Adding properties allows you to set-up the details of your properties in your SuperControl account, configure its booking details, changeover days, pricing and short breaks.
You need to set up each 'real' property in SuperControl. You may need to request additional licenses in order to do this. Go to Admin > Licence summary. Select the additional number of licences you require from the drop down and click Update.
Any 'Virtual properties' must also be set-up as a further property in SuperControl. A 'Virtual' property' is typically a composite of several separately bookable properties (i.e. two wings of a manor house may be booked individually, or together as a 'full house' Virtual property.
To add a property, go to Properties > Add.
If you have already built your property, go to Properties > Edit
At the top of the page you will see the headings of all the different sections on the page. This allows you to quickly jump to the required part of the page.
This menu will stay at the top of the page when you scroll down the page as well to enable you to quickly move around the page.
On the right hand side of the sections menu you will see the option to enable advanced options.
When the toggle is slid to the right and turns green further options become available, which will be showing a thin green surrounding line.
Example:
The toggle is set to OFF
The same section with the toggle set to ON
You have the option to add your own reference / information for the property.
Please note:
You can set up your property without entering using the advanced settings.
Any advanced settings will be discussed at the end of the description for each section.
Default settings
1) Property name - This will show on your website and throughout your SuperControl account, e.g. in the grid view. It is the main way to reference your property.
2) Enable this property - Select Yes to show this property in the availability chart on your website.
Select No if you are not ready for the property to show on any grouped website calendars yet. You will not be able to set-up channel integrations or booking extras if the property is not enabled.
Choose Archived to store the property. This will remove the Availability chart from your website. Please note you do have the option to un-archive it again at a later date if needed.
3) Capacity - The number of people your property accommodates. You need to add a total Capacity, i.e. how many adults/children the property accommodates.
Example:
There are a total of 6 sleeping spaces (beds) in a property. The Capacity would be 6.
Please note:
Infants don't count towards the total capacity of the property, with the logic being that they sleep in their own cot and thus do not take up a bed space.
The (maximum) capacity will show in brackets after the property in the calendar on your website.
Please note:
The default capacity setting has been moved to the top of the price planner.
4) Capacity notes - Here you can provide a breakdown of how many twin, double, or single rooms your property contains plus any extra beds that could increase the occupancy. The information will be displayed on the customer booking form.
5) Number of Adults, Children and Infants - You also need to add the number of individual adults and children allowed, i.e. 6 adults and 4 children.
The number of Adults and children combined will never be able to exceed the capacity.
This is where in the booking the guest would select the number of adults, children and infants during the booking process.
Should a guest try to add more persons to a booking than the capacity allows, they will see an error message.
If you allow infants, you will be able to define what counts as an infant as well.
They do not count to the overall capacity as it is assumed they sleep in their own cot.
When you allow infants, you will see a field, where you can define what an infant is.
6) Country - Select the country in which your property is located. This may be different from the country where your business is based.
7) Address - Your property's street address. Please use separate fields for town and postcode.
-> Town - This corresponds with the availability search functionality, enabling you to further segment your properties.
-> Postcode - including a postcode will allow you to include address details in email templates if needed.
8) Property/Tourist license number - If your property is situated in a country where you need to have a property or tourist licence, please add the relevant number here.
9) EPC rating - This stands for Energy performance certificate and is the energy rating of your property. You can select between the letter A and G
Your ref - This is for internal use only. Your ref will not show to the guest. It can be used as a secondary reference for your own admin use.
A) Type - This corresponds with the Availability search functionality. If you are using the advanced availability search you can segment your properties into types so that the holidaymaker can choose between them, e.g. holiday cottages, apartments, lodges, villas.
To set up a property type go to Properties > Property types. This is mainly used for API.
B) Group - This feature is not available for Lite accounts.
It can be used for businesses that have more than one identical property (such as a holiday park or caravan site), so that you can display one availability chart (calendar) for all the identical properties instead of a separate chart for each property. Groups can also be used for unique properties whereby, for example, in a resort all properties which have a sea view are grouped. This form of grouping is used mainly for searching purposes. Click here, to learn more about groups.
Region - This corresponds with the Availability search functionality, enabling you to segment your properties into regions. Regions are only needed if your properties are located in different areas.
For more information see this help centre article.
Please note:
Note that regions are associated with countries so you should select the relevant country first.
Star rating - Enter your property's star rating if it has one.
Accrediting body - Enter the accrediting body associated with the star rating.
Floor Space - This is the complete inside floor space of your property. Any garden, patio or balcony space should not be included.
Units - The is the unit of measurement the floor space has been measured in, meters squared.
