SHR’s (former Windsurfer® and Allora) central reservation system is a robust enterprise-level distribution platform engineered to streamline and optimize your channel strategies from a single, centralized hub. The system provides real-time updates across global selling channels, including your website, call center, OTAs, GDS, channel managers, and metasearch platforms. Implementing your distribution strategy is effortless, and the native chain functionality enhances efficiency for multi-property management, facilitating quick deployment of selling elements across the group.
Check more about what a CRS is and its benefits here: CRS (Central Reservation Systems) - Everything You Need to Know.
Cloudbeds now supports both two-way and one-way (custom) connections for this channel. During setup, you will see a Connection Type step where you can choose between Full Connection (standard 2-way sync) or Custom connection (partial or one-way sync).
The Custom connection option can be enabled upon request. To learn more about supported options and how to configure them, see Configure Connection Types for Channel Managers and CRSs (Full, One-Way, and Custom Connections).
Before you start
Due to the manual nature of the SHR connection, there are specific requirements and best practices to ensure a smooth and successful integration.
Key Requirements Before Your Connection Call
To avoid delays and ensure a successful go-live, it is crucial to have the following information and a clear understanding of the process before your scheduled connection call.
1. SHR Credentials: SHR will need a specific username, password, and endpoint URL to connect to Cloudbeds.
- Endpoint URL: https://api.myallocator.com/callback/ota/wind/v1/callback_orders
- Outbound Username and Password: These are standard, static credentials used for all Cloudbeds to SHR connections. The SHR team should use the same credentials they have for other Cloudbeds properties. If they do not have this information, they should request it directly from Cloudbeds support.
2. Timeline: It's important to provide SHR with a sufficient lead time for a new connection. A minimum of a few business days is recommended to ensure they are prepared for your scheduled go-live.
The Onboarding Process
The connection process with SHR is very manual. Cloudbeds recommends that the SHR team schedules a meeting with us prior to your final connection call with the customer. This meeting allows them to:
- Complete the initial mapping of rooms and rate plans.
- Test the ARI (Availability, Rates, and Inventory) messaging to confirm data is flowing correctly between the two systems.
This preparatory step helps resolve any technical issues beforehand, making the final connection with you and your team much more efficient.
Connecting process
Step 1 - Connect your channel account through Cloudbeds PMS
- Access Account
-> Settings
-> Distribution
- On the Discover tab, search for and click on SHR CRS
- If you have an account, click Enable Channel.
- If you do not have an account, click Create New Account.
- Enable the channel and use the credentials provided by SHR:
- SHR Hotel-ID (same as username)
- SHR username (same as Hotel-ID)
- SHR password
- Click to Continue
-
Map your rooms. Enter the SHR CRS Room Code in the Channel Accommodation column.
It is crucial to enter the correct SHR room code to send ARIs through Cloudbeds. Unfortunately, we cannot access the list of rooms from SHR, which is a limitation on their part. -
Rate Plan Mapping. Enter the SHR CRS Rate Plan Code in the Channel Rate Plan column.
It is crucial to enter the correct SHR rate plan code to send ARIs through Cloudbeds. Unfortunately, we cannot access the list of rooms from SHR, which is a limitation on their part.
The SHR connection requires a one-to-one (1:1) mapping for rate plans. This means that for each of your unique rate codes in SHR, you must have a corresponding rate plan created in Cloudbeds.
Example: If you have a "Loyalty Rate" in SHR, you must create a dedicated rate plan named "Loyalty Rate" in Cloudbeds for a successful mapping.
Important: The Base Rate in Cloudbeds should typically only be mapped to SHR's Booking Engine and/or Global Distribution System (GDS). All other rate codes must be mapped to their own, separate rate plans in Cloudbeds.
- Add a Base Rate Adjustment for each room type (if needed). When completed, click Continue, or leave it at zero if you want to skip it.
- Configure Extra settings and click Continue/Save.
Step 2 - Apply the settings on the SHR side
- The SHR Room Code must be entered in the Cloudbeds Channel Accommodation column.
- The SHR Rate Plan Code must be entered in the Cloudbeds Channel Accommodation column.
Taxes and Fees
For taxes and fees to apply to a CRS reservation, the property must configure the tax/fee in the Third Party sources section in Cloudbeds. All CRS reservations will have a Source and Origin. The Source will always be listed as SHR, while the Origin can differ. The origin indicates where the reservation originated, such as a call center, web, booking engine, OTA, etc. If the Origin of a reservation matches a third-party source configured in Cloudbeds, the taxes and fees configured on that source will be applied to the reservation. For example, if a reservation's source is SHR, the origin is Booking.com, and Booking.com is configured as a third-party source in Cloudbeds, then the taxes and fees from Booking.com will be applied to the reservation. This means the taxes and fees applied to SHR will not be considered.
Reservation Details
More fields related to CRS reservations are displayed on the reservation's header and in the "show more" section. It is important to note that these fields provide additional information and do not impact the reservation process. For instance, the voucher information is not automatically applied to the reservation folio. If there are any necessary changes to the reservation folio, the property staff must apply them manually.
1. Company Information
2. Travel Agency Information
3. Group Information
4. Extra Services under the Special Requests section
Supported Features
- Advanced Channel Rates allow you to sync multiple Cloudbeds rate plans to multiple rate plans on a channel. If this feature is not yet enabled for you and you would like it activated, contact Cloudbeds Support.
- Close Days: Stop the sale of channel accommodations on a daily basis. Use the "Accommodation Blocked" setting on the Availability Matrix to control this setting.
- Closed to Arrival: Prevent guests from arriving on a specific date. Use the Availability Matrix to control this setting.
- Closed to Departure: Prevent guests from checking out on a specific date. Use the Availability Matrix to control this setting.
- Minimum length of stay: The minimum number of nights a guest must stay when arriving on a specific date. Use the Availability Matrix to control this setting.
- Maximum length of stay: The maximum number of nights a guest can stay when arriving on a specific date. Use the Availability Matrix to control this setting.
- Cancelations: Channel sends reservation cancelations to Cloudbeds directly.
- Modifications: Channel sends reservation modifications to Cloudbeds directly.
- Per Person Pricing: Also known as Occupancy-based Pricing.
- Guest Marketing Opt-in: Automatically records a guest’s marketing email opt-in or opt-out preference when the booking is received from the channel, supporting GDPR compliance and ensuring accurate communication preferences in Cloudbeds.
Contact support to disconnect the channel
If you disable the channel yourself, this will not stop billing! You can disable the channel and re-enable it when you choose to.
This channel supports automatic payment-processing methods
You can configure Cloudbeds PMS to authorize or process deposit payments automatically according to your predefined rules when reservations are initially received from this channel.
For configuration steps and the full list of supported channels, refer to How to set up automatic/scheduled payment processing for OTAs and Booking Engine.
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