How to migrate from Smoobu to Nowistay

This guide walks you through every step of moving from Smoobu to Nowistay as your channel manager and property management system. Plan about 20 minutes per property, plus the time to export your data from Smoobu.

Airbnb accepts only one channel manager per account, and Booking.com, Vrbo and Expedia only one per property, so each channel has to move from Smoobu to Nowistay. The fastest and most reliable way does not depend on Smoobu at all: you remove Smoobu’s access from your Airbnb account and you switch the connectivity provider in your Booking.com extranet. No support ticket, no waiting. The Smoobu-specific instructions below cover everything else: what to export, where your message templates and booking website live, and how to cancel your subscription.

Already using Nowistay with the Smoobu connection? Step 1 has a dedicated option: you keep your property, your welcome guide and your AI co-host settings.

Moving from a different tool? Read the general guide: How to migrate from your PMS (channel manager) to Nowistay.

Why switch from Smoobu to Nowistay?

• A fully autonomous AI co-host: it answers your guests 24/7 on Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, WhatsApp and email, from the very first inquiry message, without waiting for your approval. It uses your welcome guide and property information to answer accurately.
• A complete channel manager: one calendar for prices, availability and stay rules on Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and Expedia, synchronized in real time, from 1 to 100+ properties.
• Set up in minutes: your Airbnb listings are imported with their photos, description and prices, then you add your other channels with a few clicks.
• Team and cleaning automation: a cleaning mission on every checkout, assignment to your team, checklists with photo reports.
• Everything else in one place: digital welcome guide, smart lock codes sent automatically, direct booking widget with Stripe, PriceLabs dynamic pricing, ChatGPT and Claude connectors.

The migration at a glance

1. Export your bookings, guests and message templates from Smoobu while your subscription is still active.
2. Remove Smoobu’s access on Airbnb, then connect Airbnb to Nowistay right away.
3. Switch the Booking.com connectivity provider to Nowistay’s partner, Channex.io, and connect Booking.com in Nowistay.
4. Move Vrbo and Expedia if you use them.
5. Import your direct bookings, check your calendar and recreate your automated messages.
6. Cancel Smoobu last, once every channel runs on Nowistay.

Remove the old Airbnb connection and connect Nowistay in one sitting, ideally at a quiet time of the day: in between, nobody updates your Airbnb calendar.

Before you start: export your data from Smoobu

Smoobu does not transfer your data to another tool, and some of it disappears when you disconnect a channel or when the subscription ends. Save it first:

• Bookings: go to Bookings, select your properties and a date range starting today, open Filters and tick the statuses you need (cancelled, blocked and offers are hidden by default), then click Export and choose CSV or Excel. From 300 bookings, Smoobu emails you the file. Avoid PDF, which truncates long lists.
• Guests: Contacts > Export.
• Guest invoices: Analytics > Issued Invoices, one at a time.
• Online check-in data: saved per booking only, as TXT or PDF.
• Message templates and Guest Guide: Smoobu has no export, copy the texts into a document (see Step 8).

Also have these ready:

• Your Airbnb login for the account that owns the listings (not a co-host account).
• Your Booking.com extranet access, with the phone that receives the extranet security codes.
• A Nowistay account: sign up at app.nowistay.com. Synchronization with your booking platforms and the CSV booking import are part of the AI Channel Manager plan.

Things to know before migrating

• Airbnb fees: Airbnb applies the host-only fee (about 15.5%) to accounts connected to a channel manager. Coming from Smoobu, your account is most likely already on it, so nothing changes. If not, the Rate Adjustment setting in Nowistay lets you raise your Airbnb prices to keep the same net revenue.
• Your calendar is managed from Nowistay: prices, availability and stay rules are set in the Nowistay calendar and pushed to every channel.
• Some Airbnb settings become read-only on Airbnb (Smart Pricing, some promotions and stay rules): you manage them from Nowistay.
• Your bookings stay where they are: reservations live on Airbnb and Booking.com, nothing is cancelled. Upcoming Airbnb and Booking.com reservations are retrieved by Nowistay when you connect those channels.

