A Breezeway template defines what work happens; an Automated Workflow decides when it happens. The template holds the checklist items, required photos, time estimate, pay rate and Subdepartment. The workflow matches reservation events (check-in, checkout, turn) and applies templates up to 60 days before or after the event. Most setup problems come from four settings: Checkout vs Checkout (turn), Draft vs Commit, dynamic scheduling, and calendar-based work that reservation triggers do not cover.
The mental model: template, workflow, task
Before you build anything, get the three objects straight. People use the words interchangeably, but in Breezeway they are distinct.
A reusable checklist. It defines tasks, photos, time, pay and Subdepartment.
A rule that matches reservations and applies templates. The trigger logic lives here.
A concrete task on the schedule, assigned to a worker on a specific date.
Template + workflow + reservation event = scheduled task.
One template is reused across many workflows, and one workflow can fire several templates. If you find yourself building one workflow per template, you are probably building too many workflows. Consolidate.
"Some of the templates and triggers take a bit to set up. Once you get the hang of how they interact it gets easier."Housekeeping manager, 2+ years on Breezeway, in a Capterra review (capterra.com)
Setting up your first template
According to Breezeway's help center (breezeway.io), templates are based on a Housekeeping or Inspection checklist and are fully customizable. The decisions you make in a template carry into every task it generates, so they are worth getting right once.
Choose the template type
Housekeeping templates are for cleaning. Inspection templates are for tasks where the job is verification, not physical work. Both support photos, checklist items and notes, and you can layer an Inspection template after a Housekeeping template in the same workflow.
Build the checklist items
Each item can be a required completion, an optional note or a photo requirement. Photo requirements matter most for damage detection and reviewing turnover photos at scale. Require more photos rather than fewer: the extra cost to the cleaner is small and the value later is large.
Set the Subdepartment
Subdepartments tie templates to teams. A template with the Subdepartment "Deep Clean Crew" assigns only to workers in that Subdepartment by default, and Breezeway adds the Subdepartment automatically when you schedule the template, which keeps routing clean.
Set the time estimate and pay structure
Time estimates drive the gaps between back-to-back work. Pay can be per task (Piece) or Hourly. Every task generated from the template inherits this value, so set it carefully; changing it across many templates later is covered in our guide to bulk editing in Breezeway.
Add default workers (optional)
You can set default cleaners, inspectors or maintenance workers at the template level. When the workflow has "Assign Tasks to Default Workers" turned on, those workers are assigned automatically. This is the cleanest way to route work to the same people every time.
Building an Automated Workflow
Automated Workflows live on the Scheduling page and connect reservation events to templates. Breezeway's guide to adjusting Automated Workflows walks through each screen. A workflow has four settings that matter:
1. Scheduling Days Ahead
How far forward Breezeway looks for reservation events each day. At 30, the scheduler looks 30 days out and creates tasks for every matching reservation in that window.
Watch forAt 7 days, a guest who books 45 days out gets no task until the stay is inside the 7-day window. Most operators at scale use 30 or 60.
2. Draft or Commit
Draft: tasks appear on the schedule, but workers get no notification until you commit them. Use it to review a new workflow before it runs live.
Commit: tasks are created and workers are notified immediately. This is the normal production mode.
Watch forA workflow built in Draft to test it, then never switched to Commit. The tasks sit on the schedule and nobody is told to do them.
3. Conditions
Three optional filters; with none, the workflow applies to every reservation.
Guest Type: guest reservations, host reservations or both. Owner stays usually get their own rule, as in our guide to owner stay inspections.
Stay Length: for example, 1 to 2 nights triggers a quick-turn template, 3 to 7 nights the standard one, and 8 or more a deep clean.
Properties: all properties, specific Groups or Tags, with multi-select. This is how different property tiers get different templates.
4. Schedule these tasks
Event type: Checkout, Check-in, Checkout (turn) or Check-in (turn).
Timing: the same day through 60 days before or after the event, so a pre-arrival inspection can run 3 days before check-in and a deep inspection 7 days after checkout.
Templates: pick one or more. Several templates on one event all fire, for example a Housekeeping and an Inspection template together.
Checkout and Checkout (turn) are separate events
A standard Checkout has a gap before the next arrival. A Checkout (turn) is a same-day turnover: one guest leaves and the next arrives the same day. Breezeway treats them as separate event types.
A workflow that fires on Checkout but not on Checkout (turn) applies no template to same-day turnovers, so those cleanings are never created. For every housekeeping workflow, add the (turn) event to the same rule or build a matching rule for it. If cleanings disappear when the next guest syncs in, see why Breezeway cancels a cleaning between same-day guests.
