Owner
Owner setup, part 6: first booking and going live
Make a first booking to test everything, read the bill Xenia works out, then use this launch checklist to hand the hotel to your staff.
By The Xenia team · · 4 min read
This is part 6 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.
The last checklist step is Make your first booking. It proves that everything you set up in the earlier parts works together: the rooms, the rates, the VAT and the bill.
Make a booking
Open Bookings and choose New booking (or Make a booking on the checklist). Fill in the form:
Room: choose a room. The list shows its type and nightly rate.
Find a guest who has stayed before: optional. Search by name, phone or email to reuse a guest record.
Guest's first name, last name and Phone number. Email is optional.
Arrives, Leaves and People.
Promo code, Discount (%), VAT (%) and Credit limit are optional. VAT is filled from your hotel settings.
As you type, a box at the bottom works out the price before you commit: the room total, any discount and the VAT. Choose Book, pay later to create the booking, or Continue to payment to take a payment straight away.
Read the bill
Xenia opens the booking. It shows the stay total and, under it, the guest's Bill: one charge for each night, with VAT included. From here the desk can Add a charge, Take a payment, Extend stay, Change room or Check out. Voids and moves are recorded in the audit trail, and the Owner can see who did them.
See it on the front desk
Open Front desk. It shows arrivals, departures and who is in the house today. The Room board shows every room at a glance.
The Overview now shows today's numbers: guests in the house, arrivals, departures and revenue.
Launch checklist
Work down this list before your staff start, and tick each one:
Hotel details and receipt line are correct (part 2).
Time zone, VAT, check-in, check-out and night audit time are right (part 2).
Every room exists with the right number, type and rate (part 3).
Each team member has accepted their invitation and signed in (part 4).
Each person has the role that matches their job, and no one has more access than they need (part 4).
You have decided which payment methods the desk offers, and the payout account is set if you want card or transfer (part 5).
Two-step sign-in is on for your own account and the recovery codes are saved (part 5).
You have made, and checked, a test booking. Cancel or remove it so it does not appear in your figures.
What to do next
Set up outlets, menus and stock if your hotel has a bar, restaurant or store.
Set up accounting and the chart of accounts if your accountant will use Xenia.
Look at the daily report and the night audit after your first full day.
Check the Alerts page weekly. It tells you when something looks wrong.
Next: Part 7: what to do next.
If you get stuck at any point, the Xenia support team is one message away. Welcome to a hotel where every kobo has a name beside it.
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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.