Using a Third-Party Email Service (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, etc.) with a Hospitable-Managed Domain

If you've connected a custom domain to your Hospitable Direct booking site and pointed your nameservers to Hospitable, you might be wondering: Can I still use this domain for email through Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or another email provider?

Yes, you can. When Hospitable manages your domain's DNS, certain records are locked to keep your Direct booking site running smoothly — but you're free to add your own DNS records for email and other services. This guide walks you through exactly how to set it up.

When you connect a custom domain to your Direct booking site, you point your domain's nameservers to Hospitable:

Once your nameservers are pointed to Hospitable, we automatically create the DNS records needed for your Direct site to work. These records are locked and cannot be edited or removed:

All other DNS records are fully under your control. You can add, edit, or remove them at any time through the Hospitable DNS management interface.

Before you start, make sure you have:

Sign in to your email provider's admin console and locate the DNS setup instructions. Every provider gives you a set of records to add. Here's what you'll typically need:

MX records tell the internet where to deliver email for your domain. Without these, email won't arrive.

Google Workspace example:

Microsoft 365 example:

Replace yourdomain-com with your actual domain, replacing dots with dashes (e.g., example-com).

These records help ensure your emails are delivered and not marked as spam.

SPF record — Tells receiving mail servers which servers are allowed to send email on behalf of your domain:

For Microsoft 365, use v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com ~all instead.

If Hospitable's custom domain email feature is also enabled on this domain, you'll need to include Mailgun in the same SPF record: v=spf1 include:mailgun.org include:_spf.google.com ~all

DKIM record — Adds a digital signature to your outgoing emails to prove they're legitimate. Your email provider will give you the exact record — it typically looks like:

DMARC record — Tells receiving servers what to do if SPF or DKIM checks fail:

Start with p=none to monitor without affecting delivery. Once you're confident everything is working, you can tighten the policy to p=quarantine or p=reject.

Some providers ask you to verify domain ownership by adding a TXT record. For example, Google Workspace asks you to add a TXT record with a value like google-site-verification=XXXXXXXXXXXX. Add this as instructed by your provider.

Once you've added all the records:

Hospitable also offers the ability to send emails from your custom domain — for example, owner portal invitations and reminders. This feature uses Mailgun and adds its own MX and TXT records to your DNS.

If you're using both Hospitable's custom domain email and a third-party email provider:

v=spf1 include:mailgun.org include:_spf.google.com ~all

This ensures emails from both Hospitable and Google Workspace pass SPF checks.

That's expected. Hospitable automatically creates and locks the DNS records required for your Direct booking site (A record and CNAME). These cannot be edited or removed, and they don't interfere with email records.