Define what must survive
List upcoming reservations, guest communication that must be retained, payment references, property identifiers and intentional blocks. Keep sensitive records in appropriately protected storage, not in a public checklist. Ask both providers what can be exported and imported through supported methods. Do not assume that two products use the same meaning for a field with the same label.
Reconcile a small sample first
Choose representative records: a future stay, a changed reservation, a cancellation and an owner block. Compare the important fields and identify what remains in the old system. A successful file upload is not proof that every record was interpreted correctly. Do not overwrite the original evidence while checking the new representation.
Coordinate the channel cutover
Agree a supported sequence with the provider and identify who owns each live connection during the transition. Avoid running two competing authorities without understanding the consequences. Keep unrelated website, pricing and payment changes out of the same window where possible. This guide does not prescribe a universal disconnect order; that depends on the actual accounts and vendor contract.
Retire access deliberately
Verify the new workflow and retain the records needed for unresolved stays and disputes before cancelling the old subscription. Record any remaining manual tasks and their owner. If a discrepancy is unexplained, stop expansion rather than silently accepting it. A migration is complete when the operating responsibilities are understood, not simply when the new dashboard looks populated.
Prepare, verify and preserve the original record
Use a reconciliation sheet with old reference, new reference, property, dates, status and unresolved difference. Keep the original reference even when the replacement system creates a different identifier. A changed identifier is not automatically an error, but losing the association makes recovery harder. Complete this record for representative exceptions before treating a bulk import as operationally accepted.
Sources used for this page
These records support the facts and comparisons above. Merchant-controlled records are labelled so you can separate product claims from independent evidence.
- Lodgify channel manager: merchant description, not reliability testing — Merchant documentation · lodgify.com · Merchant-controlled · checked 2026-09-19
- OwnerRez base and premium-feature pricing — Alternative provider · ownerrez.com · Publisher independence not verified · checked 2026-09-19