Distribution API Implementation Guide
This page provides you with an overview of the steps necessary to integrate the Interhome accommodations into your portfolio and submit bookings using the Interhome Distribution REST API.
Before you start
If this is your first time dealing with vacation rentals please consider that there's a fundamental difference between selling a hotel room and a holiday home.
Mailing list
In order to retrieve important tech information from Interhome, you need to
- sign up for our tech update mailing list.
Distribution API credentials
Make sure your account manager has provided you with the API credentials necessary. You should know
- Your personal Interhome/Interchalet PartnerID
- The API Token for your PartnerID; (token can only be used with Distribution API)
- The Sales office code to use with the PartnerID
- Optional: password (used e.g. to login to Partner Portal
Documentation
The documentation with technical specifications can be found here:
Technical support
Your account manager is the first port of call when you need assistance. They will be supported by the Key Account team.
Please make sure to take close look at the FAQ before inquiring and use the search function to see if your problem is already covered. Our summary with additional information might be helpful as well.
Also it helps to include all relevant information in your inquiry which will help us to answer your questions quicker.
API: logical calling order
If you plan to use the Interhome API to fetch data or create bookings, the below would often be the logical calling order during a typical customer journey:
| Customer action | Implementation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Conducts search | Rest route: /search | Search result is displayed |
| Views property details | Rest route: /accommodation | Property details including pictures, descriptions, price lists are shown |
| Picks a checkin date and a duration | Rest route: /booking/checkPrice | Price for the chosen date is shown |
| Enters personal details to make a booking | Rest route: /booking/reservation [+/booking/reservation/ratify] | Reservation number is shown |
| Wants to make a payment by credit card | Display the payment iframe returned by REST /booking/reservation response | display payment successful page |
Property information to display (Example: property details page)
A good approach to find out which information you will need to include is to have a look at a demo website. The screenshot displays the various sources more clearly.
The necessary data to download and display typically includes:
- Property attributes (such as rooms, pax, location etc); Route: (1)
- Property services (all services which are possible for this property; Route:
- Seasonal price list; Route: (8)
- Availability information; Route: (6)
- Property descriptions for respective language; route: (3), (4)
- Information about extra costs and additional services for the specific date; Route: (7)
- Important information about seasonal restrictions, constructions sites; Route: (5)
Availabilities
If a property is bookable for a certain period mainly depends on 3 factors:
- the minimum stay: some properties require a minimum stay of 7 days
- the arrival / departure day: some properties only allow arrivals/departures on a certain weekday, e.g. Saturday, especially in high season)
- the actual vacancy: is the property booked or vacant on the given days
In order to get the actual availability for a given checkin/checkout, you will have to evaluate the returned information from the vacancy API call.
Property pictures
Interhome provides high quality photos for most of it's properties. See our FAQ for a comprehensive explanation of the photos and sizes Interhome can deliver.
Property descriptions
Our product descriptions are offered in a variety of languages, including all major European languages and Russian.
The descriptions for each accommodation are split up into 2 sections: an "inside" and an "outside" description.
- The inside description lists the attributes of the actual rental unit, such as sleeping-/bed-/bath rooms, beds, equipment etc.
- The outside description lists the attributes of the house and the surroundings.
Additional costs and services
Depending on the property surcharges may apply for final cleaning or for use of certain amenities. All fees (whether optional or mandatory) can be retrieved through via the /accommodatin/services route.
Please note: All mandatory costs must be displayed to the customer prior to booking. The simplest way of displaying services on your website is to do so by using the results from the /booking/checkPrice call which returns all applicable services for a given stay.
Updating property information
When caching the results of API calls please make sure that you schedule updates regularly, at least once a week.
The documentation contains recommendations on how long to cache the results of different API calls.
Booking process
When you know the number of travellers and the time/length of the stay you must send a **** request.
The method …
- … checks if check-in and check-out are possible for the requested dates
- … returns the actual final price
- … returns additional services and extra costs
A successful request means that the booking is possible hence a subsequent booking request with the same parameters will be successfull as well.
Exception: For periods that are "on request", returns a positive result.
In case the property is not an Interhome Brand, a checkprice/final request is necessary instead of the normal checkprice request
Testing and review by Interhome
After successful testing of the integration on your end, and before the actual going-live, an approval by your account manager is needed. The focus of the brief review made using our review plan is to ensure that the Interhome properties are depicted correctly and no important information is missing.