If you’re in the hotel industry, you’ve probably heard the term “property management system” (PMS).
However, as it often happens with technological innovations, people feel reluctant to use them out of fear or not trusting them enough.
Unfortunately, that’s how you can miss out on great solutions like PMS.
The Property Management System in a hotel is a must if you want to stay ahead of the curve.
But what exactly is a PMS, and how can it benefit your business even more?
Read on to find out all the ins and outs of a hotel property management system in a hotel and why it’s an essential tool for successfully running a hotel.
Let’s dive in!
What is a Property Management System (PMS) in a Hotel?
The Property Management System (PMS) is a software app that helps hotels manage their daily operations, such as reservations, check-ins, check-outs, billing, and housekeeping.
Basically, it’s a tool that streamlines the hotel’s operations and helps improve the guest experience.
You can look at it as the digital equivalent of a hotel’s front desk, allowing hotel staff to manage all aspects of their guests’ stay from a central hub.
What Are the Key Features of a Property Management System in a Hotel?
A typical PMS system has several modules, each managing specific hotel operations.
1. Reservations Management
Allows hotel staff to manage reservations, from creating bookings to modifying or canceling them.
Thus, it helps you manage room availability and ensures accurate booking information.
Furthermore, not only is your info centralized, but the system enables your guests to make reservations online, through online travel agencies (OTAs), or directly on your website.
2. Front Desk Management
The front desk module manages everything related to the guest’s check-in and check-out process, including room assignments, payments, and deposit processing.
It also manages guest inquiries about hotel services, amenities, and nearby attractions.
3. Channel Management
The Channel Manager distributes hotel inventory across various online channels so you can expand your reach and get more bookings.
Thus, you can connect with various booking channels and OTAs, Global Distribution System (GDS), metasearch, etc.
4. Revenue Management
Revenue Management represents a set of tools to maximize revenue by optimizing the prices and availability of your products or services.
For example, you can set dynamic pricing that will adjust prices and offers depending on demand, seasonality, competitor rates, and booking trends.
Within the Revenue Management module, you can also:
- Monitor and manage room availability regarding room types, restrictions, and blackout dates.
- Use previous data, market trends, and predictive analytics to forecast demand for different periods.
- Analyze booking patterns and customer behavior to anticipate future shifts in demand.
- Tailor pricing strategies to specific customer segments.
- Identify opportunities to upsell additional services or room categories.
- Compare your hotel’s performance against industry benchmarks.
- Monitor competitors’ pricing strategies.
- Monitor and track KPIs, such as Average Daily Rate (ADR), Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR), and Occupancy Rate.
5. Guest Experience
Manages and stores a database of guest information, preferences, and history you can use for personalized services and targeted marketing.
For example, you can create loyalty programs or special offers for regular customers.
Furthermore, you can also automate pre-stay and after-stay emails, thank-you notes, etc.
6. Housekeeping Management
Handles housekeeping tasks, including room cleaning, maintenance, and inventory management.
Some of the key functionalities that housekeeping management covers are:
- Room status update in real time – cleaned, dirty, inspected.
- Automated task assignments based on room status, priority, and other criteria.
- Inventory management, such as linen tracking, stock replenishment, etc.
- Lost and found tracking and recovery.
7. Payment Management
This module manages the hotel’s finances, like invoicing, collections, and payment processing, and records financial transactions so you can see the hotel’s financial performance.
Furthermore, when you integrate the PMS system with your payment system, you’ll be able to automate payment processes and provide various payment options for your clients.
For example, they will be able to pay with credit cards, virtual cards, Google Pay, etc.
8. Reporting
Being able to track your hotel’s performance across all channels and sectors is a must in order to see what’s working and what’s not.
As a result, you’ll be able to make data-driven decisions.
This is where the reporting and analytics feature comes in handy since they provide a variety of reports:
📜 Occupancy Reports – Insights into the percentage of rooms occupied over a specific period.
📜 Revenue Reports – Overall revenue generated by your hotel.
📜 Financial Reports – Expenses related to operations, maintenance, and other categories.
📜 Channel Performance Analysis – Performance evaluation of various online booking platforms and OTAs.
📜 Guest Satisfaction Reports – Guest feedback and reviews so you can identify areas for improvement.
