Owners of mini hotels, guesthouses and homestays that sell rooms through a few OTA channels tend to stop at the same question when they think about switching hotel software: "Once we switch, will we lose the bookings on the channels? Do we have to start again from scratch on Booking or Agoda?" That is the right thing to worry about: for many small hotels most guests come through OTA channels, and one lost booking in a busy week can mean an empty room, or two guests for one room.
The short answer: changing your management software is not changing your OTA channels. The hotel's accounts, room types, rates and reviews on each channel stay where they are, on the channel's side. When you move to DiCloud, the hotel keeps the channel manager it already uses, and DiCloud connects two-way with that channel manager, on condition that the channel manager already has a connection with DiCloud. The connected providers are in the list of connected channel managers on dihotel.vn, because DiCloud was developed from the original DiHotel platform. If the hotel's current provider is not on the list, the hotel has to move to a channel manager that is connected. You need to know this before you sign, not after.
This article is for 1–3 star hotels selling through two to four OTA channels, where the person doing sales often also staffs the front desk. Data migration, avoiding double bookings, deposits and front desk training are covered in earlier articles. Here we deal only with the OTA side: what stays, what has to move, who does it, and in what order.
Part 1: Switching hotel software — why owners fear losing OTA bookings
The worry usually comes down to four questions, and each one is reasonable:
- Bookings falling into a gap. While the software is being switched, where does a booking made on a channel go, and who sees it?
- Wrong availability. The new software does not yet know which rooms are sold, and a channel keeps selling a room that already has a guest.
- Starting again on the channels. Do we have to recreate room types and lose the ranking and reviews we have built up?
- Nobody to do the work. The person doing sales also staffs the desk; where is the time to work with the channels?
📌 The real risk is not in the OTA channels but in the moment the connection is switched. What needs care is moving the bookings across first, reconciling, then switching the connection once, at a quiet time.
Part 2: OTA channels, channel manager and management software — which layer changes, which stays
A hotel selling rooms through OTA channels has three layers, each holding its own part of the work:
- Layer 1, the OTA channel, for example Booking or Agoda: holds the hotel's account, the room types shown to guests, photos, selling rates, cancellation policies, reviews and the commission contract. The hotel works with this layer through each channel's admin page.
- Layer 2, the channel manager: receives bookings from the channels and sends room availability out to them. Each channel is connected to the channel manager through a mapping table: which room type on the channel matches which room type of the hotel, which rate plan matches which rate plan.
- Layer 3, the hotel management software: where the front desk checks guests in and out and takes payment; it connects to the channel manager to receive bookings and report availability.
Switching hotel software means changing layer 3. Layer 1 is not touched: the account, reviews, ranking, photos and commission contract on each channel stay as they are. What changes is the connection between layer 2 and layer 3: before switch day the channel manager is connected to the old software; after that, it is connected to DiCloud.
Part 3: The condition for keeping your current channel manager
DiCloud connects two-way with channel managers that already have a connection: bookings flow from the channels into DiCloud, and room availability flows from DiCloud out to the channels through the channel manager. That is how the hotel keeps its current provider along with its contract and account there. The condition is that the provider is in the list of connected channel managers. There are two cases:
- Your provider is already connected. The hotel keeps it. The work is to map room types and rate plans in DiCloud with that provider, move future bookings, reconcile, then switch the connection on the chosen day.
- Your provider is not connected. The hotel has to move to a channel manager that is connected with DiCloud. Accounts and reviews on each channel stay, but the channels have to be connected to the new provider; the plan is then longer and needs working out in advance.
Four questions to ask before you sign
- Is the channel manager the hotel uses already connected with DiCloud?
- How long does the contract with the current provider run, and does the provider need advance notice before the connection is switched?
- Who does the room type and rate plan mapping, and who supports it?
- On which day and in which time window is the connection switched, and who is on duty then?
Part 4: Moving future bookings and deposits, channel by channel
The right order is: bookings first, connection second. All future bookings, including OTA bookings and deposits, must be in DiCloud before the connection is switched. Do it the other way round and the availability reported to the channels is calculated from an incomplete book, which easily leads to overbooking.
- Export the list of future bookings, split by channel: which channel, the channel's booking reference, guest name, arrival, departure, room type, number of guests, amount.
- Keep the channel's booking reference on each booking in DiCloud. It is the key for reconciliation, and it is also the reference the guest gives at the desk.
- Bookings the guest prepaid to the channel: record that the channel has collected the money, so the front desk does not charge again and the bookkeeper knows the amount will arrive on the channel's payout schedule.
- Pay-at-hotel bookings: just the right rate, the right rate plan and the right cancellation policy.
