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Hotel Subdomain

A Comprehensive Guide to get your Branded Booking Experience

Introduction

The Subdomain feature empowers hotels to present their online booking journey under their own brand whilst maintaining the robust security and performance of the Bookassist platform.

We recommend a standardised subdomain format for all hotels: reservations.hotelname.com

By implementing a dedicated web address such as reservations.hotelname.com, guests experience a seamless and trustworthy booking process that feels fully integrated with the hotel's digital presence.

This approach enables hotels to maintain consistent brand identity across all customer touchpoints, whilst Bookassist ensures the underlying system remains fast, secure, and globally reliable. In essence, guests enjoy a smooth, branded experience, whilst all performance and technical operations are safely managed by Bookassist.

What is a Subdomain?

A subdomain is an extension of a hotel's main website address that creates a separate section whilst remaining part of the primary domain. For example, if a hotel's website is hotelname.com, a subdomain would be reservations.hotelname.com or booking.hotelname.com.

Think of it as different departments within a building—they're all part of the same address, yet each serves a specific purpose. The subdomain keeps everything under the hotel's brand umbrella whilst directing guests to a dedicated booking area.

Universal Subdomain: reservations.hotelname.com

We've selected 'reservations' as the universal subdomain prefix for all our hotel clients. This standardised approach offers several compelling advantages:

Clear & Intuitive Purpose: The word "reservations" immediately communicates its purpose to guests. There's no ambiguity—visitors know precisely what to expect when they see this URL.

Universally Understood: "Reservations" is recognised across all markets and easily understood by international travellers, making it ideal for hotels with a global audience.

Professional & Established: This terminology is used by major hotel chains and booking platforms worldwide, lending credibility and familiarity to the hotel's booking process.

SEO-Friendly: "Reservations" is a commonly searched term in the hospitality industry, potentially benefiting the hotel's search visibility and making the URL memorable for guests.

Action-Oriented: The word encourages action—it's clear that this is where guests go to make a booking, which can help improve conversion rates.

Consistent User Experience: By using a universal subdomain across all clients, we create consistency in our support and documentation, making it easier to assist hotels and their guests when needed.

Note: Hotels are welcome to suggest alternative subdomains if they prefer something different, such as booking, book, or stays—we're flexible to accommodate your preferences whilst recommending 'reservations' as our optimal choice.

Key Benefits of Having a Subdomain

Enhanced Brand Consistency: The booking platform remains within the hotel's own domain throughout the entire reservation process, reinforcing brand trust and recognition at every touchpoint.

Improved Guest Confidence: Guests never leave the hotel's website domain, which increases trust and reduces booking abandonment. The familiar URL reassures customers they're in the right place.

Professional Appearance: A custom subdomain presents a more professional, established image compared to third-party booking URLs, elevating the hotel's digital presence.

Better SEO Performance: Keeping traffic within the hotel's domain can contribute positively to its overall Search Engine Optimisation efforts and domain authority.

Seamless User Experience: The integration is invisible to end-users, creating a smooth, uninterrupted journey from browsing to booking confirmation.

Set Up Process

⚠️ Technical Requirements

The subdomain setup requires DNS configuration changes that must be performed by your IT team or hosting provider. Please ensure you have access to someone with DNS management permissions before beginning this process, as they will need to add specific DNS records to your domain panel.

If you're unsure who manages your DNS or need assistance identifying the right person, please contact your website hosting provider—they'll be able to help.

Here's the step-by-step process:

Step 1: Initiate the Request

Open a ticket to Bookassist by sending an email to support@bookassist.com with the following information:

  • Subject: 'Hotel Name' Subdomain request
  • Your hotel name
  • Your desired subdomain (e.g., reservations.hotelname.com - Recommended)

Please indicate the name of your hotel and the subdomain url you would like to activate. Once your ticket is received, the Support Team will contact you indicating the instructions to be followed. 

Step 2: Certificate Issuance

Bookassist will issue the SSL certificate to ensure secure HTTPS connections. Once issued, you will be provided with a DNS validation record to add to your DNS panel by email.

Example DNS record for validation:

  • Host: _cd02c86126a968ff7fdd0c8be298e954.hoteldomain.com
  • Points to: _deb2eab91c5e9549c390d71705228f80.mhbtsbpdnt.acm-validations.aws

Important timing consideration: This validation code expires in 3 days, so we kindly ask you to implement this change as soon as possible. If you need more time, don't worry—we can re-issue the certificate with the same code.

Once you've added this DNS record, please confirm it by replying the email received, and we'll proceed with the next step.

ℹ️  If you have any questions or need assistance with accessing your DNS panel, please don't hesitate to contact your hosting provider.

Step 3: Create CloudFront Distribution

Once Bookassist gets your confirmation on the validation record, we will send you the final DNS configuration via email asking to log into your DNS management panel once more and create the following DNS record:

  • Type: CNAME
  • Name: reservations.hotelname.com
  • Value: xxx.cloudfront.net

This record will point your subdomain to our secure booking platform infrastructure.

Please note: DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to propagate globally, though it's often much quicker. Once you've made this change, your custom subdomain will be live and ready to use.

Please reply to this email once you've added this record, and we'll verify everything is working correctly on our end.

Step 4: Complete Configuration

Once the CNAME record addition is confirmed,  Bookassist will proceed with the final configuration and confirm that your selected subdomain is fully configured and live.