seasonal rule. For example, if a Friday night falls in a peak season rule at $300/night and your weekend premium is 20%, that night is priced at $360. Direct Booking Site: Weekend premium is included in the per-night breakdown shown to guests. Each night shows its applicable rate so guests can see exactly what drives their total. Turning it off: Set the weekend premium to 0 (or leave it blank) to disable the surcharge.

When a guest books or submits an inquiry through your Direct Booking Site, HostMoat calculates the total using the calculate_booking_price function, which powers direct booking, inquiry estimates, and manual booking suggestions. Per-night calculation order: 1. Base rate: your default nightly rate is the starting point for every night. 2. Seasonal rule override: if the night falls within a seasonal pricing rule's date range, that rule's nightly rate replaces the base rate for that night. 3. Weekend premium on top: if the night is a Friday or Saturday and a weekend premium is set, that percentage is added on top of the applicable rate (base or seasonal). 4. Cleaning fee added once: the cleaning fee is added as a flat charge to the booking total, not per night. What guests see: The booking form shows a detailed per-night breakdown — every night listed with its rate and any premium applied — so the total is fully transparent. Minimum stay enforcement: If the dates selected fall within a seasonal rule that has a minimum stay, the booking form enforces that minimum and shows the guest the requirement. Inquiry estimates: When guests submit an inquiry (Inquiry Only mode), the same calculation is used for the estimated total shown in your inquiry notification email. Manual bookings: When adding a booking manually, HostMoat auto-suggests a total using the same pricing stack. You can accept or override the suggestion.

Go to Finance > Commissions to set up commission rules with agent names and percentage rates. Each rule defines an agent, a booking type, and a commission rate. When you create or edit a booking, the Agent field becomes a dropdown populated from your commission rules. Selecting an agent automatically calculates the commission amount based on the rule's rate applied to the rental amount. You can still override the calculated amount manually if needed. Changing the rental amount with an agent selected will recalculate the commission automatically.

The Payouts tab on the Commissions page shows what you owe each referral partner. Bookings with a non-zero commission are grouped by agent. What you see: Three top-line totals — Outstanding (still owed), Paid (already settled), and Total Accrued (lifetime). Each agent group lists their unpaid bookings by check-in date with rental amount, commission, and status. Marking commissions paid: Click "Mark paid" on a single booking when you cut a partner a check, or use "Mark all paid" on the agent header to clear that agent's entire outstanding balance in one click. Each booking stores the date you marked it paid, so you have an audit trail. Marked something paid by mistake? Toggle "Show paid bookings" and click "Mark unpaid" on the row. Where it shows up: The Bookings table shows a green checkmark next to paid commissions and a yellow dot next to owed ones. The Profitability P&L deducts all commissions from net profit (whether paid or not — once accrued, the income isn't really yours).

These are two different things and HostMoat tracks them separately. Referral commissions are what you owe a third party (a referral partner, agent, or travel advisor) who sent you a booking. You set these up on the Commissions page and tag the booking when you create it. Platform fees are what Airbnb or VRBO take from each booking (usually around 3% of the booking total). These are stored on the booking's platform_fee field — typically populated automatically from email imports or manually for hostmoat-tracked bookings. Both reduce your net profit, but they appear on separate lines in the P&L and the Commission column on the Bookings list only shows referral commissions. The booking detail popover shows both as distinct rows.

The Tax Center maps your income and expenses to IRS Schedule E line items. It tracks depreciation, personal-use days, and calculates prorated deductions. Export a summary for your accountant.

The Yearly Summary page shows year-over-year comparisons of revenue, occupancy, average nightly rate, and expenses. Use it to spot trends and plan pricing adjustments.

The Guest CRM automatically builds profiles from your bookings and assigns tags based on guest behavior. When bookings sync from Airbnb, VRBO, or Booking.com, guest records are created automatically with phone, email, guest count, and confirmation codes extracted from the iCal data. Guests are deduplicated by email first, then by name, so the same person booking across platforms results in one unified profile. Search guests by name or email, filter by tag, and export your full guest list as CSV. Tags include Champion, High Value, Repeat, Long Stay, Direct Booker, Big Group, Recent, and Lapsed.

