Property Management Systems for Small Hotels: A Complete Guide

October 16, 2023 Sini. M
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Independent hotels face unique goals and challenges that set them apart from larger hotel chains. Finding a property management system (PMS) tailored to your business is essential to address small properties’ specific needs and limitations. This can help with time-consuming front desk tasks, poor online visibility, client dissatisfaction, and ineffective distribution.

Performing basic tasks such as processing online bookings can be challenging without a PMS. This can limit your growth potential. However, a modern, well-constructed PMS offers several valuable features beyond automating reservations. For instance, it can assist in generating more revenue through upselling tools during the user journey. To help your property expand, let’s examine the essential features and tools your PMS should possess.

 

What is a Small Hotel PMS?

A small hotel PMS is a property management system specially designed for small hotels, inns, BnBs, motels, lodges, and guesthouses. With a small hotel PMS, you can easily manage bookings, track your property’s performance, and streamline your operations to provide a fantastic guest experience. It’s an excellent way to improve your business and make your guests stay more enjoyable.

 

What are the Benefits of using a PMS for your Small Hotel?

A Property Management System (PMS) can do wonders for your small hotel. An ideal PMS for small hotels should offer a range of features to help you run your property more efficiently and boost your bookings without burdening you with expensive and unnecessary tools. With the right PMS system for your small hotel, you can:

  • Streamline your workload by automating reservations, housekeeping, check-ins, and payments. Enjoy increased efficiency and productivity.
  • Manage your reservations and turn guests into paying visitors with a customisable booking engine
  • Simplify channel management and increase visibility by connecting to major OTA’s.
  • Enhance your guests’ booking experience by providing easy online booking options, including mobile booking. This would make the booking process more convenient and hassle-free for them.
  • Increase revenue by adjusting room rates based on demand and offering up-selling and cross-selling during booking.
  • Assign and prioritise staff, housekeeping, and maintenance tasks based on guest arrival time to streamline operations.
  • Adjust room rates on all OTAs based on demand, room class, and occupancy rates.

Improve your hotel’s performance with detailed reports and powerful revenue tools.

 

What Are the Key Features of the Best PMS for Small Hotels?

When searching for the best PMS for your small to midsize hotel, there are a few key features you should look for to access all of these benefits:

  1. An all-in-one system for property management.
  2. High-converting booking engine
  3. Simplified channel manager
  4. Cloud-based and mobile accessible
  5. Revenue management tools and a digital guest service menu.
  6. Performance reporting

Let’s examine each of these characteristics in more detail.

 

All-in-one property management system

Small hotels have fewer staff than larger ones, which makes managing tasks more challenging. An all-in-one property management system can make things easier for small hotels. Look for a comprehensive PMS to manage different aspects of your property from one platform.

Revenue management is crucial for any small hotel to succeed. A good hotel PMS should include tools to set revenue goals and monitor your progress. It should also offer surge alerts that enable you to adjust rates in real-time, take advantage of high demand, and automate rate changes in response to booking activity. Utilising these revenue management tools can optimise your revenue and increase your profitability.

For effective rate and inventory management, small hotel PMS can create customised rates and room types, compare average daily rates to occupancy rates, and update inventory and rates on all OTAs from one platform. The best PMS for small hotels should include task management tools that assign and prioritise tasks based on guest arrival time and quickly mark them complete.

Payment processing is crucial for any small hotel Property Management System (PMS). Your software should be able to handle all types of payments, including chargebacks and deposits, with integrated support for all major credit card processors. The payment processing features of your PMS must always be compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

 

Channel Manager

A channel manager is a game-changer for small hotels, allowing you to connect with major OTAs like Google Hotel Ads, Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and more. Being available on all major booking channels is key for maximising reach and connecting with guests worldwide. Invest in a quality channel manager to give your small hotel the boost it deserves. When selecting a PMS for small hotels, look for one with real-time occupancy and booking alerts, complete visibility into high-performing channels, no manual entry, and dynamic distribution. Choose a PMS with a supportive team to help you set up different OTAs and offer live phone and email support.

 

Booking Engine

Small hotel PMS usually have a booking engine, but not all are equal. The best ones have your hotel’s branding for a seamless experience between your website and the booking process, making it easier for guests to choose the right room that complements their stay.

As a small or medium-sized hotel owner, you can enhance your guests’ booking experience and reduce commission fees by utilising valuable features — including a built-in rate checker that ensures guests get the best rates when booking directly with the hotel.  

It should also have a group reservation function that allows guests to make multi-room reservations, which is beneficial for families or large groups, and a mobile capability that lets guests make reservations on the go, which is important in today’s mobile-first world. Additionally, the PMS supports multiple properties, languages, and currencies to help you manage multiple properties and deliver a seamless booking experience for guests worldwide.

 

Upsell and Cross-sell

Small hotels can benefit greatly from offering add-ons like bottles of champagne, personalised gift baskets, breakfast and brunch vouchers, and other unique experiences. These perks can add an extra touch of luxury and comfort for guests, differentiating your small hotel from big brands and encouraging guest loyalty. This can ultimately lead to increased revenue for your hotel. It’s a win-win situation. Read our latest blog on upselling techniques. 

 

Performance Reports

Reviewing your business’s performance data regularly is crucial to run a small hotel successfully. With the best PMS for small hotels, you can easily access performance reporting features that allow you to read and interpret data about your business’s progress towards achieving your goals. This will enable you to make informed decisions to drive your hotel’s success.

Cloud-based Software

Cloud-based hotel property management systems (PMS) can be accessed from any device, while on-premises systems require installation on local devices. On-premises systems require a significant hardware investment, which can quickly add up for small hotels.

In comparison, cloud-based PMS requires less tech infrastructure investment, is more affordable, and offers greater accessibility and flexibility. Mobile accessibility is crucial for enhancing your guests’ booking experience. Therefore, your small hotel PMS should include a mobile-accessible booking engine that enables guests to book rooms easily from their mobile devices.

 

How Much Does Small Hotel PMS Cost?

Small to medium-sized hotel Property Management System (PMS) pricing can vary from vendor to vendor. RoomRaccoon’s PMS starts from $180 up to $472, depending on the package selected. 

A pay-per-room subscription model, whether it is monthly or annual, is often the most cost-effective option for small hotels. This model allows hotel operators to pay only for the size of their property instead of being limited to standard market pricing for hotel software.

When evaluating the cost of implementing a PMS, consider any set-up fees. These fees may be charged as a one-time fee or billable hours; RoomRaccoon charges a one-time activation fee. One of the advantages of using a cloud-based PMS is its ability to expand quickly per your business needs. Hotel operators can inquire with their vendors about third-party integrations such as digital room keys and accounting connections to customise their property according to the evolving guest expectations.

 

Checking Out

As a manager or owner of a small hotel, you may encounter unique challenges that bigger properties or chain hotels are immune to. But fear not, for with the assistance of a top-notch small hotel PMS, you can easily overcome these obstacles by automating menial tasks, simplifying reservation management, and ultimately, enhancing the guest experience while simultaneously cutting costs and boosting revenue. 

 

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Sini. M

Sini is an accomplished Content Manager at RoomRaccoon. As an agency-hailed talent, her work brings a fresh creative flair to the world of SaaS. And she brings her very own brand of sass to the SaaS world. While not on the clock, Sini enjoys a glass of fine wine, and well, her privacy.

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