Hotel management can be a challenge at the best of times. The past few years have seen a rise in the use of mobile devices, to complete everything from the weekly shop to booking a holiday. The hotel trade is no different. Apps for booking and reviews are now commonplace and offer potential customers easy access to your business. Easy, right? We know hotel managers face challenges when organising reservations - Hotel Management Apps have come to help simplify and organise this process - but which are the best?
Here's a list of 5 of the best apps for hotel management - in no particular order.
1. Cloudbeds
The Cloudbeds app manages the front desk by using myfrontdesk, seeing what needs to be done each week. The myallocator feature manages room mapping, inventory, reservation delivery, channel pricing, credit card processing, and currency conversion. The mybookings feature allows you to make direct reservations, commission-free.
Key Cloudbeds features:
- Connects to your company Facebook page
- Creates promotional rate plans
- Facilitates room reservations
- Supports popular payment gateways
- Offers ability to create custom email templates for bookings
- Promo code support
- Multiple language support
The mygroup feature allows hotels to manage multiple properties from a single website, provides group-level analytics, guests can browse all properties on all sites, it's scalable from 2 to 2,000 properties (or more), allows for custom branding, amongst other features.
2. Hotelogix
The Hotelogix app software is designed for small and medium businesses. The app helps with inventory distribution and has a property management system which includes front desk, point of sale, housekeeping, and reporting modules. This app also allows for the management of multiple properties if your hotel group has several.
3. Little Hotelier
Little Hotelier works for small hotels or guest houses, upgrading their front desk and reservations operations.
Key Little Hotelier features:
- Administrative tasks management
- Commission free booking engine
- Front desk system to manage workflows
The last feature on the list is a real advantage as most hotel management systems are designed for large resorts and hotel groups - but for small establishments, this is a key feature. The system processes room assignments for your employees as guests book, so the system knows how to manage staff around their holidays and availability. The check in and out process is automated too. The system allows you to identify opportunities to up-sell, which is non-invasive for guests but allows you to drive more revenue by offering useful services when necessary to guests.
4. Guesty
For those who manage multiple properties, Guesty is designed for Airbnb style rentals. It provides automation tools, reporting, and channel management. You can oversee daily operations and manage multiple properties at once in a unified dashboard, inbox, and calendar. There's 2/47 guest communication available to support and screen guests. There's also payment processing for your convenience. The software won a Supreme Software award in 2017 as well as Expert's Choice and Great User Experience in the same year awarded by FinancesOnline.
5. RezOvation
RezOvation allows hotels to take around the clock bookings from your website, Facebook, or other channels. You can manage your hotel with web-based software as well as from mobile. With integrated credit card processing, it'll save you time and increase accuracy without involving extra steps from your staff. The app has special features that keep in mind your guest's preferences and also tells them the unique aspects of your inn or hotel. It'll adapt to mobile even if your website hasn't been adapted to be mobile-ready. There's also Facebook integration, reservations can be confirmed via their Facebook pages, you can remind them of future bookings, special occasions, and send out automated emails.
There are many apps out there to manage your hotels - from big to small, property management and more - so choose one that will help you today. (Note that Shoes for Crews (Europe) Ltd has no affiliation with any of these apps, and this piece is for informational purposes only). Now that you'll have front of house managed, you can focus on employee incentive programs or apply other innovative hotel tech trends such as smart lighting, in-room tech, and 3D imagery.
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