Details: What changes when you connect Nowistay as your channel manager.

Step 1: Move Airbnb from Smoobu to Nowistay

1a. Remove Smoobu’s access from Airbnb (recommended)

This cuts the connection from Airbnb’s side. It works whatever the state of your Smoobu account, and it disconnects all your listings in one go.

1. Log in to Airbnb with the account that owns the listings, on a computer or in the app.
2. Click Menu (your profile picture, top right), then Account settings.
3. Open Privacy.
4. Under Connected services, find Smoobu and click Remove access, then confirm.

Airbnb disconnects every listing that was linked to Smoobu at once. Older Airbnb pages call this section Privacy & sharing and Services: it is the same place.

Prefer to start from Smoobu? In Smoobu, go to Channels, click the pencil icon on the Airbnb card, choose the account if you have several, then click Disconnect Accounts. Bookings already imported stay in Smoobu, only the sync stops.

After a channel manager is disconnected, Airbnb may put some settings back to their default values (minimum stay, maximum stay, closed to arrival or departure). You will check them in Step 6.

1b. Connect Airbnb to Nowistay right away

Option A: your property is already on Nowistay through the Smoobu connection. Keep it: only the synchronization method changes, and your welcome guide and AI co-host settings stay as they are.

Download your bookings first. Switching the method deletes the bookings that came from Smoobu, past and upcoming. Upcoming Airbnb and Booking.com reservations come back when you connect those channels, but direct bookings made in Smoobu do not. Go to Bookings, click the … button, then Download CSV: you will import them again in Step 5. Bookings created in Nowistay itself (manual bookings, direct booking widget) are kept.

1. On the Properties page, click the … button on the property card, then Synchronization.
2. Open Advanced settings, click Modify synchronisation method, then Confirm.
3. To Do you currently use a channel manager (PMS) for this property?, answer No, I don’t use a PMS.
4. Click Enable Nowistay, then Enable Nowistay again in the dialog.
5. Click Add a booking platform (OTA), select Airbnb, connect your Airbnb owner account and select the listing that matches this property, then click Connect.

If Nowistay asks Which calendar should we use?, choose Use the Airbnb calendar: your Airbnb calendar holds the prices Smoobu published.

Option B: you are new to Nowistay.

1. On the Properties page, click Add a property.

2. To How do you manage your bookings today?, answer I use a PMS, then to Do you want to keep your current PMS?, answer No, migrate.
3. To Do you list on Airbnb?, click Yes, import from Airbnb.

4. Click Connect with Airbnb (or Use another Airbnb account if another account is already connected). On Airbnb, log in with the owner account of the listings (sign out of any other Airbnb account first) and click Allow. Only a co-host on these listings? Use Ask the owner to authorize.

5. Back in Nowistay, select the listings to import and click Import (the button shows the number of selected properties).

Each property is created with its Airbnb data: name, photos, description, prices and availability. Detailed walkthrough: Connect Airbnb to Nowistay.

Step 2: Move Booking.com from Smoobu to Nowistay

2a. Switch the connectivity provider in the extranet

Booking.com lets you go straight from Smoobu to the new provider. Your property stays connected to Smoobu until the switch is complete, so it never goes unmanaged.

1. Log in to the Booking.com extranet and open the property.
2. Write down your Hotel ID: the number shown next to your property name, at the top of every extranet page.
3. Click Account, then Connectivity provider.
4. Your current provider is shown as Smoobu. Click Switch providers. Do not click Deactivate: it resets your settings and leaves the property without a provider.
5. Search for the full word Channex (partial words are not recognized) and select Channex.io, Nowistay’s connectivity partner.
6. Tick the box to accept the terms and confirm (depending on your extranet, the button reads Connect or Yes, I accept). The request then waits for Nowistay: do 2b right away.

Repeat this for each Booking.com property, even if you already did it for another one.

2b. Connect Booking.com in Nowistay

1. On the Properties page, click the … button on the property card, then Synchronization.
2. Click Add a booking platform (OTA) and select Booking.com in OTA Platform.
3. Enter your Hotel ID and click Next.
4. If your Booking.com property has several room types, select the one that matches this Nowistay property in Room Type.
5. Click Connect.

