Technology in hotel rooms

When you find yourself in need of a property management system hotel-specific search, the task can be daunting. There are so many hospitality management software systems, and even quite a few property management system hotel-specifically focused. To help you get the best property management system hotel-specific software, we’ve put together a list of Dos and Don’ts:


The Dos and Don’ts of Choosing Property Management System Hotel-specific Software

  1. DO: Look for hotel management solutions that offer real time reporting.

    The best hotel management software does so much more than just keeps track of your room reservations. The latest trends in hotel industry technology now allows hotel managers to pull metrics in real time, for strategic planning. Giant hotel management chores such as staffing needs, room rates, and inventory planning don’t require the guesswork they used to when you use hotel management software with reporting functions. You can pull data up to the minute on how your hotel is operating and use it to make informed decisions for your hotel on the go.


  2. DON’T: Forgo training to make sure you make the most of your hotel management system.

    Your hotel management software is nothing more than a glorified (and expensive) cash register if you don’t use it to its full capacity. If your staff (and yourself) don’t know how to utilize the features of your new property management software, you have a low chance of adoption. We know spending a little extra money on training might feel like a waste when you’re already making such a big investment on the software itself, but you’ll really get the most bang for your buck if you understand how to use your system.


    We recommend planning three training sessions when you implement your new hotel management system:

    1. Before you put it in place, to make sure the workflow aligns with your procedures.
    2. As the new system is being installed, so that your staff is able to successfully adopt it.
    3. A month or two after the system is in place, to work out any kinks that have been uncovered as it has been used for a while.

  3. DO: Choose a customer-centric hotel management system.
    The right hotel management system won’t just help you manage your hotel more efficiently, it can even help you increase profits. If your potential guests go to your website and are only greeted with a message that they have to call you to book a room, there is a high likelihood that they will move along to one of your more tech-friendly competitors.


    One of your greatest priorities while shopping for a hospitality management system should be what your clients will see. Look for a system that offers online booking that ties directly into your reservation system, so that clients can check availability and rates, and book a room in one simple step.


  4. DON’T: Customize your new system to match your processes.

    There are a few hundred hospitality management systems out there, and each have several different systems available for you to choose from. There has got to be a system available that more or less fits your needs without customization. (And if there is no hospitality management software on the face of the Earth that offers anything out of the box that fits into your business processes, there a good chance that your business practices could use some refreshing).


    This isn’t only because most hospitality management systems are designed to follow hospitality management best practices, so your business processes should already align with them to a degree. The more you customize your software, the more difficult it is to install updates, and the more of a pain-in-the-you-know-what it is to migrate to a new system when your current system becomes obsolete (which is inevitable). You’ll paint yourself into a corner and get trapped in a system that will have bugs that you can’t do anything about, without an extensive amount of custom coding, and you won’t be able to migrate your data to a new system without a sizable nightmare.


    Save yourself this nightmare and simply look for a hotel management system that meets your needs, straight from the box. If that doesn’t exist, customize your business processes before you customize your software.

Do you have any other questions or comments about this? Please share in the comment section below!