Walk-In Reservation Booking
Enable walk-in booking in Settings → Check-In and connect a payment gateway. Day-use quotes need an active PMS rate plan.
This guide covers how to enable walk-in booking and what the guest experience looks like on the kiosk.
If the guest arrives and leaves the same day, AVA shows day-use rates only when your PMS can quote them. If the quote expires, search again to refresh the rates. Opera day-use stays still use staff-created or imported reservations. If the plan does not include times, AVA uses the fallback window from Set Up Day-Use Rate Plans.
Quick Reference
| Step | What the Guest Does | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| Search Rooms | Enters dates and guest count | Available quotable room types and rates appear |
| Select a Room | Picks a room type and rate | Stay total is calculated |
| Enter Details | Fills in name, email, phone, country | Guest info is captured for the booking |
| Pay | Scans QR code or opens payment page | Payment is processed securely |
| Confirmation | Sees booking ID on screen | Reservation is created in your PMS and a confirmation email is sent |
Before You Start
Confirm these requirements:
- Your PMS is connected and active in Settings → Essentials → PMS Connection
- A payment gateway is connected in Settings → Payment
- Walk-in booking is enabled in Settings → Check-In (see next section)
Check PMS support first
AVA offers walk-in booking only when your active PMS declares support for it. AVA reads this capability from the PMS integration, instead of guessing from its vendor name.
| Capability status | What you see | What you should do |
|---|---|---|
| Supported | The setting can be enabled | Enable it after confirming payment setup |
| Unsupported | The setting is unavailable or read-only | Create the reservation through staff operations |
| Unavailable | The setting is unavailable or read-only | Restore the PMS connection or contact your administrator |
Support can vary by PMS version and deployment. Check the setting status shown for your active PMS before enabling walk-in booking.
Opera reservations need configured Rate Plan Code, Market Code, and Source Code. Those property settings cannot be completed by a guest at the kiosk. Create Opera walk-in reservations from staff operations instead.
If AVA cannot confirm the PMS capability, it keeps walk-in booking unavailable. Reconnect the PMS or finish the PMS deployment before enabling this feature.
An unavailable capability does not erase an existing saved setting. AVA only refuses a new request to enable walk-in booking until the capability is confirmed.
If you're using Cloudbeds
Cloudbeds requires these API permissions to be granted when you connect:
- Room: Read — to look up available room types
- Rate: Read — to fetch room rates and pricing
- Payment: Read — to record payments against the reservation
If any permission is missing, AVA shows an error when you try to enable walk-in booking. Reconnect Cloudbeds with the required permissions and try again.
Walk-in booking requires online payment before the reservation is created. If no payment gateway is connected, guests cannot complete a booking. Connect one in Payment Gateway Integration first.
Enable Walk-In Booking
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Go to Settings → Check-In
-
Scroll to the Walk-In Booking section
-
Check Enable Walk-In Reservation Booking
-
Click Save
✓ The kiosk welcome screen now shows a Book Reservation button.
If you enable walk-in booking without a payment gateway, AVA shows a warning. The feature is active, but guests cannot complete a booking until you connect a gateway.
Some kiosks can also show Check-In and Check-Out buttons on the welcome screen when they run in CCI mode. Turn them on in Settings → Check-In. Book Reservation still depends on Walk-In Booking.
How Guests Use Walk-In Booking
When a guest without a reservation arrives, they can book a room directly from the kiosk.
Step 1: Start a Booking
On the kiosk welcome screen, the guest taps Book Reservation.
Step 2: Search Available Rooms
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The guest enters their stay details:
- Check-in Date
- Check-out Date
- Adults (at least 1)
- Children
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They tap Search Available Rooms
✓ A list of available room types appears with photos, descriptions, and rates.
Room types with published rates and available rooms appear. For same-day stays, AVA only shows current day-use quotes.
The Rooms page can show the full PMS catalog first. Walk-in only shows room types you can quote for the selected stay details. If PMS provides a property currency, AVA uses it for the nightly rate and total.
Furama quotes include the room rate but no tax or fee breakdown.
Some Furama rates may show an internal currency code such as 001.
Confirm the currency and final total in Furama before collecting payment.
If the guest arrives and leaves on the same day, AVA only shows day-use rates when your PMS supports them. If the quote window has ended, search again to fetch a fresh rate.
If no results appear, there are no rooms with published rates for those dates. Ask the guest to try different dates or check your PMS for room availability.
Step 3: Select a Room
- The guest taps a room type to see full details:
- Room photos (swipeable gallery)
- Description and amenities
- Bed type, room size, smoking preference
- Nightly rate and estimated total (including taxes and fees)
- They tap Continue with this room
Step 4: Enter Guest Details
The guest fills in their personal information:
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First Name | Yes | |
| Last Name | Yes | |
| Yes | Confirmation email is sent here | |
| Phone Number | No | Recommended for contact |
| Country | Depends | Required for Cloudbeds; recommended for all |
After filling in the form, the guest taps Continue to Payment.