If Booking.com is the first channel of this property, Nowistay first asks for a Default night rate. Detailed walkthrough: Connect Booking.com to Nowistay.

2c. Clean up in Smoobu

Once Channex.io is active, remove the Booking.com link in Smoobu so it stops trying to sync: Channels > edit Booking.com, delete the Property ID and click Save.

Links in messages: Booking.com only lets guests open links that you have allowed in the extranet. If your welcome guide link is not clickable, see Welcome guide links not clickable on Booking.com.

Step 3: Move Vrbo

Smoobu connects Vrbo through calendar (iCal) links only, so there is no channel manager to remove on Vrbo’s side. In Vrbo, go to Calendar > Availability > Import/Export calendar and delete the calendar imported from Smoobu, then remove the Vrbo calendar from Smoobu. Nowistay connects Vrbo through Vrbo’s official connection instead, with prices and availability, and it needs these old calendar imports to be gone.

Then connect Vrbo in Nowistay: Synchronization > Add a booking platform (OTA) > Vrbo, enter your Vrbo username or email and Vrbo password, click Next, choose the phone number for the SMS code, click Request verification code, enter the code and click Verify code, then select your listing and click Connect. Vrbo does not share bookings made before the connection: add them with the CSV import (Step 5). Guest messaging is not available through Vrbo, so reach Vrbo guests by email or WhatsApp. Detailed walkthrough: How to connect your Vrbo listing.

Step 4: Move Expedia

In Expedia Partner Central, Smoobu appears as your connectivity provider under the name Smoobu GmbH. Switch it to Nowistay as below, then check that your upcoming Expedia bookings appear in the Nowistay calendar and add any missing one with the CSV import (Step 5).

To switch Expedia to Nowistay: in Expedia Partner Central, select the property, go to Rooms and Rates > Connectivity Settings, click Change Provider, search for Channex, click Next, then confirm with Change provider. Make sure Channex manages both rates and availability and booking retrieval. If Connectivity Settings is missing, open a ticket with Expedia of type Room, Rates and Availability. Then, in Nowistay: Synchronization > Add a booking platform (OTA) > Expedia, enter your Expedia Hotel ID, choose the Minimum stay rule (Arrival or Through), select the room type and click Connect.

Step 5: Import your direct bookings from Smoobu

Upcoming Airbnb and Booking.com reservations arrive in Nowistay by themselves when you connect those channels. What does not come back on its own: direct bookings and bookings taken by phone or email in Smoobu, Vrbo bookings made before the connection, and owner stays. Import them from a CSV file so your calendar is complete and no one can book those nights again.

1. Take the bookings file you exported from Smoobu (see Before you start). Keep the upcoming bookings that did not come from Airbnb or Booking.com. The importer works one property at a time, so make one file per property if needed.
2. Wait until your Airbnb and Booking.com reservations show in the Nowistay calendar.
3. In Nowistay, go to Bookings, click the … button, then Import as CSV.
4. Choose the Property, select your file and click Analyze.
5. Match each Nowistay field to a column of your file, or to a Fixed value (handy for the currency or the check-in time). The required fields are Arrival, Departure, First name, Last name, Amount, Currency and Status.
6. Check the Preview of the result, keep Create cleaning missions for upcoming stays ticked if you want them, then click Import and Confirm import.

Good to know: imported bookings are added as direct bookings and block the nights on all your channels. Duplicates (same reservation number, or same dates and same guest) and upcoming stays that overlap a booking you already have are skipped, so re-importing the same file is safe. Guests do not receive a booking confirmation, but your check-in and check-out messages are scheduled for their upcoming stays. A wrong import can be undone from Import history > Delete & revert. Full guide: Import bookings from a CSV file.

Step 6: Check your calendar and settings

Right after connecting your channels, check that prices and availability are right. Some values may have been reset when Smoobu was disconnected.

Your prices and availability

1. Go to Calendars.
2. For each property, check the nightly rates for the coming months, the open and closed dates, and the minimum stay (it may have been reset to 1 night). Click a date or a date range to change them.

