Documentation

How Spukkles works

Everything you need to list properties, manage bookings, and delight guests — all in one place.

Getting Started

Set up your Spukkles account in under 10 minutes.

For property hosts

1

Create your account

Go to the sign-up page and enter your name, email, and password. Choose the Hostrole. You'll receive a verification email — click the link inside to activate your account.
2

Complete identity verification (KYC)

Upload a government-issued ID (national ID, passport, or driving licence). Verification is required before you can accept paid bookings. Most submissions are reviewed within 24 hours.
3

Add your first property

From the dashboard, go to Properties → Add Property. Enter the title, location, pricing, photos, and amenities. Your listing goes live immediately after you hit Publish.
4

Configure your payout method

Go to Payout Settings and add an M-Pesa number or bank account. Payouts are processed automatically every day at noon.
5

Share your listing

Copy your property link from the property detail page and share it on social media, WhatsApp, or with direct guests. Alternatively, connect a channel (Airbnb, Booking.com) to sync availability.

Want to explore the dashboard without setting up a property? Request demo accessand we'll send you credentials for a pre-loaded test account.

For guests

1

Browse listings

Visit the listings page and use filters (city, dates, price, bedrooms) to find the perfect stay.
2

Book a property

Select your dates on the property page, enter your guest details, and pay via M-Pesa STK push, card, or mobile money. You'll receive a booking confirmation by email and SMS.
3

Access your stay

Use your booking reference at spukkles.com/stay to view check-in instructions, the door PIN, and WiFi credentials.

Managing Properties

Add, edit, and publish your listings.

All your properties are listed under Dashboard → Properties. Each property card shows live status, average nightly rate, and a link to the public listing.

Property details you can set

  • Title, description, and type
  • City, address, GPS coordinates
  • Base nightly price (KES)
  • Bedrooms, bathrooms, max guests
  • Photos (up to 20)
  • Amenities checklist
  • House rules
  • Cancellation policy
  • Smart lock / door PIN
  • WiFi credentials
  • Caretaker contact info
  • Virtual tour URL

Listing status

PublishedVisible to guests and bookable.
Pending reviewSubmitted for admin approval; not yet public.
SuspendedRemoved from listings by admin due to a policy issue.

Channel sync (Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO) keeps availability calendars in-sync automatically. Connect a channel from Dashboard → Channels.

Bookings

Track, confirm, and manage every reservation.

All reservations appear under Dashboard → Bookings. You can filter by status, date range, property, and guest name.

Booking lifecycle

Pending
Confirmed
Checked in
Checked out
Cancelled

What hosts can do

  • Confirm or cancel a pending booking
  • Mark a guest as checked in / checked out
  • Modify booking dates (with guest consent)
  • Add internal notes
  • Issue a full or partial refund
  • Block dates on the calendar to prevent new bookings

Cancellation policies

Flexible

Full refund if cancelled at least 24 hours before check-in.

Moderate

Full refund if cancelled at least 5 days before check-in; 50% refund after.

Strict

50% refund if cancelled at least 7 days before check-in; no refund after.

Payments & Wallet

How money moves from guest to host.

Accepted payment methods

  • M-Pesa STK Push
  • Airtel Money
  • DPO (card)
  • Paystack (card)
  • Flutterwave
  • Crypto (USDT/BTC via NOWPayments)
  • Cash (in-person, platform fee applies)

Escrow & release

When a guest pays, funds are held in escrow until 24 hours after checkout (the review period). After that, earnings are automatically credited to your wallet and included in the next daily sweep.

Wallet

Your wallet (Dashboard → Wallet) shows your available balance, pending funds, and a full ledger of credits and debits. Payouts sweep at 12:00 PM daily to your configured M-Pesa or bank account.

Platform fee

Spukkles charges a percentage of each booking as a platform fee. The exact rate depends on your subscription tier and is shown during checkout. Cash bookings incur an additional fee; unpaid fees may result in a temporary account suspension.

To set up or change your payout destination, go to Dashboard → Payout Settings. Changes take effect from the next sweep cycle.

Guest Experience

What guests see and can do.

Every confirmed booking gets a unique guest portal link (e.g. spukkles.com/guest/TOKEN). Guests access it with their booking reference — no account required.

Guest portal features

  • View booking summary (dates, property, host contact)
  • See check-in time and instructions
  • Receive door PIN and WiFi credentials automatically
  • Self-check-in (digital confirmation)
  • Request help from caretaker
  • Leave a review after checkout

Automated guest emails

Booking confirmation — Immediately on payment
Pre-arrival reminder — 24 hours before check-in (includes door PIN & WiFi)
Checkout reminder — Day before checkout
Review request — 2 hours after checkout

Messaging

Communicate with guests across all channels.