Dynamic scheduling: when reservations change
When dynamic scheduling is on, Breezeway updates existing tasks as reservations move. Per Breezeway's help center, it handles four cases:
| Reservation change | What Breezeway does |
|---|---|
| Extension | Removes the original checkout workflow and adds a turn workflow if the new dates meet another reservation. Assignees keep their tasks where possible. |
| Shortening | Moves due dates forward and keeps assignees. Committed tasks notify the worker of the change. |
| Cancellation | Removes the workflow. If the task was committed, the assignee is told it is canceled. |
| New reservation in an existing window | Reschedules tasks around the new event. Admins and Supervisors with "Reservation Update" notifications are alerted. |
Dynamic scheduling is a toggle. When it is off, a reservation change does not touch tasks that already exist, so a cleaner can stay booked for Tuesday after the guest extends through Wednesday. For portfolios above about 50 properties, turn it on.
Setup patterns at scale
These are the patterns that come up most often as portfolios pass 100 properties, and how operators set Breezeway up for them.
Keep the template count small
Portfolios of 300+ units often collect 40 or more templates as they add property tiers, markets and owner preferences, and most differ by one or two items. Consolidate to 8 to 15 well-defined templates, and route within them with Subdepartments and Property Tags.
Clean default workers before you turn on auto-assign
"Assign Tasks to Default Workers" only works if every property has its defaults set; a property without a default cleaner sends its tasks to the unassigned pool. Check them on Breezeway's Default Workers page first. Above 100 units, Breezeway support can provide a CSV template to set defaults in bulk.
Schedule calendar work outside reservation triggers
Workflows fire on reservation events, so quarterly deep cleans and annual HVAC service need a different setup. Mark homes due for service with Property Tags and review them on a schedule, or create recurring tasks you reset each year.
Check Elements categories after each onboarding batch
Breezeway's Elements (appliances, fixtures and furniture with photos and model numbers) categorize new items automatically. After each onboarding batch, check that items landed in the right category, such as Mechanical vs Interior, so category reports stay accurate.
Sequence dependent tasks with time offsets
Workflows trigger on reservation events, not on other tasks. To run a mattress cleaning before the bed is made, put both tasks on the same workflow with different times (mattress at 9 AM, bed at 11 AM). A PMS-side automation that creates the second task through the API when the first closes is the alternative, but it takes custom work.
Reviewing the photos your templates collect
Templates assign the work; they do not review it. Every photo a cleaner uploads through a template sits in Breezeway until someone on your team opens it. A 200-unit portfolio with two turnovers per property each week and 30 photos per turnover produces 12,000 photos a week, more than an ops team can review.
That is the layer RapidEye adds for Breezeway users. RapidEye works with your Breezeway turnovers: you keep the templates you have, RapidEye's AI platform analyzes the photos they already collect, and you get back the damage, missing items and cleaning misses, compared against each property's baseline. No template change and no change for your cleaners.
Quick FAQ
What is the difference between a template and an Automated Workflow in Breezeway?
A template is a reusable checklist. It defines what needs to be done: the list of tasks, the required photos, the time estimate, the pay rate, and which Subdepartment handles it. An Automated Workflow is a rule that tells Breezeway when to apply a template. The workflow decides which template triggers for which reservations, with filtering by Guest Type, Stay Length, and Properties. One template can be used in many workflows, and one workflow can schedule multiple templates.
Can Breezeway templates trigger recurring tasks indefinitely?
Not natively. Breezeway's Automated Workflows are reservation-triggered. They fire on check-in, checkout, or turn events and can schedule tasks up to 60 days before or after the event. There is no built-in trigger for recurring calendar tasks like quarterly deep cleans or annual HVAC service. Operators handle this by creating manual recurring tasks they reset each year, or by using Property Tags to mark homes due for service and running a scheduled review.
How far in advance can Breezeway schedule tasks?
Up to 60 days in advance or after an event. This is controlled by the Scheduling Days Ahead setting on the Automated Workflow. A 30-day setting means the auto-scheduler looks 30 days forward each day and creates tasks for any reservation events found. Event-based workflows can trigger up to 60 days before check-in or 60 days after checkout, wider than the 5-day window Breezeway offered in earlier versions.
What is the difference between Checkout and Checkout (turn) in Breezeway?
Checkout fires when a guest checks out with a gap before the next arrival. Checkout (turn) fires when a guest checks out on the same day as the next guest checks in, which requires same-day turnover work. Breezeway treats them as distinct events and you typically need a workflow rule for each. If you only build a workflow for Checkout, your same-day turns will not get the template applied.
Sources
Sources are named at the publisher level with their root domain, rather than linked or titled; every figure is verifiable at the named source.
- Help center documentation on templates, Automated Workflows, Subdepartments, default workers and release notes, Breezewaybreezeway.io
- Breezeway user reviews, Capterracapterra.com