Run your direct booking page with more confidence.
Practical help for stay owners using Hopnest Direct to manage public pages, booking requests, calendar availability, payment request messages, and WhatsApp-first follow-up.
Start Here
Understand what Hopnest Direct does, who it is for, and how the intended outcome-based model works.
What is Hopnest Direct?
Hopnest Direct is direct booking page software for small stays. It gives you a public mini website, availability request flow, host dashboard, booking management, calendar tools, payment workflow, and WhatsApp-first follow-up. The stay owner handles approval, payment collection, guest communication, cancellation, refund, and check-in directly.
Who is Hopnest Direct for?
It is built for homestays, villas, cottages, boutique resorts, small hotels, and Instagram or WhatsApp-based stay sellers who want a cleaner way to receive and manage direct booking requests.
What is included with Hopnest Direct?
Every feature is included: public booking pages, rooms and photos, live availability, calendar and booking tools, Manual UPI, optional property-owned Razorpay, custom domains, WhatsApp notifications, reports, insights, and branding. There is no subscription upgrade.
Property Setup
Prepare your stay profile before sharing it with guests.
How do I set up my first property?
Open Properties from the host dashboard, create or edit your property, then add the stay name, location, description, property booking contact, map link, rooms, photos, amenities, policies, and availability details.
What details should I add before sharing my page?
Add clear property photos, room types, room capacity, base price, amenities, check-in and check-out details, location information, a property booking contact, and any payment note you want guests to see before sending a booking request.
What is the property booking contact?
It is the property-level operational WhatsApp number used in guest payment and refund guidance. If you leave the separate Public WhatsApp number blank, it is also the fallback for the public WhatsApp button. It is not the guest's number and it does not change the Hopnest number that sends automated messages.
What is the booking-ready checklist?
The booking-ready checklist is the set of basics that make a public page useful for guests: property details, rooms, photos, pricing guidance, contact information, location details, and availability settings.
Rooms & Photos
Set up rooms, units, capacity, price guidance, and images.
How do I add rooms or units?
Open Properties, choose the stay, and add or edit room types. Use one room type for each kind of inventory guests can request, such as Deluxe Room, Family Cottage, or Pool Villa.
What photos should I add?
Add bright, real photos of the exterior, bedroom, bathroom, view, common areas, dining space, parking, and any special experience. Avoid misleading or heavily edited images.
How should I set room capacity and base price?
Set capacity based on the maximum guests that can comfortably stay in that room type. Base price should be a starting guide for guests. Final pricing, discounts, and advance payment are handled directly by the property.
Bookings
Manage booking requests and follow up with guests directly.
What happens after a guest sends a booking request?
The request appears in your host dashboard with guest details, dates, room choice, and notes. Approval starts payment collection. Approval alone does not secure inventory; only a verified positive required deposit does.
Can a request be approved automatically?
A property may use automatic or host approval. In either case, approval only triggers payment collection. The room remains available until the required deposit is verified after a final availability check.
How do I approve, reject, or cancel a booking?
Open the booking request and use its status actions. Approve to start payment collection, reject if you cannot accept it, or cancel if payment collection fails so the request closes and any temporary hold is released.
How do I contact the guest?
Use the WhatsApp or call actions shown with the booking request. Guest communication is handled directly by the property.
Calendar & Availability
Keep availability accurate by managing approved requests, verified deposits, and manual blocks.
How is availability calculated?
Approved and payment-requested bookings do not permanently secure inventory by themselves. Inventory is affected only by a fixed unexpired checkout hold, a verified positive required deposit, or a calendar block.
How do I block dates?
Open Calendar, choose the property or room, select start and end dates, choose the number of units to block, and add a reason such as maintenance, owner use, offline booking, OTA booking, or temporary hold.
How do manual bookings work?
Use Manual Booking for an approved offline, phone, or WhatsApp booking. It enters the same payment, deposit-security, timeline, check-in reminder, completion, no-show, and outcome-review workflow as a public booking. Use Calendar Blocks for maintenance, owner use, or inventory you do not want treated as a booking.
Why does a date show available, partial, full, or blocked?
Available means inventory is open. Partial means some inventory is left. Full means the tracked inventory is already used for that date. Blocked means the owner has manually blocked the date or inventory.
Leads
Follow up on guests who contact the property before choosing a room or checking availability.
What creates a lead?
A lead is created when a guest shares their number before opening the public Call or WhatsApp action. The guest does not need to select a room or enter travel dates. The contact action continues directly to the property after the enquiry is saved.
Where can I manage leads?
Open Leads from the host navigation. You can contact the guest, add notes, change the stage, mark priority, schedule a follow-up, review source attribution, and see the activity timeline.
How do I convert a lead into a booking?
Open the lead and choose Convert to booking. Add the agreed room, dates, guest count, quantity, and amount. Hopnest checks availability before creating the booking. The converted booking starts payment collection but does not secure inventory until the required positive deposit is verified.
What happens when the selected room is unavailable?
No booking is created and the lead remains open. The failed conversion attempt is recorded in the lead timeline so you can offer another room or different dates.
Payment Requests
Use payment request messages for direct property-managed collections.
Does Hopnest collect payment?
No. Payments are handled directly by the property. Hopnest Direct only helps create organized payment request messages and tracking inside the dashboard.
How do payment request messages work?
After approval, Hopnest prepares a secure payment link and attempts WhatsApp delivery. Opening the link rechecks availability; starting checkout creates one fixed 20-minute hold. Reopening or refreshing cannot extend it.
How do I mark a booking as paid?
After you receive payment directly, verify it in the property bank, UPI app, or Razorpay account, then record it. Inventory is secured only when cumulative verified receipts reach the frozen required deposit and a final locked availability check passes.
Troubleshooting
Quick checks for common setup and enquiry issues.
Guest says they sent a booking request, what should I check?
Check the Bookings page, filters, date range, and the guest phone number. Also confirm that the guest completed the final Send Booking Request step.
My room is showing unavailable, what should I check?
Check active room inventory, verified required deposits, unexpired checkout holds, paid bookings, and calendar blocks for those dates. Approved or payment-requested bookings alone do not permanently secure inventory.
My WhatsApp link is not working, what should I check?
Check that the WhatsApp number includes the correct country code and digits only. For India, use a valid 10 digit mobile number or a normalized number beginning with 91.
My map link is wrong, how do I fix it?
Open your property edit page and replace the map link with the correct Google Maps share link. Save the property and test the public page again.
Owner Responsibilities
Clear boundaries for what the property handles directly.
Who approves and operates the booking?
The stay owner approves the request, collects the required payment, and operates the stay. Hopnest Direct records the workflow and automations but does not become the accommodation supplier.
Who collects payment?
Payments are handled directly by the property. Hopnest Direct does not collect guest payments. If automation fails, the owner must collect and record verified payment or cancel the booking.
Who handles cancellation and refund?
Cancellation terms, refund decisions, and refund payments are handled directly by the stay owner and guest.
Who communicates with the guest?
The stay owner communicates directly with the guest through phone, WhatsApp, email, or any channel the property prefers.