The marketplace
upstay.in · and every hotel’s own siteTravellers search by city, see live rates and verified reviews, and book direct with the hotel: online or pay at the property.
Booking on Upstay guidesUpstay Help
Upstay Help Center: How can we help?
Step-by-step guides for hotel teams, their guests and travellers - the check-in, front-desk and booking platform, explained one task at a time.
Asked often
138guides
10sections
8kinds of reader
Upstay is a direct-booking and check-in platform for independent hotels, homestays, hostels and lodges in India. Every property listed on Upstay gets its own booking website on a subdomain of upstay.in, where travellers see live rates, verified guest reviews and photos, and book directly with the hotel: paying online or at the property. The hotel runs the same stay from the front desk console at hotel.upstay.in: reservations, web check-in with ID verification, room assignment, bills and payments. Unlike online travel agencies, which typically charge hotels 15–25% per booking, Upstay charges a standard 5% (set per hotel) commission on bookings made through Upstay, so the price a traveller sees is the hotel’s own price.
Upstay runs a hotel’s day: the front desk console takes bookings, verifies IDs, assigns rooms and settles bills; the guest app lets arriving guests check in on their phone, pay and talk to the desk; the marketplace at upstay.in/hotels and each hotel’s own site take online bookings; the channel manager keeps OTA listings in step. This site tells you what each part does and exactly how to use it.
Upstay in one minute
Three parts, one stay.
Every Upstay hotel runs on the same three pieces. A booking made on one is the same stay the other two see.
The guest app
a private link · nothing to installGuests check in before arrival, show a QR pass at the desk, order to the room, message the desk and pay their bill.
Guest App guidesThe front desk console
hotel.upstay.inThe hotel team takes bookings, verifies IDs, assigns rooms, runs housekeeping and the kitchen, and settles bills.
Front Desk guidesStart where you stand
Tell us who you are. We’ll show the way.
Your reading path · 6 guides
You run the desk.
Start with the screen you’ll live on, then the things you do every shift.
- Signing inSign in to the Front Office console with your email or mobile number, reset a forgotten password, and what happens on your first sign-in.
- Room BoardEvery room and its state, floor by floor: ready, held, occupied, leaving, cleaning, out of order. Updates by itself.
- ReservationsFind a booking, take a new one or a walk-in, and work the stay from its guest file.
- VerificationReview the ID documents guests submit - approve, reject, look at prior stays, and reveal a full number when a filing needs it.
- Folio & paymentsThe guest's bill: room nights, taxes, extras and adjustments, and taking, correcting and refunding the money that settles it.
- HousekeepingCleaning and repair cards for every room, assigned to attendants and moved to done.
Your reading path · 6 guides
You keep the numbers.
Everything Front Desk can do, plus staff, money and the logs.
- EmployeesYour team: roles, console logins, invites, reset links and signing people out.
- FinanceThe Money area of the console: Finance home, Night audit, Reports, Payments, Receivables, Tax and accounts, and Schedules and access.
- PayoutsThe running account between Upstay and your hotel for online bookings: what was collected, what commission is owed, what was settled.
- CouponsPromo codes travellers apply when booking online: percent or flat, with validity and caps.
- Site reportHow your public site is doing: web bookings, requests, leads, reviews and room revenue for a period.
- Audit logWho did what, when: across the hotel, and per booking.
Your sectionsMoneyHotel Setup
Your reading path · 6 guides
You set the hotel up.
Everything a Manager can do, plus the hotel’s settings and its public site.
- Your first 10 minutesThe five things to do first on a new hotel: rooms, team, a booking, the guest link, and Today.
- Property profile & TariffYour hotel's name, address, contact details, timings, location, amenities and the Room tariffs list.
- Rooms setupRoom types, their tariffs and photos, and the physical rooms under them.
- Microsite & Rate CalendarYour listing on Upstay, your hotel's own site, booking modes, and per-date rates and closures.
- Check-in & Arrival settingsHow guest IDs are read and approved, and what happens at the moment of check-in.
- Channel manager (OTAs)Sell on Booking.com, MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and the rest from one place: bookings arrive on their own, and every Upstay booking closes the room everywhere.
Your sectionsHotel SetupGetting Started
Your reading path · 6 guides
You’re staying with us.
