How to list your hotel on Expedia and Hotels.com, from sign-up to first booking

Expedia Group's page for hotels says that once you partner with it, your listing appears across its travel brands, Expedia and Hotels.com among them, without signing up for each. The sign-up first asks what you would like to list:

• Lodging: a hotel, motel or bed and breakfast. This is the hotel sign-up this guide follows.
• Private residence: a private home, apartment or holiday home. Expedia sends these to Vrbo, its site for holiday rentals.

The hotel sign-up's property types include hotel, guest house, bed and breakfast, hostel, inn, lodge, apart-hotel, serviced apartment, villa, resort, palace and others. Homestay isn't among them, and Expedia's pages don't say which type a homestay should choose. The sign-up counts an apartment or a house as one unit, and asks whether the property is part of a chain and whether it works with a channel manager.

• Other booking sites: Expedia's sign-up page says you can work with it as well as with other online travel sites.
• Locations and sizes: the sign-up has messages for locations, and sizes of property in a location, that Expedia doesn't support yet. Its pages don't say whether any part of India is affected.
• Standards: Expedia's health and safety policy asks every listed property to meet the safety laws of its own country and Expedia Group's health and safety standards.
• Star rating: Expedia sets it, reviewing the property's and rooms' amenities against industry standards, outside the countries where a national rating applies.

Expedia's help article on the minimum requirements for a listing to go live says to gather these before onboarding, so the property can go live without delay:

• Basic information: the property name, address, phone number and type, the currency, and the name and email address of its main contact.
• Payment information: your tax identification numbers, if you have them, such as a GST registration, and the payment model you want (see below).
• Property features: 6 photos that meet Expedia's photo guidelines, check-in and check-out times, the payment methods you accept, the number of active rooms and their availability, property and room amenities, and any mandatory fees.
• For the listing itself, Expedia's hotels page adds: details of each room (layout and bed size), rates by type of room, your fees, deposits and policies, and the dates you are open to guests.

The name: Expedia asks for the property's official name, such as the one on your own website, in Latin or Roman letters, between 4 and 40 characters, with no special characters. Indian rupees are among the currencies offered.

Photos: Expedia's guidelines say every listing needs at least 6 unique photos: 1 of the building's exterior, 1 of the interior or lobby, 3 of guest rooms and 1 of a bathroom. Duplicates are removed and don't count. Photos should be horizontal where possible, at least 1024 by 683 pixels and ideally 3840 by 2160 or more, sharp and well lit, in JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF or SVG. Expedia may reject black-and-white or sepia photos, blurry or pixelated ones, close-ups, collages, documents or posters, text overlays such as web addresses or phone numbers, and watermarks, logos or borders. It recommends adding four photos of each room type with its bathroom, one of the building in its surroundings, one of the entrance or reception, and one of each key amenity.

Tax: Expedia asks for your VAT or GST details on the Property administration page, under Property details: the property's legal name, as registered, and your tax identification number if you are registered. It says the page is open in certain countries only, and to contact it with your tax details if you can't see the page. Expedia's hotels page also asks you to have ready any tax and regulatory information your local government requires.

Expedia's sign-up runs in its own pages before you reach Partner Central. As its pages show it:

1. 1Go to partner.expediagroup.com and click “Get started” under Hotels, or “List your property” on its page for hotels.
2. 2On “Where is your property located?”, start typing the property's name or address, and click “Next”.
3. 3On “Does this look correct?”, check the pin, drag the map if it needs moving, and click “Confirm”. If the address isn't right, use “Edit address”; if the map can't find it, use “I can’t find my property on the map”, and Expedia's team will contact you to check.
4. 4On “Tell us a little about your property”, enter the property name, type, the number of rooms or units, whether it works with a channel manager, whether it is part of a chain, the currency and, if you like, its website. Where the sign-up offers it, it can also bring over details from your Booking.com listing if you paste the listing's link.
5. 5On “Create your account”, enter your first and last name, phone number, email address and a password of 7 to 32 characters with at least one letter and one number. Don't use a shared email address. Click “Next”.
6. 6Open the email Expedia sends you and verify your address, then return and continue. If the link has expired, choose “Resend link”.
7. 7Sign in to Partner Central and review Expedia's standard business terms, including the compensation percentage and the ways to get paid. Watch for an email with your contract.
8. 8Set up the listing in Partner Central: rooms, rates and photos, then your tax information, and review and submit. Expedia says what you enter saves automatically, so you can come back to it.

