Connect Stripe to take payments
Connect your Stripe account to accept booking payments, charge for extras, and manage deposits.
ZenHost uses Stripe Connect for payments. You keep your own Stripe account — ZenHost does not collect on your behalf, you receive funds directly. This page explains how to wire up your account and link your properties.
Why Stripe?
- Collect deposits automatically on arrival (pre-authorize and release).
- Issue refunds in two clicks from the app.
- Receive your payouts straight to your bank account.
Who can connect a Stripe account
Connecting a Stripe account is reserved for members whose role includes managing integrations and payment methods. The primary owner always has these capabilities. For a teammate, they can be granted from Members → Manage Custom Roles, in the Integrations and Payment Methods categories.
Connect an account
From the Integrations → Stripe Connect menu, or from the Stripe payments step in the Setup Wizard:
- Click Connect Stripe Account.
- You're redirected to the Stripe authorization page.
- Sign in to your existing Stripe account or create a new one straight from there.
- Approve the access ZenHost requests.
- You're sent back to ZenHost. A notification confirms "Stripe account connected successfully" or shows "Failed to connect Stripe account" if something went wrong. If Stripe needs additional documents from you, you'll see "Please complete your Stripe account onboarding" — a Manage button takes you back to Stripe to finish.
The connected account appears in the Stripe Accounts list with its business name and email.
Connect multiple Stripe accounts
You can connect several Stripe accounts to the same ZenHost workspace. Useful if you have multiple companies (each with its own Stripe), or if you want to split booking payments and extras payments across two distinct accounts.
Link your properties to Stripe accounts
Once at least one account is connected, the Stripe payments step opens the Property Linking tab. For each property, the Link Stripe accounts dialog lets you choose:
- Bookings payments — the Stripe account used for reservation payments.
- Extras payments — the Stripe account used for additional services and extras.
You can use the same account for both, or different ones. Click Save ; a confirmation reads "Stripe accounts linked successfully". An Unlinked only filter lets you focus on properties without an account yet.
Test the connection
Once Stripe is connected and at least one property is linked, you can create a manual booking and send a payment link to your guest — the linked Stripe account receives the funds directly. The full payment flow is documented in the Payments section.
If the connection won't finalize
- Missing documents on Stripe's side: Stripe sometimes asks for additional supporting documents (ID, business registration, bank details) before the account is fully usable. You'll see "Please complete your Stripe account onboarding", and the Manage button sends you back to Stripe.
- Network or authorization error: the failure notification appears, you can retry by clicking Connect Stripe Account again.
Disconnect a Stripe account
From the Stripe Accounts list, you can remove an account. A confirmation dialog "Are you sure you want to disconnect this Stripe account?" appears and warns you about the consequences:
- You won't be able to take payments through this account anymore.
- If the affected property is synced with Booking.com using the "payment by hotel" model, you won't receive Stripe payouts from Booking.com for that property.
- To simply switch the account on a property, use the account dropdown rather than disconnecting here.
After confirmation, the message "Stripe account disconnected, please save to apply changes" appears. Properties that were linked to this account become Unlinked — remember to wire them up to another account if you want to keep collecting.