The hotel sent you a link. Everything about your stay is on that one page.
- Your stayThe link the hotel sends you opens one page for your whole stay - before arrival, in the hotel and after checkout - under a sky that follows the real sun.
- Online check-inSeven steps before you travel - nine with a passport and visa - so you walk straight to your room.
- Room keyThe pass you show at the desk or scan at your door, and the Hold Near Door ring where the hotel has it.
- DiningOrder from the menu to your room, now or at a time, and follow the order to your door.
- Your billEvery line explained, GST shown, pay online or with Upstay Credit, check out from your phone, and your tax invoice.
- After your staySafe travels - the stamp, your stay in numbers, your review, your invoice, lost and found, and the way back.
Your sectionsGuest App
Your reading path · 5 guides
You’re planning a trip.
Find a hotel, book direct at the hotel’s own price, and keep every stay in one account.
- Finding a staySearch upstay.in by city or place, dates and guests; browse the Marketplace by mood, kind and budget; shortlist and compare.
- A hotel's siteEvery hotel on Upstay has its own site - photos, rooms, amenities, map, policies, reviews - and a date picker that starts a booking.
- Booking a stayDates, room, your details, payment - in a sheet on the hotel's site, with four ways to pay, coupons, and Upstay credit.
- Your accountOne sign-in with a code, your stays across every hotel, profile, and referrals.
- Writing a reviewRate a stay you completed; the hotel can reply, never remove it.
Your sectionsBooking on Upstay
Your reading path · 4 guides
You want to list your hotel.
Apply in the self-serve wizard. Once approved, these are your first stops.
- Listing your hotel on UpstayThe self-serve builder - sign up, describe the property and watch your listing appear as guests will see it, then submit for review.
- Your first 10 minutesThe five things to do first on a new hotel: rooms, team, a booking, the guest link, and Today.
- Rooms setupRoom types, their tariffs and photos, and the physical rooms under them.
- Microsite & Rate CalendarYour listing on Upstay, your hotel's own site, booking modes, and per-date rates and closures.
Your sectionsListing your hotelHotel Setup
Your reading path · 8 guides
You’re planning an event.
Every guest of your event, from the invitation to the hotel room, in one console.
- Signing in to the planner consoleOpen your welcome link, choose a password, sign in with your email or mobile number, and keep Upstay Events on your phone or desktop.
- New eventCreate an event in two short steps, change its details and its look in Settings, and make it live when you are ready to invite.
- GuestsThe guest list, one row per family. Add families, import your list from Excel, Google Sheets or a CSV file, tag them, record an answer taken on the phone, and download the list.
- InvitationsSend each family its own invitation from your own WhatsApp, send reminders, see who to chase, and get the headcount and food for each function.
- HotelsAdd the hotels your guests stay at, on Upstay or not, place families with their dates and rooms, choose who pays for the rooms, and watch the bookings come in.
- RoomsAgree room blocks with your hotels, place each family in a block by dragging or tapping, say who sleeps where, follow what the hotel has confirmed and booked, and choose who pays for the rooms.
- TravelEvery family's flights and trains hour by hour, the airports and stations, your vehicles and drivers, pickup and drop trips, auto-group, the driver link, delays and the pickup list.
- TodayThe event's control room. The checklist, the numbers, what needs you now, requests, who to chase, travel in the next three hours, the run sheet, rooms, the next function, hotels, the live feed and automatic reminders.
Your sectionsUpstay Events
Your reading path · 6 guides
You run the platform.
Upstay’s own team, working across every hotel from the Platform Console.
- ApplicationsMove hotel-partner applications across the board, review one, and turn an approved one into a live hotel.
- Hotels, features & marketplaceFind any hotel in the All hotels table, open its hotel file, switch its features, edit its listing and add its first admin.
- CitiesCurate the destinations on upstay.in - names, covers, taglines, moods, descriptions, landmarks and neighbourhoods.
- PayoutsThe money ledger between Upstay and each hotel - who owes whom, recording settlements, reminders, the bank file and guest credit.
- WhatsAppConnect the WhatsApp sender, manage approved templates, map each automatic message, send a one-off, and read the delivery log.
- Channel manager (connecting a hotel)Enter the hotel code, choose channels, test, switch on, resync - and read the sync log.
