How do I connect Chekin to Smoobu?

Chekin is a registration partner that files your guest data automatically to your country's official platform, such as SES Hospedajes in Spain, Alloggiati and ISTAT in Italy, FNT in France, or SEF in Portugal. Connect it when you need electronic filing and Smoobu's own online check-in, which collects data but does not file it, is not enough. Chekin is a separate product from Smoobu's online check-in.

Before you start

You need these in place before you connect:

• A property whose location needs electronic filing. Chekin files to the national platform for the property's country.
• Your login for each authority platform (for example your SES Hospedajes or Alloggiati login). You enter these inside Chekin later. You get them from your local authority, not from Smoobu or Chekin.
• No separate Chekin account already open. Smoobu can only link a Chekin account that was created through Smoobu. If you already have a standalone Chekin account, including one from an expired trial, ask Chekin Support to delete it first (see Common problems below).

What Chekin costs

The basic Chekin plan is 3.50 euros plus VAT per property per month, billed by Smoobu. Premium Chekin features, such as advanced ID scanning, e-signatures and deposits, are billed by Chekin directly, separately from your Smoobu invoice.

Activation is account-level, not per property. Turning Chekin on adds the basic charge for every property on your account, not only the properties that need it. A host with ten properties pays for ten, even if only two are in a country that needs filing.

Steps

1. In Smoobu, open the Marketplace, go to the Check-in category, open Chekin, and click Connect.
2. Wait for the credentials email. Smoobu emails your Chekin login details to your Smoobu account email address.
3. Log in to Chekin with those details. For each property, open the property's settings, go to the Legal tab, and enter the login for that property's authority platform.
4. In Smoobu, go to Experience > Communication, open the template that sends the check-in link (the Arrival template works well), and insert the [checkInOnlineUrl] placeholder in the message body. Save. Each guest then receives their personal Chekin form link in that message.

Check it worked

• Open a booking with an arrival date within the next 120 days.
• Preview or test-send the template that carries [checkInOnlineUrl]. The placeholder resolves to a link.
• Open the link. You see Chekin's guest check-in form for that booking.
• Fill in and submit the form as a test guest. The data appears in your Chekin dashboard and, where you set it up, is filed to the official platform.

Common problems

I already had a Chekin account and the connection will not link it

Smoobu only works with a Chekin account created through Smoobu's flow. A Chekin account you opened directly with Chekin, including one from a trial that has ended, will not link. Ask Chekin Support to delete your existing Chekin account and wait for them to confirm it is gone. Back up any Chekin data you need first, because deletion is permanent. Then start again from Marketplace > Check-in > Chekin > Connect inside Smoobu.

Guests who book far ahead get a message with no link

Chekin only generates a form link for bookings within 120 days of arrival. For bookings further out, the [checkInOnlineUrl] placeholder is empty. Put the placeholder in a template that fires close to arrival, such as the Arrival trigger a week or two before check-in, so the link is always within the 120-day window.

I cannot log in to Chekin after activating it

Try the password reset on Chekin's own login page. If that does not work, contact Smoobu Support.

A template with Smoobu's own check-in link now sends guests to Chekin

With Chekin connected, Smoobu's Online Check-in placeholder [onlineCheckInLink] is overwritten with Chekin's check-in link. A message template that still uses [onlineCheckInLink] therefore sends the guest to Chekin's form, not to Smoobu's own online check-in form.

The same guest gets several emails with the same link

The [checkInOnlineUrl] link is generated per booking, not per template. If several of your Communication templates all include the placeholder, the guest receives the same link more than once. Keep the placeholder in one template only, usually the Arrival one.

I am not sure whether I need Chekin or Smoobu's online check-in

Smoobu's own online check-in collects guest data and stores it on the booking, but does not file it anywhere. Chekin collects the data and files it automatically. If your market does not require electronic filing, the free native online check-in is enough. See .

Related articles

Still stuck?

If these steps didn't fix it, contact the Smoobu team: open the Help menu to open a ticket or book a call slot, or use the chat bubble in the bottom-right corner. To get the fastest answer, please include:

• Your Smoobu User ID (in the profile-icon menu, top right).
• The property name or ID, if it's about one property.
• The Booking ID, if it's about one booking (Bookings, then View more).
• The channel name, if it's about channel sync (Booking.com, Airbnb, Vrbo, and so on).
• A short step-by-step: what you did, what you expected, and what happened.
• Screenshots or a short screen recording of the problem.
• Your browser and operating system, if something looks wrong on screen.