Rental timezone: what it’s for ?

The rental timezone is the local timezone of the property (e.g. Europe/Athens for a property in Greece).

It is independent from:

• the property manager’s timezone,
• the guest’s timezone.

Several Smily features compute “today” and “current time” based on the property’s local clock. If the rental timezone is missing, these calculations may use an incorrect reference clock (e.g. UTC), which can shift rules and create inconsistencies.⁠

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Concrete impacts on bookings (what can change)

1) Booking flow

• Last-minute / advance notice rules: the window that determines whether a same-day or next-day booking is allowed is computed against the property’s local time. A wrong timezone can incorrectly allow or block bookings.⁠
• Instant booking start-time adjustment: for instant bookings, if the requested start time is already past at the property, it is pushed to the next 15‑minute slot. With a wrong timezone, this adjustment can happen at the wrong moment.⁠

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2) Cancellation Protection

• Refund eligibility (advance-booking window, e.g. “24h waiting period”): eligibility depends on the number of hours between booking time and check-in time, with check-in in the property’s timezone. A wrong timezone can flip eligibility near cutoffs.⁠
• Claim eligibility window (post-checkout): when a claim is initiated, eligibility opens the day after check-out and remains open for 60 days, computed in the property’s local time. A wrong timezone can shift these boundaries by up to a day.⁠

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3) Inbox (labels and booking stages)

Inbox labels and stages (“check-in today”, “at property”, “check-out today”, “post-stay”) follow the property’s local definition of “today”.

A wrong timezone can:

• show incorrect labels,
• move bookings through stages at the wrong time,
• impact PM automations driven by these stages (welcome messages, mid-stay check-ins, post-stay nudges, etc.).⁠

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4) Reviews

A booking becomes reviewable when the stay ends at the property. A wrong timezone can open the review window too early (while the guest is still on-site) or delay it for hours.⁠

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Best practices

1. Always set the rental timezone during property setup/onboarding.

2. If you see issues with:

   • last-minute booking rules,
   • refund/claim eligibility,
   • Inbox “today” labels and booking stages,
   • review eligibility timing,

   -> check the rental timezone first.

    

3. Do not rely on the PM timezone: the property timezone is the source of truth for time-based booking logic.