Connect HRS to Beds24 with an XML connection to send your availability, several rate types, minimum stays and closed to arrival to HRS and Hotel.de, and import bookings, modifications and cancellations automatically. For HRS Holidays, use the iCal sync instead.
Quick Guide
- In HRS Hotel Self Administration, set up a full-year default rate for singles and doubles, and set any additional categories to manage their availability separately.
- In HRS, choose Beds24 as your channel manager and wait for HRS to confirm.
- In Settings > Channel Manager > HRS, enter your hotel ID and hotel type, then map each room to an HRS room and rate combination.
- Check View Actual Data, tick Inventory, Prices and Bookings, and save. Then stay logged out of HRS.
Table of Contents
- Capabilities and limitations
- Before you connect
- Set up HRS
- Set up Beds24
- Multiple rates and Hot Deals
- Manage HRS bookings
- Important notes for additional categories
- Troubleshooting
- Disconnect HRS
Capabilities and limitations
- The XML connection works for HRS and Hotel.de, not HRS Holidays.
- Beds24 exports inventory, multiple rates, and minimum stay and closed to arrival for certain rate types. HRS supports closed to arrival and minimum stays only for the rate types Trade show, Special, Hot Deal and Season.
- Beds24 can apply a multiplier to prices, for example to convert the currency.
- Beds24 imports bookings, modifications and cancellations. You can turn off importing modifications or cancellations for individual bookings.
- HRS doesn't send guest contact details.
- HRS allows white label properties only on request. To connect a hotel that uses Beds24 white label options, send Beds24 a support ticket with the Support button at the top right of the control panel.
- Upsell items can't be exported.
For the full list, see Channel Manager Capabilities.
Before you connect
- Beds24 only sends availability when you have prices that are active for HRS. See Setting Prices for Booking Channels.
- Beds24 sends one price to each HRS room type. A double needs a price for 2 guests, extra bed 1 a price for 3 guests, and extra bed 2 a price for 4 guests.
- Extra person and extra child prices, and discounts on the Discounts tab of rates, can't be sent.
- If you use daily prices with an extra person price, set the daily price for the maximum occupancy and add the extra person price as a negative value, so the price for full occupancy can be sent.
- If you sell rooms individually elsewhere but as a room type with a quantity above one on HRS, set up virtual rooms.
Availability per rate type
Each HRS rate type or additional room category has its own availability. You have two options:
- Map Beds24 rooms to each rate or category, so the availability of the Beds24 room controls that HRS rate or category.
- Map fixed prices or daily prices to specific HRS rates or categories, so the Beds24 room's availability is sent to each of them.
Important: sending the same availability to each rate type can allow overbookings. HRS can limit the number of rooms per booking to 1 to prevent this.
Set up HRS
Sign in to the HRS extranet and go to Hotel Self Administration. If you have problems with the basic setup, contact HRS account management.
Step 1: Set up your rates
- Primary room types: single and double rooms are set up automatically in HRS. They need an HRS rate for the whole year, which Beds24 then overrides. You can use 0 availability and a dummy price of 999 euros. Repeat this basic setup for each year.
- Additional room types: set up all other room types in HRS, for example a 3-bed room (extra bed 1), 4-bed room (extra bed 2), comfort or superior double or single, budget or economy double or single, or an apartment.
- For Beds24 to send prices for an additional category, set Manage the availability for this category separately in HRS. With The availability of this category depends on the availability of the standard category, Beds24 can't send prices.
Tip: HRS focuses on business travellers, so double and single rooms get the most bookings. Connect double and single rooms and avoid additional categories where you can. You can close double or single rooms, but it's not recommended.
Step 2: Choose Beds24 as your channel manager
Go to Hotel Self Administration > Channel Manager and choose Beds24. HRS confirms the connection in the extranet and sends you a message when it's ready.
Set up Beds24
Step 1: Enter your hotel ID
- In Settings > Channel Manager > HRS, enter your HRS hotel ID.
- Choose your hotel type.
- Click Save.
Important: if you change the hotel type after mapping, you lose your mapping and must enter your codes again.
Step 2: Map your rooms
Because of the primary and additional room model, you always need to map a primary room (single, double or both). Each rate group has its own availability, so you map by room and rate type combination. HRS combinations are listed like this:
- Standard room types (single or double): Standard - Rate Group (Row) - Single or Double - Rate Type. This lets Beds24 send minimum stays.
- Additional room categories (extra bed, economy, suite): Extrabed 1, Extrabed 2, Single Room + type name, or Double + room type name.
- Use the selector next to Room Type to get the list of combinations.
- Click the HRS room and rate combination you want to map to the Beds24 room.
- When the value is copied into the room ID setting, click Save.
You can map each HRS room and rate combination to only one Beds24 room type. If needed, set up virtual rooms.
Step 3: Set meal plans, cancellation and reservation mode
- You can set Meal Plans, Cancellation and Reservation Mode per room in Beds24. If you leave them blank, the HRS settings are used.