- Deposits paid by direct bank transfer: attach each one to the right booking, not lumped into a single total. How to gather and reconcile deposits by source is in the article switching software at a guesthouse or homestay while keeping in-house guests and deposits right.
Do a trial move first, reconcile, then export the list again close to switch day to pick up new and cancelled bookings.
Part 5: Three-way reconciliation — OTA channel, channel manager and DiCloud
A correct OTA booking must appear in all three places, with the same arrival, departure, room type, number of guests and amount: each channel's admin page (including cancelled bookings), the channel manager and DiCloud. Reconcile by the channel's booking reference, one channel at a time. Four common mismatches:
- On the channel, not in DiCloud: usually a booking that came in after the list was exported. Add it to DiCloud.
- Cancelled on the channel, still in DiCloud: cancel it in DiCloud so the room goes back on sale.
- Different room type or number of nights: the guest changed the booking on the channel. Follow the channel and add a note.
- Different amount: check the channel's rate, promotions and payment method; ask the channel if it is still unclear.
Only switch the connection once the three sources match, or every mismatch has someone handling it and has been written down.
📸 Take screenshots of availability before switching. Just before the connection is switched, capture the number of rooms available by room type for the coming dates, on the channel manager and on each channel. After the switch, a figure on a channel that differs from the screenshot with no new booking is something to check straight away.
Part 6: Choosing when to switch the connection — once, with no parallel run
A channel manager should receive availability from one management system at a time. Leave the old software and DiCloud both connected for a few days "to be safe" and one side's figures overwrite the other's, and a new booking may reach just one of them. So the channel connection does not run in parallel: bookings are moved first, reconciled, and then the connection is switched once. From that moment new OTA bookings arrive in DiCloud, so the front desk also records every transaction in DiCloud.
Pick a mid-week day outside the peak season; pick a time window with few bookings, based on the booking history in the channel manager, when the person doing sales is not on the desk, and book it in advance with the provider and the DiCloud implementation team.
| When | Task | Who | Done when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before switch day | Map room types and rate plans; trial move of future bookings, reconcile | Sales with the channel manager's staff; DiCloud implementation team supports | Mapping table confirmed by both sides; trial move reconciled |
| Morning of switch day | Export the list again, final move of future bookings into DiCloud | DiCloud implementation team; sales checks | Every future booking is in DiCloud with the channel's reference |
| Before the switch | Last three-way reconciliation; availability screenshots | Sales | Three sources match, or mismatches are written down and owned |
| Switch time | The channel manager switches the connection to DiCloud and cuts the connection to the old software; the desk moves fully to DiCloud | Channel manager's staff; DiCloud implementation team supports | The provider confirms the new connection is running |
| Right after the switch | Compare availability on the channels with the screenshots and DiCloud; check bookings made close to switch time | Sales | Availability matches; no booking sits outside DiCloud |
| End of day and the first days | Each evening, three-way reconciliation of new bookings | Sales or the night staff | No mismatches for several days in a row |
The table deliberately gives no hours: the milestone for moving on is the "done when" column.
Part 7: A preparation list for the person doing sales
Mapping room types and rate plans with each channel is done by the hotel's sales person together with the channel manager's staff, because only the sales person knows which rate plan is on sale on which channel. The DiCloud implementation team helps set things up in DiCloud to match. Set aside dedicated time for this; do not squeeze it in between guests at the desk.
| What to prepare | Where to get it | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Room type table: type names, rooms per type, names shown on each channel | Old software, each channel's admin page | Set up room types in DiCloud and map them correctly to each channel |
| Rate plan table: breakfast or not, refundable or not, seasonal rates | Each channel's admin page, the channel manager | Map each rate plan; avoid bookings arriving on the wrong plan |
| Channel codes, room type codes, rate plan codes in the channel manager | The channel manager | Build the mapping table for the provider's staff to confirm |
| Cancellation and payment policy of each rate plan | Each channel's admin page | Record it correctly on each booking; the desk knows whether to charge |
| Future bookings by channel, with the channel's booking reference | Old software, each channel's admin page | Move into DiCloud, three-way reconciliation |
| Logins for each channel and the channel manager; contact person at the provider | The owner, the channel manager | Reconcile, open or close rooms when needed, call at once if something is off |
| Availability screenshots for the coming dates | The channel manager and each channel | A reference point to compare after the switch |
The mapping table should be confirmed by the provider by email or message before switch day; any room type or rate plan without a match must be dealt with beforehand.
Part 8: Signs of availability mismatches on day one, and what to do
Careful preparation reduces risk; it does not remove all of it. On day one, check these signs straight away:
- The availability of a room type on a channel differs from DiCloud while there is no new booking.
