12 Essential Components That a Hotel Management System Should Have

It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the abundance of possibilities when selecting a hotel management software system, and it can be tough to find trustworthy counsel regarding the PMS features that you need the most when making this choice. Buying a car is similar in this regard.

Veterans of the hospitality business frequently use the analogy of a duck on a lake to depict the operations of a hotel. The duck maintains an outward appearance of composure and steadiness, yet underneath the water’s surface, its legs are thrashing around wildly. Because guests are frequently anxious about their travel plans or are using their vacation time to get away from stress altogether, it is essential for staff members to maintain a cool and collected demeanor no matter how hectic the surrounding environment may be.

Technology is one of the major tools that hoteliers use to make operations appear effortless to visitors. Hotel management software is the single most critical system in a whole hotel industry. Hoteliers harness technology as one of the key tools to make operations appear straightforward to guests. Your hotel’s management system is the center of your establishment, whether you work for a small, locally-owned bed and breakfast or a large, internationally-known hotel chain.

• The interface is both simple and straightforward to use:

When selecting mission-critical software hotel management system, the most crucial consideration should be how straightforward its interface is. If your hotel software is difficult to understand and complicated, you will make more mistakes, which will cost you more money. Because this slows down your staff and hinders your capacity to grow quickly, you need a sophisticated hotel management software system. Routine jobs should not require a lot of time and procedures to do.

• Mobile & tablet optimized:

It shouldn’t be necessary for your manager, housekeeping team, and other staff members to dash back to the office if they need to check the specifics of a booking in a hurry. Any system that you use must not only be accessible by mobile phones and tablets but must also be optimized for use on those devices. Even better, your owner should be able to monitor performance even when they are away on vacation.

• Having unobstructed views of the grid:

All of these capabilities, in addition to adding special events that are taking place in the region, and recognizing guests who have not yet paid their bills, should be enabled by default on your grid. Your grid ought to make it possible for you to rapidly and easily view important information regarding your guests.

• Guest profiles:

Are you making an effort to cultivate customer loyalty? Your guests’ contact information, stay history, and even preferences can be stored in their guest profiles, allowing you to provide a more personalized experience for them throughout their subsequent stays with you. a guest profile that stores their credit card information can make things even simpler for repeat visitors to your establishment.

• Email automation:

By employing emails that are personalized, customized, and automated, you may engage with guests while reducing the amount of manual labor required by your team. You can design a communication journey beginning with the initial booking and ending with targeted offers for repeat guests by utilizing an automatic email capability that uses your templates.

• Housekeeping management:

Your PMS should have the capability to let your cleaning staff mark rooms as clean, unclean, or otherwise problematic. The front desk can accommodate early check-ins and room movements since they have visibility of the room statuses thanks to the information being centralized in one location. This eliminates the need for the front desk to radio the housekeeping supervisor.

• Reservation management:

The reservations administration and front office functions of the PMS are probably the elements that are the utmost important to have. The use of paper reservation books can be rendered obsolete for hotels that save guests’ booking information digitally rather than on paper.  

• Room management:

A PMS’s room management feature can be thought of as a “virtual front desk” for your establishment. With the help of this capability, front desk personnel can easily check visitors in and out, as well as cancel or extend reservations with only a few clicks of the mouse.

• Reservations and bookings for groups:

Your best software for hotel management must have the capability to accept group reservations if it intends to host any kind of event or group of guests. The ability to export a room list, configure payment settings so that you may bill one account for several rooms, and allow visitors to book reservations inside the room block are all capabilities that come with group reservations.

• Invoicing:

Because the majority of guests will ask for a copy of their bill when they check out, your PMS should be able to simply export folios for guests that include any expenses incurred throughout their stay. In the same vein, you will require reliable and uncomplicated financial reports that will assist you in balancing the money you make from room revenue, outlets, vendors, and other sources against the money you spend. 

• The processing of payments:

It is no longer common for customers to pay with cash or a check; consequently, you will require a PMS that integrates a payment processor, which will enable you to charge your guests’ credit cards in a streamlined manner and provide you with safe access to the major payment gateways.

• Intelligence for business purposes and reports:

If you are unable to monitor your performance, how can you determine whether or not your hotel is successful? A PMS that has extensive reporting capabilities will provide you with information about your revenue, average daily rate (ADR), revenue per available room, allowing you to identify opportunities for growth and monitor your progress toward achieving your objectives.

Conclusion –

Do you plan to provide value-added packages as well as a non-refundable tariff? If this is the case, you will require the capability for rate administration that enables various, fully customized pricing plans.