Bed booking without double booking
Search the free beds for any dates, room type and gender, and book one in a few clicks. The system refuses a second booking of the same bed for the same days and names who holds it.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- Two desk staff promise the same bed to two families on the same afternoon.
- A bed is offered from the 1st although its resident leaves on the 10th.
- A man is booked into a room meant for women because the room list did not say.
- The new resident waits days for a login to the hostel app.
How it works
- Open Hostel > Front Desk > Availability. Choose the hostel, the room type and For (Male or Female) if you want, and the dates. Leave To empty for an open-ended stay.
- Click Search. You see every free bed with its room, room type, today's status and the date it is free from.
- Click Book on a bed. The booking opens with the hostel, bed and dates filled in.
- Choose the resident, or type a new resident's name and email or mobile. Choose the category, add guardians and the emergency contact, and save.
- The stay is Booked with a number such as STAY/2026/00012, the bed turns Reserved, and the resident and guardians are told. A new resident gets the link to set a password.
Everything it does
Finding a free bed
- Filters: hostel, room type, For (Male or Female), From (today to start with), To
- Free means: not blocked, room Available, hostel active, room for that gender or for any, and no other stay on any of those days
- A bed whose resident is on notice is free from the exit date
- A resident can arrive on the day another leaves the same bed
- Number Free counts the beds found
The booking
- Resident: someone with a login, or New Resident Name and Login (email or mobile). A portal login is made on saving, or an existing login is reused
- Category, Guardians (parents, guardians or sponsors who follow the stay)
- Hostel, Bed, Move-in (today to start with), Planned Check-out (empty for a monthly, open-ended stay)
- Contacts: emergency contact, phone and relation, College / Employer, vehicle number; medical notes for managers only; notes
- Start from Availability, from an enquiry, or from Hostel > Residents > Stays > New
No double booking
- A bed can hold one stay for any day. A clash is refused with the resident and stay number that hold the bed and their dates
- Bookings of the same bed are taken one at a time, and the database itself refuses an overlap as a last guard
- A resident can have only one stay for the same dates
- A room for the other gender is refused
After booking
- The bed can be changed while the stay is only booked
- Cancel Booking asks for a reason; the bed is free again and the resident is told
- Only a booking that never checked in can be deleted
- Invite to the App sends the login link again to the resident and guardians who never signed in
- With billing (Growth), the deposit and booking fee are charged at booking; with Scale, the waitlist, online booking and booking-site holds
Who uses it
Front deskSearches free beds and books them, from the web or the staff app.
Hostel managerDoes the same, and sees medical notes.
Resident and guardianGet the booking confirmation and the login link.
Where you use it
- Web: Hostel > Front Desk > Availability; Hostel > Residents > Stays
- The SmartMy Hostel Staff app: Book a bed by dates, room type and For (Anyone, Men, Women); then the resident's details. The app is built and in testing, not in the app stores yet
- From an enquiry: Book a Bed fills in the person
- Not by residents themselves below Scale: online booking from the public page is a Scale feature
What you control
Settings
- Invite New Residents: on, per hostel
- Room For: Male, Female or Any, per room
- Blocked: per bed; Hostel Status: per room
Notifications
- Hostel Booking Confirmed: to the resident and the guardians, in the app and by email. WhatsApp and SMS come from your message credits, and app push once the apps are in the stores
- Hostel Booking Cancelled: to the resident and the guardians, in the app and by email. WhatsApp and SMS come from your message credits, and app push once the apps are in the stores
- Hostel Login Invitation: the set-password link by WhatsApp or SMS to someone without email; with email, the link goes by email
- Each of these goes out at once; a person can switch off email for themselves, never the event, and in-app notices always arrive
Works with
SmartMy CampusA bed asked for on an admission application is booked when the student is made.
Questions
Can two people at the desk book the same bed at once?
No. Bookings of one bed are taken one at a time and the second is refused with who holds the bed. The database refuses an overlap as well.Can I book for someone who arrives next month?
Yes. Choose the dates in Availability. The bed shows Reserved from that day, and Next Stay shows on the bed until then.What if the resident has no email?
Use the mobile number as the login. The set-password link then goes by WhatsApp or SMS from your message credits. Until then, use an email login where you can.Can a resident book and pay online?
Yes, with Scale: the public page of the hostel takes a booking with the deposit and fee paid online.Can we book from the phone?
Yes. The staff app has Book a bed for the front desk. It is built and in testing, not in the app stores yet.Related features
HOSTELS, ROOMS, BEDSBed map with the status of every bedSee every bed room by room, coloured by its status: vacant, reserved, occupied, on notice or blocked. Each bed shows who is in it, from when it is free and every stay it has had.ENQUIRIES, BOOKINGS, WAITLISTEnquiries, site visits and the funnelEvery person who asks for a bed is an enquiry with where they came from, what they want and who follows them up. Plan a site visit, book a bed straight from the enquiry, or close it with a lost reason, and see which sources fill your beds.ENQUIRIES, BOOKINGS, WAITLISTDeposit and booking fee at bookingBooking a bed charges the security deposit and the booking fee of the rent plan at once, with a link to pay online. A booking not paid within your hold hours is cancelled and the bed is free again, and check-in can wait until the deposit is paid.STAYSCheck-in with checklist, documents and guardianA resident checks in only when the checklist is done, the documents are verified and a guardian is on record where one is needed. A manager can let them in anyway, and the reason stays on the stay.ENQUIRIES, BOOKINGS, WAITLISTWaitlist with bed offers by emailPeople who want a bed when you are full wait in line, by hostel, room type, gender and dates. Every hour the system looks for a bed that fits, offers it to the first in line by email for a set time. It books it when they accept.PUBLIC PAGE AND ONLINE BOOKINGOnline bed booking with paymentVisitors of your public hostel page press Book now, choose a move-in date and get a bed at once. The deposit and booking fee are invoiced on the spot and paid online; a booking not paid within your hold hours is released.
See it with your own blocks and classes.
Tell us how many hostels and students you have. We will show you an allotment, a leave request approved by a parent and a night roll call, set up the way your hostel works.