Tags are assigned automatically based on booking data. You can customize the thresholds for each tag per property in Settings > Guest Tag Thresholds. For example, set how many stays qualify a guest as "Repeat," what spend level earns "High Value," or how many months of inactivity triggers "Lapsed." Changes apply immediately to all guest profiles.

When the same guest books through different platforms or with slight name variations, you may end up with duplicate entries. Select two or more guests in the CRM and click "Merge" to consolidate them into a single profile. All stay history, revenue, tags, and contact information are combined.

Create per-property email templates with merge fields like {{guest_name}}, {{checkin_date}}, {{checkout_date}}, and {{property_name}}. Use them for booking confirmations, check-in instructions, and review requests. Each template has a toggle switch in the sidebar to quickly enable or disable auto-sending without deleting the template.

When iCal sync imports bookings, HostMoat automatically extracts guest details (phone, email, guest count, confirmation code) from the DESCRIPTION field and creates guest records in the CRM. Existing bookings are updated with new details on re-sync without overwriting any manual edits you have made. Deduplication matches guests by email first, then by name, ensuring a single profile per guest across platforms.

Configure emails to send automatically on specific triggers: on booking, days before check-in, checkout morning, or days after checkout. Each template fires at most once per booking to prevent duplicates. Use the toggle switch next to each template in the Guest Emails sidebar to enable or disable individual templates without losing your configuration.

Create contract templates with merge fields. Send to guests via email — they view and e-sign through a secure portal. Payment method on file: When sending a contract, toggle "Require payment method on file" on or off. When enabled, the guest must save a credit card or bank account via Stripe during signing — this is for incidentals and damage deposits only, not an upfront charge. When disabled, the guest signs without entering any payment details. The contract signing page explains to the guest that the card is for potential incidentals. After checkout, you can charge the saved card from the Contracts page for any damages.

If a contract was signed with a card on file, you can charge it for security deposit claims. Go to the Contracts page, select a signed contract, and click the 'Charge Card' button. Enter the amount and a brief reason (e.g., 'Broken lamp in living room'), then confirm. The charge is processed immediately through Stripe. The guest will receive an email receipt with the charge details. You can make multiple charges against the same contract if needed. All charges are logged in the Charge History section on the contract detail panel. If you need to refund a charge, you can do so from your Stripe dashboard.

The Guest Portal is automatically created for every booking that has a guest email address. Each booking gets a unique portal link included in booking confirmation emails. Enabling the portal: The portal is on by default for all bookings with a guest email. Guests can access their portal link from any device without creating an account — the link is their authentication. Using the portal link in emails: The portal link is available as the {{portal_link}} template variable in Guest Email Templates. Add it to any email template to include the guest's unique portal URL. The link is also automatically appended to booking emails, contract sends, invoice sends, and pre-arrival form emails. What guests see in the portal: The portal is a comprehensive guest hub that pulls together booking details, property information, and guidebook content in one place: - Property address with a clickable Google Maps link (works with just city/country — no street address required) - Booking details: check-in/checkout dates, number of nights, guest count - Review form link: if a review form has been sent, a "Leave Review" button appears (or "View" if already submitted) - Pre-arrival form link: always accessible, even after the guest has submitted — they can revisit and update answers anytime - Checkout instructions pulled from your guidebook's check-in/checkout section - Bedrooms section showing room names, bed types, and floor info from your guidebook - Contact information with clickable phone and email links from your guidebook contacts - House rules as a collapsible section from your guidebook - All freeform guidebook sections (transport, dining, pool rules, property details, concierge, etc.) displayed inline as expandable cards - A "View Full Property Guidebook" button linking to the complete guidebook - Guest messaging to send messages to the host - Contract signing, pre-arrival form completion, invoice payments, and upsell browsing Check-in detail timing: Configure when check-in details (door codes, WiFi, access instructions) become visible to the guest. For example, you can reveal them 3 days before arrival. This keeps sensitive access information private until closer to the stay. Task gating: Require guests to complete specific tasks before check-in details are revealed — for example, sign their contract or submit the pre-arrival form. Once the required task is complete, the portal automatically unlocks check-in info. Guidebook integration: The portal automatically pulls content from your Digital Guidebook. Keep your guidebook up to date — any changes to sections, bedrooms, contacts, or house rules are reflected in the portal immediately. Guest messaging: Guests can send messages directly from the portal. Messages appear in the Guest Portal page under the Requests tab. You and staff members with the "Portal message" notification enabled receive email notifications. Configure portal settings from the Guest Portal page under the Settings tab.

