Control which Vanio events notify you and how — including stay extensions from both the guest portal and booking channels like Airbnb, Booking.com, and VRBO.

Notification Settings

Vanio can notify you about almost anything that happens across your business. The trick is making sure you only hear about the things that matter — and that the right person on your team hears about each one. Notification settings give you fine-grained control over exactly that.

Where notifications can land

You can deliver each kind of alert through any combination of four channels:

Push — a browser notification that pops up while you're using Vanio in any tab
Email — sent to the address on your account
SMS — a text message to your phone number
In-app — collected in your in-app inbox so you can review them later

Most hosts use a mix: push for things they want to know about right now, in-app for the rest, email for daily summaries, and SMS reserved for true emergencies.

Configuring notifications event by event

Go to Settings → Notifications to see the full list of events you can be alerted about. A few of the most common ones:

New booking received
New user signup (with direct link to customer details)
Booking cancelled
Payment failed
Payment refunded
Message received from a guest
Task assigned to me
Task overdue
Cleaner didn't check in on time
Review posted
Smart lock low battery
AI escalation (the AI needs your help)
Guest upsell and early check-in requests
Guest stay extension (when a guest extends their stay through the guest portal or through a booking channel)

For each event, tick the channels you want to use. You can turn an event off entirely by leaving every channel unchecked.

How notification links work

All notifications include smart links that take you directly to the relevant page in Vanio. Whether you click from a push notification, your in-app inbox, or an email alert, you'll always land in the right place — never on an error page. This works seamlessly across all your devices and browser tabs, regardless of which part of Vanio you were using when the notification arrived.

Assignment notifications are particularly streamlined: when you click on a task assignment alert, it opens the task details window immediately so you can view and manage the assignment without any extra steps.

Signup notifications are especially helpful: they link directly to the customer review page where you can approve new accounts and see risk assessments.

How reminder notifications work

When a reminder you've set on a dashboard item comes due, Vanio sends you a notification that tells you exactly what it's about — and takes you straight there when you click it.

What you'll see in the notification:

The property name in the notification title — for example, "Reminder · Beachfront Villa" — so you know at a glance which property the reminder is for.
An enriched message body showing the relevant activity, guest name, and booking platform — for example, "New activity — Beachfront Villa · Maria Santos · Airbnb" — so you have the full picture without opening anything.
A direct link that opens the specific dashboard item the reminder is about the moment you click the notification. You don't need to search for it.

If the reminder item has limited details (for example, no guest or platform information is available), the notification will still include whatever context it can and will always link to the correct dashboard item. You'll never get a reminder that leads nowhere.

Reminder notifications work the same way whether they arrive as push notifications or in your in-app inbox.

Who triggers message notifications

Vanio notifies you whenever a message arrives on a reservation — regardless of who on the reservation sent it. That includes:

Primary guests — the person who made the booking
Co-travelers — additional guests added to the reservation
Booking agents — third parties who manage the reservation on a guest's behalf

Previously, messages from co-travelers or booking agents could arrive without triggering an alert. That gap is now closed. If anyone on a reservation sends you a message, you'll hear about it.

How grouped notifications work

When multiple messages or updates arrive in the same conversation thread, Vanio groups them into a single notification in your feed instead of showing a separate entry for each one. This keeps your inbox clean and easy to scan, especially during busy periods when a guest is sending several messages in a row.

What you'll see:

A single notification entry represents the entire thread, showing the most recent activity.
A small blue badge — for example, +3 — appears on the entry to tell you how many additional updates are grouped behind it.
The badge count reflects the number of additional notifications beyond the one shown, so a +3 badge means there are 4 total updates in that thread.

Marking grouped notifications as read:

When you click a grouped notification, Vanio automatically marks all the notifications within that group as read — you don't need to click through each one individually.

Notification types that are grouped by thread include messages, mentions, thread updates, timeline updates, and task assignments. Other notification types — like payment events or system alerts — are always shown as individual entries.

[Screenshot: Notification feed showing a grouped thread entry with a blue +3 badge]

Calendar conflict notifications

When Vanio detects a calendar issue — like a double booking or missing availability data — it can alert you so you can fix it before it affects guests. These notifications are automatically filtered to reduce noise:

Smart filtering — You'll only see alerts about serious issues that need your attention. Routine booking rejections (like someone trying to book 2 nights when you require 5) are logged for your records but won't spam your inbox.
One alert per property — If there's already an unread calendar alert for a property, new issues for that same property won't create additional notifications until you've read or archived the first one.

This means you'll get at most one calendar notification per property at a time, making it much easier to spot real problems that need fixing.

