> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.guestway.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.guestway.io/settings/organization-settings/room-assignment.md). # Room Assignment Automatically assign a room to every reservation, based on rules you set. Guestway picks a free room of the booked type, sends it to your PMS, and logs each step in the Inbox. ### What is Room Assignment When a reservation arrives in your PMS without a room number, someone at the front desk usually has to pick a room by hand. Room Assignment does this for you. It picks a suitable room for each reservation and sends it to your PMS. You set up a few simple rules once. From then on, Guestway: 1. **Finds the reservations** that need a room, at the moment you choose (as soon as the booking is confirmed, a few days before arrival, or on the day of arrival). 2. **Chooses the best free room** of the booked room type, following your rules. It avoids rooms that are already booked or blocked, and can prefer rooms that give housekeeping more time. 3. **Sends that room to your PMS**, so the reservation, the guest’s access and your housekeeping planning all show the same room. 4. **Records each step in the guest’s conversation** in the Inbox, so your team can always see what happened and why. #### Why use it * **Less work at the front desk.** Nobody has to allocate rooms each morning. * **Rooms that are ready on time.** On arrival day, Guestway can wait for a room that housekeeping has marked clean. * **Better occupancy.** The *Best fit* strategy fills rooms in a way that keeps longer free periods open for future bookings. * **Even room wear.** The *Least recently used* strategy spreads guests across all your rooms. #### Where to find it Go to **Settings** → **Room Assignment.**

The Room Assignment settings page view.

The overview page shows one card per room assignment configuration. Each card shows: * the **Name** of the configuration * an **Active** or **Off** badge * a **Testing** badge if enabled * when the room assignment happens (for example *“Days”* or *“Hours”* before the check-in time) * which properties it covers (for example *“All properties”*, or a count of buildings, units and listings) Click a card to open it, or click **Add configuration** to create a new one. {% hint style="info" %} **Who can do what?** Admins and operators can create, edit and delete configurations. Viewers can see them but can’t change them. {% endhint %} *** ### How to create a configuration {% stepper %} {% step %} #### Name and scope * **Name**: any name that helps your team, e.g. “*Amsterdam – default*”. * **Where this applies:** choose the scope where the configuration applies. You can pick all properties, or specific buildings (complexes), multi-units or individual listings. {% hint style="info" %} **The most specific configuration wins.** A room-type configuration takes priority over a property configuration, which takes priority over the organization-wide one. Each property or room type can belong to only one configuration. So you can set one general rule and then make exceptions. {% endhint %} {% endstep %} {% step %} #### Enabling and testing the configuration * The main **Enabled** switch turns the whole configuration on or off. When on, rooms are assigned automatically for this scope. * When it’s off, the card shows **Off** and nothing happens for those properties. * **Testing mode:** Guestway runs through all the steps and shows which room it *would* choose, but does not send anything to your PMS. Use it to check your rules safely before going live. {% endstep %} {% step %} #### Assignment trigger * **On booking confirmation:** as soon as the reservation is confirmed. Good for properties that want rooms fixed early (e.g. to share room details before arrival). * **Days before check-in:** A set number of days (1 to 365) before the check-in date. * **On check-in day: a** set number of hours (0 to 24) before the reservation’s allowed check-in time. This helps properties that want the most up-to-date view of which rooms are ready. {% hint style="info" %} With **On check-in day** you can also switch on **Wait until unit is clean**. Guestway then only assigns a room once housekeeping has marked it **clean**. While reservations are waiting, the guests arriving earliest get a room first. {% endhint %} {% endstep %} {% step %} #### Assignment logic The steps run from top to bottom. **Step 1 - Early check in first** Reservations are handled in order of arrival, earliest first, so an early arrival gets a vacant room before later guests. **Step 2 - Cleaning gap** If switched on, the logic will prefer rooms that give housekeeping enough time between the previous guest leaving and the new guest arriving (and between this guest leaving and the next guest arriving). You can set a **target gap** from 1 to 12 hours. * Rooms that meet the target all count as a good fit, and the placement strategy (Step 3) chooses among them. * If no room meets the target, Guestway picks the room with the **most** empty time. * The cleaning gap is a **preference, never a blocker**: a reservation is always assigned a room if one is free. **Step 3 - Placement strategy** * **Best fit:** the room where the stay fits most tightly between existing bookings, leaving as few empty nights as possible. Keeps long free periods open for future bookings. * **Least recently used:** the room that has been empty the longest (never-used rooms first). Spreads usage evenly across rooms. * **Completely random: a**ny free room of the booked type. When you have no preference. {% endstep %} {% endstepper %} *** ### Good to know The following factors are always taken into account when auto-assigning a room: * Rooms that are already booked, or blocked in your PMS (out of order, maintenance…), are never chosen. * Guestway also counts rooms it has already sent to the PMS but that aren’t confirmed yet, so two guests are never given the same room. * Assignment is automatically re-run when a reservation's dates, unit type, or party size change. * Reservations that already have a room (e.g. one you assigned by hand in the PMS) are always left alone. A reservation is picked up when **all** of these are true: * It is confirmed (not cancelled, not a confirmed no-show). * It was booked on a room type and has no room yet. * Its check-in date is today or later. * It belongs to a property and room type covered by an enabled configuration. Guestway posts short activity messages in the reservation’s conversation. * **Room assignment started:** Guestway started looking but couldn’t place the guest yet, for example because all rooms are taken or not clean yet. It keeps trying automatically. * **Room assigned:** a room was chosen and sent to your PMS. The message names the room. In testing mode it is marked **Testing** and nothing was sent. * **Room assignment failed:** the PMS didn’t accept the room. See *Troubleshooting* below. This message flags the conversation so your team sees it. **Click a message** to open the details: which configuration was used, the room, when the reservation was queued, when Guestway started assigning, when the room was assigned, and any error your PMS returned. {% hint style="info" %} The informational messages (*started*, *assigned*) don’t mark the conversation as needing a reply. {% endhint %} *** ### FAQ and troubleshooting
Can I still assign a room by hand? Yes. Assign it in your PMS before Guestway’s trigger moment and Guestway will skip that reservation. Guestway never overwrites a room that is already on a reservation.
If I change or remove the room in my PMS after Guestway assigned it, will Guestway change it back? No. Once a room is assigned, Guestway doesn’t revisit that reservation. Your manual change stays. If you remove the room, assign a new one by hand.
What happens if the guest’s dates change after a room was assigned? Guestway doesn’t automatically re-check a reservation after assigning its room. If dates are changed, check in your PMS that the room still works for the new dates.
Can I use different rules for different properties or room types? Yes. Create an organization-wide default and add more configurations for specific properties or room types. The most specific one always wins.
How do I stop automatic assignment for one property only? Create a configuration for that property and switch **Enabled** off. The property is then excluded, and the organization-wide rule won’t apply to it.
What happens if I delete a configuration? Its properties and room types fall back to the next configuration that covers them (usually the organization-wide one). Reservations that were still waiting for a room are then handled by that configuration.
If I change a configuration, does it affect reservations already in progress? Changes apply to reservations Guestway picks up after the change. Reservations that were already queued keep the configuration that picked them up.
Can Guestway take guest preferences, VIPs, a room priority list, upgrades or keeping groups on the same floor into account? Not yet. These are on the roadmap. For now, assign such reservations by hand in your PMS before the trigger moment.
Does the cleaning gap guarantee housekeeping a set amount of time? No, it’s a preference. Guestway picks the room with the most housekeeping time available, but still assigns a room even when every free room is a tight turnover.
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