Upsells let you offer add-on services and experiences that guests can request directly from their portal. Built-in upsells: Every property automatically gets two built-in upsells — Early Check-in and Late Checkout. These appear at the top of your catalog with a "Built-in" badge and cannot be deleted, only toggled active or inactive. When editing a built-in upsell, you set a time (e.g., 11:00 AM for early check-in) instead of a name. Set your price however you like. When a guest requests a built-in upsell and you approve it, the guest's check-in or checkout time is automatically updated — the adjusted time appears in the guest portal and booking emails. Creating custom upsell items: Go to the Guest Portal page → Upsells tab and click '+ Add Upsell'. Fill in the item name, description, price, category (experience, package, etc.), and availability window (how many days before/after check-in the item can be requested). Pricing Types: Each upsell can be set to one of three pricing types: Flat Fee (a single price regardless of guests or duration), Per Person (price multiplied by number of people the guest selects), or Per Night (price multiplied by number of nights the guest selects). Set the pricing type when creating or editing an upsell in the Upsells tab. Guest flow: When a guest opens their portal, they see your active upsell catalog and can browse and request items. Requesting an item does not charge them automatically — it notifies you for approval. Handling requests: Both you and staff members with the upsell request notification enabled will receive an email when a guest requests an upsell. Go to the Guest Portal page → Requests tab to see pending requests. Click Approve to accept — an invoice is automatically created and sent to the guest. Click Reject to decline with an optional note. Digest integration: Pending upsell requests are included in your weekly digest emails so nothing slips through the cracks. Disabling upsells: If you don't want to offer upsells, toggle off 'Upsells & Add-ons' in the Guest Portal → Settings tab. The upsells section will be hidden from the guest portal. Tracking revenue: The Guest Portal → Requests tab shows all requests, their status (pending, approved, rejected), and total upsell revenue per property. Approved requests link to the corresponding invoice for payment tracking.

Customize the Guest Portal to match your property brand. Accent color: Set a hex color that appears on buttons, highlights, and key UI elements in the portal. Use your brand color or a color that matches your property aesthetic. Property logo: Upload an image that appears at the top of the portal. Supported formats: PNG, JPG, WebP. Recommended size: at least 200px wide, square or landscape aspect ratio. Welcome message: Write a custom greeting that appears at the top of the portal, above the trip details. Use it to set the tone — a warm welcome, house rules summary, or your contact information. Guidebook content: The portal automatically displays content from your Digital Guidebook — property address with Google Maps link, checkout instructions, bedroom details, contact info, house rules, and all freeform sections as expandable cards. Keep your guidebook updated to ensure guests see accurate information. All branding settings are per-property and configured from the Guest Portal page → Settings tab. Changes apply immediately to all active portal links for that property.

By default, the guest portal shows your bedroom details, check-in/checkout instructions, contact information, house rules, and any custom (freeform) guidebook sections inline. If you'd rather keep the portal lean and have guests open the full guidebook for that content instead, you can hide each section individually. Go to Guest Portal → Settings → Portal Sections. There are five toggles, all on by default: - Show bedrooms - Show check-in & checkout instructions - Show contact information - Show house rules - Show custom guidebook sections Turning a toggle off removes that block from the portal page — but the guidebook content itself is unchanged, and the "View Full Property Guidebook" button at the bottom of the portal still appears so guests can read the full guidebook in one place. The property address in the portal header (with the Google Maps link) and the check-in codes/Wi-Fi reveal are unaffected by these toggles.