Operations & Tasks notifications

The Operations & Tasks section in your notification settings lets you choose exactly which cleaning and operations events you hear about. Each toggle saves immediately and will be exactly as you left it the next time you open the page.

You can enable or disable any combination of the following:

Task Completed — get notified when a cleaning task is marked complete
Report Generated — get notified when a cleaning report is ready to review
Cleaner Messages — get notified when a cleaner sends you a message
Daily Operations Report — receive a daily summary of operations activity

In addition to these per-event toggles, Vanio sends automatic task reminders when tasks need attention. When operations notifications are enabled, you may also receive:

Progress update reminders — sent when a task hasn't had any activity for a while and needs a status update
Deadline alerts — sent when a task deadline is approaching
Overdue notices — sent when a task has passed its due date without being completed
Marketplace alerts — notifications about task opportunities, confirmations, and releases in the task marketplace

If you turn off all operations notifications, all of the above are suppressed. You won't receive any task reminders or marketplace alerts, regardless of what's happening with your tasks.

Vanio also makes sure these reminders don't pile up. If you've already been notified that a task needs a progress update, you won't receive the same reminder again until enough time has passed — so you'll never get the same alert twice in quick succession for the same task.

To adjust these settings, go to Settings → Notifications → Operations & Tasks.

[Screenshot: Settings → Notifications → Operations & Tasks, showing toggles for Task Completed, Report Generated, Cleaner Messages, and Daily Operations Report]

Task Assignment Messages setting

The Task Assignment Messages setting governs all task-triggered text messages sent to property owners — not just assignment notifications. This includes:

Assignment alerts — texts sent when a task is assigned or reassigned to a team member
Status update texts — texts sent as a task progresses, such as when a cleaner or inspector arrives on-site or when a task is marked complete

Both the master toggle and any per-task-type filters you've configured apply equally to all of the above. If you turn off Task Assignment Messages (or disable a specific task type like inspections), you won't receive any task-triggered texts for those tasks — regardless of what triggered the message.

How the filters work:

Master toggle — turns all task-triggered SMS to property owners on or off in one step.
Per-task-type filters — let you receive texts for some task types (for example, cleaning) while suppressing them for others (for example, inspections). By default, cleaning tasks send texts and other task types do not.

To adjust these settings, go to Settings → Notifications → Task Assignment Messages.

[Screenshot: Settings → Notifications → Task Assignment Messages, showing the master toggle and per-task-type options]

Upsell & Early Check-in Requests notifications

When a guest submits a request through the guest portal — such as early check-in, late checkout, a stay extension, or a paid add-on — Vanio instantly notifies you and surfaces the conversation in your active inbox so you can review and respond promptly.

This setting is on by default for all owners, admins, and property managers on your account. You don't need to do anything to start receiving these alerts.

When a request comes in, you'll see:

An in-app notification that names the guest, describes the request, and shows the amount — for example, "Maria Santos requested early check-in for 11:00 AM ($30 USD) — pending your approval."
The associated conversation automatically moved back to your active inbox, even if it had previously been resolved or snoozed, so the request is never buried.
A direct link in the notification that takes you straight to the conversation where you can approve or decline.

Who receives these notifications:

Upsell and early check-in request notifications are sent to owners, admins, and property managers. Field and service staff — such as cleaners, maintenance workers, inspectors, and concierge staff — do not receive these alerts, since they are not involved in approving or declining guest requests.

To turn off this notification:

Go to Settings → Notifications.
Under Reservation Notifications, find Upsell & Early Check-in Requests.
Uncheck the channels you don't want to use, or uncheck all channels to turn the notification off entirely.

[Screenshot: Settings → Notifications → Reservation Notifications, showing the Upsell & Early Check-in Requests toggle]

Tip: Because upsell requests often need a timely response to keep guests happy, most hosts leave this notification enabled on push and in-app, and add SMS if they're frequently away from their desk.

Guest stay extension notifications

When a guest extends their stay — either through the guest portal or by rebooking through Airbnb, Booking.com, or VRBO — Vanio immediately sends you an in-app notification so you're never caught off guard by a checkout date that has changed.

What you'll see:

A notification appears in your in-app inbox with:

The guest's name and reservation confirmation code
The original checkout date and the new checkout date — for example, "Alex Kim extended their stay (ABC-123) — checkout Jul 25 → Jul 28 (+$420.00 USD)."
A direct link that takes you straight to the reservation

This notification fires the moment the extension is confirmed — the reservation is already updated by the time you see it, so there's nothing to approve.

