| Purpose | Set up or review the core property information, accommodation inventory, taxes and fees, reservation sources, policies, rates, and existing reservations in Cloudbeds PMS. |
| Best for | Property owners, administrators, and staff responsible for initial setup or ongoing configuration. |
| Use this when | You are onboarding a new property, updating operational details, or reviewing setup before enabling distribution. |
| Requirements | Access to the relevant Property, Finance, Rates and Availability, and Reservations pages in Cloudbeds PMS. |
| Expected result | Your core property settings and current reservations are ready for review before distribution setup. |
Introduction
This guide covers the most common Cloudbeds PMS areas used to configure a property's core setup. Complete the sections that apply to your property, then review the results before moving on to distribution.
You can return to these settings whenever you need to update property details, inventory, policies, pricing, or reservation data.
Note: Click Save at the bottom-right corner after you finish updating each page.
Add the basics
1. Property Details (Property page)
The Property Details page contains your property's contact information, description, address, map location, photos, and print header.
How to access it
Open your Account > select Settings
> go to Property
> open the Details tab.
Keep your property information accurate. Property details are used across Cloudbeds PMS and may appear in the Cloudbeds Booking Engine. Accurate information also supports your connection with Google Hotel Search. See Google Hotel Search — All You Need to Know.
1.1 Update your property contact information
- Confirm the Property type.
- Enter the Property name. This name appears in reservation communications, reports, and the Cloudbeds Booking Engine.
- Add the Property phone.
- Add an accurate and accessible Property email. Guest inquiries are sent to this address.
- Add the Website.
- Add the contact person's first and last name.
The website URL has a limit of 100 characters.
The screenshot below shows the Property contact information fields and their numbered setup order.
1.2 Add or update your property description
- Use the Property description editor below the contact information to describe your property.
- Select the language menu to add or edit the description in an available language.
- Use the formatting toolbar to format the text or add supported links and images.
1.3 Update your property address and map location
- Select the Country where the property is located.
- Enter the Street address.
- Add apartment, suite, floor, or other address details, if applicable.
- Enter the City.
- Select the State or province.
- Enter the Postal or ZIP code.
- Confirm that the map marker displays the correct property location.
If the map marker does not display the correct location, drag it to the correct position to update the property's coordinates.
1.4 Add property photos and a print header
- In Property photos, click the + tile to open the photo manager.
- Drag and drop image files into the upload area, or click browse local files.
- Review the uploaded photos and reorder or edit them as needed.
- In Print header, drag and drop an image into the upload area, or click browse local files.
- Click Save at the bottom of the page.
Supported image formats are .jpg, .jpeg, and .png, with a maximum file size of 10 MB.
- A property can contain up to 230 property photos and one print-header image.
- For better Booking Engine visibility, upload at least five property photos.
- The first property photo in the list appears as the featured image in the Cloudbeds Booking Engine.
- The print header appears on supported Dashboard, Housekeeping, and Folio printouts.
For complete instructions, image requirements, and editing options, see Property Details — Everything You Need to Know.
2. Accommodation Types (Property page)
Creating Accommodation Types correctly is one of the most important parts of your property setup.
How to access it
Open your Account > select Settings
> go to Property
> open the Accommodations tab.
Information on the Accommodations page affects Cloudbeds PMS, the Cloudbeds Booking Engine, and the inventory and availability sent to distribution channels.
Best practice
- Create distinct accommodation types (room types), such as “Standard Dorm” or “Women’s Dorm,” instead of separate individual rooms, such as “Standard Dorm Room 1” and “Standard Dorm Room 2.”
- Creating separate individual rooms instead of room types can make your inventory incompatible with most distribution channels. See Distribution Channel Mapping Guidelines.
Create a new accommodation type
- Click New Accommodation Type.
-
Name the new accommodation type.
- Guests see the accommodation name you enter. Use a clear title such as Standard Double Room.
- Enter the Accommodation Abbreviation.
- This abbreviation is used internally, including on the Calendar.
- Select whether the accommodation is Private or a Shared dorm room (with beds).
- For a dorm, complete the dorm-specific options, including beds, occupancy, and whether it is gender-specific.
- Enter the Number of units, Maximum occupancy, Max Adults, and Max Children.
- Enter Adults included in rate and Children included in rate for the Booking Engine.
- Add the Accommodation description.
- Optional: Add amenities for the accommodation type.
- Optional: Upload images for the accommodation type. The featured image appears on the Booking Engine.
- Optional: Accommodation Naming and Organization. Enter a room name for each individual accommodation. This information is used internally on the Calendar and reservation page unless you enable individual accommodations for Booking Engine reservations.
Click Edit in the room-name section to rename individual rooms or beds inside an accommodation type.
- To delete a room, reduce the number of units for private rooms or the number of dorm rooms. Reducing the inventory removes accommodations from the bottom of the list and cannot be reversed. Only proceed when you are certain. See How to Delete an Accommodation Type.