Your sectionsPlatform Console
The library
Every guide, on one shelf.
Hotel staff · 3 guides
Getting Started
Sign in, find your way around the console, and set up a new hotel in ten minutes.
Hotel staff · 15 guides
Front Desk
The desk’s day: bookings, the Room Board, arrivals, IDs and housekeeping.
Hotel staff · 8 guides
Guests & Service
Everything a guest asks for once they’ve booked: dining, requests, complaints, questions and reviews.
Desk & managers · 21 guides
Money
Bills, payments, coupons, payouts and the hotel’s books.
- How Upstay counts your money
- Folio & payments
- Payment link
- Finance
- Coupons
- Payouts
- Payments
- Money & reports
- Prices
- Salary & payroll
- Statutory rates
- Exits & final settlement
- Close the day
- Finance reports
- Finance home and plan ahead
- Tax and accounts
- My shift
- Payments (finance)
- Receivables
- Every finance report
- Finance terms explained
Admins · 22 guides
Hotel Setup
Rooms, rates, team, your public site, OTAs - and every setting behind them.
- Rooms setup
- Employees
- Email log
- Audit log
- Site report
- Microsite & Rate Calendar
- Property profile & Tariff
- Commercial settings
- Check-in & Arrival settings
- Financial settings
- Comms & Compliance
- Channel manager (OTAs)
- Wi-Fi & room connectivity
- Team & tasks
- Access
- Website
- Shifts & roster
- The holiday calendar
- Attendance
- Leave
- Your own shifts, leave and payslips
- Roomie
Guests · 18 guides
Guest App
What your guest sees on their phone, from the check-in link to the invoice.
Travellers · 9 guides
Booking on Upstay
Find a stay on upstay.in, book direct with the hotel, and manage your account.
Event planners · 19 guides
Upstay Events
For wedding and event planners: the guest list, invitations and answers, rooms and hotels, travel and drivers, requests, the run sheet and the door.
Upstay operators · 22 guides
Platform Console
For Upstay’s own team: hotels, applications, cities, payouts, WhatsApp and the channel manager.
- Hotels, features & marketplace
- Today and Needs you
- Channel manager (connecting a hotel)
- Cities
- Performance and reports
- Onboarding, Sales and Events
- Payouts
- Applications
- Emails, templates, announcements & activity
- Money flow and cost per hotel
- Payments (platform)
- Settlement (platform)
- System health, jobs and incidents
- Messaging (platform)
- Operators, two-step and on call
- Roomie (platform)
- Sales Team
- Security
- Partner accounts
- Planners
- Sam (platform)
Hotel owners · 1 guide
Listing your hotel
Apply to list your property on Upstay - the self-serve wizard, start to submit.
Why can’t I issue a room key?
A key needs a verified ID for every guest on the booking, and a clean room. Open the guest file’s ID tab (or Back office → Verification), review each guest’s ID and click Verify. Until then the key stays off.
Do I book a room or a room type?
A room type. Availability is counted per type, and a physical room is assigned later - from the guest file, the Rooms board or the Week view, often on arrival. Check-in occupies every room assigned to the stay.
How long does a guest’s check-in link work?
For the life of the stay. It is a private link - anyone holding it can open the stay - so send it only to the guest. The primary guest controls the stay; co-guests get a separate link that only lets them upload their own ID.
A guest paid online but their bill still shows the amount due.
Only the payment provider’s confirmation settles a bill, and it usually arrives within seconds. If a link stays pending, the guest may not have completed payment; the desk can collect at checkout as usual and the pending link is ignored.
What is the difference between Cancelled and No-show?
Cancelled means the guest told you. No-show means they never arrived; the room sat empty, so hotels charge it harder, and reports count the two separately.
Who can see a guest’s full ID number?
Nobody, by default. The desk sees the last four digits. A Manager can reveal the full number for a compliance filing, and every reveal is written to the Audit Log.
Glossary
Words we use.
A booking moves through these statuses. You’ll see the same words on the console, the guest app and in every guide.
Upcoming
Booked, not yet arrived.
Pre-checked-in
The guest completed web check-in; documents are in.
Checked in
In-house.
Checked out
The stay is over and settled.
Cancelled
The guest cancelled.
No-show
Booked, never arrived.
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