How to connect your VRBO listing

Connecting your VRBO listing to Nowistay lets you synchronize your calendar, rates, restrictions, and import bookings — all managed from a single dashboard alongside your other platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com.

What Vrbo supports

Once connected, Nowistay automatically syncs the following with your Vrbo listing:

• Calendar and availability: your calendar stays up to date across all platforms
• Rates and restrictions: pricing and minimum stays are synchronized
• Booking import: new, modified, and cancelled bookings from Vrbo appear in real time

What Vrbo does not support

Unlike Airbnb and Booking.com, Vrbo does not support messaging through its API. This means:

• The AI co-host cannot read or reply to guest messages sent through the Vrbo platform
• Guest conversations from Vrbo will not appear in your Nowistay inbox

But don’t worry — Nowistay gives you two powerful alternatives to automate guest communication for your VRBO bookings.

Prerequisites

Before connecting Vrbo, make sure you have:

1. An active VRBO account with at least one listing published and in active status on VRBO
2. A property added on Nowistay connected using the channel manager synchronization method (Nowistay becomes your channel manager). If you haven’t set this up yet, follow the steps in How to connect the AI Co-host to my Airbnb listing (Option 1 — the Nowistay Integration method)
3. An active AI Assistant subscription for the property
4. No other PMS, channel manager, or iCal imports connected to your VRBO listing — if your VRBO account is currently connected to another PMS via XML/API, contact VRBO support to disconnect it first. Also remove any iCal calendar imports from other platforms, as they would override the synchronization from Nowistay

Step by Step connection guide

Step 1: Open the synchronization settings

From your Properties page, find the property you want to connect. Click the "..." menu on the property card, then select "Synchronization".

Step 2: Add Vrbo as a booking platform

In the Synchronization drawer that opens on the right, click "+ Add a booking platform (OTA)". A dialog will appear — open the "OTA Platform" dropdown and select "Vrbo".

Step 3: Enter your Vrbo credentials

The "Connect Vrbo" dialog appears with a notice reminding you that guest messaging and AI replies are not available on Vrbo.

Fill in your Vrbo login details:

• "Vrbo username or email": the email or username you use to sign in to VRBO
• "Vrbo password": your VRBO account password

Click "Next" to continue.

💡 Tip: Before connecting, make sure to remove any previous PMS/XML connection and old iCal imports from your VRBO account. Keeping them active will create synchronization conflicts.

Step 4: Two-factor authentication (SMS verification)

Vrbo requires SMS verification to secure the connection. This step has two parts:

1. Select the phone number associated with your VRBO account from the dropdown, then click "Request verification code"

2. Check your phone for the SMS from Vrbo, enter the code in the "Verification code" field, and click "Verify code"

Step 5: Select your Vrbo listing

After successful verification, Nowistay loads your Vrbo listings. Open the "Vrbo listing" dropdown, select the listing you want to connect to this property, and click "Connect".

You’re connected!

Once connected, you’ll see a confirmation message "OTA connected successfully!" and your Vrbo listing will appear in the Synchronization drawer alongside your other connected platforms. The status badges will show "Active" once synchronization is complete.

If you see a connection error

If you see the message "Failed to connect OTA. Please try again.", don’t worry — this is usually a temporary issue.

Here’s what to check:

• Double-check your credentials: make sure your Vrbo email/username and password are correct
• Wait and retry: Vrbo may temporarily limit connection attempts. Wait about 15 minutes, then try again
• Check your VRBO listing status: your listing must be active and published on VRBO
• Remove old connections: verify that no other PMS, channel manager, or iCal import is still connected to your VRBO listing

Re-authenticating your Vrbo connection

Vrbo connections may occasionally expire. When this happens, synchronization will stop and you’ll need to re-authenticate.

In the Synchronization drawer, click the "Re-authenticate" button next to your Vrbo connection. A dialog will appear asking you to enter your Vrbo credentials again. Complete the SMS verification if prompted, and your connection will be restored.

How to automate guest communication for VRBO bookings

Send scheduled messages targeted to VRBO guests

Nowistay’s automated guest messages let you create templates that send automatically at key moments — booking confirmation, check-in, check-out. When Vrbo provides the guest’s email address with the reservation, these messages are delivered by email.

To create a template specifically for VRBO guests:

1. Go to Automations → Guest Messages and open or create a template
2. Scroll to the “Conditions” section and find “Source platforms”
3. Select “VRBO” to target only VRBO bookings — or combine it with other platforms

This lets you write VRBO-specific messages — for example, different check-in instructions since VRBO guests won’t receive messages through the booking platform.

Use WhatsApp for a complete AI-powered messaging experience

For the most complete solution, connect the WhatsApp channel. This effectively fills the messaging gap that Vrbo’s API limitation creates.

In the template editor, use the “Send via” dropdown to control how each message is delivered:

• “Auto”: sends via OTA messaging when available (not for VRBO), otherwise by email. Enable the “Also send on WhatsApp” toggle to also send the message on WhatsApp at the same time
• “WhatsApp”: sends exclusively via WhatsApp (plus email if an email address is available). This is the recommended option for VRBO-specific templates

What happens when a VRBO guest receives a WhatsApp message

When your VRBO guest receives an automated WhatsApp message, a conversation thread is created in Nowistay. From that point:

• The guest can reply directly on WhatsApp from their phone
• The AI co-host responds automatically to guest WhatsApp messages — just like it does for Airbnb or Booking.com guests
• You or your team can jump into the conversation at any time from the Nowistay messaging system
• All messages appear in a single unified thread — nothing gets lost

This means that even though Vrbo doesn’t support messaging natively, your VRBO guests get the same level of automated, AI-powered communication as your Airbnb and Booking.com guests.