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Hostaway cleaning schedule with WhatsApp and iCal

· Readyby team · 4 min read

Hostaway is a full property management system, and it already has a task feature. So why would anyone build a Hostaway cleaning schedule in a second tool? Usually because of the people on the other end: cleaners who won't install another app, who speak Ukrainian or Polish rather than the local language, and owners who want photos instead of reassurance.

This guide explains what Hostaway does for cleaning, where Readyby fits, and how to connect the two. To be clear from the start: Readyby has no direct Hostaway integration today and no partnership with Hostaway. Readyby reads the iCal link that Hostaway exports for each listing. A direct Hostaway connection is on our roadmap.

What Hostaway already does for cleaning

Hostaway lets you create tasks manually or automatically, including cleaning tasks, and assign them to a team member, who gets a notification. Tasks can be tracked in the dashboard and in Hostaway's mobile app for iOS and Android. Hostaway's marketplace also lists dedicated operations tools for teams that need more.

If your cleaners are staff who already use the Hostaway app, that setup may cover you. Don't replace something that works.

When Readyby still helps

Readyby is built for a different kind of team:

  • Cleaners who live in WhatsApp. The AI coordinator sends the plan, asks for confirmation, reminds and handles small changes in WhatsApp. There's no app and no login for the cleaner.
  • Cleaners who don't share your language. Each cleaner gets messages in her own language, and her replies are translated back to you.
  • A checklist with photos from a link. The cleaner opens a web checklist on any phone, ticks the rooms and adds required photos.
  • Owners who want proof. Photos, incidents and linen counts go into a report for each owner.
  • Exports for your accountant. Monthly CSV files with cleanings per client and hours and pay per cleaner.

Hostaway stays where bookings, channels and guest messaging are. Readyby only takes the checkouts.

Hostaway's help centre describes a per-listing export: open the listing in your dashboard, find the iCal option (often a "Get iCal" button) and copy the URL. Some setups show the same export link in the channel manager for each listing. Menu labels change between versions, so if you don't see it, search the Hostaway help centre for "iCal export".

When you generate the link, Hostaway lets you choose what the feed includes, such as guest name, phone, guest count, check-in and check-out times and booking channel. For Readyby, keep the dates, times, guest count and channel. You can leave guest names and phone numbers out; Readyby doesn't store them anyway. It keeps only dates, guest count and booking source.

Treat the link as private. Anyone who has it can read what's in the feed.

Setting up the Hostaway cleaning schedule in Readyby

  1. One link per listing. Paste the Hostaway export link for each apartment. Readyby checks it every few minutes.
  2. Only the Hostaway link. Hostaway already pulls in Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo, so its export covers all channels. Don't add each channel's own link as well. Readyby recognises the same stay in two calendars and won't double the cleaning, but one source is cleaner.
  3. Times. Hostaway's feed can carry check-in and check-out times, and Readyby uses them when they're there. Otherwise it falls back to the default times you set per apartment. Set how long a cleaning takes so tight turnovers are flagged.
  4. Cleaners. Add name, WhatsApp number and language. Each cleaner confirms the invitation in WhatsApp before any plan is sent.
  5. Review the first days. Check the cleanings Readyby built before you let it send plans automatically.

When a stay changes in Hostaway, the feed changes, Readyby moves or cancels the cleaning, and the assigned cleaner is told.

What iCal won't do

iCal is one-way and periodic. Readyby reads Hostaway's feed; it doesn't write anything back. Completed cleanings won't appear as finished tasks in Hostaway. There is also a short delay between a change in Hostaway and the next feed update.

So pick one place for cleaning. If you run cleanings in Readyby, turn off automatic cleaning tasks in Hostaway for those listings, or your team gets two sets of instructions.

Languages and channels today

Readyby's coordinator works on WhatsApp. Cleaners can use it in Ukrainian, Polish, Russian or English now, with more coming. Viber and SMS are not available yet. See the FAQ for current details.

In short

Hostaway runs the business side. Readyby takes the checkouts from Hostaway's iCal link and gets a confirmed cleaner, a photo checklist and an owner report out of each one. The integrations page lists what connects today, and Airbnb iCal and your cleaning schedule covers how iCal-based scheduling works in general.

You can click through a full day in the interactive demo, or start on the free plan with two apartments.