Step 5: Pay
The guest chooses a payment method:
- Pay on your device — a QR code appears on screen. The guest scans it with their phone to open a secure payment page.
- Pay on this device — a link opens the payment page directly on the kiosk screen.
The screen shows "Waiting for payment confirmation..." until payment completes.
Step 6: Confirmation
Once payment succeeds:
- A Booking Confirmed screen appears with the booking ID
- A confirmation email is sent to the guest's email address
- The reservation is created in your PMS automatically
- Payment is recorded against the reservation in your PMS
After the Booking
- The new reservation appears in your PMS and in AVA's reservation list
- The guest can proceed with self check-in if your property supports it
- You can view and manage the reservation like any other booking
Walk-in booking creates the reservation and processes payment only. It does not assign a specific room or grant key access. The guest must complete a separate self check-in flow before they can enter their room.
If the guest wants to check in immediately after booking, they can return to the kiosk welcome screen and start the regular check-in flow with their new reservation.
Troubleshooting
"Walk-in booking feature is disabled"
What you see: Guest taps Book Reservation but gets an error.
Fix:
- Go to Settings → Check-In
- Enable Walk-In Reservation Booking
- Click Save
Walk-in booking is unavailable or read-only
What you see: The Book Reservation button is missing, unavailable, or read-only.
Why this happens: Your active PMS does not confirm walk-in booking support. AVA also fails closed when the capability is missing or unavailable.
Fix:
- Check the capability status under Check PMS support first.
- Confirm the PMS connection is active in Settings → Essentials → PMS Connection.
- Restore the PMS connection or complete its deployment if the status is unavailable.
- If the status is unsupported, create the reservation from staff operations.
- Contact your Vouch administrator if the status remains incorrect.
Walk-in booking cannot be enabled after a PMS update
What you see: You select Enable Walk-In Reservation Booking, but saving fails.
Why this happens: AVA cannot confirm that the active PMS supports walk-in booking.
Fix:
- Confirm the PMS connection is active in Settings → Essentials → PMS Connection.
- Wait for the PMS capability to become available after deployment.
- Return to Settings → Check-In and try again.
Your existing saved setting remains unchanged while the capability is unavailable.
"No room rates are available for the selected dates"
What you see: Guest searches rooms but nothing appears.
Check:
- Rooms exist in your PMS for those dates
- Room rates are published and active in your PMS
- Your PMS connection is active in Settings → Essentials → PMS Connection
A room type appears in Rooms, but not in walk-in
What you see: The room type is visible in Rooms, but the kiosk hides it.
Fix:
- Check whether the room type has a published rate for the selected dates.
- Try the search again with the correct guest count.
- Confirm the room type can be quoted by your PMS.
- Refresh after PMS sync if the type still does not appear.
- For same-day stays, confirm the day-use rate plan is still active.
Day-use quote expires after refresh
What you see: The same-day rate disappears or changes after you refresh the search.
Fix:
- Search again to fetch a fresh quote.
- Confirm the day-use rate plan is still active in your PMS.
- If you use Opera, create the same-day reservation from staff operations instead.
"Selected room is being booked by another guest"
What you see: Error when the guest tries to pay for a room type.
Why: Another guest is in the middle of booking the last available room of that type.
Fix:
- Ask the guest to choose a different room type
- Or wait a few minutes and try again — the other booking may time out
"Payment integration is not configured"
What you see: Error when generating payment.
Fix:
- Go to Settings → Payment
- Connect a supported payment gateway (Stripe or Red Dot)
- Return to the kiosk and try again
Payment fails or times out
What you see: Payment page shows an error, or the kiosk stays on "Waiting for payment confirmation..."
Fix:
- Ask the guest to retry the payment
- If it keeps failing, check your payment gateway status in Settings → Payment
- Verify the payment gateway account is active and has no restrictions
Permission error when enabling (Cloudbeds)
What you see: Error message listing missing Cloudbeds permissions.
Fix:
- Go to Settings → Essentials → PMS Connection
- Disconnect and reconnect Cloudbeds
- Grant all required permissions: Room: Read, Rate: Read, Payment: Read
- Return to Settings → Check-In and enable walk-in booking again
"Selected room type is sold out"
What you see: Error message when selecting a room.
Fix: All rooms of that type are fully booked. Choose different dates or a different room type.
Rate currency looks wrong
What you see: The nightly rate or total shows a different currency than expected.
Fix:
- Check whether your PMS provides a property currency.
- If it does, AVA uses that currency for walk-in quotes.
- Otherwise, verify Settings → Essentials → Hotel Basic Details.
- Refresh the kiosk page after PMS sync.
Still Stuck?
Contact success@vouch-technologies.com if:
- ❌ Walk-in search still hides room types after PMS sync
- ❌ Rates appear in the wrong currency after refresh
- ❌ Payment works, but the reservation does not create
- ❌ Guests see repeated errors while searching rooms
Helpful to include:
- Check-in date and check-out date
- Guest count
- Room type name
- Screenshot of the kiosk message
- Time the issue started