What is a Hotel Reservation System?

July 1, 2023 Justine. S
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A Hotel Reservation System (HRS) is a sophisticated software application designed to automate bookings, manage real time payments, guest details, room availability and overall hotel operations. A good system provides a user-friendly interface for guests, real-time updates on room availability, and facilitates secure transactions. The system is meant to enhance operational efficiency, offer reporting tools, and integrate with other hotel management modules for a seamless guest experience.

Once the data has been captured, it is then passed into the Property Management System (PMS) or reservations calendar. Additional platform features may come with a PMS – for example, an integrated booking engine and channel manager, and other helpful tools, like automated reservation confirmation emails.

A reservation system is the perfect option to cater to the needs of the modern online booker. Prospective guests want quick access to information like room rates, availability for specific dates and the ability to book without external help. Prospective guests can also pay a deposit on the spot to secure their reservation.

How Exactly Does a Hotel Reservation System Work?

A hotel reservation system works by maintaining a database of available rooms, processing bookings in real-time, handling secure payments, and generating confirmations for guests and hotels. It streamlines the entire booking process, ensuring efficiency and convenience for all parties involved.

Here is a breakdown of the process:

What is The Difference Between a Hotel Reservation System And a Booking Engine?

A hotel reservation system works by maintaining a database of available rooms, processing bookings in real-time, handling secure payments, and generating confirmations for guests and hotels. A booking engine, in comparison, is a system on your hotel’s website and social media pages that processes direct online bookings without the hassle of commission fees. Here is a breakdown of the process:

What Are The Benefits of Using a Hotel Reservation System?

A hotel reservation system is an indispensable tool with a multitude of benefits that can revolutionise your business.

From maximising occupancy rates and streamlining operations to improving guest satisfaction and boosting revenue, it’s a must-have solution that can skyrocket your hotel’s success.

Here are just a few of the benefits of using a hotel reservation system:

1. Save up to 4 hours a day

By automating the process of updating reservations from multiple distribution channels, a hotel reservation system frees up significant time for hoteliers.

Manual tasks such as managing availability and rates across various agents become streamlined and effortless. With live rates and availability automatically updated by the software, the risk of overbooking is minimised, ensuring a smoother operation for your hotel.

This time-saving solution allows hoteliers to focus on delivering exceptional guest experiences, optimising revenue strategies, and making informed decisions to drive overall efficiency and profitability.

2. Maximise revenue

Any guest reservation is exciting, but what if you could maximise each of those sales to boost your revenue? Third-party sites like online travel agencies (OTAs) bring bookings to your hotel, especially in periods of low demand.

Although they offer good online visibility, their commissions cut into your profits.

However, with the strategic use of a yield management tool and a powerful booking engine, you can maximise your revenue by offering potential guests the right price at the right time, enticing them to book directly on your website.

3. Increase online visibility

Expand your property’s reach and attract more guests by seamlessly connecting to a powerful channel manager.

With our Channel Manager, you can effortlessly synchronise rates and inventory across multiple leading online travel agencies (OTA) such as Booking.com, Airbnb, and Expedia.

This streamlines the booking process, improves overall revenue, and ensures your property is visible to a global audience of travelers.

By registering your property on various channels, you significantly enhance your online presence, allowing you to reach a larger pool of travelers and drive occupancy rates to new heights.

4. Foster guest loyalty through personalized direct bookings

Direct bookings offer numerous benefits for your hotel business as an accommodation owner. RoomRaccoon findings reveal that guests who book directly on your hotel’s website are more likely to become repeat visitors.

Establish lasting customer relationships by delivering a consistent and personalised brand experience from the start. By showcasing your hotel’s ethos, and values, by offering exclusive discount codes, you not only provide valuable insights to guests but also incentivize their return, resulting in improved customer retention rates.

An integrated booking engine enables easy management of the booking process, while delivering a personalised experience before, during, and after their stay, strengthening guest loyalty and creating meaningful connections.

Another top priority of travellers is flexibility with date changes and cancellations. As a result, when they book through your Booking Engine, they can make changes or cancel directly with your property without going via the intermediary, thus giving them peace of mind. Learn more about how booking engines work with our updated booking engine guide. 

5. Better guest experiences

Elevate guest experiences by offering the convenience of self-service technology through our online check-in and check-out software. Simplify guest registration and departure by allowing them to check themselves in and out conveniently via a secure link in their email.

With RoomRaccoon’s document module, you can send personalised check-in and check-out emails throughout their stay, providing a seamless and efficient process.

Say goodbye to manual front desk labor and embrace a more guest-centric approach that enhances their overall satisfaction.

6. Generate supplementary revenue

Unlock additional revenue streams by leveraging upselling and cross-selling opportunities.

Understand your guests’ preferences and needs to offer relevant upgrades, amenities, and packages that enhance their experience and increase the average spend per guest.

Tailored offerings like spa treatments and dining experiences boost profitability. With RoomRaccoon’s Upsell feature, empower guests to create custom stays and generate extra revenue effortlessly.

7. Gain a competitive edge

RoomRaccoon’s powerful booking engine is also equipped with a Price Checker, a guest-oriented feature for users seeking competitive pricing information.

It compares your direct booking rates against other popular booking platforms, such as Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, and Airbnb, by swiftly retrieving and displaying up-to-date prices from all the providers who are offering the same product or service.

This concise and efficient tool enhances the guest’s user experience by delivering accurate and real-time pricing data working with a yield manager tool that automatically raises or lowers your rates across all sales channels, including the booking engine, making it a breeze to compare prices and make informed booking decisions.

8. Streamline payment management

RoomRaccoon’s modern hotel reservation system includes the advanced payment module, RaccoonPay, designed to centralize payment management and expand payment channels.

With options like card machines, payment request links, pre-payments, and online check-in/out, RaccoonPay ensures easier and more efficient payments for your hotel.

Create professional invoices, effortlessly track payments, and manage outstanding balances, all in one user-friendly platform. Simplify your payment processes and enhance efficiency with RaccoonPay, a valuable feature of our hotel reservation system.

9. Make data-driven decisions

RoomRaccoon’s built-in analytics and reporting module empowers hoteliers with valuable insights into their hotel’s performance.

From revenue analysis to occupancy trends, leverage data-driven decisions to optimise operations and enhance profitability.

Gain a deeper understanding of user behaviour through integrated analytics and reporting features, enabling you to identify conversion bottlenecks and fine-tune your strategies accordingly.

10. Integrate with the tools you already use

A hotel reservation system like RoomRaccoon offers seamless integration with over 400 platforms and tools, allowing hoteliers to streamline workflows and leverage existing systems for enhanced efficiency and productivity.

The 6 Best Hotel Reservation Systems For 2024

Looking for the ultimate hotel reservation system in the UK? Look no further. We’ve compiled a list of the top 6 systems, carefully selected based on real hotelier feedback. Discover the perfect solution for your needs with the insights of experienced professionals:

RoomRaccoon

The ultimate, award-winning all-in-one platform that combines a Property Management System, Booking Engine, and Channel Manager in a single solution. Unlock the power of this feature-rich platform designed to boost direct bookings and increase revenue, unlocking your hotel’s full potential.

CloudBeds

Offers a developed integration of Property Management Systems, Booking Engines, and Channel Managers. Their integrated solutions enable efficient management of hotel operations while eliminating repetitive administrative tasks.

ResNexus

Offers progressive reservation, property management, and guest communication tools. Ideal for hotels and campgrounds, their solution is flexible and caters to multiple property types.

InnRoad

InnRoad offers a comprehensive hotel Property Management System (PMS) that includes features for reservations, front desk operations, housekeeping, reporting, and guest communication.

Thinkreservations

All-in-one solution that offers features such as online booking, availability management, guest communication, and reporting.

Little Hotelier

Perfect for small hotels and bed & breakfasts, Little Hotelier combines central reservation systems and a user-friendly Booking Engine.

Considering the multitude of software providers available, RoomRaccoon is still considered the optimal all-rounder choice. Our software, designed by hotel owners to alleviate common pain points in the industry, showcases our unwavering commitment to supporting hoteliers comprehensively.

Our commitment is evident through our satisfied clients worldwide. They have benefited from our carefully designed features that simplify daily operations and increase profitability with minimal effort required.

How Long Does it Take to Implement a New Reservation System?

On average, it takes around ten days to set up and integrate a new reservation system.

At RoomRaccoon, we aim to complete the process within nine days. This timeframe aligns with industry standards, while still taking external factors into account, such as historical database, property size, and staff training needs.

During implementation, our dedicated Implementations team works closely with the hotel to ensure a smooth transition and seamless integration.

This includes transferring all relevant data from the existing system and guiding stakeholders through the process, ensuring a comprehensive and accurate information transfer.

