# Properties and rooms

> Buildings, the rooms guests actually book, and the facts that make guest messages and your booking site specific rather than vague.

Source: https://docs.santara.ai/setup/properties/

A **property** is a building or address. A **room** is a bookable unit inside it. The room is what
guests book, what channels map to, and what is billed. See
[How Santara is put together](/start/concepts/#property-then-room) if that split is new to you.

![Properties: your buildings, and the rooms inside them that guests actually book.](/screens/properties.en.png)

## Creating one by hand

You do not need a channel. **Properties → Add property**, fill in the basics, then add its first
room — the room is what guests actually book, so a property with none cannot sell.

This is the right path if you take only direct bookings, or if you want to set everything up before
connecting a channel.

## Imported properties

A property created from an [imported listing](/channels/airbnb/) arrives filled in from the
channel: title, description, photos, amenities, capacity and rates. Channels do not hold
everything, so check these two after any import:

1. **The nightly price** — a room with no price cannot sell.
2. **How many guests it sleeps** — this drives extra-guest pricing and what Booking.com accepts.

## What lives on the property

The address, the description, house rules, photos of the building, the **cleaning cluster**, and
the connected listings.

## What lives on the room

- **Price and rate plans** — see [Smart pricing](/money/pricing/).
- **Capacity** — how many guests, and the extra-guest price.
- **Unit count** — how many identical units this room represents. One apartment is 1. This is a
  hard cap on availability, everywhere.
- **Photos** of that exact room.
- **Amenities** and the room's own description.
- **Channel mappings**.

## Stay information: wifi, door codes, access

These exist at **both** levels. Set them on the property and every room inherits; set them on a
room and that room wins. Leave a room's value empty to inherit.

| Field | Where it is used |
| --- | --- |
| Wifi name and password | Arrival messages, booking site, guest replies |
| Door code / lockbox | Arrival messages only |
| Access notes | Arrival messages |
| Check-in and check-out times | Everywhere, including cleaning timing |

:::caution[Door codes are access-controlled]
Door codes and access notes are visible only to roles that need them. A cleaner sees the buildings
they work on; they do not see codes for the rest of your estate. See
[Team and roles](/setup/team/).
:::

## Why filling these in matters

The AI parts of the product are only as specific as the property behind them. A property with no
check-in time, no wifi and no address produces vague guest drafts and weak upsell timing. The
properties screen flags **context gaps** for exactly this reason — it is a list of the facts that,
if filled in, make everything else sharper.

## Syncing from the channel

**Sync data** on a property pulls the latest reservations, calendar, messages and listing details.
Where the channel holds a value, **it replaces the property's**. Use it after editing a listing on
the channel; do not use it right after editing something here that the channel also knows.

## Moving, duplicating and deleting

- **Move a room to another property** — only possible while it is not mapped to a channel.
- **Duplicate a room** — copies its basics, occupancy, detail and manual rate plans as
  *"(copy)"*. The copy is linked to no channel until you map it.
- **Delete a room** — its rate plans, availability and photos go. Past reservations and reviews are
  kept but detached.
- **Delete a property** — refused while channel listings are still connected. Disconnect them
  first, so they are cleaned up on the channel side too.