The bed
Each bed is defined as a separate unit, with its own availability, rate and allocation.
- Sold individually, by the night
- Has its own seasonal rate
- Has its own guest, with history
- Goes back on sale at departure
Zarina CRM Hotel · Hostel profile
Software for hostels, where the bed is sold, not the room
In a hostel, the same room has six guests who do not know each other, arrive on different days and leave one by one. Software built for hotels only sees “room 12 occupied” and can no longer sell the five beds still free. Zarina CRM works with the bed as the unit: each bed has its own availability, rate and guest, while the dorm remains the room they stay in. It is installed on your company’s server, with a lifetime licence.
The course of a stay
From booking to freeing the bed, in 6 steps
Every step exists as such in the application. It is not a presentation diagram; it is the order in which data is entered.
1
The booking
It comes in from the hostel’s website, from Booking.com or Airbnb, or is entered at reception.
2
Bed allocated
A free bed is chosen in the right dorm, for the requested nights, without blocking the rest of the room.
3
Confirmation
It goes out with the bed’s nightly rate and, where applicable, the deposit collected online.
4
Check-in
The guest’s details are entered once, and the registration card is filled in from them.
5
Extras
Linen, towel, locker or breakfast are added to the guest’s bill, not on paper.
6
Departure
The bed is marked for cleaning and goes back on sale, even if the others in the dorm stay.
The application’s vocabulary
The unit sold is the bed
The Hostel profile changes the terms throughout the application: where a hotel sees “Rooms”, you see “Beds”, and the dorm remains the physical room. It is chosen from settings, without code and without a separate licence.
The dorm
The unit type describes the dorm: how many beds it has, whether it is mixed or female-only, what facilities it has.
- Mixed dorm of 6 or 8
- Female-only dorm
- Private room, sold whole
- Its own photos and description
Groups
Schools, teams and organised groups are sold differently from the traveller who comes alone.
- Block a number of beds by day
- Release date for the block
- Group rooming list
- Unoccupied beds go back on sale
Booking channels
Booking.com and Airbnb, from day one
Hostels get a large share of bookings from platforms. The basic connection works with no separate contract with the platform.
Calendar sync
Through the iCal calendar Booking.com and Airbnb provide in their extranet: their bookings come into the application, and occupancy goes back to them. Sync runs at intervals, not in the same second.
Direct bookings
The booking engine on the hostel’s website searches free beds, shows the nightly rate and turns the request into a booking, with no platform commission.
Rates to platforms
Automatic sending of rates and restrictions, as well as Expedia, is done through a direct connection and requires the hostel’s connectivity contract with the platform.
Daily operations
The part that gets complicated in a hostel
- A registration card for every adult. In a dorm of eight, there are eight cards. The application fills them in from the guests’ details; they are signed on a tablet and archived as PDF.
- Cleaning is visible on every bed. When a guest leaves, their bed is marked for cleaning, and the team sees the list without prices and without guests’ personal data.
- Extras are charged on the bill. Linen, towel, locker, breakfast or transfer are defined once as services and added to the guest’s bill.
- ID documents are stored encrypted. Only the administrator, manager and reception can see them, and every opening is logged.
- Stay restrictions are on the rate. Weekend minimum nights, closing arrivals on a day or stopping sales are set by period.
Transparency
What to know beforehand
We prefer to be precise from the start, including about the things that depend on configuration or on others.
- Beds are defined one by one. During configuration, each bed becomes a unit, with a number like D2-3 (dorm 2, bed 3). We do this configuration during implementation.
- Cleaning is marked per bed, not per dorm. The application does not automatically group a dorm’s beds into a single cleaning task.
- Allocation by criteria is done by reception. Female-only dorms or dorms for a certain age are separated by dorm type; the application does not check a guest’s gender or age on its own at allocation.
- Hostelworld is not connected. The connected platforms are Booking.com and Airbnb, through the calendar, and your own website. For other platforms, bookings are entered at reception.
- Channels work through your own accounts. Each platform requires the hostel’s account. We do not act as an intermediary for accounts and do not guarantee their policies.
Licensing model
Lifetime licence, no commission per booking
The Hostel profile is part of the Hotel edition. It is paid once, installed on your side and remains the company’s.
- No commission per booking. Unlike platforms, the application takes no percentage of what you earn.
- Unlimited users. You do not pay per person or per bed managed.
- Prices and packages are published. You will find them on the pricing page, with what each option includes.
- The profile can be changed. If you also open a guesthouse, you switch to the right profile without a new licence.
Implementation
What you get when you sign the contract
Installation on your server
We install the application on the company’s hosting and configure it for the Hostel profile.
Dorms, beds and rates
We define the dorms, each bed and the seasonal rates, so the system is ready to use.
Connecting the channels
We configure together the platforms you are listed on, with your own accounts.
Fit
Who it is for and who it is not for
It is for
Hostels with shared dorms, possibly with private rooms too, that sell by the bed and receive bookings from platforms.
It is for
Properties that host organised groups — schools, teams, camps — and need blocks with a release date.
It is not for
Anyone needing automatic allocation by gender or age, or a direct connection to Hostelworld. These do not exist in the application today.
Security
Where the data lives and who is responsible for it
Guests’ data is personal data. Its place is not with us.
- Installation is on your side. The application runs on the company’s server, so data does not pass through our infrastructure.
- Access is by role. Reception, housekeeping and accounting see what is assigned to them.
- Data is not locked in. The database is yours, with export and no conditions on exit.
- Payments go through the processor. Card data stays with your payment processor, not in the application.
Active connections
The booking channels and services the CRM connects to
For a hostel, all beds sit on a single screen, however many platforms it is listed on.
Stripe
Bookings from Booking.com and Airbnb come in through the iCal calendar, with no separate contract, and occupancy goes back to them at every sync; Expedia and rate sending require the hostel’s connectivity contract. The deposit is collected online through Stripe, the booking confirmation goes out on WhatsApp, and the invoice is issued with VAT and the applicable per-night fees. The full list is on the connectors and API page.
Frequently asked questions
Answers about the Hostel profile
Can a single bed in a dorm be sold?
Yes. Each bed is a separate unit, with its own availability. Booking one bed does not block the other beds in the same dorm.
Can I have private rooms in the same hostel?
Yes. The private room is defined as a separate unit type and sold whole, alongside the beds in the dorms.
What is the difference from the Guesthouse profile?
The bookable unit. In a guesthouse the room is sold; in a hostel the bed is sold, and the dorm remains the physical room. The terms in the application change accordingly.
How do I handle a group of 30 students?
Through the Groups module: block 30 beds for the requested nights, with a release date. You then receive the rooming list, and beds not taken by that date go back on sale.
Do Booking.com bookings come in on their own?
Yes, through the iCal calendar in the Booking.com extranet, with no separate contract. Sync runs at intervals. Rates do not go out through this calendar; for that you need the direct connection, with a connectivity contract.
Is Hostelworld connected?
No. Today Booking.com and Airbnb are connected, through the calendar, plus the booking engine on your own website. Hostelworld bookings are entered at reception.
Other configurations
Other Zarina CRM profiles and editions
Guesthouse
The profile for guesthouses, where the bookable unit is the room.
Serviced apartments
The profile for apartments rented by the night, sold whole.
Hotel and hospitality
The Hotel edition on the hotel profile, for properties with a front desk in shifts.
No commission per booking
Every bed, sold separately
We install Zarina CRM on your side, configure it for the Hostel profile, define dorms, beds and rates and connect the Booking.com and Airbnb calendars. From that moment on, the application is an asset of the company, not a monthly expense.