Owner
Owner setup, part 5: guest payments and account security
Choose how guests can pay, understand where the money goes, and protect the Owner account with two-step sign-in.
By The Xenia team · · 3 min read
This is part 5 of 7 of the Xenia owner setup guide: 1. Your account · 2. Hotel details · 3. Rooms and rates · 4. Roles and staff · 5. Payments and security · 6. First booking and going live · 7. What to do next.
This part covers the last two things an Owner must decide before staff start work: how guests can pay, and how to protect the one account that can change everything.
Guest payments
Open Payments. Guests can pay for a booking by card or bank transfer, and the money goes straight to your bank account. Xenia never holds it. Card and transfer payments are processed by Flutterwave and paid into your account, usually by the next business day.
Where the money goes
The top card shows the payout account. Online payments need that account to be set up, and until it is, the card says Online payments aren't switched on yet. To switch them on, contact Xenia; you can still take cash without it. Changing the payout account later raises a high-priority alert to the Owner, because whoever owns that account receives the money.
Ways guests can pay
Card: the guest pays on a secure payment page.
Bank transfer: the guest transfers to a one-time account number made for the booking.
Cash: the desk records cash received.
The front desk is only offered the methods you switch on. Card and transfer also need the payout account. Deposit (% of the stay) sets what the desk can ask for up front instead of the full amount; 30 is a common starting point. Choose Save.
Turn on two-step sign-in
Open Security. Anyone who steals your password could otherwise see and change your hotel's figures. Two-step sign-in asks for a code from an app on your phone after the password, so a stolen password is not enough. Xenia strongly recommends it for the Owner.
Install an authenticator app such as Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator on your phone.
Choose Set up with an authenticator app.
Scan the picture with the app. If you cannot scan, type the key shown under the picture into the app instead.
Type the six-digit code the app shows into Code from the app.
Choose Turn on.
The Security page also shows Alerts for unusual sign-ins, such as a new device or another country, and lets you change your password. Changing it signs you out everywhere else.
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See your own hotel in Xenia
Start free for 14 days with no card. Add your rooms, invite your staff, and watch the money in one place.