9. Security & Compliance
When dealing with sensitive information that includes guest information and credit card or payment details, it is paramount to make your guest feel confident no harm will be done.
Thus, a high-quality PMS covers data encryption, access controls, guest data protection, data backups, secure APIs and integrations, compliance with local regulations, etc.
🎁 6 Additional Features a Top PMS Should Have
Besides key functionalities, top PMS solutions also offer features to facilitate operational processes and guest experience additionally.
1. Being Cloud-Based
Although most modern-day property management systems are cloud-based, double-checking the info is a good idea.
So, what makes a cloud-based PMS a better option than an on-premise one?
✨ It’s more cost-efficient because running costs are lower.
✨ The risk of losing data is lower.
✨ It’s much more flexible.
Want to dig deeper into this topic? No sweat – hop on to our blog, Why Should You Choose a Cloud PMS Over Onsite PMS? And find more interesting details.
2. Having a Mobile App
Having a mobile app allows for more expedient access to information.
Furthermore, it also enables quick updates and changes on the go, not to mention that it provides a better user experience.
3. Offering Personalized Taxes and Fees
More advanced property management systems will provide options to customize and apply specific charges based on guest preferences, local regulations, etc.
This way, you’ll be able to adapt your pricing structure to meet specific guest needs and comply with regional tax requirements.
4. Providing Excellent Customer Support
If you’ve ever browsed Capterra or similar platforms in search of a PMS, you’ve probably noticed that one of the major complaints concerns customer service – or lack thereof.
Having slow-to-react or inefficient customer service can be a great deal breaker. According to Zendex’s survey, 73% of clients will go to a competitor after experiencing several negative interactions.
5. Providing a User-Friendly Interface
Having an intuitive PMS cuts a lot of staff training time and makes a seamless switch to a new system.
The quicker you and your staff get to know about the system, the sooner you can start implementing it.
Moreover, the same goes for your guests in case you have a mobile app.
6. Having a Centralized Dashboard
Once you realize what a life-saver a centralized dashboard is, you’ll never want to get back to the old ways.
It shows you a real-time view of all aspects of your operations, tasks, reservations, statistics, etc, all in one place.
Why Should You Use a Property Management System?
Things To Pay Attention To When Choosing the Right PMS For Your Hotel
Although PMS solutions provide many benefits, they also have potential shortcomings.
Therefore, before choosing a PMS, make sure it:
✨ Provides features that benefit you.
✨ Has powerful security measures.
✨ Has prompt customer service.
✨ Provides integrations relevant to you.
✨ Has easy and fast onboarding.
✨ Has enough customization options.
✨ Provides smooth data migration.
✨ Aligns with your budget.
Wrapping It Up
Integrating a robust PMS into your hotel business becomes imperative if you seek:
- efficiency,
- greater revenue,
- data-driven decision-making, and
- seamless guest interactions.
However, a great deal of PMS solutions tackle only one or two functionalities and don’t provide the whole package.
So, if you are looking for a PMS that comprises all the features under its roof, we have a solution for you – OTA SYNC.
Why Should OTA SYNC Be Your Property Management System in a Hotel?
OTA SYNC is an all-in-one cloud-based property management software that facilitates and automates the management of hotels and private accommodations.
Our main goal is to maximize the benefits technological solutions bring to the hospitality world.
So, what can we deliver?
✅ Seamless onboarding without the account manager’s assistance.
✅ Multi-property dashboard that allows you to manage multiple properties from a centralized dashboard and avoid overbooking.
✅ Flexible tax and general settings that are market-specific.
✅ 2-factor authentication protection on Microsoft Azure.
✅ Dynamic pricing possibilities allowing you to change sales and pricing settings independently and based on pre-set limitations.
✅ 2-way connection with OTAs, booking platforms, and the possibility of iCAL links and open API.
✅ A user-friendly booking engine that allows guests to book rooms directly and check room availability, view pricing, etc.
✅ Housekeeping management solution for efficient task assignment, real-time updates on room status, and seamless communication among housekeeping staff.
✅ Guest App to enhance guest experience by offering quick check-ins, tailored recommendations, and instant notifications on the go.
✅ OTA SYNC Payment Processor, a fully integrated payment gateway that instantly automates process transactions in a secure way.
Ready to jump on OTA SYNC’s bandwagon?
Sign up for OTA SYNC today and unleash the power our PMS offers.
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