Connecting a channel manager (Hostaway, Guesty, and others)

If your client manages listings through a channel manager, one calendar link covers every platform at once. Here's how, and why it's better than separate Airbnb and Vrbo links.

Many short-term-rental owners and property managers run everything through a channel manager (also called a PMS) instead of managing each platform by hand. Common ones are Hostaway, Guesty, Hospitable, Lodgify, and Hostfully. If your client uses one, you are in the best case: the channel manager gives out one calendar link per rental that already includes every platform the rental is listed on, so a single link covers Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and direct bookings all at once. Nothing gets missed, and there is nothing else to collect.

Which rentals this is for

Use this page when the person who owns or manages the listings tells you they use a channel manager, or when the calendar link they send you is not an airbnb.com or vrbo.com address. A channel-manager link usually looks like one of these:

  • https://platform.hostaway.com/ical/…/listings/12345.ics
  • https://app.guesty.com/…/ical/…
  • https://…hospitable.com/…/ical/…

If you only have Airbnb or Vrbo links, use Connecting Airbnb or Connecting Vrbo instead.

Get the calendar-export link

The link lives in whoever manages the listings' channel-manager account. If that is your client, ask them for it. In most channel managers the steps are similar:

  1. Open the rental's Calendar or Channel Manager area.
  2. Find the Export or Calendar sync option (sometimes under "iCal").
  3. Copy the export link. It ends in .ics.

Each rental has its own export link, so a client with six rentals sends six links, one per rental.

If getting the link from your client is a hassle, CleanSync can ask them for you: open the rental in CleanSync and use Request it from your host. Your client gets a short, guided page and pastes the link there. It works with a channel-manager link the same way it works with an Airbnb link.

Paste it into CleanSync

  1. On cleansync.io/app, click Add a rental (or open an existing rental).
  2. Paste the channel-manager link into the Airbnb calendar link field. It is fine that the link is not literally an Airbnb link. CleanSync reads whatever calendar you give it, and one channel-manager link already carries every platform's bookings.
  3. Save.

The next sync picks up the bookings. Click Check now at the top of the dashboard if you do not want to wait the hour.

If a rental has both a channel-manager link and a separate direct-booking calendar, you can add the second one under the extra calendar links on the same rental. CleanSync combines them and never creates a duplicate cleaning for the same checkout.

Why one channel-manager link is better than separate Airbnb and Vrbo links

When a rental is listed on Airbnb and Vrbo separately, you would normally collect and paste two links, and keep them both current. A channel-manager link folds both into one:

  • Nothing slips through. Every booking on every platform the rental sells on is in the single feed.
  • Less to maintain. One link per rental instead of two or three.
  • No duplicates. Even if a booking appears on two platforms, CleanSync schedules one cleaning per checkout, not two.

So for any client on a channel manager, ask for the one manager link per rental rather than chasing separate platform links.

What CleanSync handles for you

Every platform formats its calendar a little differently: how it writes the checkout time, how it marks an owner block versus a real reservation, and whether a cancellation shows up explicitly or the booking just disappears. You do not have to think about any of that. For a channel-manager feed CleanSync automatically:

  • Skips owner and maintenance blocks. Channel managers put date blocks (owner stays, repairs) in the same feed as real reservations. CleanSync only creates cleanings for actual guest checkouts.
  • Uses your rental's checkout time. It schedules the cleaning from the checkout time you set on the rental, in the rental's time zone, not whatever the raw calendar says.
  • Handles cancellations. Many channel managers drop a cancelled booking from the feed instead of marking it. CleanSync waits through a short grace window before closing the job, so a momentary hiccup never cancels a real cleaning.
  • Handles date changes. If a guest shortens or extends a stay, the old cleaning moves to the new date without a false "completed" notice.

OwnerRez is different: it has a direct integration

If your client uses OwnerRez, you do not need a calendar link at all. CleanSync connects to OwnerRez directly, which is tighter than iCal: bookings flow in within seconds, and CleanSync even writes a short status note back onto the OwnerRez booking so the owner can see each turnover is handled. See the OwnerRez guide to set it up. Direct integrations with more platforms are on the way; until a platform has one, its iCal calendar link works today.

Support

Not sure whether your client's calendar link will work? Send it to support@cleansync.io and we will check it, or paste it into a rental and use the built-in link checker before you save.