- Click Save.
See Create and manage your accommodation types for more details.
3. Taxes and Fees (Finance page)
Use the Taxes and Fees page to create and manage regional, state, or federal taxes, along with other taxes or fees charged on room nights or products.
How to access it
- Open your Account
> select Settings
> go to Finance
.
- Open the Taxes and Fees tab to create a new tax or fee or edit an existing one.
Choose the tax or fee type based on whether it is already included in the rates you entered.
- Inclusive: Use this when the tax or fee is already included in the room rate. For example, if the rate is $100 and all taxes and fees are included, the guest pays $100.
- Exclusive: Use this when the tax or fee must be added to the room rate. For example, if the rate is $100 and you add a 10% tax, the guest pays $110.
4. Sources (Property page)
Create, enable, or disable the primary and third-party sources used for reservations. You can also configure taxes and fees for a specific source so they are applied automatically when a booking is received from that source.
How to access it
- Open your Account
.
- Open the Sources tab to add, review, or edit reservation sources.
5. Policies (Property page)
Use the Policies page to define how your property handles key reservation terms and daily operations.
How to access it
- Open your Account
- Open the Policies tab to review or edit your deposit, cancellation, terms and conditions, arrival and departure, and confirmation-pending settings.
See Policies overview.
6. Rates (Rates and Availability page)
After creating your accommodation types, add rates in the Availability Matrix. This page lets you control prices, availability, and restrictions for each room type by date.
Add base rates for the applicable periods and days of the week, along with minimum or maximum length-of-stay restrictions. These are the standard rates for your rooms.
Per-person rates customize pricing in the Cloudbeds Booking Engine and are not sent to distribution channels. Cloudbeds PMS sends a standardized Best Available Rate to connected channels to support consistent synchronization.
How to access it
- Open the Main menu
> go to Rates and Availability
.
- Click Availability Matrix.
How does more availability help me get more bookings?
Loading long-term and last-minute availability makes your property visible to more travelers and can increase booking opportunities.
Travelers often plan ahead, so loading availability farther into the future can help your property appear in more searches. We recommend maintaining at least 12 to 18 months of future inventory and updating it continuously.
7. Import Reservations (Reservations page)
Overview
Complete your reservation import before moving on to distribution. Add all current and upcoming reservations so Cloudbeds can calculate accurate availability and reduce the risk of overbookings.
For many properties, adding reservations manually is a practical option because it also helps staff learn the reservation-creation workflow.
Things to note
Importing past reservations is not required, but it can support reporting and help maintain a record of past and repeat guests.
To create a booking, provide the following information:
- Dates
- Accommodation type
- Guest's first and last name
- Email. When the guest's email is unavailable, enter a placeholder email.
- Guest's country of residence
- Source used to book the reservation
- A valid third-party ID for reservations created on an OTA when future modifications should update automatically
Reservation import options
Reservations from the following channels can be imported when connecting your property to Cloudbeds PMS:
- Booking.com
- Expedia
- Airbnb
- Goibibo
Ask your Onboarding Coach to perform this action after connecting your property.
How to access it
- Open the Main menu
.
- Click Reservation Import Options
. The Manual Quick Import tool appears on the page.
Option 1 (recommended): Manual Quick Import
The Manual Quick Import tool lets you import multiple reservations at once by completing the required fields.
Option 2: Reservation Import Service (paid service)
The Reservation Import Service requires at least 100 reservations to import.
Option 3: Add reservations manually
When you are adding only a small number of reservations, you can create them individually with the Add Reservation or Create New Reservation button. The button is available from the Reservations page, Calendar, and Dashboard.
Creating reservations manually also helps staff become familiar with the reservation workflow.
Use the following guides to create a reservation:
Your next step: Distribution
After completing the core property setup, review every section in this guide. Your Onboarding Coach can then assist with enabling Distribution.
Comments
You should allow customers to self serve move on to distribution. Onboarding help is not real time, and this setup is very straight forward - just my tip!
Hello!
Thank you very much for sharing your suggestions about a self-service for Distribution.
We will forward your valuable contribution to the corresponding teams for review. Please, remember that you can always access our Cloudbeds Community and share your ideas.
Kind regards!
La verdad se tardan mucho en el tema de distribución. Bloquean esto, cuando uno desea pasar al siguiente paso toca trabajar al ritmo de los asesores. esto les esta costando clientes que desean solucionar un problema y no tomar uno nuevo.
Hola, Brayan Martinez,
Muchas gracias por compartirnos tus comentarios respecto al paso de Distribución durante el proceso de Onboarding.
Tus comentarios son muy importantes para nosotros. Hemos creado un ticket en tu nombre y escalado tus comentarios con el equipo correspondiente, de manera que puedan revisarlo en la brevedad posible.
Un saludo,
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