The Cloudbeds Booking Engine is a commission-free direct booking solution managed through Cloudbeds PMS. It can operate as a standalone booking page or connect guests to the booking process from your property website, social media page, or supported website widget.
Use this article for an overview of the Booking Engine's guest-facing design, core features, management tools, and connected services. For information about installing the premium web-based booking experience directly on your property website, see Cloudbeds Booking Engine Immersive Experience 2.0 — Everything you need to know.
Cloudbeds believes every lodging business is unique. We offer tools for different property sizes and budgets to help you establish and grow your business. Contact our dedicated team for more information about available packages.
Not yet a Cloudbeds customer? Review our Pricing Guide and schedule a demo.
Overview
The Cloudbeds Booking Engine allows you to:
- Sell your rooms with special pricing and gain more guests without paying commission to third parties
- Apply customization to match your website’s look and feel
- Effectively manage rates, packages, and promotions to increase the sale of rooms
- Manage your property description, contact information, amenities, accommodation content, photos, guest emails, Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions, and other information used during the direct booking experience.
- Help guests compare accommodations by displaying key amenity icons directly on accommodation cards.
Desktop and mobile-friendly design
The Cloudbeds Booking Engine features a responsive, conversion-driven design that adapts to any screen size. The interface prioritizes essential search tools—including date selection, guest occupancy, and promo code entry—to provide a seamless experience from the first click.
Desktop design
On desktop, the interface utilizes a clean, horizontal search panel. This layout ensures all booking criteria, such as the promo code field, are immediately visible and accessible alongside stay dates and guest counts, allowing guests to apply discounts without leaving the main search area.
Mobile design
The mobile-first layout optimizes vertical space for property browsing. The search panel includes a prominent promo code field located just below the primary search criteria. To maintain focus on the accommodation list, the field condenses into a compact tag icon during active scrolling and re-expands to full width when the user scrolls back up to adjust their search.
How it works
Features and tools
Amenity icons on accommodation cards
Accommodation cards can display icons for key room amenities, helping guests compare available options without opening each accommodation's details.
- Standardized amenities marked as Most popular with guests are prioritized in the icon row.
- Guests can hover over an icon on desktop or tap it on mobile to view the amenity name in the active Booking Engine language.
- When additional amenities are available, the card displays a +X more indicator. Guests can select View details to see the full amenity list.
The amenity icon row does not require a separate Booking Engine setting. Custom amenities are not displayed in this row, and the +X more indicator cannot be selected or expanded.
To review or manage the amenities assigned to your accommodations, see Create and manage your accommodation types.
Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions pages
Properties can manage their Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions content in Settings → Property → Policies.
When either field contains content, the Booking Engine displays its corresponding link in the footer. Selecting the link opens a dedicated Booking Engine page containing that property's legal information.
Policy content visibility:
- Footer links are controlled by the content saved in each policy field, not by the Require terms and conditions acceptance setting. If the Privacy Policy or Terms & Conditions field is empty, its corresponding footer link is not displayed.
- There is no separate option to save policy content without displaying its corresponding link.
- Cloudbeds does not provide legal content templates. Your property is responsible for supplying and maintaining its content.
Monitoring revenue for your Booking Engine
- The Rate Checker helps your guests monitor the rates across all your distribution sites and compare them with your direct rates.
- Add-Ons (services and products) to sell your products and services.
- Create Rate Plans and Packages (with a promo code, if necessary) and it'll be displayed and sold on your Booking Engine.
The Rate Checker is included with all Cloudbeds Booking Engine packages except Legacy plans. Properties on active packages can enable it at no additional cost.
Apps for your Cloudbeds Booking Engine
- The Hotels Network - Website optimization
- CartStack - Cart Abandonment
Learn more about the Apps integrated with Cloudbeds PMS.
Google Analytics
Never again wonder how many guests visit your website but book with an Online Travel Agency (OTA).
Cloudbeds Booking Engine tracks visits, clicks, and conversions, and Google Analytics helps you discover how effective your online marketing is, so you can make changes to improve it.
See Connect Google Analytics with Cloudbeds Booking Engine to learn more.
Personalized and professional emails
- Make your reservation process professional and personalized from start to finish
- Customize our email templates to match your property’s website branding
- Craft confirmation emails for different types of reservations, including those with or without deposits
Check out this article to learn more about creating and editing email templates and read how to schedule an email for sending them to your guests.
Social Media links
Find new ways to stay engaged with your potential guests and stand out from your competition. Check how to add your Booking Engine link to the following Social Media Platforms:
Flexible payment options
With the Payment Processing functionality enabled in Cloudbeds PMS, setup automatic authorization or charge of your guests' credit cards during the booking on the Booking Engine, or collect credit card data to charge the guests later.
Website widgets
A widget is a website element that can be added to your website to help guests start the booking process, such as a search bar, date picker, or booking button.
Cloudbeds offers multiple widget types that can be customized and embedded into your site, allowing guests to check availability and access the Booking Engine directly from your website.
Visit the following section to explore all available options and setup guides: Website Widgets.
- Review the Booking Engine Settings page overview to learn where guest filters, accommodation display, required guest fields, marketing consent, confirmation behavior, and advanced display options are configured.
- Visit the Frequently Asked Questions if you have any other doubts about your Cloudbeds Booking Engine.
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