1) Balance due - The number of days before the arrival date that the balance is due.
You can set-up automated Balance reminder emails based on this date when you set-up automated emails.
2) Deposit type - Choose how to take the deposit. Use the selection menu to choose between percentage of total, fixed amount per week, fixed amount, first night or Interim deposit.
3) Deposit value - Enter the fixed amount or percentage. Please include only numbers - do not include £, $, or %, for example.
4) Min value - If you charge a percentage deposit, and wish to specify a minimum deposit amount, enter the value here.
5) Arrival time: You can set the time a guest can arrive at the earliest.
Departure time: Time the guest is required to have vacated the property.
You can set the time in 15 minutes increments.
6) Refundable deposit - Select this option, if you are collecting the money from the guest and then refunding it after the guest has left.
Security deposit - You can set up to ring fence a security deposit on the guest's card.
This means, the money doesn't actually leave the guest's card, but the guest can't spend the money until it has been released again.
For further information, please see this help centre article.
Please note:
This option is only available for users of HolidayrentPayment.
1) Calendar pricing - You can select to either show prices to the guests and allow them to book directly. Or you can have them see which dates are available, but have the guest enquiry for the prices.
This is a way to initially vet potential guests.
Should you not have any prices in the price planner for some reason, but intended to allow direct bookings, you can choose, which message will be displayed to the guest.
2) Hide booking button - Select No, unless you want to hide the facility for guests to book directly online.
With this option set to Yes, the guest will see an Enquire now button instead of Book now.
3) Allow enquiries - This allows your guests to contact you and enquire re different dates, conditions, possibly bring a pet etc.
4) Accept Online Bookings - This setting specifies how close to the arrival date you would accept bookings. 0 denotes a same day booking, 1 would be a day before arrival etc. You would set this based on the minimum time you would need to ensure that the property was ready to recieve guests.
5) Break days bookings - You will only see this option, if the break day feature has been enable on your account.
For more information about break days and how to use them, please see this help centre article.
6) Max duration for Online Bookings - This setting determines the maximum length of any single booking. This may be important to specify for legal reasons (i.e. to avoid a booking exceeding the allowed term of a short term let and becoming a longer tenancy).
Show capacity on calendar - This box should be ticked if you would like the capacity of the property to be included on the customer-facing calendars. It would be showing in brackets after the property name.
Check availability before booking - By selecting this option you can ask your potential guests to check availability with you before booking. This is often used by agencies that can't rely on their owners to update their availability in a timely manner.
The below screenshot show the message your guest would see.
Select Default, if you wish to allow guests to simple book their required dates without checking them (the dates) before hand.
Don't accept arrival before - This setting allows you to prevent bookings from being placed at any point before a specified date. This can be useful if you are setting-up a property in SuperControl that is still being renovated, and allows bookings to be taken only from a specified date onwards. If Show as Unavailable is ticked, the dates will simply show as blocked on your website calendar. If it is unticked, you can add a message in the box below. This message will display when any unavailable date is clicked on by the guest, and can be used to inform them, for example, from what date the property will be taking bookings.
Price band - You can set up price bands under Properties > Price bands. Each price band set up will be available for selection here.
For more information about price bands, please see this help centre article.
Short break band - If you have created short break bands you can select them here in the drop-down menu.
Please note:
This grid is used to set the days you allow 7 night breaks to start on.
You need to have at least one week day selected.
You can tick individual days or use the buttons at the top and the right of the grid.
Using these will select all days in the column or row.
Workaround tip:
If you do not allow full week breaks, you can select a weekday, which is not an arrival day and disable these days in the price planner.
Example:
You allow guests to arrive on Monday for 4 nights and Fridays for 3 nights.
Select Sunday as the weekly stay arrival day.
In the price planner click into the Sundays and disable them as an arrival day.
Highlight day on grid view
You can highlight the weekly arrival days in the gird view as well.
To do that select the week day from the drop down menu.
This is how the days appear in the grid view.
The light blue days are the weekdays selected in this setting for the properties.
Please note:
You don't have to add a weekly price, but depending on how you want your price to calculate, you might need to.
Use a percentage of the weekly price to calculate short breaks
When you are selecting the option Use a percentage of the weekly price to calculate short breaks, you can set a weekly price and define the percentage of the weekly price for the number of nights (length of stay).
Please note:
You can have a different percentage for each length of stay as well as mid-week and weekend breaks.
Please note:
Any booking containing either Friday, Saturday or both are regarded as weekend breaks.
When you then go into the price planner the system will allow you to have the different prices calculated for each length of stay by simply clicking the link.
There are three different options for setting up short breaks.