- To offer breakfast-inclusive or breakfast-exclusive rates, enter a price in the HRS extranet, even if meals aren't included in the rate.
- For Cancellation = Not Allowed, set the reservation mode to guaranteed with credit card.
- Additional room categories have no rules of their own; they inherit them from the standard room type.
Step 4: Activate the connection
- Click View Actual Data to check the availability and prices Beds24 will send. For additional room categories, you see the price HRS offers the room for, and the surcharge or discount: the standard double price minus the price for the additional category.
- Tick Inventory, Prices and Bookings.
- Click Save.
Expected result: Beds24 sends your availability and prices and imports new bookings, modifications and cancellations. The connection works if you receive no error messages and HRS shows the right availability and prices. Changes to settings go with the next update, see Updates and changes.
Note: Beds24 overwrites prices already set in HRS but can't remove them. If Beds24 sends no prices, it sends no availability, and HRS shows its original data.
Important: HRS doesn't accept updates from Beds24 while you're logged in to your HRS account. Avoid logging in to Hotel Self Administration once the channel manager is connected.
Price multiplier
For HRS, add the multiplier to your hotel ID. For example, 123456*1.23 raises all prices for hotel ID 123456 by 23%, 123456*0.85 sends 85% of your normal price, and 123456*1.23* also divides the price of bookings imported from HRS by 1.23. See Price multiplier for all options, including currency conversion.
Multiple rates and Hot Deals
- You can send different rate types on different dates, for example Special on weekdays, Weekend on weekends and Trade show during trade shows. Map the codes directly in the fixed prices or daily prices, see Map channel rate codes. In that case, leave Room Type blank in the channel manager settings, and make sure the periods don't overlap.
- Hot Deals have their own availability. To avoid overbookings, ask HRS to limit the number of rooms per booking to 1.
Manage HRS bookings
- Import upcoming bookings: click Import Bookings, enter your HRS booking numbers one per line, and click Import.
- Limit bookings: by default, all available rooms are sent. To limit the number of bookings HRS can accept, use Channel Inventory.
Important notes for additional categories
- Prices for additional room categories are offsets from the standard room type (standard double or single). HRS recalculates the offset whenever the standard price changes, which changes the additional category prices too. Beds24 sends the correct difference with the next update, which can take a couple of hours. If you use the multiplier in the calendar to update standard prices dynamically, go to Settings > Channel Manager > HRS after a change and click Update for the additional categories.
- Don't use the yield optimiser on the standard room types to adjust prices automatically.
- Additional room categories inherit their rules from the standard room type.
Troubleshooting
Beds24 emails you any error HRS returns during an update.
| Error | Likely cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| session is invalid: 1300: session is invalid | Wrong hotel ID, or Beds24 isn't selected as channel manager in HRS | Check that Property Code is your HRS hotel ID and that Beds24 is your channel manager in the HRS extranet. |
| session is not valid: -1000: session is not valid | The connection isn't set up correctly, you were logged in to HRS during an update, or HRS had a technical problem | Check Property Code and the channel manager selection in HRS. Avoid logging in to Hotel Self Administration while you use the channel manager. |
| rate save failed due to validation errors: -4101 ... The entered type of breakfast is invalid. | Meal settings don't match HRS | To offer meal-inclusive or exclusive rates, add prices in the HRS extranet. If you don't offer breakfast, use not available. If you already offered breakfast this calendar year, HRS doesn't allow not available: select exclusive instead. |
| The Hot Deal cannot be saved because an HRS rate is not available throughout the selected period. | There's no standard HRS rate for the period | Create and map a standard HRS rate before you send a Hot Deal. |
| 4101: rate save failed due to validation errors ... The column does not exist. Please first create the column | You're sending more prices than there are rows in HRS | Create additional rows in HRS. |
| rate save failed due to validation errors ... a parameter of the to saved object is invalid or out of range. | The basic HRS setup is missing for a year | Do the basic setup in HRS for each year you send data for, see Set up your rates. |
| cancelable flag is invalid | HRS doesn't allow the combination of Cancellation and Reservation Mode | For Cancellation = Not Allowed, set the reservation mode to guaranteed with credit card. |
| rate save failed due to validation errors | You were logged in to your HRS account during an update | Log out of HRS. HRS doesn't accept updates while you're logged in. |
| A peak season rate cannot be set up for the specified period because your hotel will be listed as a City Hotel on HRS from next year onwards. Peak season rates do not apply to this type of hotel. | Your hotel type in HRS is changing to City Hotel | Set Hotel Type = City and set Room Type to one of the HRS or Trade types. If the error continues, sign in to HRS and remove any Season rates. |
| 11100: category availability save failed ... Saving of the category availabilities was not possible because the type of price is not changeable. | The offset type in HRS can't be changed by Beds24 | Change the offset stored in the HRS extranet to Fixed amount. |
For general causes and fixes, see Troubleshooting in How the Channel Manager works.
Disconnect HRS
- In Beds24, untick Inventory, Prices and Bookings.
- Disconnect Beds24 in HRS too. If you can't find how, contact HRS support.