The Staff page is the unified hub for everyone who helps run your property — cleaners, co-hosts, property managers, and other staff. Adding staff: Click "+ Add Staff Member" and fill in their name, role, email, phone, notes, and cleaning rate. All fields except name are optional. Turnovers vs. Cleanings: Turnovers are calendar events that show guest transitions — when one guest checks out and another checks in. Cleanings are the actionable work tasks with checklists, photos, and staff assignment. When a booking is created (manually or via iCal sync), a turnover event is recorded and a cleaning task is automatically created from the property's default turnover template. Back-to-back bookings merge into a single turnover. When a booking is cancelled, its linked turnover and cleaning are both marked as skipped. Cleanings: The Cleanings tab on the Staff page lets you manage all cleaning tasks — turnover cleans, daily cleans, and deep cleans. Each cleaning has a type, date, assigned staff member, status, and checklist. Turnover cleans are linked to turnover events and show guest checkout/checkin details. Templates: The Templates tab lets you create per-property cleaning checklists. Each property can have default templates for turnover cleans, daily cleans, and deep cleans. When a booking creates a turnover, a cleaning task is automatically created using the property's default turnover template. Ratings & Bonuses: The Ratings & Bonuses tab shows per-staff-member guest ratings and bonuses in a unified table. When guests submit review forms with staff ratings, those scores automatically appear here. Use the staff filter dropdown to view an individual member's performance. Click "Add Bonus" to manually record a bonus for any staff member. Stat cards at the top show average guest rating, total bonuses paid, and unpaid bonuses. Payments: Log cleaner payments on the Payments tab, linked to specific staff members and cleanings with payment method tracking. Portal access: Click the portal icon on any staff member to generate a shareable link (no login required). They can view their assigned cleanings — with type badges (turnover, daily, deep) — and complete checklists and upload photos from their phone. App access: To invite a staff member to HostMoat with a real account, click "Invite to HostMoat" and choose their role (Manager or Viewer). Managers can create, edit, and delete property data. Viewers have read-only access. Invitations expire after 30 days and can be resent or revoked.

Each staff member can receive up to 11 types of email notifications. Configure them per-staff from the Staff page by clicking the notification bell icon on any member. Available notification types: - Digest — summary of upcoming check-ins, revenue, and turnovers - Pre-arrival form submitted — notified when a guest submits or updates their form - Review form submitted — notified when a guest submits a post-stay review - Guest inquiry received — notified on new inquiries from the embeddable calendar - New booking created — notified when a booking is added (manually or via iCal) - Booking cancellation — notified when a booking is cancelled (manually, via iCal sync, or any other way) - Turnover assigned — notified when a turnover is assigned to them - Turnover reminder — day-before reminder for their assigned turnovers - Low inventory alert — notified when supply quantities fall below reorder levels - Upsell request — notified when a guest requests an add-on from the portal - Portal message — notified when a guest sends a message via the portal Note: pre-arrival form notifications were previously configured in the Messaging / Pre-Arrival Forms section. That setting has been removed — all staff notifications are now managed from the Staff page.

When any booking is cancelled — manually, via iCal sync detecting a removal on Airbnb or VRBO, or any other method — HostMoat automatically sends two types of notification: 1. Guest cancellation confirmation: If the booking has a guest email on file, the guest receives a cancellation confirmation email with the property name, dates, and guest name. 2. Staff cancellation notification: Staff members who have the "Booking Cancellations" notification preference enabled receive an email with the booking details (guest name, dates, source, and property name). To configure which staff receive cancellation notifications: go to the Staff page, click the notification bell icon on a staff member, and toggle "Booking Cancellations" on or off. This works the same as all other staff notification types. Cancellation emails are sent automatically — no manual action is required. The cancelled booking also appears on the Cancellations page for revenue loss tracking and rebooking.

Staff members with a portal link can access a no-login page from any device. The portal shows their upcoming cleanings with type badges (turnover, daily, or deep clean). Turnover cleans include guest checkout/checkin details and guest counts. They can complete checklist items and upload photos from their phone. To share the portal: open the staff member on the Staff page and click the portal link icon to copy the URL. Send it to them however you like. The link is tied to the staff member's share_token and never expires (you can regenerate it if needed). The Cleanings tab on the Staff page is where you create, edit, and assign cleanings.

Create per-property cleaning checklists in the Templates tab on the Staff page. Each property can have default templates for turnover cleans, daily cleans, and deep cleans. When a booking creates a turnover, a cleaning task is automatically created using the property's default turnover template. You can customize templates with different checklist items for each property — for example, your beach house might include 'rinse outdoor shower' while your cabin includes 'check firewood'.

