BetterSTR connects directly to the Hostfully Property Management Platform so your properties and reservations sync automatically and every guest gets their own digital guidebook link. This guide walks you through connecting your Hostfully account and explains what syncs, how quickly, and what to check if something doesn’t look right.
Before you start
API access requires the right Hostfully plan
Hostfully only provides an API key on their Premium plan or with their Open API add-on. If you can’t see an API Key field on your Agency Settings page, contact Hostfully support and ask them to enable API access on your plan — without it, the connection can’t be made.
Step 1 — Find your Hostfully API key
- Log in to Hostfully at platform.hostfully.com.
- Open Agency Settings.
- Scroll down — the API Key field is near the bottom of the page (your Agency UID is shown in the same area).
- Copy the API key.
Step 2 — Connect it to BetterSTR
- In BetterSTR, go to Integrations and choose Hostfully, or head straight to the Hostfully connection page.
- Paste your API key into the Agency API Key field and click Connect Hostfully.
- BetterSTR validates the key with Hostfully before saving it. If the key is accepted, your properties begin syncing automatically straight away.
What syncs, and how fast
- Properties — name, address, photos, amenities, check-in/check-out times, bedrooms and bathrooms. Property details refresh daily, and photos/amenities are fetched in the background shortly after each property first syncs.
- Reservations — Hostfully calls these leads. Guest name, email, phone, party size and booking channel (Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, direct) all sync across.
- Booking changes — new bookings, modifications and cancellations arrive in near real-time via Hostfully webhooks, with an hourly sync as a safety net. In practice a new booking appears in BetterSTR within a couple of minutes.
- Guidebook links — every reservation automatically gets its own unique guest guidebook link, ready to share in your check-in messages.
Hostfully shortcodes in the guide builder
Once connected, the guide builder’s shortcode menu gains two Hostfully categories — Hostfully Fields (property-level values such as the listing URL, maximum guests and property type) and Hostfully Res (per-booking values such as the confirmation ID, party size, booking channel and even the guest’s flight number when Hostfully has it). Insert them like any other shortcode, e.g. {{hostfully_confirmation_id}}, and they resolve per reservation when the guide is viewed.
Troubleshooting
- “Hostfully rejected the API key” — double-check you copied the full key from Agency Settings, and confirm your Hostfully plan actually includes API access (Premium plan or the Open API add-on). Keys from accounts without API access will not validate.
- Connected but no properties appeared — make sure the API key belongs to the Hostfully agency that holds your listings (accounts can have more than one agency). Click Sync Properties on the Hostfully page in BetterSTR to trigger a fresh pull.
- A booking change isn’t showing yet — webhook updates normally land within a couple of minutes, but if one is missed the hourly sync will pick the change up. If something is still missing after an hour, use Sync Reservations to pull it immediately.
- Rotating your key — use Update API Key on the Hostfully page in BetterSTR. The new key is validated before it replaces the old one, so a typo can’t break your existing connection.