A hotel management system is typically a software product that is used by a hotel (or vacation rental) to manage all aspects of its business into one common integrated system. This system should combine hotel front desk management, hotel marketing & distribution, hotel resource management (including purchases & inventory), along with other ancillary services like HR, Accounts and other Point of Sale Systems into a combined software system.
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What are the different types of hotel management software?
Hotel management systems can be broken into two main categories:
- On-premise Hotel Systems: Most legacy hotels use software that needed to be installed on hotel premises on a server system. These systems needed regular backup, security management and are difficult to upgrade/ maintain.
- Cloud based hotel management system: A cloud based hotel management system is typically one that is hosted in a virtual server by the technology provider (outside of hotel premises). These hotels can usually be accessed by hotels using a simple browser or mobile app, and do not need to hire manpower for regular maintenance or backup. Moreover any updates and upgrades on the system can be done regularly without any inconvenience / installation to the user.
Most hotels around the world are moving to cloud based hotel management software systems because of improvement in internet / networking infrastructure, ubiquitous use of mobile phones, and the ease, convenience, and benefits of cloud based systems. This also helps hotel owners increase efficiency of operations, and reduce costs. It also makes the staff more efficient and they can focus on core operations like guest satisfaction & delight, without having to worry about day to day work.
What are the benefits of the hotel management software?
The purpose of a hotel management system is to maximize revenues and minimize costs for a hotel using technology and automation and to ensure it can give superior guest experience in a profitable, sustainable manner.
Most hotel owners do not understand the value that automated hotel software and other technology systems can bring towards this goal.
When all areas of hotel including hotel billing system, hotel marketing system, and hotel operations can work together to enhance guest satisfaction, and improve hotel profits, that is the true value that a good hotel management system can deliver for the owner.
What modules / features should be included in hotel management system?
Most traditional hotel management systems are usual simple front desk management systems that can do basic tasks in the hotel like checkin, checkout, and billing. However, modern cloud based systems like Real Space can provide an All in One Out of box hotel software and have the benefit of combining all hotel related systems, processes, and tasks into a common consolidated system:
How to choose the right Hotel Management System / Property Management System?
Most modern hotels are converting their hotel software implementations to use simple, convenient, easy to use cloud based hotel management systems and adopting All in One integrated systems rather than individual products for each product function. Legacy hotels would adopt separate systems for Front Desk operations, Channel Management, Revenue Management, and ERP systems, but smart hoteliers are adopting fully integrated All IN One systems that provide all modules under single system, as the most viable option.
Advantages of using All in One System:
- Enhanced automation and simplification of processes across all aspects of the hotel.
- All Modules in Hotel Management System can share data / reports / insights with each other, which helps in ensuring that you get maximum value out of the software.
- Time to launch reduces significantly, as one system installation covers all your needs, rather than having to wait to install each module separately.
- All in One Systems are more affordable and cost-effective because they combine all features modules into one and they have economies of scale advantages by putting all modules under one and passing this price benefit back to the hotel.
- Separate training of staff is not required for each module / system, because the staff of the hotel can be trained on common user interface, can be easily transferred between one department to another.
- Separate systems for each individual function often DO NOT integrate well with each other. They either do not provide well defined APIs to share data, or their teams are unable to understand the requirements of the other product to give maximum value to the hotel.
How should a Hotel Management Software be priced?
Legacy hotel management systems are typically priced very prohibitively with large upfront one-time product fees, along with extremely high implementation and subscription fees. Legacy systems often have a monopolizing pricing strategy which does not allow hotels to pick and choose their services in a flexible manner, and makes it very difficult to hotels to choose products / services as per their needs.
Modern cloud based hotel management system like Real Space keep pricing as simple, low, and provide monthly subscription options. Moreover, there are options for both fixed & variable options for new / small properties who do not wish to commit large amount in upfront fees.
Key factors affecting Hotel Management Price?
How should a hotel management system be priced:
- Pricing should be simple / transparent
- Pricing should be dependent on size of property / unit / usage
- Pricing should be flexible (based on modules opted / requirements)
- Pricing should only increase with usage (as per number of users / accounts / properties)
- Pricing should be low & recurring (rather than one time exorbitant amount)
What to expect while implementing of new hotel management software?
A hotel management system like Real Space should be simple / easy / quick to setup and should not take much time, cost, or effort to implement.
Most implementations of Real Space All in One Hotel Management System are done within a week, which includes time to understand requirements, configure all necessary parameters, and train the employees of the property.
The hotel staff usually takes a month to fully understand all the features of the product, and get familiarized with the user interface, and all other nuances.