The Messages tab consolidates all guest communication in one inbox — SMS, email threads, and in-app messages from Airbnb and Booking.com all appear together.

  • Filter by channel (SMS, email, Airbnb, Booking.com, direct)
  • Mark threads as unread / read
  • Reply directly from the dashboard — sends via the original channel
  • Automated messages (check-in instructions, reminders) appear as system messages

Maintenance

Log, assign, and resolve property issues.

Create maintenance issues from Dashboard → Maintenance or directly from the property detail page. Attach photos and assign to a staff member.

Issue statuses

OpenIn progressResolvedDeferred

Cleaning tasks (Dashboard → Maintenance → Cleaning) can be assigned to cleaners. Cleaners see their task queue in the dedicated cleaner portal.

Staff & Access

Assign team members and manage property access.

Staff roles

Manager — Full property access — can manage bookings, pricing, and staff assignments on your behalf.
Cleaner — Access to cleaning task queue and property access codes for assigned properties only.
Guard — Can mark guests as checked in or out; sees active booking status.

Access credentials

Door PINs and WiFi passwords are stored per-property under Dashboard → Access & Security. You can rotate them at any time. Spukkles automatically sends the current credentials to guests in the pre-arrival email 24 hours before check-in.

Staff members receive an invitation email when assigned. They must accept via the link in the email before gaining access.

Taxes & Fees

Understand the charges on your bookings.

Your tax records and platform fee audit trail are in Dashboard → Taxes and Dashboard → Platform Fees.

Tax types tracked

  • VAT (16%)
  • Tourism levy
  • Withholding tax
  • Occupancy tax (city-specific)

Spukkles generates tax invoices automatically for each booking. Download them from the Taxes page for your records or your accountant.

Discounts & Coupons

Give guests special rates with coupon codes.

Create discount codes under Dashboard → Discounts. Guests enter the code at checkout to receive a percentage or fixed-amount reduction.

Code options

Type

Percentage (e.g. 15% off) or fixed KES amount (e.g. KES 500 off)

Max uses

Limit how many guests can use the code (0 = unlimited)

Expiry date

Code stops working after this date

Active / inactive

Toggle a code on or off without deleting it

Admins can also issue credit notes (partial refunds as a store credit) for a specific guest email — these are applied at the next checkout automatically.

Affiliate Programme

Earn by sending new hosts to Spukkles.

The affiliate programme is for bloggers, content creators, and digital marketers who want to promote Spukkles to property owners and earn a commission on every host they refer.

How it works

1

Get your affiliate code

Contact the Spukkles team via the contact page to apply. Once approved, you'll receive a unique code (e.g. AFF-SARAH-X3Y9).
2

Share your tracking link

Your tracking link is spukkles.com/aff/AFF-YOUR-CODE. When someone clicks it, a 30-day tracking cookie is set and the click is attributed to you automatically.
3

Embed the widget on your site

Add an embeddable CTA card to your blog or website with a single line of HTML:
<iframe
  src="https://spukkles.com/affiliate-widget/AFF-YOUR-CODE"
  width="320" height="160" frameborder="0">
</iframe>
The widget shows a live branded card that links to Spukkles via your unique tracking URL.
4

Track your clicks

Your affiliate dashboard shows total clicks, conversions, and a per-source click log so you know which posts are performing best.

Each affiliate link is unique to you — never share your code or someone else's signups will be attributed to them instead of you.

Account & Billing

Manage your subscription and account settings.

Subscription tiers

Host Free — Up to 1 property; basic booking management.
Host — Up to 3 properties; messaging, maintenance, and channels.
Professional — Unlimited properties; insights, staff management, and priority support.
Property Manager — Everything in Professional plus multi-host management and white-label features.

View and upgrade your plan from Dashboard → Billing. Billing is monthly (KES 1,000 per property) with a 10% discount on quarterly plans and 20% off annual plans.

Settings you can change

  • Display name and profile photo
  • Password
  • Email address
  • Language preference
  • Notification preferences
  • SMS opt-in / opt-out
  • Payout destination
  • Two-factor authentication

If you need to delete your account or have billing questions, contact us at support@spukkles.com. We aim to respond within 24 hours.

Still have questions?

Our team is available via email and SMS. We usually reply within a few hours.

Contact support Create free account