Operate daily Manage stays Hostel setup Mess menu Money Communicate Account
SastyBed owner guides

How to run a student hostel in Pakistan,
step by step on SastyBed.

A complete owner's manual for the SastyBed hostel management software — from accepting your first online booking, to enrolling a walk-in student, publishing the 7-day mess menu, tracking expenses, sending automated WhatsApp rent reminders and exporting the monthly PDF report. Every guide includes a real-life example from owners in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad so you can see how it fits the way you already run your hostel.

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Daily hostel operations

Day-to-day hostel management — all on one screen.

The dashboard, bookings list, manual enrolment form and live occupancy grid are the four screens you'll use every morning to run your student hostel on SastyBed.

Dashboard

Live KPIs + quick actions

The first screen you see after signing in. Shows live occupancy, this-month revenue, bookings expiring in the next 7 days, and pending requests — for one hostel or all of them.

  1. Sign in — you land on Dashboard by default.
  2. Use the hostel picker (top-left of the sidebar) to focus on one property or see everything combined.
  3. Tap any of the four Quick action tiles to jump into the most common flows: record a payment, enrol a student, manage students, or log an expense.
Real-life example
Faisal owns three hostels. Every morning he opens the dashboard, sees that 2 students have stays ending this week, taps the row, and renews them in seconds. The KPI cards confirm his September revenue is up 12% versus August.
Sidebar → Operate → Dashboard

What the dashboard shows

Active bookings42 / 48
Expiring this week5
September revenueRs. 3.6L +12%
Pending requests3
  • Quick action: Record a payment
  • Quick action: Register a new student
  • Quick action: Manage students
  • Quick action: Log an expense
Bookings

Accept or decline requests, view every stay

When a student books online, the request lands here. Accept it from your phone and the room is reserved instantly. Walk-in enrolments show up too, all in one filterable list.

  1. Open Bookings from the sidebar.
  2. Use the status and source filters to see just what you need (Pending / Active / Online / Walk-in).
  3. On a pending request, hit Accept — the student is notified, the room flips to occupied, and a confirmation slip is generated.
  4. For confirmed rows, click Slip to print or WhatsApp to share the receipt with the student.
Real-life example
Sana sends a booking request at 11 pm for room B-204. Nazia opens the app the next morning, sees a "Pending" badge on the row, hits Accept, and Sana gets a WhatsApp confirmation within seconds — even before Nazia finishes her tea.
Sidebar → Operate → Bookings

A pending booking row

StudentSana M.
RoomB-204 · Double
SourceOnline
StatusPending
Monthly rentRs. 8,500
Manual enrolment

Walk-in students in 30 seconds

Most hostels still get walk-ins — students who want to see the place before paying. One form covers everything: their details, the room, dates, deposit and rent.

  1. Sidebar → Manual enrolment.
  2. Fill in the student (name, phone, optional email, university).
  3. Pick the hostel, then the room. Rooms already full or under maintenance appear greyed out and can't be selected.
  4. Choose stay duration (1 / 3 / 6 / 12 months or open-ended) and how the deposit is being paid.
  5. Submit. A printable slip is generated and you can share it on WhatsApp with the student right away.
Real-life example
Tariq walks in at 4 pm to look at a room. He likes A-103 and pays the deposit in cash. By 4:02 pm Imran has enrolled him, the room shows "Occupied" in the grid, and Tariq has the receipt on his phone.
Sidebar → Operate → Manual enrolment

The enrolment form covers

  • Student name + phone
  • University (optional)
  • Hostel + room picker
  • Move-in date + stay length
  • Monthly rent + security deposit
  • Deposit status (paid / pending / partial)
  • Payment method & reference
Occupancy grid

Every room across every floor — in one view

Visual snapshot of who lives where. Rooms are colour-coded: available, occupied, expiring soon, or under maintenance. Click any room to open the student profile inside.

  1. Sidebar → Occupancy grid.
  2. Each floor shows as a row; each room is a tile in the floor's row.
  3. Hover a tile to see the student's name and stay end date.
  4. Click a room to open the student detail — from there you can transfer the room, end the stay, or record a payment.
Real-life example
On the first of the month, Faisal opens the grid. He sees three rooms in amber (expiring in the next 14 days). He clicks each, taps Renew, and his readmission list is empty before breakfast.
Sidebar → Operate → Occupancy grid

What the colours mean

Available Room is empty and bookable. Occupied Student is currently staying. Expiring Stay ends in 14 days or less. Maintenance Unavailable for any new bookings.
Manage student stays

Keep the right students in the right hostel rooms.

Readmit students before their stay ends, transfer them between rooms in a single click, end a stay cleanly, and record rent and deposit payments — every action keeps a full audit log on SastyBed.

Readmission

Renew expiring stays in one tap

Every stay that ends within the next 14 days appears here automatically. You see who's leaving, by when, and the readmit button is one click away.

  1. Sidebar → Readmission.
  2. Each row shows the student, room, end date, and number of days left.
  3. Click Renew, pick the new stay length, and submit — the booking's end date is updated and the room stays occupied.
Real-life example
Hina has stayed three months and wants to extend. Nazia sees her row in Readmission ("ends in 4 days"), clicks Renew, picks "3 months", and Hina's stay is extended to mid-December — no paperwork.
Sidebar → Manage → Readmission

Sample readmission row

StudentHina K.
RoomB-204
Endsin 4 days
StatusExpiring
Student profile

Transfer room · end stay · record payments

Open any student to see their profile: stay details, contact info, payment history, and quick actions for the things you do most.

  1. From the Bookings list or Occupancy grid, click a student's name.
  2. Edit info — update phone, email, CNIC.
  3. Transfer room — move to another available room, full audit log of the move is kept.
  4. End stay — when a student leaves, free up the room with a single click.
  5. Record payment — log rent, deposit or refund against the active stay.
  6. Print / WhatsApp slip — receipt for any payment, sharable instantly.
Real-life example
Two roommates ask to switch. Imran opens the first student's profile, taps Transfer room, picks the new room, and the system updates both rooms' status. The audit log records who moved where and when.
Click any student in Bookings or Occupancy

Actions on a student profile

  • Edit info
  • Transfer room
  • Readmit / renew
  • End stay
  • Print slip / WhatsApp slip
  • Record payment
Hostel setup & booking modes

Set up your student hostel online in 10 minutes.

Add a new hostel to SastyBed in a 3-step wizard — basics, photos, booking mode. Choose Online, Walk-in only, or Both per hostel, and switch any time as your strategy changes.

Add & edit hostels

Listing details, photos, amenities, rooms

Each hostel gets its own listing with photos, address, description, house rules, amenities, floors and rooms. Edit anytime — changes go live instantly.

  1. Click + Add hostel in the top bar — a 3-step wizard opens.
  2. Step 1: name, city, gender type, area & description.
  3. Step 2: upload photos (max 20, PNG/JPG/WebP, 4 MB each).
  4. Step 3: pick the booking mode — Online, Walk-in only, or Both.
  5. Once saved, open My hostels → Edit listing to add amenities, rooms, and a receipt template.
Real-life example
Faisal adds his second property "Iqra Boys Lodge" in 8 minutes — types in the address, uploads 6 photos, picks "Both" mode, then adds 12 rooms across two floors. Same evening, three students send booking requests.
Top bar → + Add hostel

3-step wizard

  • 1. Basics — name, gender, city, area
  • 2. Photos — drag-drop, up to 20 photos
  • 3. Mode — Online · Walk-in · Both
Booking mode

Online · Walk-in · or Both — your call, per hostel

Switch the mode any time. Online mode shows "Book now" to students; walk-in shows "Visit to enrol"; Both shows everything — and you can enrol walk-ins AND accept online requests for the same hostel.

  1. Open the hostel detail page → Booking mode card.
  2. Click the mode you want. A confirmation modal pops up summarising what will change.
  3. If you switch from online → walk-in, any pending online requests will be auto-cancelled (students are notified). Active bookings are unaffected.
Real-life example
Imran runs his girls' hostel walk-in only — parents like to see the place first. His boys' lodge is "Both" so he can take quick online deposits during admission season. Same dashboard, two different modes.
Sidebar → My hostels → pick one → Booking mode

What students see

Book now Online mode — student requests + pays in-app. Visit to enrol Walk-in only — student sees address + your phone. Both Best of both — student picks how to enrol.
Income, expenses & reports

Track hostel income, expenses and net profit — on one page.

Record every rent, deposit and refund as it happens. Log monthly utilities, salaries and maintenance with optional receipt photos. SastyBed rolls it all up into a monthly Reports page with KPIs, category breakdowns, six-month trends and a one-click PDF for your accountant.

Record payments

Cash, bank, JazzCash, EasyPaisa — log them all

Every payment a student makes — online via card, JazzCash, EasyPaisa, or offline in cash — is recorded against their booking. Partial / split payments are fine, just log each one separately.

  1. From any student profile, click Record payment. Or use the Record a payment Quick action on the dashboard.
  2. Pick the type (rent / deposit / refund), amount, payment method, status and date.
  3. For rent, choose the month covered.
  4. Add a transaction reference if you have one (JazzCash TXN, bank slip number, etc).
  5. Save. A printable slip is generated and you can WhatsApp the receipt straight to the student.
Real-life example
Sana pays Rs. 5,000 in cash and promises Rs. 3,500 by Friday. Nazia logs the Rs. 5,000 as Successful and the Rs. 3,500 as Pending. On Friday she edits the pending entry to Successful — no maths in her head.
Student profile → Record payment

Payment methods supported

  • Cash
  • Bank transfer
  • JazzCash
  • EasyPaisa
  • Card / Stripe
  • Any custom method (admin enables in Settings)
Expenses

Track every rupee going out — receipt photo included

Log electricity bills, salaries, groceries — anything you spend on the hostel. Tag the category, date and method, and you can snap a photo of the receipt as proof. Recurring? Mark it once and it auto-appears every month.

  1. Sidebar → Expenses → + Log expense.
  2. Pick a category (food / utilities / maintenance / salaries / cleaning / internet / security / misc).
  3. Enter amount, date, vendor, payment method.
  4. Drag the receipt photo into the upload area (or skip — it's optional).
  5. Tick Mark as recurring if it'll repeat monthly. Next month it appears as Pending for you to confirm or adjust.
Real-life example
Faisal marks the K-Electric bill as recurring at Rs. 8,500 in March. April 1st, the system creates a draft expense for K-Electric. He opens Expenses, sees the pending entry, edits the amount to Rs. 9,200 (rates went up), and confirms — done in 4 seconds.
Sidebar → Money → Expenses

A logged expense

CategoryUtilities
AmountRs. 8,500
VendorK-Electric
MethodBank transfer
RecurringYes
Reports

Income vs expenses, payouts, trends, CSV & PDF exports

One page rolls up everything money-related. KPIs for income, expenses and net for the month. Six-month trends. Per-category breakdown. Full payments ledger. Weekly payouts. Exports.

  1. Sidebar → Reports. Pick the month at the top.
  2. KPIs row: monthly income, expenses, net, and pending money.
  3. Below: 6-month income trend, by-category expense breakdown, and the income-vs-expenses comparison.
  4. Scroll for the full payments ledger and payout history.
  5. Use Expenses CSV to download a flat list, or Monthly PDF for a printable statement.
Real-life example
Nazia wants to file taxes. She picks March 2026, clicks Monthly PDF, and gets a one-page printable statement with her income, expense breakdown, and the net — neatly formatted with her hostel header.
Sidebar → Money → Reports

March 2026 — net summary

IncomeRs. 364,000
ExpensesRs. 84,600
NetRs. 279,400
WhatsApp, reviews & receipts

Talk to your students — without chasing them.

Connect WhatsApp Business once and SastyBed sends rent-due reminders automatically. Reply to public reviews, print receipts for every payment, and share them with students on WhatsApp in one tap.

WhatsApp hub

Auto-reminders + one-tap slip sharing

Connect a WhatsApp Business number once. Set rent-due templates and SastyBed sends them for you — 5 days before due, on the day, 3 days after if unpaid. You also get a green Share on WhatsApp button on every receipt to send the slip to a student instantly.

  1. Sidebar → WhatsApp. Connect your Business number.
  2. Open a template, edit the message text (the placeholders auto-fill student name, amount, due date).
  3. Set the schedule — when to send each reminder.
  4. You don't have to do anything else — sent on schedule, every month, to every active student.
  5. For one-off shares: any Print button has a Share on WhatsApp next to it that opens the chat pre-filled with the slip link.
Real-life example
Faisal had 4 students late on rent every month. He turns on auto-reminders. Next month — zero late payments, because everyone gets a friendly WhatsApp on the 26th, 1st and 4th.
Sidebar → Manage → WhatsApp

Default templates

  • 5 days before due — friendly nudge
  • On the due date — gentle reminder
  • 3 days overdue — follow-up
  • Custom — your own template, your own schedule
Reviews

See what students say · reply to clear the air

Students who've stayed at your hostel can rate it 1–5 and leave a comment. Reviews are public on your listing. You can reply publicly to clarify or thank them.

  1. Sidebar → Reviews.
  2. Each row shows the student, rating, excerpt, and how long ago it was posted.
  3. Click a review to read the full comment and add your reply.
  4. If a review is unfair (spam, abusive) the admin can hide or delete it from their panel.
Real-life example
A 3-star review mentions slow WiFi. Imran replies that he's upgraded the connection that week. The reply appears under the original review — future students see the issue was fixed.
Sidebar → Manage → Reviews

Review at a glance

StudentHina K.
Rating★★★★☆ (4)
Posted3 days ago
StatusPublic
Print & share slips

Receipt-quality slips for every enrolment and payment

Every booking and every successful payment has a printable slip. Your hostel's name, address, NTN and footer note appear on top — set them once in Settings.

  1. Trigger the slip from any of: Manual enrolment success, Bookings list, Student profile, or a payment row.
  2. The slip opens in a new tab with a Print button.
  3. Or hit Share on WhatsApp — pre-fills a message with a signed link to the slip. The student opens the link without logging in.
  4. Configure the header / footer / terms once in Settings → Receipt templates with a live preview.
Real-life example
Sana asks for a receipt for her rent payment. Nazia opens her profile, taps the WhatsApp icon next to the payment row — Sana gets the slip on WhatsApp within 5 seconds and can save it as a PDF on her phone.
Look for the printer / WhatsApp icon on any payment or booking

The slip includes

  • Your hostel header (name, address, NTN)
  • Receipt number + issue date
  • Student name, phone, room
  • Stay dates + monthly rent
  • Payment detail (amount, method, ref)
  • Your custom terms + footer
Account & security

Hostel-owner account settings, security & two-factor authentication.

Customise printed receipt templates per hostel, change your password, and turn on email-based two-factor authentication to protect your SastyBed owner account.

Settings

Receipt templates + live preview, per hostel

Customise the header, footer and terms that print on every slip. Each hostel can have its own template. A live preview on the right updates as you type, with separate previews for the enrolment slip and the monthly fee slip.

  1. Sidebar → Settings.
  2. Pick the hostel from the dropdown.
  3. Type your header (business name, address, phone, NTN). The preview updates instantly.
  4. Set a footer note and the terms / small print.
  5. Toggle the preview between Enrolment slip and Monthly fee slip to verify both look right.
  6. Save. New slips printed for that hostel use the new template.
Real-life example
Faisal's accountant asks for the NTN on every receipt. Faisal opens Settings, adds the NTN to the header, and every slip from that hostel — past and future — gets the new line. No re-printing the old ones.
Sidebar → Account → Settings

Template fields

  • Header (business name, address, NTN)
  • Footer note (thank-you / return policy)
  • Terms & conditions (small print)
  • Live preview, two slip types
Security & 2FA

Profile, password change, email two-factor

Update your name, email and phone. Change your password (current password required). Turn on email two-factor — every sign-in then asks for a 6-digit code sent to your inbox.

  1. Sidebar → Security & 2FA.
  2. Edit your profile (name / email / phone) and hit Save.
  3. To change password: enter current, then new, then confirm. Must be 8+ characters.
  4. To enable 2FA: click Turn on. Codes are emailed and expire in 5 minutes.
Real-life example
Nazia shares her laptop with her office staff sometimes. She turns on 2FA — even if someone else has her password, they can't sign in without her inbox.
Sidebar → Account → Security & 2FA

2FA at a glance

  • Email-based 6-digit codes
  • 5-minute expiry
  • Required on every sign-in
  • Demo accounts skip 2FA

Ready to manage your hostel with SastyBed?

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