Changeover guide

Using iCal feeds for a holiday-let cleaning schedule

An iCal feed can bring booking dates into the diary, but it needs checks for freshness, missing events and conflicting owner updates.

The short answer

Use a private iCal or ICS address as an optional booking source for a property. Check each sync, keep the feed address private, and compare its stays with owner submissions before changing confirmed cleaning work.

Connect one feed to the right property

An owner can share the private calendar address supplied by their booking system. The cleaning company should connect it to the matching property and keep the address out of public pages, emails and screenshots. A private link and booking email can continue alongside the feed.

Confirm the property and feed owner before connecting.
Check the first import against the owner's known future bookings.
Keep a visible last-sync status for the office.

Expect a delay between systems

Calendar feeds are periodic exports, not a live instruction channel. The booking platform controls when its feed changes, and the receiving system controls when it checks again. A time-critical checkout change still deserves a direct owner message.

Do not promise real-time updates.
Flag a stale or failed sync rather than treating old dates as current.
Review conflicting dates before changing independently confirmed work.

Handle missing events cautiously

An event may disappear because a booking was cancelled, the feed was truncated, or a fetch failed. Confirm that the feed was read successfully and compare it with other active sources before retiring a booking. This protects a cleaning plan from a temporary provider problem.

Worked example · illustrative

Illustrative feed conflict

What arrives

The iCal feed now shows a Friday departure, while the owner's later email confirms Saturday.

What the office does

Keep the email and feed as separate sources and flag the conflict. The office confirms which checkout the cleaning team should use instead of silently replacing the date.