Expedia's own summary of the order names the same six stages: tell us about your property, create your account, show off your rooms, go live faster with your tax information, review and submit, and manage everything in one place. When a property is being created, the sign-up warns that it can take several hours, that Expedia emails you when it is ready to view, and that you shouldn't submit it again.

If you work with a channel manager or other connectivity provider, say so: onboarding has a “Connectivity settings” screen asking “Do you want to add a connectivity provider?”, after which you map your rooms and rate plans and choose “Return to onboarding”. To add another property later, choose “Administration”, then “Add a property”, in Partner Central.

• The contract: you review Expedia's business terms after verifying your email. For a property added in Partner Central, Expedia says the type of agreement depends on its room count, location and structure. The rate plan form in Partner Central reminds you of the compensation terms in your lodging agreement, and the Property contract page has the full details.
• Your location: if the address and the pin don't match, Expedia's team emails you to check.
• Your sign-in: Partner Central asks you to verify yourself from time to time, by a notice in its app, a text message or a phone call.
• The account's owner: the Property Administrator is the main point of contact for a property and can add other users. Expedia says to contact it if your property has no administrator yet.
• Photos at all times: Expedia says a property should always have at least 6 unique photos published, and that fewer for more than 30 days can lead to an indefinite suspension.
• Health and safety: Expedia's team may contact a property about concerns raised in guest reviews or complaints.

Expedia's help pages that we read describe no document check, visit or code by post for a new hotel; the checks they name are those above. Once live, Expedia says an unpaid invoice must be paid within 14 days to avoid suspension, and a guest experience score that falls too low can also lead to a suspension.

Expedia calls its commission compensation: the percentage of the booking amount it keeps, as set in your contract. It publishes no rate: its page for hotels says compensation varies around the globe and is shared for your market as part of contracting, and that it is paid only when you have bookings. Expedia applies it to the room rate, extra person, room and guest fees, cancellation penalties, rate plan service charges, taxes and property fees collected at booking, rate plan by rate plan.

Expedia has three ways for guests to pay, and the one you choose is part of your payment information:

• Expedia Collect, and the updated Expedia Collect: the guest pays Expedia when booking, and Expedia pays you after the stay. India is on Expedia's list of countries using the updated model, in which your property issues the guest's invoice for the full amount they paid, using your own system.
• Hotel Collect: the guest pays you directly, and Expedia invoices you monthly for its compensation. The invoice is on Partner Central's Payments page on the 5th of each month, to be paid within 14 days, and Hotel Collect bookings should be updated by the 4th of the month after checkout. The guest's tax invoice is yours to issue.
• Expedia Traveler Preference: each guest chooses to pay Expedia at booking or to pay you at the property. To switch, contact Expedia.

How Expedia pays you for Expedia Collect bookings: by a virtual card, available in every market, which you can charge from the guest's check-in date, with no fee from Expedia beyond your own card provider's charge; or, in select markets only, by automatic bank payouts or by invoice-to-pay, where Expedia says partners often wait about 41 days after checkout. To see which are open to your property, go to “Payments”, then “Payment Settings”, “Manage Payment Settings”, the Expedia Collect Payment Information section, and “Edit”.

• Paying Expedia from India: Expedia's help says every Hotel Collect payment made in India must go through an SNRR account, with the reference in the exact format its page gives, and recommends RTGS or NEFT for domestic payments. It doesn't recommend paying by cheque.
• Indian credit cards: Expedia says a card issued in India can't be stored in Partner Central or used for automatic card payments, and that since 1 September 2025 it no longer accepts credit card payments in rupees.
• GST on compensation: Expedia's help names three ways tax can apply to its compensation, depending on the tax rules of each market, and says that on Hotel Collect invoices it charges the tax if you aren't registered for GST. Its pages don't say which applies in India, so ask Expedia and your tax adviser.

