10 Essential Features of a Good Hotel Booking System
Hotel Booking System
People these days are more progressive than the previous generations. They like to plan ahead and thanks to the technology that is available to us, we do it with ease. More than half the people that travel abroad, have pre-booked their hotel rooms. And almost all of them do it online, either through a hotel booking website or application. During the peak seasons, it gets hard to manage all the data that comes though.
However, with a good hotel booking system, this data can easily be managed. Furthermore, having a streamlined system helps you make a better impression on your customers. Having your very own custom made hotel booking system allows you to eliminate errors and prevents financial loss.
Here are 10 important features that should be a part of your hotel booking system:
Cloud Based Reservation
Your hotel employees will rarely be able to sit in one location for the entire day. Choosing a remote-accessible online hotel reservation system would make their work simpler and more efficient. Furthermore, being able to access data remotely promotes social distancing while still keeping the hotel staff and guests secure. Hotel booking software that is cloud-based can be accessed from any location, at any time, and on any computer (laptop, cell phone, or tablet). It’s much less expensive to operate, manage, and protect than conventional on-site systems.
An Online Central Reservation System
A good hotel reservation system should provide a user-friendly interface that is useful to both guests and employees. A quick calendar front-desk view would be a big help in making the reservation process go more smoothly. A plugin or javascript that can be inserted into your hotel’s website will be needed. Alternatively, it should be able to direct tourists to a microsite or portal where they can complete their reservations online.
Without having to browse through your website, the booking engine should provide your visitors with all of the information they need, including costs, packages, room styles, add-ons, inclusions, and other data. If you are looking for online reservation system you may hire our hotel software development company.
Multiple Language & Currency Support
Guests should be able to make reservations in their native language and currency using your hotel booking software. Guests who make reservations in a specific language should also obtain confirmations in that language via email or text message. This simple feature will improve the user experience and increase bookings from all over the world.
It’s also important to incorporate various currencies. You want to appeal to a broader market, and many of your clients will be visitors. Based on the IP address, an ideal booking system will be able to instantly set the language and currency preferences.
A High-tech Data Management System
Data is crucial for achieving a company’s objectives. Getting the right data will help you boost business efficiency and provide a more personalised experience for your customers. Hotel reservation software with a comprehensive reporting system is a must-have for helping employees make better decisions.
You could obtain the following details as a result: Monthly, quarterly, and annual performance reviews. Maintaining a record of outstanding payments and tabs, predictive analytics, budgeting, rate management, and financial planning Guest information that is exclusive to them.
Enabling Online Payment
Integrating an online payment option into your hotel reservation system would help you fulfil your booking/cancellation policy requirements while also making it easier for guests to make reservations. Financials obtained from online bookings should be automatically reported in financial reports on the back end. Having guests pay online allows them to adhere to the requisite social distance norms.
Promo’s & Discounts
Providing exclusive promo codes or promotions is a smart approach to take when thinking about increasing sales and keeping the guests satisfied. You should be able to build and submit promo codes with a good hotel booking system. Moreover, y ou should be able to tailor discounts and deals depending on when the booking was made, whether the customer is a regular customer, whether it’s a corporate or travel agent booking, or even the season, holidays, early-bird or last-minute prices.
Management of Reviews
The credibility and success of your hotel are heavily reliant on customer reviews. They are the most powerful marketing tool available to your hotel. According to a SiteMinder survey, 81 percent of travellers choose to read reviews before making a reservation, and 91 percent of 18 to 34-year-olds regard reviews as personal recommendations from peers. As an hotelier, you can invite your guests to write reviews for your establishment on the internet.
Make it a point to react to those reviews and communicate with them. Your clients will have a better experience as they will feel acknowledged and valued. A good hotel booking system will allow you to keep track of your guests’ feedback as well as respond to that feedback. Genuine and timely responses to reviews have the power to transform visitors into long-term customers.
Automated Replies & Communication
In the service sector, communication automation has become a norm. After booking a room, guests expect a comprehensive confirmation email. The hotel’s brand image and voice should be expressed in the confirmation emails. If necessary, you should be able to provide travel tips as well as information about local festivals and attractions. These messages should be able to be scheduled and formatted via your hotel booking system.
An Automated Reservation System
Travelers tend to make reservations through a number of sources, including the hotel’s website, online travel agencies (OTAs), and the front desk. Managing these reservations can be difficult, and mistakes like double booking, overbooking, or failing to confirm a guest’s reservation can result in negative feedback and lost revenue. You can effectively handle these inconsistencies if you have a central reservation system for hotels that is connected to a channel manager.
Your channel manager and hotel reservation system are linked together to provide you with real-time information on room availability and rates through all of your booking channels. A channel manager aids hoteliers in increasing employee efficiency by allowing inventory and rates to be modified from a single platform. Guests will see exactly what they see thanks to real-time alerts.
Chat Bot & Chat Support
When you work in the hospitality industry, there is no time to relax. A hotel needs to be operational 24/7 and should always be responsive. Otherwise you will lose a lot of business with time. To make things more streamlined, you need to provide a 24/7 chat support. So you should use both chat bot technology & you should have a person available at all times to handle queries.