If you are thinking of opening a small motel business, you are in the right place. This article is aimed at people making these choices, as you may not know what you need to run a motel or what Hoteling software you need.
If you recently purchased a motel, you may already have the software to run the location. However, if the motel has been on sale for a long time, the software may not be up to date. You have to spend time operating your computer to see where you need to make changes.
What to look for in motel software
If you have already purchased a motel and are looking for software to run the location, read the tips on what you need for the software of your choice.
- Reservation System-This is the most important part of the software. There are all rooms on the system and you should be able to book a room with just one click. It also lists the special requirements of the customer. Information about the room (number of beds, bathroom, internet access) should also be easily accessible. You do not need to change pages to access this information.
- Payment-The system must be able to receive payment for the room. You don’t have to change to another system to receive payments from your customers. The system also needs to aggregate the additional services used by the client. This could be room service, pay-per-view, or room charges. When they come to pay, it should be all in their client profile waiting for you. You don’t have to calculate it yourself.
- Restaurant-If your motel has a restaurant or breakfast service, the software should list the tables. The best software will tell you which tables are reserved so you should be able to plan your table settings when booking a large party.
- User Friendly-The best software must be user friendly. If you have staff who are not tech-savvy, you should be able to use the system without any problems. If you need to spend hours teaching staff how to use the software, it may not be suitable for your business model. The system should be point-and-click and self-explanatory to staff.
- It should help your business-the software must be able to maintain a database of your customers so that you can direct your marketing strategy to specific people. You can report on hotel congestion, so you can discount your room and attract more customers. In addition, you need to be able to apply discounts to websites and email customers directly from the software. You need to manage all your technologies so that you can access them all directly from your software.
- Whether or not to use the hotel software is your choice. You don’t have to, and if you’re starting, you might think it’s an unnecessary expense at the moment. However, think about how much work it will take to write down your booking on paper and add up the amount each customer spends. It will be worth the money to save you time.