With this option selected, your guests can only book 7 nights or multiple of 7 night stays, e.g. 14 nights, 21 nights etc.
If you go with this option, you might want to set up the option for your guests to send enquiries for shorter stays or holidays for a number of nights greater than 7 nights, but not divisible by 7.
Each day of the week has its individual price. To get the price for a stay, all individual prices are being added up.
There are four possible scenarios regarding if a weekly price has been set up, and/or if the option to calculate prices for each day have been selected.
| option selected | weekly price set up | resulting price for the guest |
|---|---|---|
| no | no | - no weekly price set up - daily price £100 example: 11 night stay 11 x £100 = £1100 |
| yes | no | - no weekly price set up - daily price £100 example: 11 night stay 11 x £100 = £1100 |
| no | yes | - weekly price has been set up - price is calculate 7 night price + remaining individual days example: 7 nights: £1000 daily price: £100 11 nights stay (7 night price > £1000) + (4 days á £100 > £400) = £1400 |
| yes | yes | - weekly price has been set up - daily price £100 example: 11 night stay 11 x £100 = £1100 |
You are setting s price for the length of the stay with this option.
When you are selecting the option Use a percentage of the weekly price to calculate short breaks, you can set a weekly price and define the percentage of the weekly price for the number of nights (length of stay).
Please note:
You can have a different percentage for each length of stay as well as mid-week and weekend breaks.
Please note:
Any booking containing either Friday, Saturday or both are regarded as weekend breaks.
When you then go into the price planner the system will allow you to have the different prices calculated for each length of stay by simply clicking the link.
Advanced settings
There two different options for how prices should be calculated for short breaks with a pricing depending on the length of stay.
- Pro rata after first week
- Calculate short breaks across price bands
You can find detailed information about these settings and how they calculate prices in this help centre article.
Here you can set the default settings you see in the short break pop-up when clicking into the short break band in the price planner.
Please note:
If you need to change from the short min/max options (on the right below) to the departure grid (on the left below) or vice versa, please contact us directly via [email protected]
The departure grid provides more flexibility.
You can set the departure days for breaks less than 7 nights long, as well as breaks that are longer.
Example:
arrival day: Monday
departure day for less than 7 night stays: only Friday
departure day for longer than 7 nights stays: Monday
This means the guest can arrive on the Monday, but has to depart again on Friday. It's the classic 4 night stay from Monday.
When the guest wants to book 7 nights or multiples of that, e.g. 14, 21 etc. they can arrive on Monday, but can also only leave on a Monday.
If you want to block out a whole row or column, you can use the headings to the left and top of the table.
Click it again and all ticks will be taken out.
Use first weekly rate for weekly bookings: If a stay crosses-over two price bands, and this box is ticked, then the first of the two weekly prices will be quoted as the cost of the whole stay. If unticked, the stay will be calculated using both the first and second weekly price.
Short Break pricing model: This setting allows you to specify the Pricing Model you wish to use.
- 'Don't allow short breaks': Only weekly bookings will be allowed.
- 'Fixed Price for Number of Nights' (LoS Pricing): This option allows you to set different prices for different lengths of stay, i.e. 3 nights midweek, 3 nights weekend etc.
- 'Daily' pricing: This is where each weekday/weekend day is priced individually.
Calculate prices for each day (Daily Pricing only): Leaving this unticked, means that the weekly price in the price line is able to be populated, if ticked this will add the daily prices up to make the weekly price the sum of the 7 individual days.
'Use a percentage of the weekly price to caculate short breaks' (LoS Pricing only): This option allows you to set default percentages for your short break bands. When the bands are added to the Price Planner, the percentages will appear, and can be clicked, to automatically calculate the specified percentage of your weekly rate.
'Calculate Short Breaks across Price Bands'- If a short break crosses-over two price bands, and this box is ticked, then the cost of the stay will be calculated using both the first and second price bands. If unticked, the first of the two prices will be quoted as the cost of the whole stay.
Fixed prices for number of nights -Enables % amounts for each stay
Allow late availability short breaks: This option allows you to activate short breaks a specified number of days prior to arrival, on a rolling basis. This will override your normal Price Planner settings.
This can be used when you normally don't allow short breaks, but want to give potential guests to the chance to book last minute any dates that remain unsold, or to offer a shorter minimum stay than normal a specified number of days prior to arrival.
Once you have set your Short Break Defaults, you then need to add your Short Break bands to the price planer. When you have saved the Settings page, go to the 'Price Planner to add Pricing and Short Break Bands.
Each day of the week has its individual price. To get the price for a stay, all individual prices are being added up.
