| Purpose | Use this article to find answers about Booking Engine access, website setup, guest-facing features, payments, search behavior, occupancy, and security. |
| Best for | Property admins, general managers, reservations teams, front desk teams, marketing managers, and users who manage the direct booking experience. |
| Use this when | You need a quick answer about how the Booking Engine works, what guests see, or which property and Booking Engine settings affect the booking experience. |
| Requirements | Access to Cloudbeds PMS and the relevant property, accommodation, payment, or Booking Engine settings for the question you are reviewing. |
| Expected result | You can identify the relevant Booking Engine behavior, confirm which setting or resource to review, and understand when additional troubleshooting is needed. |
| Limitations | Some Booking Engine behavior depends on accommodation setup, payment configuration, stay restrictions, or the URL used to open the Booking Engine. |
Introduction
Cloudbeds Booking Engine is our commission-free booking engine fully controlled by Cloudbeds PMS. It can be accessed through a direct Booking Engine link or connected to your property website so guests can search availability and book directly.
This article groups frequently asked questions by customer workflow. Start with access and website setup, then review guest-facing features, payments, search behavior, occupancy, links, and security.
If you are experiencing an error or technical issue, see Cloudbeds Booking Engine Troubleshooting.
Access and connect the Booking Engine
Use this section to locate your Booking Engine, connect it to your website, and understand supported embedding and accessibility behavior.
Where can I find the link to my booking engine?
- Go to your Account menu
and click Settings
.
- Go to Booking Engine.
- Find the link in the Where is my Booking Engine? section.
How can I insert the booking engine into my hotel's website?
Cloudbeds Booking Engine Immersive Experience 2.0 is a fully web-based solution designed to embed into your property website. It supports a smooth, secure booking experience with PCI-compliant payments and Google-compatible data tracking.
The Immersive Experience 2.0 offers two embed options:
- Full-page embed: Displays the complete Booking Engine directly on a webpage. Copy your Booking Engine URL and add it to your website.
- Pop-up embed: Opens the Booking Engine as a side panel when guests select Book Now. Follow the instructions in Booking Engine Website Widgets.
Immersive Experience 2.0 web component tags are not supported inside iframes. This setup can cause scrolling and rendering issues.
Why is the Immersive Experience 2.0 pop-up not loading on my website?
Check whether the code is being inserted inside an iframe, such as a Wix HTML or embed element.
Immersive Experience 2.0 web component tags, including cb-immersive-experience and cb-book-now-button, must not be used inside iframes. This can cause scrolling and rendering issues and would require whitelisting every item in the iframe chain.
Is URL masking supported?
Cloudbeds Booking Engine Plus Immersive Experience 2.0 lets you embed the Booking Engine directly into your property website without traditional URL masking or complex whitelisting.
Learn more in Cloudbeds Booking Engine Immersive Experience 2.0.
Does Cloudbeds Booking Engine comply with accessibility standards?
Cloudbeds designs and develops the Booking Engine with the goal of supporting conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA. The Booking Engine undergoes periodic accessibility testing, and Cloudbeds continues to identify and address accessibility gaps.
For more information, visit the Cloudbeds Accessibility Policy. For specific accessibility questions, contact accessibility@cloudbeds.com.
Manage the guest-facing Booking Engine experience
Use this section to understand accommodation-card information, amenity icon availability and behavior, promotional offers, and customization options visible to guests.
What do the amenity icons on accommodation cards mean?
In the new Accommodations page experience, amenity icons help guests compare room features directly from accommodation cards without opening each room's details.
Amenities marked as Most popular with guests are prioritized in the icon row. The remaining amenities are ordered automatically based on the guest's active Booking Engine language.
Guests can hover over an icon on desktop or tap it on mobile to view the amenity name.
Why is an amenity missing or showing a generic checkmark on the accommodation card?
If the entire amenity icon row is missing, your property may still use the legacy accommodation setup experience. Review Why don't I see amenity icons on my accommodation cards? before checking individual amenities.
- Only standardized amenities with supported amenity codes are displayed in the accommodation-card icon row.
- Custom amenities do not appear in the icon row, but guests can continue to view them in the accommodation details.
- If a standardized amenity does not have a matching icon, the Booking Engine displays a generic checkmark.
To review the amenities assigned to your accommodations, see Create and manage your accommodation types.
Why don't I see amenity icons on my accommodation cards?
The amenity icon row is available for properties using the new Accommodations page experience.
If your property still uses the legacy Accommodations tab experience, your accommodation cards may display without the amenity icon row. This does not prevent guests from viewing or booking the accommodation.
To identify which accommodation setup experience your property uses, see Create and manage your accommodation types.
What does "+X more" mean, and can I turn off the amenity icon row?
The +X more indicator shows how many additional amenities are available beyond the icons displayed on the accommodation card.
The indicator cannot be selected or expanded. Guests can select View details to see the full amenity list.
When the amenity icon row is available for your property, there is no separate Booking Engine setting to enable, disable, or hide it.
Can I promote special offers with the Booking Engine?