Markup on Airbnb prices: when you connect Airbnb, Nowistay copies your current Airbnb prices into its calendar. Smoobu can add a markup to Airbnb prices (in the Additional Settings of its Airbnb card): check whether you used it. If your Airbnb prices included a markup, those marked-up prices became your base prices and would also be sent to your other channels: lower your base prices in the calendar, then add the markup back for Airbnb only with the Rate Adjustment setting (below).

Guide: How to manage availability and prices from the calendar.

Your property settings

On the Properties page, click … then Property infos, and check Default night rate, Earliest arrival time (check-in), Latest departure time (check-out), the default minimum and maximum number of nights and the Cut-off time. Click Save.

Airbnb availability rules and rate adjustment

In Synchronization, click the gear icon (Channel settings) on your Airbnb connection:

• Airbnb Availability tab: Advance notice, Preparation time, Availability window, Max nights, Allowed check-in days and Allowed check-out days, then Save.
• Rate Adjustment tab: a percentage applied to the prices sent to this channel only (for example +15% on Airbnb), then Save. Booking.com, Vrbo and Expedia have the same tab.

Guide: Airbnb availability settings.

Step 7: Set up your welcome guide and AI co-host

Nowistay then helps you create your welcome guide, the digital guest handbook the AI co-host uses to answer questions. Let the AI generate it from your Airbnb listing and your PDF documents, copy a guide from another property, or start from scratch. Paste in what you used to send from Smoobu: arrival instructions, Wi-Fi, house rules, parking, local tips. Your AI co-host then answers guests on Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, WhatsApp and email, 24/7, from the first inquiry. Guide: Create your digital welcome guide with AI.

Step 8: Recreate your automated messages

In Smoobu, your templates are under Experience > Communication > My message templates. There is no export: open each template and copy its text, trigger and timing into a document.

Create them in Nowistay

1. Go to Automations, then on the Guest Messages row click Manage messages.
2. Click Add message, or Generate with AI to get a ready-made set you can edit.
3. Choose the Trigger event: Booking Confirmed, Check-in, Check-out or Manual.
4. Set Timing (hours) and choose Before the event or After the event. Check-in and check-out timings count from the check-in or check-out time of the stay.
5. Paste the Subject and Message body from Smoobu, then replace the placeholders with Nowistay variables (list below), using Insert variable.
6. Under Advanced options, Apply to bookings from limits a message to Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia or Direct booking.

Nowistay sends each message in the guest’s language: add languages to a template and use Translate from default to translate it with AI.

Replace your Smoobu placeholders

Smoobu writes placeholders in square brackets, Nowistay uses double braces. For the check-in and check-out times, the number of nights and the booking reference, use {{check_in_time}}, {{check_out_time}}, {{number_of_nights}} and {{reservation_number}}.

• Guest first name: [firstGuestName] → {{guest_first_name}}
• Guest full name: [guestName] → {{guest_full_name}}
• Number of adults: [adults] → {{guest_count}}
• Arrival date: [arrivalDate] → {{arrival_date}}
• Departure date: [departureDate] → {{departure_date}}
• Property name: [apartment] → {{property_name}}
• Booking amount: [price] → {{booking_amount}}
• Guest phone: [guestPhone] → {{guest_phone_number}}
• Guest Guide link (now your welcome guide): [guestAppLink] → {{welcome_guide_url}}
• Door code: [nukiPin] or [igloohomeLockCode] or [tedeePin] → {{smartlock_code}}

Nowistay also offers {{arrival_day_name}}, {{days_to_checkin}}, {{host_first_name}}, {{whatsapp_link}}, {{identity_check_link}} (guest identity verification) and {{deposit_payment_link}} (security deposit). Wi-Fi codes, parking details and other fixed property information belong in your welcome guide, or in property variables you can insert from the variable picker.