Expedia says two scores, both updated daily, directly affect your visibility in its search results: a guest experience score and an offer strength score, which includes how complete and good your listing is and how competitive your prices and availability are. Set these up in Partner Central first:

• Rooms: “Rooms and Rates”, then “Room types and rate plans”, “Add a room” and “Create new”; fill in the room information, amenities, beds and occupancy and base rate, check the “Preview”, and click “Create room type”.
• Rate plans: every room type needs at least one active Standalone rate plan to be bookable. Expedia says most properties start with a refundable and a non-refundable Standalone rate plan, and that a new rate plan is bookable within minutes of saving. A base rate can't be edited once saved, so change prices later in the rates and availability grid.
• Restrictions: a rate plan can be limited by dates, booking window, length of stay, members, phones or travellers' locations, but Expedia warns that too many restrictions may reduce visibility.
• Cancellation policies: “Rooms and rates”, then “Cancellation Policies” and “Create a new policy”: a 24, 48 or 72-hour window, non-refundable, or a custom policy with up to two windows. Make the cutoff earlier than check-in, and attach the policy to at least one rate plan.
• Fees and policies: “Property details”, then “Fees, policies, and settings”: property fees, guest fees, deposits, taxes, check-in and check-out times and cutoff times. Expedia asks for every mandatory tax and fee in its own field, so guests see the full price.
• Child ages: set your age groups under “Rooms and rates”, “Guest and occupancy fees”, before adding extra guest fees.
• Amenities: “Property details”, then “Property amenities”; Expedia says they generally appear on its sites within 72 hours.
• Photos: “Property details”, then “Photos”, “Add photos”, choose a label and “Upload”. They show within 72 hours, pending until then, and Expedia chooses the main photo from its own testing.

The Property details score, under “Property Details”, then “Overview”, shows how complete your content is: Expedia says it helps your visibility, and that it rises with property amenities, room amenities, policies and deposits, and photos of each room type, amenity and feature. Expedia also renews your rates and rooms automatically for the year ahead, unless a connectivity provider manages them.

You don't need a channel manager to list: Expedia's page for hotels says so, while noting that many partners use one so that bookings, rates and availability update by themselves. Without one, Expedia's calendar sync by iCal works only for a unit with a single room of its kind, and updates once every two and a half hours. For new listings, Expedia recommends four kinds of promotion: a campaign for busy periods, member-only deals, mobile-only rates, and package and opaque rates, and asks that every discount be a genuine saving on your standard rate.

Expedia's pages name no single button for going live: once the listing is set up, reviewed and submitted, the hotels page says your property will soon be live. A room is bookable once it has an active Standalone rate plan with open dates, and photos and amenities take up to 72 hours to appear. Expedia says your scores and review details show once enough bookings and reviews have come in. When the property is live:

1. 1Search for it on Expedia and on Hotels.com as a guest would, signed out, for a few nights over the coming weeks.
2. 2Check that each room type shows, with its photos, beds, fees and cancellation terms.
3. 3Compare the price with your own website's for the same room, night and terms.
4. 4Open “Opportunities” in Partner Central for Expedia's suggestions for your property.
5. 5Fix anything wrong in Partner Central, or in your channel manager if one runs your rates.

Expedia says you get a reservation notice by email, or through your central reservation system, when a guest books, changes or cancels, and that bookings made through its sites are confirmed automatically. They show on the “Reservations” page, and the Partner Central app sends a notice for each booking and cancellation. A routine for the first week:

1. 1Install the Expedia Group Partner Central app for reservations, rates, messages and reviews on your phone.
2. 2Check who receives booking emails: the profile icon, “User settings”, “Manage notifications”, then “Edit Details” under Booking notifications details.
3. 3For an Expedia Collect booking, charge the virtual card from the check-in date, and take the guest's own card at check-in for any extras.
4. 4For a Hotel Collect booking, review the guest's card in Partner Central soon after booking, and don't charge it before check-in unless your deposit policy asks for part payment.
5. 5Answer guests under “Guest relations”, then “Messages”. Expedia says not to use messages for marketing, and to keep conversations on its own messaging: it warns that people pose as hotels on apps such as WhatsApp to mislead travellers.
6. 6Turn on review requests: “Guest Relations”, “Messages”, “Manage templates”, then “Post-stay review requests”, and switch it on.
7. 7Close any rooms you can't sell. Expedia says relocating a guest you can't accommodate can harm your visibility and lead to poor reviews, and that you usually pay its cost.

Reviews: guests are reminded to review after their stay, and Expedia says your score and review details appear in search results once you have five reviews. Reviews written on Expedia.com take 90 days to appear on its other sites, such as Hotels.com. When you reply, leave out phone numbers, email addresses and web addresses, don't ask guests to book directly, and keep it under 400 words. For every everyday job after this, rates, closed dates, no-shows, promotions and invoices, see our guide to Expedia Partner Central.