What to expect during Cloudbeds onboarding

Gabriela Garcia

Updated August 31, 2026 17:41

Purpose	Understand the Cloudbeds onboarding journey, what to expect at each stage, and how your property team and Cloudbeds work together toward go-live.
Best for	Property owners, managers, and administrators involved in onboarding.
Use this when	You are preparing to start onboarding, moving through implementation, or getting ready for go-live and post-launch assistance.
Requirements	Prepare the property information and team participation described in Your onboarding journey.
Expected result	You understand the main onboarding stages, your team's responsibilities, Cloudbeds' role, and the actions that help keep onboarding on track.
Limitations	Your exact onboarding experience can vary depending on the products and services purchased.

Introduction

Cloudbeds onboarding is a partnership between your property team and Cloudbeds. Your Onboarding Coach provides guidance, training, and best practices, while your team completes setup tasks, makes operational decisions, tests workflows, and keeps the onboarding plan moving forward.

Depending on the services purchased, you may work with more than one Onboarding Coach. The sections below explain the main stages of onboarding, the responsibilities involved, and what helps your property progress toward go-live and daily operations.

Your onboarding journey
Your onboarding team
Stay on track during onboarding
Optional Reservation Import Service

Your onboarding journey

The onboarding process includes seven main stages. Each stage prepares your property for the next one, from gathering information before kickoff through adoption and optimization after go-live.

1. Prepare for kickoff

Before your kickoff call, gather the information your team will need to begin configuring Cloudbeds. Being prepared helps your Onboarding Coach understand your property and can help onboarding move more efficiently.

Prepare information such as:

Property details and description
Room types and occupancy information
Property and room images
Policies, taxes, and fees
Reservation sources and OTA accounts
Team members who will be involved in daily operations

For more detailed preparation guidance, see Getting Started with Cloudbeds: Preparing for Onboarding and Going Live.

2. Kickoff call

Your onboarding officially begins with the kickoff call. You will meet your Onboarding Coach and build a plan based on your property's operational needs.

During the kickoff call, you can expect to:

Review onboarding milestones
Define a go-live target
Discuss your workflows and business goals
Plan upcoming onboarding sessions

Include the key decision-makers from your property, share your current operational processes, confirm who will own onboarding tasks internally, and ask questions as early as possible. Review General discovery questions for onboarding kick-off calls to prepare for the topics that may be discussed.

3. Setup and configuration

With guidance from your Onboarding Coach, your property team configures the foundation of your Cloudbeds account and validates that the setup supports your workflows.

Setup can include:

Property profile information
Accommodation configuration
Rates, availability, taxes, and policies
Integration connections
Workflow validation

Your team is responsible for completing assigned setup tasks between sessions, preparing or creating OTA accounts when needed, testing reservations and workflows, and keeping the onboarding checklist up to date.

4. Audit

Before go-live, you and your Onboarding Coach review the configuration to identify anything that may need to be completed or adjusted before reservations begin flowing into Cloudbeds.

The review can include:

Property and room setup
Rates, policies, and taxes
Cloudbeds Booking Engine and channel access, when applicable
Key workflows and reservation flow
Configured integrations

Review the setup carefully, flag anything that appears incomplete or incorrect, test key workflows with your team, and complete any final updates recommended during the audit.

5. Go live

Go-live is the point when your property is ready to begin operating in Cloudbeds. The exact go-live setup depends on the products and services your property uses.

Before and during go-live, make sure your team:

Has the appropriate Cloudbeds access and permissions
Is prepared to use the daily workflows configured during onboarding
Validates that reservations are being delivered as expected
Completes the planned transition away from the previous system, when applicable

6. Hypercare Support

For the first 10 days after go-live, your Onboarding Coach stays closely connected with your property to support the transition into live operations and help address blockers quickly.

During this phase, your team can:

Complete Cloudbeds University training
Explore Reporting and Cloudbeds Insights
Customize guest communications
Identify opportunities to optimize operations

To make the most of this period:

Reach out to your Onboarding Coach when a question comes up
Join your Day 2 check-in to review channel connections and the early transition
Join your Day 9 check-in to fine-tune the setup before moving into the next onboarding stage
Let your Onboarding Coach know if you encounter a blocker so it can be addressed quickly

7. Adoption and optimization

After go-live and the initial transition period, onboarding shifts toward helping your team build confidence in daily operations and get more value from Cloudbeds.

Your team can continue by:

Completing Cloudbeds University training
Exploring Reporting and Cloudbeds Insights
Customizing guest communications
Identifying opportunities to optimize operations

Your onboarding team

Successful onboarding is a shared effort. The responsibilities below help clarify who supports each part of the process and what your property team is expected to own.

Who	What to expect
Your Onboarding Coach	Guides your implementation, provides training and best practices, helps with setup challenges, and supports go-live readiness.
Your property team	Makes operational decisions, completes configuration tasks, participates in training, and tests the workflows your team will use.
After go-live	You will have a Cloudbeds team available 24/7 to assist you as you transition into daily operations.

Stay on track during onboarding

Your onboarding timeline depends in part on how quickly your property can complete the information, tasks, and decisions needed for setup. Timely preparation and participation can help keep the implementation moving toward go-live.

Complete onboarding checklist items on time, attend scheduled sessions, provide accurate setup information, and prepare required integrations and OTA access.

Optional Reservation Import Service

You can choose the Reservation Import Service during onboarding to reduce manual work when moving reservations and guest data from your previous system into Cloudbeds.

This optional service is especially useful for properties transitioning from another property management system or managing high reservation volumes.

Now that you understand the onboarding journey and the responsibilities involved, review these resources for account access, property details, and the terms that apply to Cloudbeds onboarding: