Connecting OpenGDS

Updated on 2026-10-01

Connecting OpenGDS to BedFlow

Settings → Integrations → Channels → OpenGDS

OpenGDS is a European distribution platform with sub-channels such as Natuurhuisje, VIPIO and Charmant Hotel. A single OpenGDS connection sends your inventory to all those sub-channels at once. The flow is identical to Booking.com's, but OpenGDS supports several rate plans per room (one per sub-distributor), so you can set different prices per niche. BedFlow connects to OpenGDS via Channex, the channel manager BedFlow uses: in OpenGDS and at the partners, the connection is therefore called "Channex", not "BedFlow".

Prerequisite: you already have an OpenGDS account with your accommodation registered. Don't have one yet? Apply via opengds.com and wait until they have approved your listing.

Step-by-step plan: from scratch to live, without our help

OpenGDS is free for accommodations (no start-up fee, no subscription, no commission for OpenGDS itself) and gives you access to over sixty partners: Natuurhuisje, Weekendjeweg.nl, HotelSpecials, Voordeeluitjes.nl, Vipio, Wonderbox, Social Deal, Hotels.nl and more — the full list is in All integrations. Here's how to go about it, in this order:

Step 1 — Create your OpenGDS account

1. Go to cloud.opengds.com/property/register and register your accommodation.
2. Confirm your email address and choose a password.
3. You land in your OpenGDS dashboard. Have several properties? You add them under Properties, in the same account.

Step 2 — Put your rooms in OpenGDS

1. Go to Accommodations and create one accommodation per room type: number of units, minimum and maximum occupancy, extra beds if applicable.
2. Breakfast or other extras go under Supplements.
3. You do not create rate plans here — the partner does that (step 3). You only supply the rooms and the extras.

Step 3 — Contact the partner yourself and set up the partnership

Important: ask for Channex, not BedFlow. Ask the partner (e.g. Natuurhuisje) to connect your OpenGDS account with the channel manager Channex. BedFlow works via Channex: OpenGDS partners don't know "BedFlow" as a connection, but they do know Channex. So don't ask for a connection with BedFlow — you'll be told they don't connect with BedFlow.

1. Fill in Partner Network → Sales Configuration (your sales contact), so that partners can find you.
2. In the Marketplace, open the profile of the partner you want (e.g. Natuurhuisje) and send a connection request. Or contact the partner directly via their own website — that's fine too.
3. You agree the commission and terms with the partner, not with BedFlow or OpenGDS.
4. Once you've agreed, the partner sends the official invitation (Start partnership). You approve it in your dashboard; your property is then automatically added to their account.
5. The partner then creates the rate plans in their own OpenGDS environment. Wait for this before moving on to step 4: without rate plans there is nothing to map.

Step 4 — Connect OpenGDS to BedFlow via Channex

1. In OpenGDS, under Extra → Channel Manager, choose Channex as your channel manager yourself (BedFlow isn't in that list) and open Settings. That's where you'll find your Property ID: the code BedFlow calls the OpenGDS Hotel Code.
2. In BedFlow: Settings → Integrations → OpenGDS tile → Settings, paste the code into OpenGDS Hotel Code and click Save, then Connect in Channex.
3. Go through the connection window (see Going through the connection window below). In the Mapping tab, link each BedFlow room to the partner's right rate plan.
4. Click Done — close and refresh status. OpenGDS confirms the connection, usually within 24 to 72 hours; the status switches to Active by itself.

Step 5 — Set your price and margin per partner

1. Go to Management → Rates, click New profile under Rate profiles, choose the Channel type and tick the partner (e.g. "OpenGDS — Natuurhuisje"). Give the profile the margin that covers the agreed commission. Without a profile of its own, the partner follows the OpenGDS commission of the tile. The partner appears in that list as soon as you switch it on under Several rate plans per room (below).
2. Want to choose per room which partners it's listed on? See Several rate plans per room below.
3. Make one test booking at the partner and check whether it appears in your BedFlow calendar. If it does: you're live.

Each partner also has its own page on the site with this step-by-step plan, e.g. bedflow.eu/integraties/natuurhuisje. Handy to forward to a colleague.

What do you need?

Looking up the Hotel Code

Log in to your OpenGDS portal and go to Extra → Channel Manager. Choose Channex and open Settings: that's where your Hotel Code is (called Property ID in OpenGDS). If you can't find it, ask your OpenGDS account manager for it by email.

