Overview

Every user at your property is assigned a role, and that role determines their permissions — what pages they can see, what actions they can take, and what data they can access. Vesta ships with three built-in roles that cover most hotel staffing scenarios, and you can create additional custom roles for specialized positions.

Good role management is about security and efficiency. You want each staff member to have access to everything they need to do their job, but nothing more. A receptionist does not need to change rate plans. A housekeeper does not need to see guest payment details. Custom roles let you dial in exactly the right level of access.

Built-in Roles

Vesta provides three system roles that cannot be deleted:

Owner

Full access to everything. This includes all operational features plus the ability to manage users, roles, and property settings. Every property has at least one Owner.

• Can do everything a Manager can do
• Can invite and remove users
• Can create and modify roles
• Can change property settings
• Cannot be removed from the property by other users

Manager

Access to all day-to-day operational features. Managers run the hotel but cannot change who has access or modify security settings.

• Bookings: create, edit, check-in, check-out, cancel
• Guests: full access to the guest directory
• Rooms and room types: full management
• Rate plans and calendar: full management
• Products and billing: full access to folio, charges, and payments
• Reports and dashboard
• Cannot manage users, roles, or property settings

Receptionist

Focused on front-desk operations. Receptionists handle guests and bookings but cannot change room configurations, rates, or products.

• Bookings: create, view, check-in, check-out
• Guests: view, create, and edit guest records
• Payments: record payments
• Folio: view charges
• Cannot modify room types, rate plans, products, or settings

:::info Built-in roles cannot be edited or deleted. If you need a role that is similar to a built-in role but with different permissions, create a custom role instead. :::

Creating a Custom Role

Custom roles let you match permissions to specialized positions at your property.

1. Navigate to Settings > Roles
2. Click Add Role
3. Enter a name that clearly describes the position (e.g., “Night Auditor”, “Revenue Manager”, “F&B Supervisor”)
4. Add an optional description to explain what this role is for
5. Select the permissions this role should have by checking the boxes for each resource and action
6. Click Save

:::tip Start with fewer permissions and add more as needed. It is much safer to grant additional access later than to realize someone had access to something they should not have. :::

Understanding Permissions

Permissions follow a consistent resource:action format. Each permission grants the ability to perform one specific action on one specific type of data.

Booking Permissions

Guest Permissions

Room and Rate Permissions

Billing Permissions

Property Administration Permissions

:::info The wildcard permission * grants full access to all resources and all actions. This is equivalent to the Owner role. Use it sparingly. :::

Editing a Custom Role

1. Navigate to Settings > Roles
2. Click on the custom role you want to modify
3. Add or remove permissions as needed
4. Click Save

:::warning Permission changes take effect immediately for every user assigned to that role. If you remove a permission, all users with that role lose access to that feature right away — even if they are currently logged in. Consider notifying affected staff before making changes. :::

Deleting a Custom Role

1. Navigate to Settings > Roles
2. Click the delete icon next to the custom role
3. Confirm the deletion

:::warning You can only delete a custom role if no users are currently assigned to it. Reassign those users to a different role first, then delete the old role. :::

Example Custom Roles

Here are some common custom roles that properties create:

Night Auditor — needs to view bookings and folios, record payments, and run end-of-day reports, but should not create or modify bookings:

• bookings:view, invoices:view, payments:view, payments:create, guests:view

Revenue Manager — manages rate plans and calendar pricing, but does not need booking or guest access:

• rate_plans:view, rate_plans:create, rate_plans:edit, calendar:view, calendar:edit, rooms:view, room_types:view

F&B Supervisor — adds food and beverage charges to bookings, manages the product catalog:

• bookings:view, invoices:view, invoices:create, products:view, products:create, products:edit

Related Articles

• Managing Users — invite staff and assign roles
• Property Settings — general property configuration
• Navigating the Dashboard — what each role sees on login

:::permissions

• property:roles — required to view, create, edit, and delete custom roles :::