Track repairs, recurring maintenance, and vendor costs in the dedicated Maintenance page (accessible from the Operations nav section). Add items with categories (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, etc.), set recurring schedules, and track costs. Overdue items are highlighted automatically.

Track STR permits, occupancy tax registration, insurance policies, and local ordinance deadlines. Upload document files (PDFs, images) directly to each compliance item for safekeeping. Set custom reminder windows per document and receive automatic email alerts when permits or policies are expiring. Use bulk actions to renew multiple documents at once or export your compliance records as CSV. The Deadlines tab shows a consolidated timeline of all upcoming expirations and common US tax filing dates.

The Inventory & Supplies page has three tabs: Supplies, Furnishings, and Damage Log. Supplies: Add cleaning supplies, toiletries, kitchen items, linens, and outdoor supplies. Track quantities on hand, set reorder levels so you get alerts when stock is low, and record unit costs and preferred brands. Items at or below their reorder level are highlighted in red. Filter by category and export to CSV. Furnishings: Track larger assets like furniture, appliances, and fixtures. Record purchase cost, purchase date, annual depreciation, useful life, condition (new/good/fair/poor/replace), and replacement cost. HostMoat calculates book value and shows a lifespan progress bar. This data feeds directly into your Schedule E depreciation tracking in the Tax Center. Damage Log: File damage reports with descriptions, estimated and actual repair costs, and resolution notes. Track insurance claims with claim numbers and payouts. Reports can be marked as open, in repair, resolved, or claimed. Export to CSV for insurance records. All three tabs support full add, edit, and delete operations.

The Lead Sources page tracks which platforms drive your bookings. The current year's source breakdown is featured at the top with progress bars. The year-over-year trends table shows all years sorted newest-first so the most relevant data is always visible. For recent years, source data is computed automatically from your booking records. For historical years (before you started using HostMoat), you can manually add lead source entries by clicking "Add Lead Source" in the Manage Lead Source Records card. Each entry has a year, source name (Airbnb, VRBO, Direct, etc. or a custom name), and booking count. Edit or delete entries from the same table.

The Finances page provides a complete financial overview. At the top, you see total income, expenses, and net profit from manually recorded transactions. Below that, an Invoices summary section shows your total invoiced amount, collected payments, outstanding balance, and invoice count — with a direct link to the full Invoices page. Add transactions manually to track cleaning costs, maintenance, platform fees, and other expenses with automatic Schedule E line mapping for tax reporting.

Invite co-hosts or property managers to access HostMoat with role-based permissions. How to invite: 1. Go to the Staff page and add the person as a staff member (or open an existing one) 2. Click "Invite to HostMoat" 3. Choose their role: Manager (edit bookings & finances) or Viewer (read-only) 4. Click Invite — they'll receive an email with an invitation link Managing invitations: - Pending invitations are shown in Settings under Team Members - Resend an invitation if the person didn't receive it - Revoke an invitation to cancel it - Invitations expire after 30 days What happens when they accept: The invitee clicks the link, signs in (or creates an account), and is automatically added to your property. They inherit your subscription access — no separate subscription needed. Note: The Team Members card in Settings now redirects to the Staff page. All invitation and access management happens there.