No portal access yet? Send an email to your OpenGDS contact — they typically send you the Hotel Code within 1 business day.

Entering the code in BedFlow

1. Settings → Integrations → OpenGDS tile → Settings.
2. Paste the Hotel Code into "OpenGDS Hotel Code".
3. Click Save.
4. Click Connect in Channex — the Channel connection window opens within BedFlow, with the connection form of the channel manager Channex.

Going through the connection window

The window contains the channel manager's connection form, with 3 (sometimes 4) tabs:

"General Settings" tab

• Channel → choose "OpenGDS"
• Title → "OpenGDS" (the default is fine)
• Currency → EUR
• Click Save

"Mapping" tab — required

For each OpenGDS room type you choose which BedFlow rate plan is linked to it. A room type without a mapping gets nothing from BedFlow.

Do you have extra rate plans per sub-distributor (Natuurhuisje/VIPIO/CharmantHotel — see the next section)? Then you'll see several rate plans per BedFlow room here and link each one separately to the right downstream feed.

"Channel Settings" tab

Usually no required fields — check and save.

"Readiness Check" tab

Shows any blockers preventing activation. All green? Good.

Back in BedFlow

At the bottom of the window, click Done — close and refresh status. BedFlow looks up the new connection and switches it on. The Onboarding status becomes Waiting for confirmation via the OTA extranet. If you forget that click, BedFlow links it automatically within a few minutes.

Do you get Channel discovered — mapping not yet complete? Click Connect in Channex again, fill in the Mapping tab completely and click Done — close and refresh status again.

OpenGDS confirms

OpenGDS approves the connection on their side, usually within 24 to 72 hours. You get an email from OpenGDS as soon as that has happened. You don't need to do anything yourself.

The status then switches to Active — your channel is live by itself. To add or relink a room later, use the Map rooms button in the same window.

Several rate plans per room (Natuurhuisje / VIPIO / CharmantHotel)

OpenGDS aggregates to three popular downstream sub-distributors:

Want to choose per room which platforms it's listed on? You arrange this entirely in BedFlow — no technical work involved:

1. Go to Settings → Integrations → OpenGDS tile → Settings.
2. Scroll to the section "Which platforms is each room listed on?" — a table with your rooms in the rows and the platforms (Natuurhuisje, Vipio, CharmantHotel) in the columns.
3. For each room, tick the platforms you want to show it on. Does a toggle say ready below it? Then that rate plan was already created earlier.
4. Click Save. BedFlow creates the new rate plans straight away in the background — you get a notification and don't need to do anything else.

You switch a platform off again in the same place: switch it off and click Save. The rate plan is then unlinked and BedFlow no longer sends anything to it.

After the synchronisation, each room has its own rate plan per platform, for example:

• Room 1 — Opengds — Natuurhuisje
• Room 1 — Opengds — Vipio
• Room 1 — Opengds — CharmantHotel

In your OpenGDS account you link each rate plan to the right platform (the Natuurhuisje rate plan to the Natuurhuisje feed, and so on). After that, BedFlow automatically sends availability and price to all rate plans.

Your own price per platform — each platform can get its own margin. Go to Management → Rates, click New profile under Rate profiles, choose the Channel type and tick the platform (e.g. "OpenGDS — Natuurhuisje"). Without a rate profile of its own, the platform simply follows the OpenGDS commission of the tile.

Frequently asked questions

I see rooms in OpenGDS's extranet with names I don't recognise

Those are OpenGDS's own room templates or leftovers from an earlier onboarding with them. We can't delete them — OpenGDS manages them itself. Use the OpenGDS extranet or email their support to clean them up. What you can do in the Mapping tab of the connection window: only link the templates that match your rooms; leave the rest on "Not mapped".

Do I send to Vipio and CharmantHotel separately? By default, one OpenGDS connection bundles all platforms: they all get the same price and availability. Want different prices per platform? Then switch on extra rate plans (see the section above).

What is the default commission? 22% (divisor 0.78). You adjust it in the tile's Commission section, or per platform with a rate profile.

The confirmation has been taking a week. What now? Email support@bedflow.eu with your Hotel Code and the name of your accommodation. We'll ask OpenGDS for the status.

Need help?

Email support@bedflow.eu, including the name of your accommodation in BedFlow.