This article covers settings relating to guest display options for your booking engine. To get started, go to Direct booking > Configuration > Guest display options.
Enquiry settings
To enable/disable your enquiry/book now settings, go to Direct booking > Configuration > Guest display options > Enquiry settings.
If you don’t want to allow instant bookings and need guests to fill in a form to request a booking, tick Allow enquiry only. This setting is used when you need to disable your online bookings, such as when your property is closed for renovations.
When enabled, the “Book now” button will be replaced by an “Enquiry” button. All enquiries will be sent to the nominated e-mail address set in Direct booking > Configuration > Guest communications > Enquiry e-mail.
You can also add a customised message into the text field, which will be displayed above the enquiry form.
Room availability display
To hide certain rates and set how certain rates will display on your booking engine, go to Direct booking > Configuration > Guest display options > Room availability display.
Hide unavailable rates — hide rates that are not available for booking due to the date range and booking criteria (availability, number of nights, and other restrictions).
Show low-availability alert — let potential guests know if there are not many rooms left.The alert will show when the room availability reaches a certain number — a useful setting to help create a sense of urgency to encourage guests to act quickly.
Show "Early bird special" — let potential guests know that a room rate has a release period (the reservation must be made a certain number of days prior to the check-in date). Alert your guests when the release period is equal to or more than the number set, in order for the "Early bird special" term to display on your booking engine.
Hide public rates when a promotion code is applied — when potential guests apply an applicable promotion code, they will only see specific room rates related to the promotion code.
Booking settings
Allow guests to add additional rooms — enable/disable guests from being able to search for and book more than one room on your booking engine.
Default booking engine search criteria
The default search criteria/filter for your booking engine is 1 night for 2 guests. To customise the search criteria, go to Direct booking > Configuration > Guest display options > Default booking engine search criteria.
Default calendar length of stay — the number of nights set by default.
Default number of guests — the number of guests set by default.
Guest details form
To add more fields to the guest details form (for guests to provide additional information when they complete their booking), go to Direct booking > Configuration > Guest display options > Guest details form.
The guests’ responses to the added fields can be found in your reservation data (on the Reservations page). Add the following fields (if relevant):
Ask guests for their title — if you require the guest’s title, type in your options (for example, ‘Ms’, ‘Mr’, ‘Dr’). Your guests will see these options in a drop-down menu.
Ask guests to include their phone number — if you require the guest’s phone number.
Ask guests to include their address — if you require the guest’s address.
Ask guests if they would like to receive newsletters or marketing emails (this includes GDPR consent) — during the booking process, the guest will see a checkbox alongside a customisable question. If you tick this option, you must enter a GDPR consent text to be displayed in the GDPR consent checkbox.
Ask guests the question "how did you hear about us?" — ask your guests how they found out about your property. If you tick this option, you will have to fill in the Referral channels text box. There are already some default options in the text box, which you can add to, edit or delete. (For example, potential answers could be: ‘From friends/family’, ‘Word of mouth’, or ‘Online banner ads’.)
Include an optional custom field — a custom field label to capture additional guest information. For example, in the Optional custom field label, you could add “Do you have any allergies?”, “Customer Loyalty ID”, or “Special requests”.
⚠️ About the GDPR:
The GDPR is a set of strict legal guidelines that govern how the personal data of European Union (EU) citizens and residents can be collected and processed.
Our booking engine does not have the option to send newsletters. The guest responses to this option are only recorded for reporting purposes.
As per the GDPR, never send marketing e-mails to customers who have elected not to receive them.
We strongly advise you to research and understand the regulation. If you fail to comply, you could be fined. See theGDPR website for further information.
Occupancy age settings
To set up your occupancy age settings, go to Direct booking > Configuration > Guest display options > Occupancy age settings. You can enable a maximum child age, and maximum infant age. We recommend enabling these settings if your property charges fees for any extra children or infants. Your guests will see the age range of children and infants when selecting the number of occupants in your booking engine.
Maximum room occupancy
To set maximum room occupancy, go to Direct booking > Configuration > Guest display options > Maximum room occupancy.
Maximum adults — the maximum number of adults allowed to stay in any room.
Maximum children — the maximum number of children allowed to stay in any room.
Maximum infants — the maximum number of infants allowed to stay in any room.
Include children and infants in maximum occupancy — count children and infants within the maximum occupancy of each room. If this option is not ticked, children and infants will be counted on top of the maximum occupancy.
💡Only adults are counted on the Maximum occupancy by default.
Display order
To customise the order your direct booking rates will display on your booking engine, go to Direct booking > Configuration > Guest display options > Display order tab.
Cheapest first — display your direct rates to your guests organised from the cheapest to the most expensive.
Custom order — customise the order in which your room types and direct rates are displayed to your guests. If you choose the Custom order, you can click on the Customise button. To reorder, drag and drop. Rates can be sorted within their room types. Room types can also be sorted.
Booking Engine URL
To view your public-facing booking engine’s URL, go to Direct booking > Configuration > Guest display options > Booking engine URL tab.