Yes. You can create Rate Plans and Packages, with a promo code when needed, and display them on the Booking Engine.
Can I sell rooms only with promotional rate plans on the Booking Engine?
Yes. You can configure the Booking Engine to display promotional rate plans and packages without displaying base rates.
Learn more in How to sell rooms only with promotional rate plans and packages on the Booking Engine.
Do you offer Booking Engine customization?
- Learn more about Cloudbeds Booking Engine Plus customization services.
- Cloudbeds also offers Cloudbeds Websites, which integrate with the Booking Engine, channel manager, and PMS.
Configure payments and reservation details
Use this section to understand how guests can be charged and where to find payment information for Booking Engine reservations.
Can I charge guests directly on the Booking Engine?
- Yes. If Payment Processing is enabled, you can configure a deposit to be charged immediately or before arrival.
- You can collect guest credit card details to charge later. See How to set payment options for OTAs and Cloudbeds Booking Engine.
- Booking Engine Plus can support a custom payment gateway.
How do I know which payment method a guest used?
The payment information from your booking engine reservation is visible in the reservation header.
It is also visible in the reservation summary sent by email.
To receive reservation-summary emails, configure the property email address in System Notification Preferences.
Understand search, availability, and stay restrictions
Use this section when search dates, stay-length restrictions, or Availability Calendar information does not appear as expected.
Can I customize the check-in and check-out window in the search tab?
The Booking Engine displays check-in and check-out dates based on the lowest Minimum Length of Stay (MinLOS) configured across base rates and rate plans.
Example:
- The lowest MinLOS for July 14 is 2 nights.
- By default, the booking engine will display the check-in date 14/07/2020 and the check-out date 16/07/2020 in the search tab (2-day gap).
Why does the Availability Calendar show only one MinLOS or MaxLOS?
The Availability Calendar displays only a limited set of restrictions. It may not show every restriction configured across base rates and rate plans.
Learn more about restrictions displayed in the Availability Calendar here.
Can I replace the room name with the rate plan name in the Availability Calendar?
No. The Availability Calendar displays the room-type name together with the applicable length-of-stay restrictions.
Manage occupancy, room setup, links, and security
Use this section to understand how accommodation setup affects guest counts, how shared-room bookings work, and how to review Booking Engine links and browser security messages.
How does the Booking Engine calculate the number of people included in the rate?
The Booking Engine calculates the number of guests included in the rate based on the accommodation setup in Cloudbeds PMS.
To verify the setup:
- Go to your Account menu
- Go to the Accommodations tab.
- Select the accommodation you want to review.
- Check Maximum occupancy and the number of Adults and Children included in rate.
How does the Booking Engine work with the number of guests in beds?
For properties with shared or dorm rooms, the Booking Engine automatically pre-selects the number of beds based on the number of adults and children entered during the search.
This supports Google's requirements and helps avoid issues that could prevent dorm properties from appearing in Google searches.
Can I replace Cloudbeds Booking Engine with a different booking engine?
Cloudbeds PMS cannot connect to another booking engine. For additional questions, contact the Cloudbeds Support Team.
There is no lock icon next to the Booking Engine URL. Is it secure?
A missing lock icon can occur when custom CSS references an image from a URL that does not use HTTPS. The Booking Engine itself continues to use a secure HTTPS connection.
Review custom CSS and replace any non-HTTPS image URL added through the Booking Engine customization page.
Why do I see “This Connection is Not Private” when opening the Booking Engine?
Make sure the Booking Engine URL does not include www.. Use the exact HTTPS URL provided in Cloudbeds PMS.
- Go to your Account menu
- Go to Booking Engine
- Copy the URL from the Where is my Booking Engine? section.
Example: https://hotels.cloudbeds.com/reservation/
Related articles
Use these resources for Booking Engine setup, troubleshooting, customization, and accommodation configuration.
Comments
how do I know the best way to set the maximum occupancy and the Adults Included in Rate and the Children Included in Rate for my different accommodation types?
Hello, Kevin!
Thank you very much for posting this comment!
Please contact our Support Team for further assistance on how to set up your maximum occupancy for adults and children included in the rates.
We remain at your disposal if you have any other doubts.
Regards!
My hotel is experiencing a problem where guests cannot book a room when vacancies are available on the day. For example, my guest cannot book today's room while we have enough vacancies today.
Hello, Tony Chen,
We have created a new ticket for you so that our Support Team can review this carefully and offer assistance as soon as possible.
Kind regards,
A potential guest tried to book my accommodation for 4 nights. The booking engine showed no availability. I did have availability but the guest should have booked one room for 2 nights and another room for the following 2 nights.
The guest did not book so I lost revenue. How can I let the booking engine show availability with a room switch? If this is not possible I suggest to create this as it will lead to more bookings!
Hello, Mark de Beer,
Thank you so much for sharing these details with us.
We have already escalated your case to our dedicated Support Team and opened a ticket on your behalf. They are going to take a closer look and offer assistance.
We appreciate your patience while we look into this! 🙏🏼
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