By Taivan Acer
The hospitality industry is one of the most competitive industries. With so many hotels to choose from, guests pick where they want to stay based on several factors. These include price, quality, location, and more. If you don’t have a way to measure your performance and keep track of guest-specific data, it can be very hard to know where you’re excelling and where you need improvement. Therefore, you need a hotel management system.
Here we’ve discussed features that are critical to hotel PMS.
Front desk system
Staff should access the room data, view photos of the room, and know if it is clean or not. Besides, they should search for guests and view their profiles and entire booking history.
Guest profile management
Guest profile management is an essential feature of any hotel management system. It allows you to store full information about your guests, and all staff members can access it. The system should be customizable for each hotel so that each hotel can add additional fields if needed.
The guest profile should include:
- Full name
- Address
- Phone number(s)
- Email addresses
- Date of birth
- Preferred languages/languages spoken
- Smoking or non-smoking preference
- Dietary requirements/allergies
Check-in checkout system
Check-in and checkout process is one of the most critical processes in a hotel management system. The hotels usually have to deal with multiple forms of payments, whether cash or card. Adding additional lines and payment options to their POS systems can be tricky. The proper check-in/checkout process should be designed keeping in mind the following:
- How much time should it take to complete this procedure?
- What kind of payment options are available for guests?
- Are there any additional fees involved?
Housekeeping and maintenance
A mobile app for housekeeping and maintenance requests is a must-have feature of a hotel management system. It enables you to use the mobile app to book rooms for housekeeping or send messages requesting service or repairs. It can also track booking statuses and change them if needed. It also involves caring for room enhancements, such as adding extra towels or changing sheets.
Central reservation system
A central reservation system (CRS) is the heart of your hotel business, as it allows you to manage every aspect of your hotel and its reservations. Your CRS will give you access to information about your rooms and availability, allowing you to make informed decisions about room rates and how many rooms need to be blocked out for a particular event. It can also help with revenue management so that when demand goes up or down at certain times of the year, you’ll know exactly what steps are needed in order to maximize revenue.
Payment processing and invoicing
When it comes to payment processing and invoices, you want a system that can help you automate the financial side of your business. However, there are many different types of systems in this category, and each one has its own strengths and weaknesses.
You need to figure out what exactly you’re looking for in a system before deciding which one will be best for your hotel management software needs.
Business intelligence, analytics, and reporting tools
Gathering and analyzing data can help hotel managers make better decisions. Business intelligence tools provide a clearer picture of hotel operations by pulling information from multiple sources and presenting it in a way that’s easy to understand. They allow you to compare different metrics over time to see how your business has changed and where you should focus next.
Mobile apps and interfaces
A hotel management system can be accessed through mobile devices and web browsers, but the interface must be easy to use. The system should be designed so that guests can easily book rooms and pay for them using their preferred payment method, whether that’s cash, credit card, or check. They should also have access to other useful information like dining menus, directions to the hotel, or local attractions nearby.
Finally, a hotel management system is an efficient and effective way of managing a hotel. This helps a hotel be more profitable, increase customer loyalty, and improve overall guest satisfaction.
