Connect Touch Stay with Hostaway to automatically import your properties, sync reservations, personalise your guidebooks with Hostaway property and reservation data, and automatically share personalised guidebook links with your guests.
This guide explains how to set up the integration step by step
Step 1: Get your Hostaway API credentials
To connect Hostaway with Touch Stay, you'll first need to generate an API key in your Hostaway account:
Log in to your Hostaway account.
Go to Settings → Hostaway API.
Click Create.
Enter a name for the API key (for example, Touch Stay).
Click Create again.
Copy your Account ID and API Key.
⚠️ Hostaway will only display the key once, so make sure to save it before closing the window!
You can find more information about Hostaway API keys in this Hostaway article.
Step 2: Connect Hostaway to Touch Stay
Once you have copied your Account ID and API Key from Hostaway, return to Touch Stay to complete the connection.
In Touch Stay, go to Integrations
Find Hostaway and click Connect.
Paste your Account ID and API Key into the relevant fields.
Click Save.
Step 3. Match Hostaway properties
If you already have guides in Touch Stay, you'll now match them to the correct properties in Hostaway.
Go to Integrations
Click the Match tab.
Use the dropdown next to each Touch Stay guide to select the matching Hostaway property.
Click Match Selected.
Take a moment to double-check your matches before continuing. This helps ensure the correct property information and reservations sync to the right guide.
Don't have any guides to match?
No problem. If you're creating new guides from your Hostaway properties, skip this step and move on to the Import tab
Step 4. Import Hostaway properties
If you have any Hostaway properties that haven't been matched to an existing Touch Stay guide, you can import them as new guides.
Go to Integrations
Click the Import tab.
Select the Hostaway properties you'd like to import.
Click Import Selected.
💡 Good to know
Only unmatched Hostaway properties will appear in the Import tab.
Once imported, a new Touch Stay guide will be created for each selected property and will appear on your Guides page.
Touch Stay will automatically import:
Property name
Property address
Cover photo (if the image size meets our requirements)
If a suitable cover photo isn't available, you can easily upload one later.See How to Set the Cover Photo for step-by-step instructions.
This helps you get started more quickly, with the basic property information already added to your guide.
Step 5. Complete guide creation (for new Touch Stay customers only)
Before enabling the sync, take a moment to review your guides and make sure everything is ready to share with guests. This includes checking your:
Guide content
Property information
Check-in instructions
Contact details
Images and branding
💡 New to Touch Stay?
Visit our Quick Start Video for helpful tips on the quickest way to build your digital welcome book
Step 6. Personalisation settings
Hostaway can automatically send reservation data to Touch Stay, allowing you to personalise your guides and guest messages. For example, you can display:
Guest names
Arrival and departure dates
Check-in and check-out times
Guest's contact details
This data can be used in your guide content and Message Hub templates
Automatically Mapped Fields
The following Hostaway reservation fields are automatically available in Touch Stay and do not require any additional setup:
Field | Mapping type | Data Type |
Guest first name | User/guest custom field | Text |
Guest last name | User/guest custom field | Text |
Arrival date | User/guest custom field | Number |
Check-out time | User/guest custom field | Time |
Check-in time | User/guest custom field | Time |
Departure date | User/guest custom field | Number |
Guest contact phone number ⚠️ | User/guest custom field | Number |
Guest contact email address ⚠️ | User/guest custom field | Text |
⚠️ Some OTAs and booking sites do not always provide the guest's email address or phone number; the availability of these two data points depends on the platform the guest used to complete their booking.
Optional Fields You Can Manually Map
Hostaway also provides a number of additional data fields through the integration that can be manually mapped to Touch Stay custom fields.
If you'd like to bring even more property information into your guides for advanced personalisation, take a look at our article:
👉 Guide level data mapping with Hostaway
Examples of Hostaway Fields You Can Map
Field | Mapping type | Data Type |
Door code | User/guest custom field | Text |
Hostaway Email | User/guest custom field | Text - when added as the reply-to email in your Message Hub templates, any replies will go to your Hostaway inbox |
Channel Reservation ID | User/guest custom field | Number |
Hostaway Reservation ID | User/guest custom field | Number |
WIFI Username | Guide custom field | Text |
WIFI Password | Guide custom field | Text |
How to Map Custom Fields
Go to Integrations
Click the Map Data.
Select the Hostaway data field you'd like to sync
Choose an existing custom field, or click + New Custom Field to create one. If creating a new custom field:
Enter a Field Code. When creating a new field code, consider adding _hostaway to the end of the name (for example, door_code_hostaway). This makes it easier to identify where the data is coming from.
(Optional) Add a Substitute Value to display when data is missing.
Click Save.
💡 Substitute Value
A substitute value acts as a fallback when information is missing. For example, you create a field for Number of Adults.
If Hostaway doesn't provide this information for a reservation, Touch Stay can display your substitute value instead. Examples:
Contact us if this information is missing
Not provided
Please ask your host
This helps avoid blank fields appearing in your guides or guest messages.
