By the end of this guide you'll have guest units that match who actually books your property or service, know how capacity and translations work, and know where the breakdown shows up afterward — in the booking, the manifest, your emails, and your calendar.
What you'll need
- A property under Places or a service under Services
- About 10 minutes
- Units that ask what you actually want to know — how many adults, children, infants, pets
- A capacity number that only counts who should count
- A breakdown that follows the booking everywhere it's shown
What units are
Every property and service used to ask guests for a single number — "How many people?" Guest units replace that single counter with as many as you need. Add one for children, one for infants, one for dogs — whatever tells you who's actually coming. Guests pick a count for each unit in the booking dialog, so instead of seeing "4 guests" on a booking, you see "2 Adults, 1 Child, 1 Dog."
The default "Guests" unit
Every place and service already has one unit set up: Guests, described as "Ages 18 or above." It counts toward capacity, and it's there from the start — you don't have to create anything to keep working exactly as before. If you never open the Units section, the booking dialog still shows a single guest counter. Add more units only for whoever that default doesn't cover.
Step 1: Open Capacity & units
Sidebar → Places → your property (or Services → your service) → Capacity & units. The capacity counter is at the top; the Units list is below it.
Step 2: Add a unit
Click Add unit. Fill in:
- Name — required, e.g. "Children".
- Description — optional, e.g. "Ages 2 to 17".
- Minimum — the lowest count a guest must pick for this unit. Guests can't take the counter below it in the booking dialog.
- Counts toward capacity and per-person extras — turn on for anyone who should count against your capacity limit and any per-person extras; turn off for units that shouldn't, like pets or infants.
Click Save.
Step 3: Reorder, edit, delete
Each unit row has a drag handle on the left — drag to reorder. The order here is the order guests see in the booking dialog.
Click Edit on a row to change it, or open the ⋮ menu for Delete. You can't delete the last unit that counts toward capacity — at least one always has to.
Step 4: Add a translation
If your property or service is shown in more than one language, give each unit a name and description in every one of them. Open a unit and use the language tabs above the name field:
- The first tab is English by default — change its language from the dropdown if you'd rather start with another.
- + Translation adds another tab.
- Up to 3 tabs show at once. Add a 4th and the extra translations move into a dropdown next to the tabs.
- Click the X on a tab to remove that translation. You can't remove the last one — a unit always needs at least one language.
If a widget's language isn't covered by your units, Cabintale tells you in two places: on that widget's own detail page, naming the units that are missing a translation, and in the Units section itself, listing every uncovered language and the units missing it.
How capacity works
Only units with Counts toward capacity and per-person extras turned on count toward the maximum capacity of your property or service — and toward any per-person extras you've set up. A unit with it turned off, like Pets or Infants, never blocks a booking because of capacity.
What guests see in the booking dialog
On the Date and guests step, guests see one counter per unit — its name, its description, and a count they can raise or lower, starting from that unit's minimum. They submit the booking with all the counts filled in.
Where the breakdown shows up afterward
Once a booking has a unit-by-unit breakdown (e.g. "2 Adults, 1 Child, 1 Dog"), it appears everywhere a single guest count used to show:
- Booking detail in admin — a counter per unit instead of one guest number.
- Bookings list — the guest column shows the breakdown.
- Guest confirmation and owner notification emails — the booking details include it.
- Service manifest (PDF) — the breakdown appears under the guest count.
- Calendar (iCal) export — each event's description shows the breakdown instead of just a number.
Bookings made before guest units existed only stored a single guest count, so they keep showing that plain number (e.g. "4 guests"). Nothing is lost — there's just no unit-by-unit detail for them.
Pricing doesn't change
Adding units doesn't change how your property or service is priced. The price is still calculated for the whole place — units are about knowing who's coming, not about charging per person. The one exception is per-person extras, if you use them: those are priced against the total of the counted units, the same way they used to be priced against your single guest count.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| I can't delete a unit | It's the last one that counts toward capacity | Turn on Counts toward capacity and per-person extras on another unit first, or edit this one instead of deleting it |
| A unit shows in the wrong language for some guests | That language has no translation on the unit | Add a translation for that language — otherwise guests see the unit's first translation |
| The Units section warns me about a missing language | One of your widgets uses a language none of your units cover | Open the units named in the warning and add that language as a translation |
| A pet or infant unit is blocking bookings at capacity | Counts toward capacity and per-person extras is turned on for it | Open the unit and turn it off |
| An old booking just shows "4 guests" instead of a breakdown | It was made before guest units existed | This is expected — only bookings made after units were set up have a breakdown |
| The price changed after I added units | It shouldn't have, unless you use per-person extras | Per-person extras are priced against the counted total; everything else is still priced per whole place. Check your extras setup if the total looks different |
Related guides
- Custom booking form — Custom booking form
- Languages and currencies — Languages and currencies
- Booking dashboard — Booking dashboard
- Manifests — Manifests
- iCal export — iCal export (Booking feed for OTAs)