Connecting Acuity Scheduling with Airbnb

Use Airbnb’s services marketplace to attract more bookings

It's not possible to create new connections between Acuity and Airbnb.

By listing your appointments as Airbnb Services, you can reach travelers who want to enhance their stay with an added experience. 

When you connect, clients can discover and book appointments with you directly in Airbnb. The integration connects to your Acuity availability, so you don't have to worry about double booking or managing two calendars.

Eligibility for Airbnb integration

To use the Airbnb integration, you need to apply and be approved by Airbnb. Before applying, review Airbnb’s standards for hosting services.

This ‌integration is supported for Acuity customers:

• In the beauty, wellness, fitness, and photography industries.
• In the United States and select locations in other countries.

This integration isn't supported for Acuity customers:

• Using Acuity’s HIPAA protections.
• Who have added contributors in Acuity.

If the Airbnb integration doesn't appear in the Integrations panel, its likely that your settings or configuration make you ineligible for the integration.

Airbnb Fees

It’s free to set up a connection with Airbnb, but Airbnb collects fees based on your appointments. Before setting up the integration, read about Airbnb’s fee structure.

Appointment type criteria

To connect to Airbnb, an appointment type needs to:

• Have a duration that’s divisible by 30 minutes (30, 60, 90, or 120 minutes, for example).
• Have a duration of no more than 240 minutes.

The Airbnb integration doesn't support appointment types that:

• Have intake forms assigned.
• Are group classes.

You can connect both public and private appointment types to Airbnb.

Appointment type organization

On the Airbnb Service marketplace, Acuity appointment types are called offerings. Related offerings are grouped together into listings. Clients pick a listing, then book one of the offerings it contains.

So you might have a listing, called Hair Styling, that contains offerings (Acuity appointment types) like Blowout, Trim, Updo and Special Event Styling.

In Acuity, listings are referred to as activities.

Calendars

For each appointment type, you can connect a single Acuity calendar to Airbnb. If the appointment type you want to connect is offered on more than one Acuity calendar, you’ll be asked to choose one during setup. Airbnb will use that calendar's availability for the appointment type.

Availability

Airbnb will reflect your Acuity availability. If you block off time or book an appointment through Acuity, those times won’t appear to clients in Airbnb.

Start times

Airbnb appointments start on the hour or half-hour. If your availability begins at a different time, Airbnb will offer appointments starting at the first available slot that starts on the hour or on the half hour. So if you offer 30-minute appointments and are available from 8:45 to 10:45, Airbnb will show appointment slots at 9:00, 9:30, and 10:00.

Set up the Airbnb integration

To set up new activities in the integration, you need to:

1. Already have connected Acuity to Airbnb. It's not possible to create new connections.
2. Create at least one activity in Acuity. This will also create a linked Airbnb listing.
3. Link your activity to between three and ten Acuity appointment types. This turns your Acuity appointment types into proposed Airbnb offerings.
4. Submit your listing to Airbnb for approval.
5. Publish on Airbnb to begin accepting bookings.

Follow the steps below to complete set up.

Tip: See Airbnb's visuals of the setup steps.

Create an activity

After you’ve connected, create at least one activity. Your new activity will display as a listing on Airbnb.

1. Click Create New Activity.
2. Enter an activity name, and choose an activity theme from the dropdown menu, then click Create.

Link your activity to appointment types

After you’ve set up an activity, connect it to between three and ten appointment types. Your appointment types will be synced to Airbnb as offerings.

You'll be prompted to create new appointment types, but you can also connect existing appointment types. 

To connect an activity to an existing appointment type:

1. In Acuity, click Appointment Types.
2. Click Edit for the appointment type you want to connect to your activity. Ensure your appointment type meets the integration requirements.
3. Scroll to the Additional options section at the bottom of the page and toggle on List on Airbnb.
4. If you offer the appointment type on more than one calendar, use the Calendar dropdown to choose which calendar Airbnb should book on.
5. Use the Activity dropdown menu to connect your Airbnb activity to the appointment type.
6. Click Save. This will create an offering in Airbnb.
7. You'll be prompted to go to Airbnb to finalize your listing. If you want to keep adding appointment types, click Do This Later. If you've added all your appointment types, click Go to Airbnb.

After you connect an appointment type, it will display an Airbnb logo in the Appointment Types panel. If you go to the Airbnb integration and click Appointment Types, you can review which appointment types are connected to which activities.

To view your listing in Airbnb without adding a new appointment type:

1. In the Airbnb panel, go to the Activities tab.
2. For the activity you want to view, click View, then click View on Airbnb.

Get approval for your listing

To submit your listing and its associated offerings to Airbnb for approval:

1. In Acuity, click Integrations.
2. Scroll to Airbnb and click See Integration.
3. Scroll to an unapproved activity and click View on Airbnb.
4. Follow the prompts to submit your listing for approval.

Airbnb will review and approve or decline your listing. Approval can take up to two weeks. During that time, Airbnb may contact you by email to ask you for more information or to ask you to make a change to your proposed listing. If you’re approved, Airbnb will notify you by email. When your listing has been approved, the corresponding Acuity activity will display a Linked badge in the Airbnb integration panel.

Publish on Airbnb

When you receive the email letting you know you're approved, log into your Airbnb account and publish your new listing and offerings.

Manage the Airbnb integration

Use Acuity to manage your availability and appointment type settings like duration and cost. Manage appointments themselves in Airbnb. 

Viewing appointments in Acuity

You can view appointments booked through Airbnb in Acuity. When you open the appointment details, there will be a note at the top stating that the appointment was booked through Airbnb.

Managing appointments in Airbnb

To use Airbnb to manage an appointment:

1. In the calendar, click on the appointment to open the appointment details.
2. Scroll to the bottom and click Airbnb Details.

Client payments

When clients book through Airbnb, they also pay through Airbnb.

Payments are listed in the appointment details. The amount listed is the total the client paid. It includes both the portion that went to you and the portion that's collected by Airbnb. Cancellation and refund policies are set by Airbnb.

These payments aren't listed in your revenue report.

Disconnect Airbnb

To disconnect from the integration:

1. In Acuity, click Integrations, then click Airbnb.
2. Click … in the top-right corner, then click Disconnect.

After you disconnect, it’s possible to delete Airbnb appointments in Acuity. It's not possible to reconnect.

Limitations

It’s not possible to:

• Connect classes to Airbnb
• Use intake forms with Airbnb.
• Use the integration with Acuity’s HIPAA protections.
• Reconnect to this integration if you disconnect.