New hospitality technologies are becoming available and being developed each year. Most of these technologies are focused on bringing automation, simplifying tasks and processes, and making guests’ experiences better. However, the truth is that the hotel industry has been lagging behind in adopting new technologies.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surprising turn of events. More and more hotels are taking this downtime to improve their technologies and prepare themselves for when things go back to normal. One of the solutions that hoteliers are looking to implement is the hotel property management system.
If you haven’t heard of these software solutions, maybe you should consider transitioning to them. After all, they have shown excellent results across the industry.
What is a Hotel Property Management System?
A hotel property management system is a specifically designed software solution for the hotel industry. More specifically, it is focused on improving hotel management. Hotel PMSs give you the power to manage all your inventories, guest billing, reservation system, check-ins, housekeeping, and bookings in a digital environment.
A hotel property management system lets you manage, schedule, and organize all of your daily operations with ease. These solutions represent the central information database for all operations within a hotel. To check how it all works, refer to this text.
All the information flows between departments through the hotel software and is redirected to the right places. A Hotel PMS is used by the front desk department, managers, outlet staff, and housekeeping.
Why Is a Hotel Property Management System Necessary
Many hotel managers don’t understand that their guest’s experience starts long before they come to a hotel. The whole pre-shopping, booking, contacting a hotel, and learning about the destination are a part of the overall experience.
Modern hotels need to provide a seamless, personalized experience while secure maximal efficiency on an operational level. A hotel PMS can help you deliver the experience your guests need while letting you grow your organization.
A Hotel PMS lets you streamline all of your processes, enhance communication between departments, improve data management, and get valuable analytics that can give you insights into your overall performance. Of course, for a hotel PMS to allow you to do this, it needs to have certain features.
Detailed Features of a Hotel Property Management System
Hotel property management systems come with various features, but there are some essential ones every hotel should look for. These features actually enable your organization to harness the advantages of these tools.
Well-organized interface
An easy-to-use dashboard lets your hotel management team and desk staff view all vital information and statistics. At the same time, it lets you adjust your schedule quickly so that your staff can know which tasks are a top priority.
Different kinds of integrations
Some hotel property management solutions like Apaleo and Mews offer connectivity to third-party tools through an open API. That allows you to integrate any other tools you might be used for hotel management within your PMS. It’s generally best to look for tools that allow lots of integrations.
We would like to mention that there are different approaches PMS software solutions have in respect to third party technology connectivity. Some of them offer open API, such as Mews and Apaleo, and some of them are a closed garden, as they say, and make it very hard to connect with them. Check out this article for more information.
Tools for managing the guest experience
These features let you reward guests when they’ve met specific conditions, offer different types of rewards, send customized messages, and track the welcome amenities you provided. A hotel PMS also lets you track requests, rewards, and preferences of guests.
Tools for managing maintenance and housekeeping
Housekeeping features let you update issues in real-time and make them visible to the whole staff. You can use a PMS to schedule maintenance and housekeeping in advance so that your bookings don’t skip a beat.
How To Choose a Hotel Property Management System
Hotel property management systems come in many different forms. You need to assess your needs before you can choose the one that’s the right fit. That’s how you’ll get the best ROI with your PMS. However, you also need to understand some of the critical aspects you need to look at.
Is it easy to use?
When implementing a hotel property management system, you should have to put your staff through extensive training before they can start using it. The system should have an intuitive interface and allow users to perform actions with a couple of clicks.
Mobile support
Your hotel PMS needs to offer mobile support both to your staff and guests. Mobile support allows guests to check in quickly without actually having to talk to anyone. Look for a PMS with a “mobile key” feature to let guests feel like they are visiting a tech fair.
Cloud-based or on-premise solution?
On-premise solutions might be cheaper. However, they are more expensive and difficult to maintain in the long run. A cloud solution means that everything is managed online, including updates, maintenance, and hosting. With an on-premise solution, you need to take care of everything.
Best Hotel Property Management System for Big Hotels
Oracle OPERA PMS
This PMS is an enterprise-level solution for hotels based on the cloud. It’s very scalable, making it ideal for large hotel chains with a quick change of needs. Oracle OPERA offers comprehensive functionality for all kinds of hotel management operations, and it isn’t suited for smaller establishments.
Mews Commander PMS
Mews PMS is highly praised for its flexibility as it can cater to all kinds of hotels, bed & breakfast, apartment rental, boutique hotels, and hostel establishments. It can be used by both large and smaller organizations.
Protel PMS
Great for both large chains and individual hotels. Its best features include CRM, analytics, channel management, and staff management.
Apaleo
Apaleo’s APIs and community are great if you strive to create a great digital experiences for your guests and staff.
Best Hotel Property Management System for Small/Medium Hotels
IFCA PMS
IFCA PMS offers a variety of integrations with third-party channel managers. Its key benefits are quick integrations, automatic updates, ease of use, and increased productivity.
WebHotelier
WebHotelier got its name as one of the best booking engines. But the company has now developed its own PMS that offers a lot of integrations, including UpStay.
eZee Front Desk PMS
Even though this is an on-premise solution, it gives great features and integrations. It’s excellent for creating profiles, inventory management, group management, tracking, and audits.
Hotelogix PMS
This PMS offers a variety of interaction options with global distribution systems and travel agents. It excels at establishing smooth booking and improving your hotel’s occupancy rates.
Conclusion
Hoteliers that are onboard with new tech solutions will lead their organizations to success. Now is the time to improve technical capabilities and modernize your customer service for the future. That’s why using a hotel property management system is a must.
Graduated from Standford University, Arielle has over 5 years of experience in the Hospitality industry. She holds an MBA in business administration from the IDC Herzliya, Israel. She currently works as Account Manager at UpStay, building and maintaining strong, long-lasting customer relationships. She is deeply passionate about helping hoteliers unlock significant new revenue streams from unsold premium inventory.
