INTRODUCTION TO

BananaDesk.com

Content
Welcome video...3 Initial settings How to create a reservation..5 Reservation status/payment status..6 How to set up your account .....7 Rooms setup and room types..8 Prices and currencies...10 Other settings Payment types..12 Extras..12 Recommendation channels...12 Taxes...13 Outgoing Payments..13 Seasons..14 Users...15 How to setup booking channels16 Contact us!.......................................................................22
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BananaDesk
Hostel PMS + CMS

How to start using BananaDesk

First steps

How to create a reservation?

First, we want you to get a feel for BananaDesks layout. We have created a couple of rooms for you to be able to see how it works. To make a reservation, you just click and drag down the number of beds, and drag to the right for the number of nights.

To see how this works, here is a tutorial. If you want to make a reservation in several rooms, you can learn how here.
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Reservation status
The status of the reservation is displayed in the lower part of the screen:

The guest is at the hostel right now.

The room is reserved but not confirmed or paid for

The reservation is complete and confirmed

The guests checked out and left

The room isnt available for reservation (e.g., you are making repairs)

Payment Status
You can also select in order to know if

guests have already paid all the bills

you something .

or if they owe

How to set up your account?

To start setting up your BananaDesk Account, click on your picture or the blue sideways G at the top right corner of the page and then click on Settings.

Room types
First, set up the room types on the right. Types are the different categories of rooms that are in your hostel.

Lets suppose there are three private rooms, each with two beds. Well, that would be one room type for you to define.

Here you have to add and set up each of your room types in your hostel.

Rooms setup
After setting up room types, you should create the actual rooms. Go to the Rooms Setup tab, and click on Add New Room.

Then: Enter a name or number for that room Choose the display order for that room on your Homepage calendar Choose the room type among the ones you have now created Click Save to complete setup of this room

Room prices
Once you create and set up every room, you can change room prices by clicking on the default prices (in green).

On the hostel configuration tab you can also change the displayed currency and choose the one from your country.

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Further settings
Payment types Extras Recommendation channels Taxes Outgoing payments Seasons Users

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Find other options on the Hostel Configuration tab:

Payment types
On the Hostel Configuration tab, you can set up payment types (e.g., cash, credit card, etc.)

Extras
Extras are the products or services that you sell at your hostel besides bed/room revenue. You can add as many extras as you want or edit them whenever you need to. Here is a tutorial.

Recommendation channels
These are the different means by which guests heard about your hostel (e.g., Facebook, Lonely Planet, a friend, etc.) But watch out! These are not the same as reservation channels.

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Taxes
Taxes to add to the room price in case they are not already included.

Outgoing payments Configure your outgoing payments and expense categories (e.g., electricity, water, laundry, etc.)

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Seasons
What are seasons? All those days where you want to charge different room
prices, for whatever reason. You may have a high and a low season, and you can also define holidays and long weekend rates.

How to set them up?

- First, you have to click on the prices (colored green) to change them. Choose the price for the season youre going to enter. - Then, define the season dates. You can add more than one period to a season. - Finally, click on Add Season, and youll see a window to enter a name for this season, and then a new tab will be created. From there, you will be able to change dates and rates whenever you like.

Make sure that your seasons and holidays dont overlap. For example, if you have a holiday rate in the middle of a longer seasonal rate period, define the period before and after the holiday with the same rate, and then define the holiday period separately.

All changes made on BananaDesk will be automatically modified on all online channels youve connected to MyAllocator, so be careful.

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Users
What are users? You can create separate accounts for each staff
member, so managers, receptionists and other staff members can have different permission settings within BananaDesk.

How to set them up? To set up your users, go to Settings, click on the
Users tab, and click the Add New Account button. Add your staff member's email, set their privileges and then save. Your staff member will receive an email to create a password for their user account. You can always come back here to modify a user's permissions.

Watch this tutorial to learn more about how to set up users.

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How to set up booking channels?

MyAllocator

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What are they useful for? BananaDesk is connected to MyAllocator, so bookings made on your online channels like Hostelbookers, Hostelworld, etc., are automatically imported into your BananaDesk account.

Once youve made all of your connections within MyAllocator, you wont have to login to MyAllocator again. Everything will be synched in BananaDesk! BananaDesk automatically imports bookings from MyAllocator as they occur, and your bed/room availability is also updated on all of your channels. Thus, we recommend that you set up and double check your rooms and prices on both MyAllocator and BananaDesk, and then add all your currently known reservations to BananaDesk, before you begin synchronization between BananaDesk and MyAllocator.
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How to set them up? First of all, you have to sign up with MyAllocator.
(They give you a 30-day trial, and then you pay them directly). Once youve done this, click on the Manage tab. On the left, enter your hostel information. - The Download Bookings option must be selected so that reservations can be imported automatically. - Credit Cards Password: in addition to the MyAllocator login password, the system asks you for one more password to see your guests credit card. The idea is that only you can see this information (not your receptionists or other staff).

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On the room section, you have to set up the rooms and room types.

Once youve done this, go to Channel Manager and activate the channels you want to include. Click on a channel you want to set up, and you will be asked for the backoffice password for that channel. If you dont have it, contact your account representative for that channel. When you go through setup, you'll be able to define if a channel's rates should be higher or lower than your direct rates. For example, you could configure a booking channel to receive rates 10% higher than the rates defined in your BananaDesk account.

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Once youre done setting up MyAllocator, come back to BananaDesk and click on the Channel Manager tab. Then click on the Setup MyAllocator green button, enter your username and password for MyAllocator.

Step 1: Enter username and password.

Step 2: Choose your hostel name on MyAllocator.

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Step 3: Sync the room types youve created on BananaDesk with the corresponding rooms types on MyAllocator.

Youre Done! From now on, all bookings will be automatically imported to BananaDesk!

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Any questions? Contact us!

Happy Hostelling!

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