8 best hotel reservation management systems

Everyone loves a good vacation, and since interstate travel will be getting back to normal this summer, it’s time for hotels to prepare for an influx of guests. A recent study shows that 73 percent of Americans are making plans for a trip in the next three to six months, and this number could climb as more people get vaccinated and the warm weather pulls everyone outside.

Many smaller hotels and bed and breakfasts may be unprepared for the high number of travelers, but a trustworthy hotel reservation management system can help you get through the summer travel rush.

It’s not only easier for the staff in charge of reservations, but many travelers prefer the convenience of booking online instead of having to call a hotel. If your hotel doesn’t offer online booking, you might be missing out on guests who are only checking online before reserving a room.

There are a number of hotel reservation management systems to consider. The features can vary widely, from full-service property management to a simple booking engine. Check out these seven options if your hotel is in the market for a new system to start bringing in everyone who’s ready to get out and see the world again.

1. GraceSoft Easy InnKeeping

GraceSoft Easy InnKeeping has been around since 1999, so the company has quite a bit of time to get its reservation management system right.

You can manage everything from email marketing to payments, and for reservations, you can connect the online engine to Booking.com and Expedia. One great feature is the quick check-in, which gives customers easy access to their rooms via key lock, swipe card, and signature devices.

If you’re going to be managing your payments from the same software, GraceSoft Easy InnKeeping’s accounting and CRM software will be particularly useful. You can start with a free trial or reach out to the company’s customer service for pricing.

2. ThinkReservations

If your room rates tend to fluctuate throughout the year, ThinkReservations offers some helpful features. The software lets you sync your hotel’s availability on multiple travel sites and set specific rules to change room prices across all channels to ensure your customers are getting the most up-to-date rates.

With the Yield Management feature, you can automatically change rates based on what you have available and what the demand is, which is helpful for getting the most from your bookings. Plus, the ThinkReservations customer service team can set up everything for you and train your staff. You must contact the company for pricing information.

3. Using Jotform to take hotel reservations

Jotform is a great option for hotels and bed and breakfasts that don’t necessarily need the full functionality of a property management system but do need a reliable way to take reservations. In addition, hotels can use Jotform for many other things, like accepting payments, collecting feedback, and even hiring staff. So the cloud-based software will come in handy for a number of your needs.

For reservations, you can use one of Jotform’s hotel reservation or hotel booking forms. There are even forms designed specifically for bed and breakfasts and boutique hotels that can help you easily collect reservation details like contact information, dates, special room or accessibility requests, and more.

You can also add a gateway to accept payments right from the form if you’d like to collect either a deposit or the full amount upon booking.

And all of the reservation info is stored in Jotform Tables, making it a breeze to keep track of your customers’ details. You can set up the reservations to automatically sync to a calendar view, which makes it easy for your hotel staff to see a bird’s-eye view of all the guests at the hotel at any time. 

Check out all of Jotform’s features today to set your hotel or B&B up for success this summer.

4. Sirvoy

If you’re looking for software that will combine hotel reservations with property management, Sirvoy could be the option for your hotel.

You can set up the platform’s booking engine in minutes and start collecting reservations directly from your site. Just add a snippet of code to your website. You never have to pay any commission fees.

You can choose between a Starter or Pro plan, depending on how many extra features you’ll be using. For a simple reservation system, you can get started for $10 per month. 

5. Hotelogix

Hotelogix is one of the more robust options, combining several aspects of a full hotel management system. For starters, you can add the booking engine directly to your site, so you can collect reservations without any commission fees.

You can also keep track of how your hotel is performing through KPIs, so you can be sure you’re making data-driven decisions. And you can manage other aspects of your hotel operation — like housekeeping, front desk assistance, and even hotel reviews — from one platform.

Plans are priced per room, so for larger properties the cost will add up quickly. However, the price could be worth it for the number of useful features the software offers.

6. Cloudbeds

Cloudbeds is all about giving time back to hotel managers. The system does this by automating the hotel management process.

Cloudbeds provides an easy-to-use single platform to manage all aspects of your hotel, from booking to revenue. Guests can check in and out with one click, and you can keep track of all reservations with a drag-and-drop calendar.

There’s even a library of free resources and tools that will help you stay on top of trends and best practices in the industry — a definite plus for new hotel managers.

Prices are based on the size of your hotel, so chat with customer service to get an idea of how much your plan will cost.

7. Book It Now

With a name like Book It Now, this reservation management system gets straight to the point. It’s a very user-friendly option, and your guests can search for their accommodations either by room or room type.

Once your bookings are confirmed, you can manage them through a color-coded calendar view that allows you to drag and drop boxes to change dates, move rooms, or add notes to each reservation.

You can also sync your hotel’s room availability with popular travel sites like Booking.com, Expedia, TripAdvisor, and more.

Basic plans start at $49.95 and increase based on the number of rooms and optional add-ons.

8. Little Hotelier

Little Hotelier is dedicated to helping the little guys — small hotels, B&Bs, and vacation rental properties. It’s a great option if you need help setting up reservations but don’t have the time or staff to do it on your own. Little Hotelier also offers an easy website builder if you’re really starting from scratch.

Overall, the software is geared toward the less tech-savvy hoteliers, but it does offer data insights so you can make more informed business decisions. You can also access everything via mobile, so the convenience factor may also be appealing to a lot of hoteliers.

Little Hotelier offers three payment plans: Basic, Pro, and Premium, priced at $30, $155, and $184 respectively.