Portal extensions vs. channel extensions

Stay extensions can reach you two different ways, and Vanio handles both:

Guest portal extensions — when a guest extends directly through your Vanio guest portal, they pay for the extra nights themselves and the existing reservation is updated in place. You're notified instantly.
Channel extensions (Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO) — when a guest uses a channel platform's own "extend a stay" flow, the channel doesn't modify the original booking. Instead, it creates a brand-new back-to-back booking starting exactly when the current stay ends. Vanio recognises this pattern automatically and sends you the same notification — so you're always alerted about a checkout date change, regardless of how the guest extended.

In both cases the notification looks the same and arrives in your in-app inbox right away. You don't need to configure anything differently to receive channel extension alerts — they work automatically for bookings coming in through Airbnb, Booking.com, and VRBO.

Using stay extensions in workflow automations:

Because guest-initiated extensions change your schedule instantly, you can build workflow automations that react to them automatically. The Stay Extended workflow trigger fires for both portal extensions and channel extensions, so any automation you set up will catch all extension types in one place. For example, you could set up a Slack alert that pings your operations channel the moment a guest extends, so your whole team knows without you having to relay the news manually.

To set this up:

Go to Automations → Workflows.
Create a new workflow and, when prompted to choose a trigger, select Stay Extensions → Stay Extended.
Add whichever actions you want — such as a Slack message, an email, or an internal task.
Save the workflow. It will fire automatically every time a guest completes a stay extension, whether through the portal or through a booking channel.

[Screenshot: Workflow trigger picker showing the Stay Extensions group with the "Stay Extended" trigger selected]

To adjust whether you receive the in-app notification:

Go to Settings → Notifications.
Under Reservation Notifications, find the Reservation Modified notification type.
Uncheck any channels you don't want to use, or uncheck all channels to turn it off entirely.

Note: The guest stay extension notification uses the Reservation Modified notification type, since a stay extension is a modification to an existing reservation. Turning off Reservation Modified notifications will also suppress stay extension alerts — including both portal and channel extensions.

Quiet hours

Nobody wants an SMS at 3am about a payment retry. Quiet hours let you set a window each day during which non-urgent notifications are paused. Anything that arrives during quiet hours is held until the window ends, then delivered in a single batch.

To set them up:

Open Settings → Notifications → Quiet hours.
Set the start and end time and the time zone they apply to.
Choose which channels respect quiet hours. Most hosts pause SMS and push but leave in-app on.
Mark which events are urgent enough to break through quiet hours. Payment failures and AI escalations are common picks.

Per-team-member overrides

Every person on your team has their own notification settings. As an admin, you can set sensible defaults for the whole team, and each member can adjust their own from their profile. That way your cleaner only gets notified about cleaning tasks, your accountant only sees payment events, and you see everything you care about — without forcing one setting on everyone.

How AI escalations are handled

When Vanio AI hits a situation it isn't confident about, it escalates to a human. These escalations are treated as their own notification type so you can route them however you want. A few common setups:

Solo host: push + SMS, breaks through quiet hours
Team: in-app to the whole team, push to whoever is on call
24/7 operation: SMS to the on-call person, with a fallback to a second person if the first doesn't acknowledge within 5 minutes

Every escalation includes a one-tap link straight to the conversation so you can take over without hunting for it.

Common questions

Will I get duplicate notifications across channels? No. Each event sends one clean notification per channel you've enabled — no duplicates. All notification links are guaranteed to work correctly, taking you directly to the relevant page in Vanio.

What does the blue badge on a notification mean? It means several updates from the same conversation thread have been grouped into that single entry. For example, a +3 badge means there are 3 additional notifications bundled behind the one you see. Clicking the notification marks all of them as read at once.

What if I miss a notification? Everything is also stored in your in-app inbox, so nothing is ever lost. You can scroll back through every alert you've ever received.

Can I snooze a single notification type? Yes. From the inbox, click the bell icon next to any alert and choose how long to snooze it.

Can I test my notification settings? Yes — use the Send test notification button on the Notifications page. It will fire a sample alert to every channel you have enabled so you can confirm they're working before something real happens.

Why aren't I getting calendar sync alerts anymore? We've made calendar notifications smarter. You'll still get alerts about serious calendar issues, but routine booking rejections (like minimum stay requirements) no longer trigger notifications. Check your In-app inbox to review all calendar activity.

I only see messages from co-travelers or booking agents in my inbox — will I be notified? Yes. Vanio now sends host notifications for any inbound message on a reservation, regardless of whether it came from the primary guest, a co-traveler, or a booking agent. You won't miss a message just because the primary guest wasn't the one who sent it.