💡 Learn more in Field Codes Explained.
Using Your Mapped Data
Once a field has been mapped, you can use it throughout Touch Stay, including:
Topic content
Under the Field Codes button, you'll find all the data available through the Hostaway integration, including guest details, arrival and departure dates, check-in and check-out times, and any optional fields you've mapped from Hostaway.
This allows you to create a more personalised guest experience without manually updating information for each reservation.
Step 7. Sync reservations
Sync Hostaway reservations with your Touch Stay account and complete the integration.
Go to Integrations
Open the Sync Reservations tab.
Under Sync Options, choose how you'd like reservations to be imported:
All reservations (recommended if you're new to Touch Stay)
Imports all future reservations from Hostaway.
Creates invitations for all imported reservations.
New reservations only (recommended if you're already using Message Hub invitations)
Only imports reservations created after the sync is enabled.
Helps prevent duplicate invitations.
Select the guide(s) you want to sync.
Use Select All to enable syncing for all guides.
Click Sync Selected.
Once the Sync Reservation is active, new confirmed reservations from Hostaway will automatically be imported into Touch Stay for the selected guides.
💡Good to know
The initial sync may take a few minutes, depending on the number of properties and reservations being imported.
You can continue using Touch Stay while the sync runs in the background.
⚠️ Whenever you add a new guide and connect it to a Hostaway property, you'll also need to enable Sync Reservation for that guide.
If Sync Reservation is not enabled, reservations will not be imported, and invitation links will not be created for guests staying at that property.
Step 8. Sharing guide links through Hostaway
Once reservation syncing is enabled, Touch Stay automatically creates a custom reservation field in Hostaway containing a unique, trackable guidebook link for each reservation. The custom field is:
👉 {{reservation_touch_stay_guide_link}}
A note about Hostaway message timing - Important
There may be a short delay between a booking being received in Hostaway and the Touch Stay Guide Link being generated and synced back to Hostaway.
⚠️ Important
Don't include the Touch Stay Guide Link in messages sent immediately after a booking is received.
Instead, send your guidebook message at least 1 hour later, or even the following day, to ensure the personalised guide link is ready.
Use the guide link in your Hostaway guest messages
Once the integration is set up, you can add the Touch Stay Guide Link custom field to your Hostaway message templates. This allows each guest to automatically receive their own personalised guidebook link.
Steps
Open the Hostaway message template you'd like to edit, or create a new one.
Place your cursor where you'd like the guidebook link to appear.
Click the { } icon in the top-right corner of the message editor.
Under Reservation custom fields, select {{reservation_touch_stay_guide_link}}.
The field will be inserted into your message template and automatically replaced with each guest's unique Touch Stay guidebook link when the message is sent.
⚠️ Important
Do not delete the {{reservation_touch_stay_guide_link}} custom field from your Hostaway account.
If it's removed, please contact Touch Stay Support to have it restored.
Best Practices for Sharing Your Guidebook
We usually recommend this setup for the best guest experience:
After booking confirmation
When: Around 1 hour after the booking is confirmed.
Why: Gives Touch Stay time to generate the personalised guide link before it's sent.
Before arrival
When: A few days or weeks before arrival.
Why: Reminds guests to review important information and plan for their stay.
Day before arrival
When: 1 day before arrival.
Why: A final reminder with check-in instructions, access details and everything guests need before they arrive.
What happens if I’m already using Message Hub?
If you want to switch from Message Hub to Hostaway for sending guide links:
Archive your existing Message Hub message templates; this stops them from being added to new reservations.
Set up your new Hostaway message flow.
Archiving won’t affect any existing invitations.
To cancel messages already scheduled, delete the Message Hub template instead.
FAQs
Why isn’t my new property sharing the guide link with bookings?
There are a couple of common reasons for this:
Matching not completed
Each time you add a new listing to your Hostaway account, you’ll need to complete the matching and sync steps in Touch Stay for it to share guide links automatically.
👉 Step 3. Match Hostaway properties
Sync Reservation not activated
If your guide link isn't being sent back to Hostaway, first check that Sync Reservations is enabled for the property.
Go to Integrations.
Open the Sync Reservations tab.
Check that the property is selected for syncing.
💬 Still not seeing the link?
If you’ve completed the steps above and the link is still missing, please email [email protected] with:
Your login email address
Guide name
Guest arrival date
Homero booking ID
This information helps our team investigate the issue quickly.
I updated a custom field in Hostaway, but I can't see the changes in Touch Stay
Property data is automatically synced from Hostaway to Touch Stay every 24 hours.
If you need the changes to appear sooner, you can manually trigger a sync:
To update all guides
Go to Integrations → Map Data and click Resync Guide Data.
To update a single guide:
Go to Guides → Guide Details → Hostaway Integration, click Edit, then select Resync guide data.
🤝 Need Help?
If you have any questions or need help setting things up, just get in touch.
Or send us a support ticket directly from your Touch Stay account.