- A room type suddenly closes on a channel although DiCloud still has rooms, or is sold beyond the hotel's real number of rooms.
- A booking arrives in DiCloud under the wrong room type or rate plan.
- A guest gives a channel booking reference that the desk cannot find in DiCloud.
What to do, in order:
- Compare with the availability screenshots to see when and on which room type the mismatch started.
- If there is a risk of overbooking, temporarily close that room type on the channel or in the channel manager, then look for the cause.
- Tell the channel manager and the DiCloud implementation team, with the booking reference and screenshots; check the mapping table first.
- A booking on the channel but missing in DiCloud: enter it at once, with the channel's reference.
- Write down every mismatch so the evening reconciliation can follow it up.
If two guests have already been booked into one room, how to handle it at the desk is in the article how mini hotels avoid double bookings in peak season.
🧭 Do not aim for "not a single mismatch". Aim to know about any mismatch the same day, with screenshots to compare and someone to call. A small hotel can do that.
Part 9: How DiCloud helps when you switch software and keep selling on OTA channels
DiCloud is cloud AI hotel management software for mini hotels, guesthouses, homestays and 1–3 star hotels. On the OTA side of a switch:
- Two-way connection with the channel managers on the list: bookings come into DiCloud, availability goes out to the channels.
- The DiCloud implementation team helps set up room types and rate plans to match the mapping table the sales person agrees with the channel manager, and supports during the switch window booked in advance.
- Owners and GMs follow the figures through DiOwner, a read-only phone app with figures that match the operating software.
- Front desk staff learn by shift, as in the article switching hotel software: front desk training for day one.
🏨 A hotel with 50 rooms or more, or a chain with 2 or more properties? DiHotel offers a Zero-Cost Switch package for hotels running an older on-premise system, for contracts signed up to June 30, 2027. The steps for switching hotel management software at that scale are on the DiHotel Blog, and the companion article switching software for a hotel chain: reconnect OTA channels? covers rate plan mapping and a property-by-property rollout.
Switching software soon and selling on several OTA channels?
Tell the DiCloud team which channel manager the hotel uses and which channels it sells on. We will check whether that provider is connected with DiCloud and send a template preparation list for your sales person.
Check your channel manager for freeFrequently asked questions
When switching hotel software, do we have to redo our accounts on the OTA channels?
No. Accounts, room types, rates and reviews on channels such as Booking or Agoda sit on the channel's side. Changing the management software only changes the connection between the channel manager and the software, on condition that the channel manager you use already has a connection with DiCloud.
What if the hotel's channel manager is not connected with DiCloud?
Then the hotel has to move to a channel manager that is connected with DiCloud, and the channels have to be connected to the new provider. Check the list of connected channel managers before you sign.
Should the old software and DiCloud both stay connected to the channel manager for a few days to be safe?
No. When two systems both report availability to the channels, one side's figures overwrite the other's, and a new booking may reach just one of them. Bookings are moved into DiCloud first, reconciled, and then the connection is switched once.
How are future bookings already received through OTA channels moved?
All of them are moved into DiCloud before the connection is switched, keeping the channel's booking reference and recording whether the guest prepaid the channel, pays at the hotel or paid a deposit, then reconciled against the channel and the channel manager.
Who maps room types and rate plans with each channel?
The hotel's sales person, together with the channel manager's staff, because the sales person knows which rate plan is on sale on which channel. The DiCloud implementation team helps set up room types and rate plans in DiCloud to match the mapping table.
On day one, availability on a channel differs from DiCloud. What should we do?
Compare with the availability screenshots taken before the switch, temporarily close that room type on the channel if there is a risk of overbooking, tell the channel manager's staff and the DiCloud implementation team, then check the mapping for the affected room type.
Conclusion
Switching hotel software can avoid losing OTA bookings if you are clear about which layer you are changing: the OTA channels stay, the channel manager stays if it is connected with DiCloud, and only the connection between the channel manager and the management software changes. The rest is discipline: move future bookings and deposits first, reconcile three sources, take availability screenshots, and switch the connection once at a quiet time.
DiCloud is part of the DiHotel Solutions Corps ecosystem, a company with more than 20 years of developing hotel software, serving more than 300 accommodation properties in Vietnam and Japan. As online AI hotel management software, DiCloud opens on the front desk computer as well as on a phone, so the owner can see straight away where new bookings are arriving.
For 4–5 star hotels, resorts and chains selling through many channels and rate plans across several properties, DiHotel, the AI hotel management software, is the original platform, and it can be deployed in the cloud, on premise or as a hybrid.