What does a daily channel manager check look like?
It is a short list you run at the same times every day. The goal is simple. Compare the same room type, dates, occupancy and base rate with your calendar. OTA promotions and tax displays can make the guest-facing total differ.
| When | Check | Why |
|---|
| Morning | New bookings, changes and cancellations since yesterday | Your calendar must match what was sold |
| Morning | Bookings on hold or waiting for payment | Know which rooms are held, not free |
| Morning | Open rooms for tonight and the next 7 days | The nearest dates cost the most if wrong |
| Morning | Spot-check prices on each OTA for a few dates | Catch a mismatch before a guest does |
| All day | Phone, WhatsApp and walk-in bookings entered at once | These are the main double-booking risk |
| Evening | Tomorrow's arrivals match the calendar | No surprises at check-in |
| Evening | Handover note for the next shift | The next person knows what changed |
Use the same list every day. When the list is boring, it is working.
How do you check rates across Booking.com, Agoda and Expedia?
Pick a few dates and look at each OTA side by side with your calendar. Choose tonight, this weekend and one busy date further out. Check the base room price on each.
If a price looks different, check these first:
- A deal or promotion set on the OTA. Booking.com's sync help names deals as a cause of price differences.
- Taxes and fees shown in a different way. Some sites show prices with tax, some without.
- A rate plan that is not mapped. It may still show an old price.
- A different guest count. A price for 1 guest is not a price for 2.
Our guide to hotel room price differences on OTAs explains each cause in more detail.
How do you handle availability and restrictions day to day?
Make every change in the channel manager. That includes closing a room, opening a date or adding a rule. A restriction is a booking rule, such as a minimum stay or "closed to arrival" (no check-ins that day).
Booking.com says the same thing in its help. If a provider runs your prices and availability, make changes in the provider's system so both stay matched. The same page adds a useful fallback. If your provider has a technical problem and you cannot reach them, Booking.com can close rooms for you by hand.
Daily habits that keep rooms right:
- Close broken rooms in the channel manager. A room with a leak is closed everywhere, not just on one OTA.
- Set rules by date, not by OTA. A weekend minimum stay goes in once and reaches every channel that accepts it.
- Check rules on one OTA after each change. It takes a minute and catches a rule a channel did not accept.
- Keep notes on rules you still set by hand. Some OTAs may not take every rule. Write those down.
For more on matching rooms across sites, read how to manage room availability across OTAs.
Which exceptions should you fix first?
An exception is anything that does not match. Fix them in this order. The ones at the top can put two guests in one room or lose a booking.
- A booking on an OTA that is not in your calendar. Booking.com notes that a booking may not reach your system if its room or rate is not connected. It also emails you when there is a problem adding a reservation, so keep your contact email up to date.
- A connection alert. A channel has stopped talking to your system. Contact your provider straight away.
- A phone or WhatsApp booking not yet entered. Enter it now. Until you do, that room is still for sale online.
- A price that does not match. Check deals, taxes and mapping, as above.
- A rule that does not match. Fix it in the channel manager, then check again.
What should you do with a booking on hold?
Leave it alone. In Kiyo, availability locks instantly; guest details arrive when payment is confirmed; the room is held in the meantime.
On your morning check, a booking on hold shows as "payment pending". That room is already closed on every connected channel. The guest's name and payment can arrive minutes or sometimes hours later. Do not sell or move that room.
What should the weekly check add?
Once a week, step back from single dates. Spend a little longer on the bigger picture.
- Look at sales by channel. Which OTA brought the most bookings and revenue this week?
- Look at closed dates. Is any date still closed that should be open?
- Look for new rooms or rates. Did anyone add a room type or rate plan directly on an OTA? It will need mapping.
- Read your notes. Did the same exception come up more than once? Fix the cause, not just the symptom.
If you find mapping gaps, go back to the hotel channel manager setup checklist. Adding Booking.com? See how to connect Booking.com to a channel manager. This guide is for running, not setup.
Who should own the channel manager on each shift?
One person per shift. That person runs the checks and fixes the exceptions. Everyone else can take bookings, but must tell the owner or enter the booking at once.
Write it into your front desk handover: open exceptions, held bookings and any rule you changed. The next shift starts from the same facts.
How does Kiyo help you run every OTA from one place?
In Kiyo, your morning check happens on one screen. Every OTA booking, direct booking and manual booking sits on the same calendar. The channel manager reaches 60+ channels on all plans, as long as each one is connected and mapped. Seats are unlimited on every plan, so each shift lead has a login.
Two things make exceptions easier to catch. When a channel connection fails, you get a notice and our team gets an alert too. The revenue dashboard shows which channel sold what. On Pro and Business, Booking.com, Airbnb and Expedia guest chats share one inbox, and a daily AI briefing sums up your property data.
Kiyo is live, and any property can start. We set it up with you, by WhatsApp or on a demo call. Pricing begins from Rp40k per room per month (see plans and prices). If you want the basics first, our PMS vs channel manager guide explains them.
Frequently asked questions
Not long once it is a habit. Run the same short list each morning and evening. If it starts taking longer, look for the exception that keeps coming back.
Try not to. If your channel manager runs prices and availability, change them there so every OTA stays matched. Write down any setting you still manage on the OTA itself.
Contact your provider straight away and check that channel's open rooms. With Kiyo, you get a notice and our team gets an alert too.
Yes, but name one owner per shift. Others can take bookings, as long as they enter them right away and note them in the handover.
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