Guest Guide

Welcome to SwiftStay. This guide explains how to find, book, and pay for a stay directly with a host — no middleman, no commission markup, no platform surprises. The host you book with is the merchant of record for your trip, which means your payment goes to them, not to SwiftStay.

1. Finding a stay

• Use Browse stays to filter by location, dates, guests, and price.
• Each listing shows photos, amenities, house rules, the cancellation policy, and the total price including taxes and fees before you commit.
• SwiftStay never charges a guest service fee. The price you see is the price you pay.

2. Booking

1. Pick your dates and guest count on the listing page.
2. Review the price breakdown (nightly rate, cleaning fee, occupancy tax, and total).
3. Enter the lead guest's name and email. Your booking confirmation and check-in instructions are tied to this email — use an address you check.
4. Start checkout. Your booking is held for a short window while you complete payment. If you don't pay in time, the dates are released back to the host.

Rate limiting: to prevent abuse, the number of booking attempts from one device in a short window is capped. If you hit the limit, wait a few minutes and try again.

3. Paying

• Payment is processed by the host's chosen payment provider on the host's own account. SwiftStay does not touch your funds. Depending on the host's location and setup, you may pay through Stripe, Mercado Pago (LATAM), Razorpay (India), PayPal, or Xendit (SE Asia).
• You'll see the provider's checkout page where you enter payment details. Card data is handled by the provider — SwiftStay never sees or stores it.
• Once payment succeeds, your booking is marked paid automatically via a signed webhook from the provider.

4. Check-in instructions

Check-in instructions, lock codes, and host contact details are released only after your booking is paid and only when you are viewing the booking with the same email address you used to book.

• Open the booking success page or visit My bookings and re-enter your email.
• If you used the wrong email at booking, contact the host directly — SwiftStay support cannot re-issue instructions to a different address.

5. Cancellations and refunds

Each listing has one of four cancellation policies chosen by the host. The refund is computed against your booking total (nights + cleaning fee + tax) — there are no separate fee deductions.

Cancel inside the window and the refund is 0% — the host keeps the full booking total. The policy that applies to your booking is shown on the listing page before you book and on your booking receipt. Refunds are issued back to your original payment method through the host's payment provider.

6. During your stay

• Follow the house rules listed on the booking — they're part of your agreement with the host.
• For maintenance, access, or neighbor issues, contact the host directly using the contact details released with your check-in instructions.
• SwiftStay is the booking software, not the property operator. The host owns the relationship and the property.

7. Problems with a stay

1. First, contact the host. Most issues (early check-in, broken Wi-Fi, billing) are resolved fastest host-side.
2. If payment failed but you were charged, contact your card issuer and the host — SwiftStay cannot reverse charges because we never held them.
3. For listing fraud or a host that no-shows, report it through the contact form so we can investigate and remove bad actors.

8. Your data

We collect only what's needed to operate your booking: name, email, dates, guest count, and the minimum metadata required by the payment provider. See the Privacy Policy for the full breakdown.