I turned off all notifications but I'm still getting task reminders — is that a bug? This was a known issue that has been fixed. Task reminders — including progress update prompts, deadline alerts, and overdue notices — now correctly respect your Operations & Tasks notification settings. If you have operations notifications turned off, none of these reminders will be sent. If you're still seeing unexpected task notifications after turning off operations notifications, try saving your settings again and reach out to support if the issue continues.

Why are my Operations & Tasks toggles reverting to their previous state after I save? This was a known issue that has been fixed. Operations and task notification preferences — including Task Completed, Report Generated, Cleaner Messages, and Daily Operations Report — now save correctly and will stay exactly as you set them when you reload the page. If you toggle a setting and navigate away very quickly, the change will still be saved. If you continue to see unexpected reversion, try saving your settings again and contact support.

Why am I getting the same task progress reminder over and over? You shouldn't be — this was also fixed. Vanio now checks whether it has already sent you a progress reminder for a given task before sending another one. If a task is stuck, you'll get one reminder and then won't hear about it again until enough time has passed.

I turned off Task Assignment Messages but I'm still receiving texts when inspectors arrive or tasks are marked complete — is that a bug? This was a known issue that has been fixed. Previously, status update texts — such as alerts that an inspector has arrived or that a cleaning is complete — were sent to property owners even when Task Assignment Messages was turned off. These texts now fully respect your Task Assignment Messages setting, including both the master toggle and any per-task-type filters you've configured. If you've turned off task texts and are still receiving them, try saving your settings again and contact support if the problem continues.

A guest submitted an early check-in request but I didn't see it until it was too late — can that still happen? No. Vanio now automatically surfaces the conversation in your active inbox the moment a guest submits any upsell or early check-in request, even if that conversation had previously been resolved or snoozed. You'll also receive an instant notification with a direct link to the request. As long as your Upsell & Early Check-in Requests notification is turned on (it is by default), you won't miss a guest request.

My cleaning staff keep asking why they're not seeing early check-in requests — should I change their settings? No action is needed. Upsell and early check-in request notifications are intentionally sent only to owners, admins, and property managers — the people who can approve or decline them. Cleaners and other field staff are automatically excluded. If a request affects a cleaner's schedule, the appropriate person on your team can loop them in after approving it.

I clicked a reminder notification but nothing happened — is that a bug? This was a known issue that has been fixed. Clicking a reminder notification now immediately opens the dashboard item the reminder is about. If you were previously experiencing reminders that appeared to do nothing when clicked, that behavior is resolved. All reminder notifications now link directly to their item.

My reminder notifications used to just say "Reminder: New activity" with no other context — is there more detail now? Yes. Reminder notifications now include the property name, guest name, and booking platform in the notification body — for example, "New activity — Beachfront Villa · Maria Santos · Booking.com" — so you know exactly what the reminder is about before you even open it. The notification title also shows the property name when one is available.

A guest extended their stay through the portal — will I be notified automatically? Yes. Vanio now sends you an in-app notification the moment a guest completes a stay extension through the guest portal. The notification shows the guest's name, confirmation code, the original checkout date, the new checkout date, and the amount charged. You don't need to approve anything — the extension is already done — but you'll always know about it right away. You can also build a workflow automation (such as a Slack alert) that fires whenever a guest extends their stay — look for the Stay Extended trigger in the workflow builder.

A guest extended their stay but I didn't see the notification — where do I check my settings? Guest stay extension notifications use the Reservation Modified notification type. Go to Settings → Notifications → Reservation Notifications and make sure Reservation Modified has at least one channel enabled. If Reservation Modified is turned off, stay extension alerts will also be suppressed.

A guest on Airbnb, Booking.com, or VRBO extended their stay — will I be notified the same way as a portal extension? Yes. When a guest uses a channel platform's "extend a stay" flow, the channel creates a new back-to-back booking rather than modifying the original. Vanio detects this pattern automatically and sends you the same in-app notification you'd get for a portal extension — showing the guest's name, the original checkout date, and the new checkout date. You don't need to configure anything extra. The Stay Extended workflow trigger also fires for channel extensions, so any automation you've built will catch these too.

How is a channel extension different from just receiving a new booking? When Vanio sees a new booking from Airbnb, Booking.com, or VRBO that starts exactly on the same day a prior confirmed stay by the same guest at the same property checks out, it treats that as an extension rather than an unrelated new booking. You'll receive a stay extension notification — not just a standard new booking alert — so the change to your checkout date is immediately obvious.