Booking management system: Guide for hotels

What is a booking management system?

A booking management system is a tool that enables a business such as a hotel to easily manage reservations, revenue, and guest experiences.

Booking management systems will often include a number of features such as a direct booking engine, channel manager, front desk system, payments solution, and guest engagement functionality.

Also known as hotel reservation software, it’s a crucial tool for hotels and accommodation providers who want to succeed online and grow their business.

In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about booking management systems and how they work for your hotel.

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Why is booking management software important for accommodation providers?

Booking management software is essential for modern hoteliers who want to succeed as an online business, build a strong relationship with guests, create efficient operations, and ultimately generate profit.

When you consider key booking trends such as rising third-party channels and the enduring popularity of direct bookings, as well as the fact that 70% of guests now expect personalised offers, online software is a key way to capitalise on revenue opportunities.

When integrated as an all-in-one solution, an online hotel booking management system offers the following benefits:

• One easy location to manage your booking calendar, reservations, guest profiles, and payments: Use a single dashboard to switch between all of your most important tasks and complete them in a matter of clicks.
• Seamless integration to allow automation and accuracy: With natural integration between core features, components such as inventory management can be automated in real-time with no human errors.
• Access to powerful data and performance insights: Make more strategic decisions by understanding where your bookings are coming from, which booking sources are most profitable for you, and what extra guests are spending their money on. 
• Increased revenue opportunities: Create personalised offers and communication to give guests value for money and curated add-ons to boost cash flow and grow your bottom line.
• Lifestyle flexibility: Save time with efficient processes and, in the case of Little Hotelier, manage your property on the go with a linked mobile app.

Key features of a hotel booking management system

With an all-in-one hotel booking management system, you’ll have a number of key features included in one platform.

These include:

• Front desk system: Your digital front desk is the heart of your operations and probably the feature you’ll use the most. You can use it to view and manage your calendar and reservations, check guests in and out, allocate rooms, update guest profiles, organise housekeeping, process payments and more.
• Channel manager: One of the biggest contributors to attracting online bookings. Connect to online channels such as Booking.com and Airbnb to sell all your rooms at the same time, without having to worry about manually updating inventory or causing double-bookings.
• Direct booking engine: Take bookings directly from your own website, via your social media pages, and via metasearch sites like Google Hotel Ads and Trivago. This will help you own the guest relationship and avoid commission fees that you would normally pay to online travel agents.
• Mobile app: Manage your property and bookings on the go, including when you’re not even at your property.

These are just the basic features. Many providers will offer additional features such as a payments solution, insights tool, website builder, and guest engagement functions.

How does a room booking management system work?

A room booking management system works primarily through the sharing of data via cloud-based features. This means as long as you have a stable internet connection, you can use your system wherever you are.

Information is shared on a two-way basis in real time, meaning that any updates are done automatically.

For example, when you receive a booking via Booking.com, your channel manager will send the reservation data to your front desk system which will update your calendar. At the same time, your front desk system will tell your channel manager that your inventory has changed, and this will be updated across all connected booking channels instantly.

Your software can also combine with booking revenue management software to create a full-scale ‘stack’ of technology features which provide everything you need to run a profitable accommodation business.

I don’t have to overthink Little Hotelier. Little Hotelier delivers, and it makes a huge difference when you trust a system. I absolutely love Little Hotelier’s efficiency which conclusively supports my aims and objectives as a hotelier.

Claire Moseley,

Owner

Derwent House

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How to choose an online booking management system

If you’re looking to invest in an online booking management system, the first thing you need to know is that they’re not all made equal. Some are feature-rich and user-friendly, while others are limited and clunky.

To ensure you’re using the best solution at your property, look for providers which:

• Can do it all in one: The more features that are included in a single platform, the more likely it is that you’ll have a smooth user experience and encounter less errors or issues.
• Have your property type in mind: Some solutions are specifically designed for small accommodations, to make sure you get all the functionality you need and none of the complex stuff that only large operations require.
• Are backed by their customers: Look for established providers with a large and active customer base. Search for case studies and reviews so you can get the full picture.
• Offer reliability: In the event you ever need help, it’s important that your provider has resources and support in place so you can effectively troubleshoot or have your queries answered.
• Can be competitive on price: Sometimes one-size doesn’t fit all and you want to have options about what features you need most. Look for solutions that offer tiered pricing models so you aren’t paying more than you need to.

Looking for the best hotel booking management software? Let us introduce Little Hotelier…

By Dean Elphick

Dean is the Senior Content Marketing Specialist of Little Hotelier, the all-in-one software solution purpose-built to make the lives of small accommodation providers easier. Dean has made writing and creating content his passion for the entirety of his professional life, which includes more than six years at Little Hotelier. Through content, Dean aims to provide education, inspiration, assistance, and, ultimately, value for small accommodation businesses looking to improve the way they run their operations (and live their life).