Custom quotes allow Direct Basic and Direct Premium hosts to create a personalized booking for guests who contact them outside of their Direct booking website.
When you generate a custom quote, Hospitable temporarily blocks the selected dates. If the guest completes payment before the quote expires, the quote converts into a reservation. If the booking is not completed, the dates are automatically unblocked.
Custom quotes are available for Direct Basic and Direct Premium.
Temporarily Block Dates
When you create a quote, Hospitable:
Places a temporary block on the selected dates
Automatically removes the block if the quote expires or is canceled
This allows you to hold dates without manually managing calendar blocks.
Custom quotes allow you to create a booking over blocked dates without manually unblocking them.
How to Generate a Custom Quote
Go to your Hospitable Calendar.
Select the desired dates.
Click + Add booking at the bottom of the right sidebar.
Select Direct booking.
Enter the guest details and guest count.
Adjust pricing if needed:
Modify nightly rate or fees
Add additional fees or manual discounts
Taxes and Direct Premium fee calculation update automatically.
Setting a Custom Price
Hospitable shows the current “retail” price from your Direct site. You can adjust:
Nightly rate
Fees (including custom ones)
Discounts
Promo codes cannot be applied to custom quotes. To offer a discount, add a line item with a negative amount (for example, “Discount” with -100.00)
Taxes and the Direct Premium fee update automatically when you adjust pricing.
Extra guest fees are not automatically added to custom quotes. You must manually adjust the total to include them.
Choose a quote expiration time:
24 hours
48 hours
72 hours
1 week
Confirm the details and submit.
Hospitable will email the guest a secure payment link.
Quote Expiration and Calendar Behavior
If the guest pays before the expiration time, the quote converts into a reservation.
If the quote expires without payment, the dates are automatically unblocked.
If you cancel the quote, the dates are unblocked immediately.
If you try to create a new Direct booking or custom quote for dates that are already held by a pending quote, you will see a "dates already booked" error. To free up those dates, cancel the existing pending quote first — the dates will be unblocked immediately, and you can then create a new quote or booking.
If you previously denied a booking request and then sent a new quote for the same dates, the original denied request may still have a sync event blocking those dates. Canceling the old quote or waiting for it to expire will resolve this.
To check what is blocking specific dates, select a date on your Hospitable Calendar and look at the Availability source in the right-side panel — it will show whether the block is from a pending quote, reservation sync, manual block, or calendar rule.
To cancel a custom quote:
Go to the guest conversation in your Inbox.
Select the cancellation option.
The guest will be notified and the payment link will no longer be valid.
Pending quotes cannot be edited. To make changes, cancel the quote and create a new one.
For full details on cancelling a pending quote or booking, including what happens to blocked dates and authorization holds, see Cancelling Direct bookings.For full details on cancelling a pending quote or booking, including what happens to blocked dates and authorization holds, see Cancelling Direct bookings.
What Happens After You Send a Custom Quote
1. Guest Receives Payment Link
The guest receives an email with a link to complete payment.
If they cannot find the email:
Ask them to check their spam or junk folder.
Try creating a new quote using a different email address.
If issues persist, contact [email protected].
2. Payment and Authorization Hold
Once the guest submits payment:
Hospitable places an authorization hold on their card.
The booking will show as Pending until the booking is accepted.
3. ID Verification and Guest Portal Tasks
Guests must complete:
ID Verification
Required Guest Portal tasks
For Direct Premium, custom quotes do NOT bypass ID Verification or Guest Portal requirements. Guests must complete all verification steps before the reservation can be accepted.
If a booking remains in Pending status, it usually means the guest has not completed their required tasks. You can resend the Guest Portal link from the guest’s conversation in your Inbox.
4. Reservation Acceptance
For Direct Basic:
The reservation is automatically accepted once payment is completed.
For Direct Premium:
The guest must complete ID Verification and Guest Portal tasks.
After completion, you can accept the reservation.
Once accepted, the card is charged and funds are captured.
If Instant Book is enabled for Direct Premium and the guest successfully passes ID Verification, the reservation may be accepted automatically.
Custom Quotes and Guest Verification
Guest verification is required on your Direct Premium bookings. Here is how guest verification fits into the Custom Quotes steps:
You send a custom quote to the guest.
The guest receives the quote and proceeds to pay.
During the checkout process, the guest is prompted to complete identity verification (ID check, selfie, etc.).
Once the guest completes both payment and verification, the reservation moves forward:
With Instant Book on, the booking is automatically confirmed.
With Instant Book off, the booking moves to "Pending" for you to manually accept.
What if the guest pays but doesn't complete verification?
The reservation will remain in "Pending Verification" status until the guest completes the identity check. Payment alone does not confirm the booking when verification is required. The guest can return to the verification link from their confirmation email to complete the remaining steps. You can also send them the Guest Portal link found in the conversation page with the guest in your Hospitable Inbox. They can complete verification via the Guest Portal.
What if the quote expires before the guest completes verification?
Custom quotes have their own expiration window. If the quote expires before the guest finishes both payment and verification, you'll need to send a new quote. The guest will need to start the payment and verification process over with the new quote.
Tip: When sending custom quotes to guests, consider adding a note mentioning that they'll need to complete identity verification as part of the booking process, so they're prepared and can complete everything promptly.
Important Limitations
Custom quotes cannot be edited once sent.
Cancel and recreate the quote if changes are required.
After a reservation is confirmed, any changes must be processed as an alteration.
Extra guest fees must be added manually.
Promo codes cannot be used with custom quotes; discounts must be added manually.
Custom quotes are designed to give hosts flexibility while maintaining Direct booking verification and payment protections.