There are four possible scenarios regarding if a weekly price has been set up, and/or if the option to calculate prices for each day have been selected.
| option selected | weekly price set up | resulting price for the guest |
|---|---|---|
| no | no | - no weekly price set up - daily price £100 example: 11 night stay 11 x £100 = £1100 |
| yes | no | - no weekly price set up - daily price £100 example: 11 night stay 11 x £100 = £1100 |
| no | yes | - weekly price has been set up - price is calculate 7 night price + remaining individual days example: 7 nights: £1000 daily price: £100 11 nights stay (7 night price > £1000) + (4 days á £100 > £400) = £1400 |
| yes | yes | - weekly price has been set up - daily price £100 example: 11 night stay 11 x £100 = £1100 |
Please note:
You can use this option only, if a weekly price has been set up.
Otherwise your guest will see a message that the dates might be available, but they would need to contact you directly for a price.
They can use the Send Enquiry button for this. Or use the contact details in the message.
Example 1
- the first weekly price is £1000
- the second weekly price is £2000
- the booking is for 2 full weeks
- the booking is crossing price bands
As the second week starts in the first price band, £1000 per week, the whole booking is calculated this price.
week 1 = £1000
week 2 = £1000
total = £2000
Example 2
- the first weekly price is £1000
- the second weekly price is £2000
- the booking is for 2 full weeks
- the booking is crossing price bands
- the first week is in price band 1, the second week is in price band 2
When the end of the first week falls directly onto the end of the price band, the second week will be calculated using the weekly price of the second week.
week 1 = £1000
week 2 = £2000
total = £3000
You are setting s price for the length of the stay with this option.
The min/max day settings allow you to set the minimum number of days I guest needs to book and the maximum number of night they can book.
If you allow longer stays than 7 days, you need to select the 7+ option.
Example:
Guests can book:
- exactly 4 nights when arriving on a Monday
- a minimum of 2 nights and a maximum of of 5 nights when arriving on Wednesday
- a minimum of 3 nights and any number of days up to your maximum stay set up arriving on Friday
The guests can't arrive on any other days for a short break as N/A has been chosen for them.
In need to associate your properties to their respective owners.
To do that, create the owner first (for details how to do that, please see this help centre article).
Owner's name: An owner is the person who owns the property, whereas the agency manages the property for the owner.
Assign the relevant owner to the property by selecting the owner's name from the drop down list.
Copy owner into your WEBSITE booking confirmation: Tick, if you would like the owner to be copied into online booking summaries, which are triggered by customers placing an online booking. The owner will see the guest booking totals, if this is ticked.
Copy owner into your WEBSITE enquiry confirmation: Tick, if you would like the owner to be copied into online enquiries, which are triggered by customers placing an online booking. The owner will see the guest booking totals, if this is ticked.
SMS alert for owners: Tick, if you would like the owner to be sent a short text message to notify them about a new online booking.
You need to add a mobile number for the owner in the owner settings under Agency > Edit owner > click the owner's reference number.
Please note:
In order for the SMS notifications to work, you need to have bought credits first.
For how to do that, please see this help centre article.
Property managed by: Owner or agent
If Agent is selected, a new section will open underneath and you can add all relevant information.
What is an Agent?
This could be a single person or a real life travel agency.
Basically it is the person (or company) who serves as primary contact for the guest.
In this section you can add any information relevant for the agent that is looking after the property and or is the primary contact for the property.
Notes: These are only internal notes, which the owner will not see. they can be used as reference for e.g. owner
First, ensure you have added your housekeepers. How to do this, please see this help centre article.
1. Go to Properties > Edit > Go.
2. Scroll down to the section with the heading Housekeeper and select the housekeeper from the drop-down menu click on the housekeeper you wish to associate with the property.
If you need to allocate multiple housekeepers to a property, hold down the Ctrl key and click each housekeeper name (if using a Mac select the command key whilst clicking on the housekeeper names).
1) Tick the box in front of the web address (URL) of the websites you want your properties to be bookable. You can tick one, several or all depending.
When a web site has not been ticked here, the property will not appear on the calendars of that website.
This feature is important if you wish to create grouped calendars using only certain properties within your account.
2) Your property URL: If you have set up individual pages for each of your properties you can enter their specific web address (URL) here.
When an URL has been provided here a button called More Info will provide a direct link to the property from the results of the Availability search page.
a) link to the page of the individual property for more information
b) link to the property specific calendar
3) On promotion - This only applies if you use the SuperControl API on the property pages of your website. Tick this box if you wish to show a "featured property" on your website. It also links the property name on the availability search on your website. You will need your web designer to implement this for you.