Match your Smoobu timing

• Smoobu Booking notification → Nowistay Booking Confirmed, After the event, 0 hours
• Smoobu Arrival, X days Before arrival, at a set time → Nowistay Check-in, Before the event, in hours (see the example below)
• Smoobu Departure → Nowistay Check-out, Before the event or After the event, in hours
• Smoobu Manual sending only → Nowistay Manual

Example: to send a message at 10:00 two days before arrival with a 16:00 check-in, choose Check-in, Before the event, 54 hours.

Stop Smoobu’s messages so guests don’t receive everything twice. Smoobu has no master switch: set the trigger of each template to Manual sending only.

Guide: How to set up automated guest messages.

Step 9: Reconnect your dynamic pricing

If you used PriceLabs with Smoobu, turn off Sync Prices for the Smoobu listings in PriceLabs (or remove them) before adding them again through Nowistay. If you used Smoobu’s own Dynamic Pricing, Smoobu asks you when you cancel whether to Keep the last dynamic prices or Restore your original prices; your channels now take their prices from Nowistay.

To connect PriceLabs to Nowistay: go to Integrations, open the Pricelabs card, click Configure then Generate Key and copy the key. In PriceLabs, click Add Your Listings, select Channex, paste the key and click Connect. A property appears once it is on Nowistay PMS with at least one connected channel. Your PriceLabs strategies keep working, only the connection changes. Guide: How to connect PriceLabs for dynamic pricing.

Step 10: Reconnect your smart locks

In Nowistay, go to Integrations > Smart locks and click Connect on your brand: Nuki, igloohome, Tedee, TTLock, Homeit, and the Premium connection for Schlage, Yale, August and KeyNest. Nowistay creates a code for each booking, valid from check-in to check-out, and sends it with the {{smartlock_code}} variable.

In Smoobu, locks are connected from Marketplace > Smart Home (Nuki, igloohome, Tedee, RemoteLock) or through Smart Devices. Disconnect them there so only Nowistay sends codes, and replace Smoobu placeholders such as [nukiPin] with {{smartlock_code}}.

Step 11: Replace your Smoobu booking website or widget

Smoobu’s Booking Engine, Website Builder and Guest Guide are tied to your Smoobu account:

• Booking Engine on your own site (Configuration > Booking Engine > Embed in website): remove the snippet (it contains apartmentIframe) and any link to booking.smoobu.com.
• Website Builder: Smoobu takes the site offline when the account is deleted. If you used your own domain, point it to your new site and delete Smoobu’s DNS records (the www CNAME to s.eu-multiscreensite.com and the A records 18.197.248.23 and 52.59.120.70).
• Guest Guide: send upcoming guests your Nowistay welcome guide ({{welcome_guide_url}}) instead of the Smoobu link.

To take direct bookings with Nowistay: go to Integrations > Direct Booking > Configure, connect your Stripe account (Connect Stripe Account), click Create widget (Single property or Multiple properties), then copy the Embed code and paste it where the old widget was. In the widget settings, choose Full payment or Split payment, and add your taxes and discounts. The widget works on WordPress, Webflow, Wix, Squarespace or plain HTML. Guide: How to set up direct booking on your website.

Step 12: Cancel your Smoobu subscription

Do this last, once Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and Expedia all show as connected in Nowistay and your direct bookings are imported. Disconnecting channels does not stop Smoobu billing: you have to cancel.

1. Click your profile icon, then Manage Account.
2. Open Subscription management and click Review or cancel.
3. In Subscription summary, click Cancel subscription and confirm.

The cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you paid for. Smoobu confirms it with a banner on the plan page, not by email. Open invoices remain due and removing properties mid-term is not refunded. Your account is then deactivated, not deleted: to delete it, ask Smoobu support.

What happens to your Smoobu data?

• Your bookings on Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and Expedia stay on those platforms: nothing is cancelled, and upcoming ones are managed from Nowistay.
• Your reviews and your listing history stay on each platform.
• Your Smoobu account is deactivated at the end of the paid period, not deleted, and Smoobu keeps invoices for up to 10 years. Export what you need before the end of the period.
• If you used the Smoobu connection in Nowistay, the bookings that came from Smoobu are replaced by the bookings retrieved from your channels and the ones you import.