A hotel management system or a property Management system (PMS) is the most essential software used to run a hotel’s property. The tourism industry is booming and the world is shrinking with the Internet and technology taking over our lives. Travelers across the world are widely connected to their devices to look up for the best hotels for their family trip, corporate bookings, group travels, and more. Hoteliers of independent properties, mid-sized hotels, Bed and Breakfast or chain of hotels need to embrace the shift to online hotel management system. Technology plays a key role in one of the most important factors for the hospitality industry – guest satisfaction.

A streamlined management for a hotel ensures excellent service which in turn ensures happier guests and more customers. How does a web-based hotel management system help hoteliers to achieve this? How can a property management system increase revenue?  Let’s take a look.

What is a Hotel Management System? Why do I need one for my hotel?

Hotel management systems that run on the cloud are fast-evolving in the technology-driven world. These cloud-based hotel management systems are quick and easy to install, use, and lend a whole new dimension to the way hotel properties are run on a daily basis.

This is a software system that includes a host of functions to assist hoteliers. An online hotel management system is a must for every kind of hotelier, irrespective of the property they run. All it requires is a computer with a stable Internet connection.

How easy is it to implement a hotel management system?

As complicated as it may sound, this is fairly easy-to-use software that does not require lengthy training sessions with your hotel’s staff. This can be easily installed on multiple systems (depending upon the solution provider) and allows hoteliers to automate multiple tasks within no time. A smart hotel management system will be easy to plug into your existing infrastructure, without the need to maintain a support team or requirement for other investments. You, as a hotelier, would want your cloud-based system to be accessible to all without any added overheads. A hotel management system should also be able to connect to your website and facilitate direct bookings for hoteliers.

What should I look for in a Hotel Management System?

Property Management:

A hotel management system is useful to run the hotel’s property to manage the room rates, room availability, hotel reservations (check-in and check-out), guest history, billing, city ledgers and more.

Customer Relationship Management:

Cloud-based hotel management systems must be able to store customer data for your future use. Information such as preferred room numbers or favorite cuisine will help improve your guest service by preparing for a guest’s arrival well in advance. Hotel management systems help to improve guest communication and maximize the hotel reviews online.

3rd Party Integrations:

A simple installation of a hotel management system with 3rd party integrations such as Channel Managers, Global Distribution Systems (GDS), Snapshot, TripAdvisor connects and more are required to manage a hotel’s operations and sales.

In-Depth Reports

Hoteliers can easily save time using the flexible reporting system that comes with hotel management systems. It’s easy to export data directly and use integrated business tools to manage and use data appropriately. Hotel owners and managers can easily forecast trends and plan budgets according to the generation of reports.

There are various benefits of using a hotel management system. Let’s take a quick look at some of them.

Features of a Hotel Management System

Hoteliers can benefit from the features of a hotel management system in many ways.

Automates Operations

Whether you need to store guest details, book reservations, assign tasks, manage multiple Point of Sale (POS) systems and more – your hotel management system must be able to automate tasks. This saves time for busy hoteliers. Compare this to manual updates in the ledgers with constant reminders required for team members? That’s a thing of the past.

Ease-of-Use

Everyone on your hotel’s staff must be able to use the hotel management system with great ease. The software must have a clean interface with the simple task of streamlining your hotel’s operations without additional hassles. It should be easy and intuitive which lets a hotel’s staff learn at his/her own pace.

3rd Party Integration

As mentioned earlier, the PMS must integrate with various channel managers, review sites, booking platforms, accounting software, and more. For e.g. a channel manager will help you update room inventory and manage booking across all OTAs in real-time. This saves time spent on updating room inventory and rates manually on each OTA platform.

Strong Performance and Support

The chosen hotel management system must be adequately tested and reliable to use. The solution provider must have a strong support team to sort out your queries. You need the latest in technology to manage your hotel’s operations and the chosen vendor must be reliable and reputed in the market and should offer free upgrades.

Scalability and Pricing

The hotel management system must be beneficial to every kind of hotelier. You might be an owner of a small property with aims to scale up in the coming year. Does your hotel management system expand to meet your needs? Flexibility is the key as your cloud-based software model must be designed to accommodate growth of a hotel’s bookings or addition of another property. Property management systems that come with a flexible pricing model are best suited for hoteliers. Cost is one of the major deciding factors and a monthly service that expands as per requirement and allows unlimited users is best suited for hoteliers.

Data Security and Payment Gateway

Customers looking to book directly on a hotel’s website are most concerned about the security of payment. It’s essential to install a hotel management system that includes secure card payment options. The software must offer a choice of integrated payment gateways.

Other Features

Your cloud-based property management system must be flexible to use for any kind of hotel property. It should be customizable and must be able to adapt to the rapid changes in the hotel industry.  The chosen model must be able to help hoteliers manage multiple Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) as well integrate with the hotel’s own website. Access to multiple users for no additional charges is a very important feature. A currency convertor, multi-language support, unlimited POS for no extra charge must also be included in your hotel management system.

Mobile App

The chosen cloud-based hotel management system must be available as a mobile application to facilitate a hotel’s operations. With the availability of multiple terminals for various staff members, hoteliers as well as team members will find it easy to monitor operations while on the go. Hoteliers can access data in real-time, perform actions, download reports and do much more on a Smartphone.

Have you upgraded to an online hotel management system? Do let us know our feedback.