The goal: Connect your short-term rental calendars with Amplistay to automate real-time availability for your properties, completely eliminating double bookings when managing stay extensions or late check-outs.
For Amplistay to operate with absolute automation, the system needs to understand with mathematical precision exactly when your properties are occupied. This is achieved by utilizing the global hospitality standard: the iCal link (a dynamic digital calendar feed that syncs in real-time).
How many iCal feeds do you need to import?
Depending on how you manage your distribution and booking channels, your setup inside the Amplistay dashboard will fall into one of two scenarios:
🟢 Scenario 1: You ONLY need 1 iCal link (if using a Channel Manager). If you centralized your properties through platform management software like AvaiBook, Lodgify, Icnea, Amenitiz, or similar, that system already unifies your dates from Booking.com, VRBO, and direct websites. In this case, simply log into your Channel Manager, copy the property's master export iCal feed, and paste it into Amplistay. A single link manages your entire availability.
🔵 Scenario 2: You need MULTIPLE iCal links (if NOT using a Channel Manager). If you run your listings manually and independently across various channels, Amplistay needs to track each source. To set this up, navigate to your property settings in Amplistay and import, one by one, your Booking.com iCal feed, your VRBO iCal feed, and any other OTA calendar where that specific property is live.
Step 1: How to retrieve your iCal links from the OTAs
While dashboard layouts vary across corporate platforms, the operational route to extract your outbound calendar feed consistently follows this pattern:
- Log into your host or partner account on the respective platform (Booking.com, VRBO, etc.).
- Select the specific listing and navigate to the Pricing and Availability or Calendar dashboard.
- Locate the advanced settings labeled Sync Calendars or Calendar Connections.
- Click the button or link indicating Export Calendar.
- Copy the full generated URL feed and paste it directly into the connections tab of your Amplistay property panel.
Step 2: Close the loop (exporting your Amplistay iCal feed)
True calendar synchronization is a two-way street. When a traveler uses Amplistay to book a late check-out or purchase an extra night mid-stay, your primary distribution channels must learn about this immediately to block out those times and prevent external double-bookings.
To secure clean, bidirectional communication across your systems:
- Inside your Amplistay dashboard, open your property file and find your unique "Export Amplistay iCal" link. Copy this URL.
- Return to the calendar synchronization settings of your Channel Manager or native listings (Booking.com, VRBO, etc.).
- Select the inbound option labeled Import Calendar.
- Paste the Amplistay link you just copied and assign it a clear, descriptive label (e.g., "Amplistay Connection").
From this point forward, the data loop is airtight: Amplistay monitors inbound external data to determine which extensions are safe to offer, while your external platforms read Amplistay to ensure all processed upsells and extra hours are locked down instantly on your main calendar matrix.