Pre-Arrival Forms let you send customizable questionnaires to guests before check-in, collecting information like food preferences, flight details, guest lists, and special requests. Setting up forms: Go to Messaging and find the Pre-Arrival Forms section. Use the form builder to create sections with different field types — text fields, dropdowns, checkboxes, guest list tables, and more. When adding a section, the type picker shows descriptions for each option: Questions (gather info from guests), Information (display-only content), and Agreement (rules guests must accept). You can add conditional logic using the "Show/Hide Logic" button on any question to show or hide fields based on previous answers. Reorder questions within a section using the up/down arrow buttons. The form auto-saves 1.5 seconds after any change, so you never lose work — a "Save Now" button is also available if you want to save immediately. Templates: HostMoat provides starter templates for common vacation rental scenarios. You can use them as-is or customize them to fit your property. Auto-send settings: Configure forms to auto-send a set number of days before check-in (default is 14 days). You can also manually send or resend forms for any booking from the booking detail view. Viewing responses: When a guest submits their form, a formatted report is generated and available in the booking detail view. You can view, print, or share the report with your staff. Staff notifications: Staff members who have the "Pre-arrival form submitted" notification enabled on the Staff page will receive an email when a guest submits or updates their form. Configure which staff get notified from the Staff page — not from the form settings. General property link: Each property also has a general pre-arrival form link (not tied to a specific booking) that you can share on your website or in manual communications. Guests fill out the form and enter their check-in and checkout dates. If those dates exactly match one booking on the property, HostMoat automatically links the response to that booking and backfills guest email, name, and phone to the booking if those fields are blank. If a booking already has an email on file, that booking email stays canonical — the general-link submit will not replace it. If that booking already has a pre-arrival response row, HostMoat reuses the existing response instead of creating a duplicate. After submit, the guest is switched onto the real `/pre-arrival/{response_token}` link for future edits. You can toggle auto-matching on or off in Pre-Arrival Form settings. Tracking form status on bookings: The Booking Log shows a "Form" column with each booking's arrival form status — Sent, Viewed, In Progress, or Completed. You can also see the form status and submission date inside any booking's detail modal (click a booking from the register or calendar). A dash means no form has been sent yet for that booking. Assigning unlinked responses: When a guest submits a form via the general link (without a booking), HostMoat checks if the guest's check-in and checkout dates match exactly one booking on the property. If so, the response is automatically linked to that booking and guest details (email, name, phone) are backfilled only if the booking fields are empty. If the booking already had a form response, HostMoat updates that existing response instead of creating a second one. If no match or multiple matches are found, the response appears as "Unassigned" in the Responses tab — click the Assign button to link it manually. Manual assignment also backfills guest info to the booking. Guest confirmation email: When a guest submits their form, they automatically receive a confirmation email with a summary of all their answers and a link to edit their responses. The email goes to the response email first, then the matched booking's guest email, and finally any email address captured in the form answers. On booking-linked forms, the primary guest email field is locked when an email is already on file for that booking. The generic `/pre-arrival/p/...` link itself always starts a new response, so the emailed edit link or guest portal link is the durable way back in.

Navigate to Guidebook in the Main section of the sidebar. Your guidebook is automatically created when you first visit. Add sections using the '+ Add Section' button — the picker shows descriptions for each type, split into pre-built structured sections (Contact Info, WiFi & Access, Bedrooms, House Rules, Check-in/Checkout) and custom freeform content sections. Reorder sections using the up/down arrow buttons or drag-and-drop. Toggle visibility with the eye icon. In freeform sections, add content blocks using labeled icon buttons (Aa for text, H for heading, and more) in the 'Add content block' area. Upload images and add YouTube or Google Maps embeds to freeform sections. When ready, toggle 'Published' to make it live. Share the link with guests or download the QR code to print and place in your property.

The Seasonal Heatmap is found under Insights in the sidebar. It displays a weekly grid of your booking data for the selected year. Darker cells indicate higher occupancy. Hover over any cell to see the date range, nights booked, occupancy percentage, revenue, and average nightly rate. The monthly summary table below shows totals for each month. Use the year selector to compare patterns across years. This helps you identify your peak and off seasons, find pricing opportunities, and track year-over-year improvement.

