Hostelworld sign-up guide for guesthouses and rental homes

This guide is for owners who have no Hostelworld listing yet. We run our own guesthouses in Busan and list them on the same OTAs, so the steps below follow the real sign-up flow as it looked on 6 October 2026.

Hostelworld at a glance

Popular with travellers looking for hostels and guesthouses with dorms. The guest pays a deposit (Hostelworld's commission) when booking and the rest to you. For non-refundable rates Hostelworld charges the full amount and sends you your share.

Its guests mostly look for dorm beds and social hostels, so it suits hostels and guesthouses more than whole homes.

Decide first which way you will register. Hotel-type means one address with several rooms (a guesthouse, hostel or hotel): one property on Hostelworld with room types inside. Unit-type means separate homes or apartments at different addresses: each address is its own property. Ten homes are ten properties, and one login is enough to manage them all.

Sign-up link and first screen

Open the official Hostelworld sign-up page in English: https://business.hostelworld.com/en/listyourproperty. The screenshot at the top of this article is the real first screen. The steps after it only appear once you have an account, so they are described in text. OTAs rename menus from time to time, so labels may differ slightly.

What to prepare

🇰🇷 Properties in Korea — a Certificate of Business Registration is required; a tourist convenience facility designation is optional.

🇹🇭 Properties in Thailand — one of: a utility bill with the property address, a business licence/permit, or company registration showing the address.

• Property name and address (in English)
• Photos — the more the better (rooms, bathroom, outside, common areas)
• Rooms — room types, beds, max guests, number of rooms
• Base price and policies — check-in/out times, cancellation, children/pets
• Payout bank account and contact details (email, mobile)

Before you start, put your photos, room details and house rules in one folder. The sign-up asks for them in the middle of the flow, and having them ready means you can finish in one sitting instead of saving a half-done listing.

Hotel-type: guesthouse, hostel or hotel

1. Open the page with the button above, click Sign Up and create a property account.
2. The Hostelworld team checks your property and contacts you.
3. When the login details arrive by email, sign in to Inbox and accept the contract.
4. Create rooms in Rates & Availability → Add/Edit Room Types → Add New Room Type: dorms (mixed/female/male, 4+ beds), privates, family rooms, apartments. The currency can't be changed later — choose it carefully.
5. Add photos, cancellation policy and T&Cs, then ask Hostelworld for the final review to go live.

Unit-type: homes or apartments at different addresses

If you put ten homes at different addresses into one property as ten rooms, a channel manager cannot connect them per unit later. Register one property per address from the start.

Unit-type property? — there is an Apartment room type, but guests mostly look for hostels, so homes/apartments alone may get few bookings here.

After you go live: connect a channel manager

When the listing is live, choose Channex as the connectivity provider in the Hostelworld extranet and enter the property ID in Kimchee under Channels › Connect & Map. The full extranet steps, and the safe order if you already use another channel manager, are in How to switch your Hostelworld channel manager safely. The channel manager is included in the Kimchee plan at no extra cost; see pricing and the list of channels.

Frequently asked questions

How much commission does Hostelworld charge?

Hostelworld shows the rate for your market during sign-up or in the contract, so check it there before you accept. We do not quote numbers here because they differ by country and change over time.

How long until the listing goes live?

Hostelworld reviews the property, sends login details for Inbox, and publishes after a final review.

Do I need a channel manager from day one?

Not for a single channel. Once you sell the same rooms on two or more sites, a channel manager keeps availability in sync so one booking closes the room everywhere. How Kimchee works explains the setup.

Can I manage several properties with one login?

Each property has its own Property ID and Inbox login details. Ask Hostelworld support if you want several properties handled together.

Questions about a specific setup? See the FAQ or contact us; we run guesthouses ourselves and answer from that experience.