How Much Does a Hotel Reservation System Cost?

The pricing of a hotel reservation system can vary, but our software ranges from £119 upwards.

This cost depends on various factors, such as the number of rooms, payment frequency (annual or monthly), and the chosen package as we currently have four tiers: entry, starter, premium, and enterprise.

With RoomRaccoon, you can benefit from flexible packages that have no hidden fees. RoomRaccoon also offers a 30-day free trial period, allowing you to experience the all-inclusive solution without any upfront costs.

Our subscription plans are tailored to accommodate different property types, room capacities, and payment frequencies, regardless of which subscription is chosen. To explore our pricing options in detail, please visit our dedicated pricing page.

Why choose RoomRaccoon?

RoomRaccoon is the ideal choice for your business as our reservation software is designed to empower your business in generating direct bookings, boosting revenue and essentially helping your business thrive.

With our intuitive interface, powerful features, and exceptional support, RoomRaccoon is here to enhance your operations and create memorable guest experiences.

Here are a few reasons why RoomRaccoon’s hotel booking software would be the best fit for your hotel operations:

1. Easy-to-use interface

RoomRaccoon provides a user-friendly interface that allows you to manage your reservations seamlessly. Whether you’re a tech-savvy hotel manager or a beginner, you’ll find the system intuitive and hassle-free.

2. All-in-one solution

With RoomRaccoon, you get an all-in-one solution that covers all aspects of hotel management, including reservations, invoicing, guest communication, and online distribution channels. Say goodbye to juggling multiple software programs!

3. Channel management

The RoomRaccoon system has built-in channel management software that seamlessly integrates with popular online travel agencies (OTAs) and global distribution systems (GDS), making it easier for you to manage your online presence and maximise your bookings.

4. Direct website booking engine

RoomRaccoon offers a dynamic booking engine that can be integrated into your hotel’s official website. This tool enables guests to book directly on your website, eliminating third parties and commission fees and ultimately driving more direct bookings.

It also ensures a seamless booking experience as it helps businesses to have more control over the booking process so that you can offer exclusive deals, packages, or loyalty rewards to customers.

It also allows them to maintain a direct relationship with their customers, gather valuable data, and provide personalised experiences.

5. Multi-property management

Do you manage multiple properties? With RoomRaccoon, you can effortlessly advertise all your properties on a single booking engine page.

The convenient dropdown menu lists all the locations and names of your properties from one interface, maximising occupancy across all your portfolios.

This feature empowers guests to easily search for availability and discover the perfect hotel that meets their requirements.

Simplify the process of managing multiple properties with RoomRaccoon’s comprehensive booking engine, streamlining your operations and enhancing the guest experience.

6. Built-in analytics and reporting

Access valuable insights about your hotel’s performance, booking trends, and revenue statistics with our built-in analytics and reports.

With an integrated Reports module, hoteliers gain valuable visibility into their business performance, including occupancy rates, revenue streams, and guest preferences, helping you identify trends, measure marketing success, and optimise efficiency.

Leverage data to enhance guest experiences, tailor marketing strategies, and make data-driven decisions for increased profitability and a competitive edge in the hospitality industry.

7. Multilingual customer service support

RoomRaccoon takes great pride in providing exceptional customer service support in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Croatian, and Dutch.

Our team of knowledgeable professionals are available throughout the week. We also offer weekend support for  Enterprise users.

No matter your location or preferred language, we are delighted to assist you via telephone or our ticket system, affirming a superior level of support and ensuring the utmost satisfaction for all our users.

8. Cost-effective solution

RoomRaccoon offers competitive pricing packages tailored to fit the needs and budget of your hotel. Enjoy the benefits of a robust reservation system without breaking the bank.

Get Started Today

In sum, a hotel reservation system simplifies the booking process, enhances efficiency, and provides a seamless experience for guests.

With its ability to integrate room availability, rates, secure payments, and real-time updates, it saves time and increases commission-free bookings.

RoomRaccoon is a highly recommended option, offering a user-friendly interface, all-in-one solution, channel manager integration, direct website booking engine, analytics, multilingual support, and cost-effective pricing. Choose RoomRaccoon to optimize your hotel’s operations and deliver exceptional guest experiences.

Book a free demo today.

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Justine. S

Justine is a Content Manager at RoomRaccoon, bringing her background in language and communication studies to the SaaS world. When she's not writing about the latest trends in the industry, she's probably out exploring the world or indulging her love of pink.

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