Manual / Communication

Setting up Telegram, step by step

Updated on 2026-10-01

Settings → Integrations → Communication → Telegram

This guide sets up Telegram notifications for your property, from scratch to a working channel — no technical knowledge needed. Allow about ten minutes.

Why Telegram?

BedFlow notifies you as soon as something happens with your property: a new booking, a payment received, or a guest asking for a different arrival time. That last one comes in with buttons: you approve or decline the request directly in Telegram, without logging in, and the guest gets an answer straight away.

Telegram isn't mandatory. Without Telegram, requests for an arrival time arrive by email at your property's contact address, without buttons. You then see the other notifications (bookings, payments, …) in BedFlow itself and as a push notification in the BedFlow app, not by email. Which notifications exist is explained in Telegram notifications per property.

What do you need?

  • The Telegram app on your phone (or Telegram on your computer)
  • Access to BedFlow as the administrator of your property

Step 1 — Create your own bot via @BotFather

A "bot" is the sender account BedFlow uses to send you messages. You create one for free with Telegram itself:

  1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather (Telegram's official bot, with a blue tick). Open the conversation and tap Start.
  2. Type /newbot and send it.
  3. BotFather first asks for a name — that's what you see in your chat list. Type e.g. My B&B Notifications.
  4. Then it asks for a username that must end in bot, e.g. mybb_notifications_bot. If the name is taken, try a variation.
  5. BotFather replies with "Done! Congratulations on your new bot." and shows a token: a long code in the form 1234567890:AAxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

Copy that token. Treat it like a password: anyone who has the token can send messages on behalf of your bot. If it leaks anyway, create a new token at @BotFather with /revoke.

Step 2 — Let BedFlow find your chat ID

The chat ID tells BedFlow which conversation the notifications should go to. BedFlow now looks it up for you — all you do is choose the conversation.

  1. First choose where you want the notifications:
    • Just you? Search for your own bot in Telegram using the username from step 1, open the conversation and tap Start (or type /start).
    • A group (handy with a team or partner)? Create a new group in Telegram, e.g. "Notifications — my B&B", add your bot as a member and type the message /start in the group. (A normal message isn't always enough; a command starting with / is guaranteed to reach the bot.)
  2. In BedFlow, go to Settings → Integrations, find the Telegram tile in the Communication category and click Configure. Or use the direct link: /connections?open=telegram.
  3. Paste the bot token from step 1 into the Bot token (optional) field.
  4. Click Find my chat ID. BedFlow shows the conversations your bot knows. If it found only one, the Telegram chat ID field is filled in straight away. If you see several conversations, choose the right one under Conversations found: the chat ID fills itself in.
  5. Click Save.

Message "No conversations found yet"? Then first send a message (for example /start) in the conversation or group your bot is in, and click Find my chat ID again.

Have several properties? Repeat this for each property. The same chat ID everywhere is fine (everything in one group), or give each property its own group.

Step 3 — Send a test message

In the same window, click Send test message. In Telegram you receive a short intro plus the three notifications as you'll receive them from now on: a new, a changed and a cancelled booking — as an example, based on an existing booking of your property. Nothing else happens to that booking.

Did the four messages arrive? You're done. From now on, every notification about your property (booking, payment, request for an arrival time) comes into this conversation.

No bookings in BedFlow yet? Then there's no example to show yet, and BedFlow tells you so. The notifications themselves work as soon as your first booking comes in.

Nothing arriving?

Go through this list — in this order:

  1. Does the test message fail? Check that the chat ID is correct (use Find my chat ID again), that your bot is still a member of the group, and that the bot token was copied in full.
  2. Bot not (or no longer) in the group? The bot must be a member of the group. Add it again, send /start and click Find my chat ID again.
  3. Chat ID changed? If Telegram converts your group into a "supergroup" (this sometimes happens automatically when you change settings), it gets a new chat ID. Click Find my chat ID again and save.
  4. Test message works, but real notifications don't arrive? Check that the token and chat ID have been saved for the right property (/connections?open=telegram).
  5. Still nothing? Email support@bedflow.eu — we'll take a look with you.

Frequently asked questions

Do I really have to create my own bot? The chat ID is required, the bot token isn't: if you leave it empty, the general BedFlow bot sends your notifications. But Find my chat ID only works with your own bot. Without your own token, support sets up the channel for you. With your own bot, you do everything above yourself, test message included.

Who sees the notifications? Everyone in the conversation behind the chat ID. So sharing a group with your partner or team is perfectly fine. Bear in mind: notifications contain guest details (name, dates, amount).

Can I switch it off again? Yes. Clear the fields in /connections?open=telegram and click Save. Requests for an arrival time then arrive by email again; you see the other notifications in BedFlow and in the app.

See also

← Back to category