Short Term Vacation Rental Software
Hospitality PMS

While you may create an amenity in BrightSide for security cameras, Airbnb does not have a corresponding amenity to which you can map it. The amenity will show up on your website (if it is integrated and active) but it will not show up on Airbnb.

In order to notify Airbnb guests that you have a security camera, you need to login to your Airbnb account and go to Listings. In Listing Details, scroll down to Things guests should know and click Edit. Under Safety Devices, check the box for Security cameras/audio recording devices. Click Edit and describe each device, its location, and other details.

Yes, BrightSide makes it easy to create a markup fee that is hidden in the rent on Airbnb. You can choose to make it a percentage of rent or a flat fee. Airbnb bundles it in the rent, not as a separate fee. However, BrightSide treats it as a separate fee for the property manager to keep. This markup fee offsets the expense of paying Airbnb commissions.

When you connect to, or add, a property to Airbnb from BrightSide, you may choose to sync everything, or perform a limited sync. What are the differences?

Everything: When you choose to sync “Everything,” BrightSide overwrites all the information for that property in Airbnb. What this means is that BrightSide updates all of the photos, rates, descriptions, name (listing title), summary, “everything,” for that unit in Airbnb. Updates for units go one way, from BrightSide to Airbnb, not the other way around. The exceptions to this are reservations and availability.

IMPORTANT: When you connect to a property already on Airbnb, you MUST completely set up the unit in BrightSide BEFORE toggling on “Activate on Airbnb”. If you do not, BrightSide may delete the photos, change rates, etc., and your unit could display incorrectly on Airbnb. For more information, see Airbnb Integration.

Limited: When you choose a “Limited,” sync, only the reservations, rates, and availability sync with Airbnb. You must manage all the other unit details inside your Airbnb account. This setting may be useful at times, but overall, it underutilizes the benefits and purposes of a property management software like BrightSide.

Yes, Airbnb allows property managers using BrightSide to connect to more than one Airbnb account. To learn more, go to our Airbnb Integration tutorial.

When you connect a property to Airbnb for the first time, the unit’s data syncs nearly in real time. However, the photos may take a while to fully sync. When there is a problem with the photos, it is usually at this point that Airbnb shows an error message. If this happens, wait five to ten minutes and refresh the page. If Airbnb still shows an error, follow these steps:

1. In BrightSide, toggle off “Activate on Airbnb” in the Airbnb tab and “Save” it. Wait one minute and go to step two.
2. Toggle on “Activate on Airbnb”  and “Save” it.
3. Refresh the unit page to see if it the status has been changed to “approved” at the bottom of the Airbnb tab.
4. If it is still inactive, go to your Airbnb account and see if it is active.

These steps usually correct any syncing issues with the photos. NOTE: make sure your photos are at least 1920 x 1080 or Airbnb will reject them.

• Character Limit: Airbnb allows you to have up to 50 characters in the unit’s name. Airbnb says, “Short titles work best”. For mobile devices, Airbnb shows the first 32 characters. Place the most important information at the beginning of your listing title (name).
• Capitalization: Airbnb does not allow ALL CAPS in the unit’s name. DO NOT do this: NEW REMODEL, GREAT VIEWS! You may use all caps for abbreviations, like TYS Airport. Airbnb recommends using sentence structure when writing your listing title rather than short snippets.
• Multiple Characters: Airbnb does not allow multiple characters in succession, unless it is part of a word. For example, you may use “Grill”, but you may not use “Grill!!”. Two exclamation points violates their policy of multiple characters in a row.

NOTE: You may be in violation of one or more of these guidelines and your property is still active on Airbnb. However, Airbnb may be penalizing you for not updating the listing title and not showing your property as often as you want.