How to List Your Property on Bookably
Listing your place on Bookably is now conversational. The Host Assistant walks you through the whole thing. You upload a few photos, tell it about your property in plain English, and it drafts your listing content for you. There’s no long form to fill out section by section.
Because Bookably charges 0% booking commission to hosts and no guest service charge, the price travellers see is the price you set. You stay competitive and keep your earnings, less the standard card processing cost on guest payments.
What you’ll need before you start
- 5 or more photos of your property (10+ recommended, up to 30). Mix of exterior, living areas, bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, outdoor space.
- The property address: exact, for backend records.
- Basic facts: bedrooms, bathrooms, beds, guest capacity.
- An idea of your nightly rate: you can refine this with the Pricing Assistant in chat.
You do not need bank details to start, and you do not need a payout account to publish. Payout setup comes later, any time that suits you once your listing is up. See Getting paid below.
Step 1: Open the Host Assistant
- Click “List Your Property” in the main menu, or any “List Your Property” button on the site.
- The Host Assistant opens, a chat interface where you’ll create your listing.
Step 2: Sign in or create an account
You’ll need a Bookably account to continue.
- Existing host? Sign in with your email.
- New? Register with email + password, or use Google / Facebook sign-in.
Step 3: Set up your host profile (first listing only)
If this is your first listing, the Assistant walks you through one short setup: your host profile. Your name, contact details and a short bio. The Assistant can draft the bio for you if you’d rather not write it.
That is the only setup before your listing. There is no payment or payout step here. Future listings skip this and go straight to step 4.
Step 4: Tell the Assistant about your property
This is the conversational part. The Assistant asks for:
- A short pitch: a sentence or two about what makes your place special. “Modern eco stay above Sumner with hot tub and views” is plenty.
- Where it is: address (start typing, choose from suggestions).
- Basic facts: bedrooms, bathrooms, max guests, beds.
- Photos: upload between 5 and 30. The Assistant analyses them and suggests which one to set as your hero shot.
From this, the Assistant drafts your listing title, descriptions of each room, nearby attractions, suggested tags and the listing category. You don’t write any of this from scratch.
Step 5: Review and refine each section
The Assistant presents the listing in sections. Walk through each one, accept what’s good, edit what isn’t:
- The basics: title, sleeps, beds, bedrooms, bathrooms, hero photo.
- Location: confirmed address plus a “nearby” description (cafés, beaches, landmarks).
- The story: your main description, vibe tags, optional video.
- The facts: pets, check-in/out times, parking, EV charging, internet, mobile coverage.
- Rooms & spaces: drafts for kitchen, outdoor areas, bedrooms, bathrooms, entertainment, luxury amenities.
- Rules & safety: house rules, safety features, accessibility, check-in instructions.
- Pricing: base nightly rate, extras (cleaning fees etc.), security deposit, discounts. The Pricing Assistant in chat can quote-test specific stays.
- Booking settings: minimum/maximum guests, stay length, lead time, instant vs. manual approval.
- Calendar sync: paste iCal URLs from Airbnb / Booking.com / VRBO / Lodgify to keep dates in sync.
- Tax & compliance: GST registration status, IRD number (if applicable).
You can jump between sections, ask the Assistant to redraft something differently (“make the kitchen description more casual”), or skip optional fields entirely.
Step 6: Preview & publish
When every section shows a green tick, hit Preview & publish. You’ll see your listing as guests will see it.
If you’re happy, confirm and publish. Publishing is free, with nothing to choose or pay for to go live, and no payout account needed at this point.
Step 7: Live in search results
Your listing goes live straight away. There is no review queue and nothing to wait for.
We do still keep an eye on quality, so these are worth getting right from the start:
- Accurate and complete details
- Clear, real photos of the property
- Compliance with Bookably’s policies
If something does not meet our standards we may ask you to update it, and we can remove listings that breach Bookably’s policies. You will hear from us directly if that ever applies.
Getting paid: payout setup comes later
You can list, publish and take bookings without setting up payouts at all. Bookably only asks you to do it when there is real money waiting for you.
- When a booking comes in, the Host Assistant prompts you to set up payouts. Bookably pays hosts through Stripe, and the setup runs inside the chat: add your bank details, complete Stripe’s identity checks, and you’re done. One time only.
- If a stay completes before you have finished, nothing is lost. Your payment is held safely and we tell you it is waiting.
- The moment your payout setup is complete, any held payment is released automatically. There is nothing to claim and nobody to ask.
You can also set payouts up whenever suits, well before your first booking. Just ask the Host Assistant for payout setup.
After your listing is live
You can edit any part of your listing at any time. Two paths, both kept in sync:
- Host Assistant: say “edit my listing” or pick the listing tile, then walk through any section again.
- Host Dashboard: the classic vendor admin still works for direct field edits.
Common things hosts add after launch: more photos, a video walkthrough, long-stay discounts, custom pricing periods, a tighter cancellation policy.
Need Help?
You can ask the Host Assistant anything mid-flow. It’s there for guidance, not just data entry. For anything else, contact Bookably Support.
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