Review forms let you collect guest feedback after checkout and route satisfied guests to leave public reviews on Google, Airbnb, or VRBO. Setting up forms: Go to Reviews and open the Form Builder tab. Create sections with field types like star ratings, text areas, dropdowns, and checkboxes. Add staff auto-populate fields so guests can rate individual team members. Customize the thank-you message and external review redirect. Auto-send timing: In the Form Settings tab, enable auto-send and set the number of days after checkout to send the form (e.g., 1 day after checkout). Reminder cadence: Turn on "Send reminders" and enter a comma-separated list of day offsets — for example, 3, 7, 14 — to automatically send up to three reminders at those intervals after the initial review email. Leave the field blank or uncheck "Send reminders" to disable them entirely. In the Responses tab, each row has a "Send Reminder" button that fires an immediate reminder on demand, and it works even after the automatic cadence is exhausted. Expired or already-submitted responses cannot be reminded. Smart routing: Configure external review links (Google, Airbnb, VRBO) and a rating threshold per property. Guests who rate their stay above the threshold are shown links to leave a public review on your chosen platforms. Guests below the threshold see a private thank-you message so you can address their concerns before they go public. Staff ratings: Add staff member fields to your form so guests can rate individual cleaners, co-hosts, or property managers. When a guest submits their review, per-staff ratings automatically appear in the Ratings & Bonuses tab on the Staff page. Filter by staff member to see individual performance over time. Analytics: The Responses tab shows submission rates, average ratings, rating distribution, and trends over time. Filter by date range or booking source to understand satisfaction patterns. Notifications: Staff members with the review form notification preference enabled on the Staff page receive an email when a guest submits a response. The property owner is always notified.

HostMoat ships new features and improvements weekly. Visit hostmoat.com/changelog to see what's new — every update is categorized as a new feature, improvement, fix, or announcement. You can also read detailed comparisons with other vacation rental platforms (Lodgify, Hospitable, OwnerRez) on our blog to understand how HostMoat fits your workflow.

Watchtower drafts AI replies to guest messages using your property's actual guidebook and booking-site content as the AI's knowledge base. Every draft is reviewed by you before sending — nothing is auto-sent. Setting up: Navigate to Watchtower AI under the Guests section in the sidebar. Toggle "Enable Watchtower for [property]" on. Pick a provider: - Built-in AI (Pro+ only): No setup, included with your subscription, no per-message cost. - OpenAI (ChatGPT): Click Configure on the API Key card and paste your sk-... key. You pay OpenAI directly per request. - Claude (Anthropic): Same as OpenAI but with sk-ant-... key. - Your Own Ollama Server: Self-hosted via Cloudflare Tunnel — paste your tunnel URL. API keys are stored encrypted in Supabase Vault on the server side. The browser never sees the key value after you save it; the settings page only shows a "Configured ✓" status. To rotate, click Replace and paste a new one. Tone and voice: Set a Tone field with the voice you want — "warm and casual", "professional and concise", anything natural. Add Owner Notes for context the guidebook doesn't cover (e.g., "If guests ask about late checkout, offer it for $30 when we don't have a back-to-back booking"). For full control, the Advanced Custom Prompt textarea overrides the default prompt entirely; use the {{message}} placeholder to mark where the guest's message should appear. What the AI knows: Watchtower reads three sources automatically — property basics (name, address, rates, timezone), booking-site content (amenities, about text, bedrooms/bathrooms), and every visible guidebook section (wifi, check-in/out, house rules, contacts, freeform sections). The Settings page has a "What Watchtower knows" panel that shows the exact knowledge base the AI sees with click-through Edit links to the source page for each fact. Testing: The "Try a sample question" panel lets you type any hypothetical guest message and see the AI's response without sending anything. Useful for testing tone, comparing providers, or verifying a custom prompt before going live. Drafting in the inbox: Once Watchtower is enabled, a "✨ Draft with AI" button appears above the reply composer on any conversation with at least one inbound message. Click it — the AI generates a draft using your guidebook, shown in a separate blue review panel with its own Send button. Edit the draft inline if needed, then click Send (label changes to "Edit & Send" if you've changed the text) or Discard. The 'edited' flag is logged in the conversation message metadata for audit.

Digest emails deliver a summary of your rental activity on the days you choose. In Settings, use the day-of-week checkboxes (M T W T F S S) to pick any combination — every day, specific weekdays, weekends only, or just once a week. Digest settings (enabled toggle, delivery days, and timezone) are per-property and stored in Settings. Each digest includes: upcoming check-ins and departures (including same-day departures), calendar gaps in the next 30 days, turnovers scheduled this week, a 7-day occupancy rate with a visual progress bar, and a week-over-week revenue comparison showing the dollar amount and percentage change. Digest emails arrive at 9 AM in your selected timezone. Pick your timezone from the Settings digest section — HostMoat auto-detects on first visit. Who receives digests: the property owner and any staff members with the "digest" notification enabled on the Staff page.