The hospitality industry is an amalgamation of several accommodation types. And it goes unsaid that regardless of type or size of the property, most of the challenges remain the same. A 20-bed hostel may face the same dilemmas and hurdles in managing their property as would a 200-room hotel. It is often perceived that managing a small hostel is a cakewalk when compared to managing enterprises, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Hostels and dormitories are a prominent stakeholder in the hospitality sector and they also require avenues and solutions to help manage their establishment efficiently.
Technology has vastly transformed the way hostels conduct business by offering multiple solutions such as Hostel Management Systems (otherwise known as PMS for hostels or a Hostel PMS), Hostel Booking Systems, Hostel Booking Engines, Channel Manager for Hostels or Hostel Channel Managers and Hostel Reservation Systems. Call them what you will, but each of these tie back to an efficient cloud-based Property Management System (PMS) for Hostels, and in this blog, we will be looking into how hostels can leverage the power of a PMS to simplify management and transform their business.
1. How can an effective Hostel PMS help simplify hostel management?
Managing Reservations with a Hostel Booking System
Hostels generally sell beds instead of rooms. A reliable Hostel Reservation Software can help you manage the number of beds available for reservation on a daily basis. The Hostel PMS can further segregate the bookings with regard to long-stay guests, group reservations, individual bookings, etc. A Hostel PMS, like Hotelogix, also gives you a one-view glance of all your reservations making it easy for you to stay on top of all your bookings without having to dig too deep.
Many hostels offer their guests an option of bed allocation based on gender or family rooms. A PMS for hostels can ensure that room allocation can be made easily, based on the preferences of the guest by just checking the availability on the system. A Hostel Booking System eases the burden of the hostel managers and helps keep things more systematic and error-free.
Why is a Hostel booking system important?
Whenever a booking is made, the Hotelogix PMS for hostels allows you to trigger an automatic email confirmation, which helps build pre-arrival guest experience. Each time a guest needs to be checked-in, the Hotelogix Hostel PMS helps you do it in just three simple clicks. This not only helps save time but also drastically improves your guest experience as they don’t have to wait for a long time to be checked-in. The system also allows you to modify reservations with minimal effort.
2. Seamless, Real-time Distribution with a Hostel Channel Manager
Channel Manager for hostels are just as important as they are for any other property type. Distributing inventory and rates becomes simpler and more efficient with a Hostel Channel Manager integrated to your Hostel PMS. The function of the Hostel Channel Manager is to ensure that there is a real-time, two-way flow of information between the OTAs and your Hostel’s PMS.
Why is a hostel channel manager important?
This way, whenever a booking comes in from an OTA, your PMS is updated immediately, and every time you get a direct booking or a walk-in guest and you update your PMS, the channel manager for hostels conveys the change in inventory to the OTAs in real time. This real-time flow of information between the two is crucial to your business because any discrepancy in update can lead to overbooking or double booking. And these are two issues that will guarantee you irate guests. And nobody wants an irate guest to leave a nasty review on travel review sites! So, while it is true that a hostel channel manager allows you to reach out to a wider audience, it is equally true that it also helps you minimize overbooking and double-booking hassles!
A competent distribution system, complete with a hostel PMS and a Channel Manager for hostels enables you to sell rooms on numerous OTAs. You can manage room inventory in real time, across various booking channels, without having to manually juggle inventory around.
Customized Hostel Booking Engine System
OTAs are amazing when it comes to increasing your online visibility, and there is no denying that. But if you are relying on just OTAs to get you all the bookings you need, then you might want to step back and take a closer look at why this might not be the best way forward.
OTAs charge a commission that could be anywhere between 15-30%, and amount that is in no way ‘negligible’. This being the case, you do end up spending a rather big chunk of your wallet on these commissions. Au contraire, direct bookings, when approached with the right measures in place, can help you drive more bookings and increase occupancy. And driving direct bookings through your website is only possible when you have a Hostel Booking Engine System in place.
Why is a Hostel Booking Engine System Important?
Direct bookings are a blessing to hostels as you don’t have to spend on OTA commissions, like we just saw. In order to make the most of direct bookings, you must integrate a hostel booking engine system to your official website. This will help you get more bookings while visitors are on your website considering making a reservation. By prompting your visitors at the right time, to make a booking directly with you, you stand the chance of increasing direct bookings, occupancy and thereby revenue.
Hotelogix Hostel Management System integrates with best-in-class hostel booking engine systems to help you drive more direct bookings and increase revenue.
Inclusions of add-ons and other Points of Sales
No longer does the manager have to keep a manual track of add-ons that your guests opt for. Your hostel PMS will do it for you by setting up various Points of Sales. Extras such as internet usage, meals, padlocks, linens, etc. can be reserved by the guest at the time of booking their rooms, or else bought at the location and it would be synced with their room booking details.
An efficient PMS for Hostels can help end any chaos in managing a hostel. It can streamline all aspects of hostel management and ease the burden on the hostel manager.
Unfortunately, there are hostel owners that tend to believe that a free Hostel Booking Software is just as efficient in resolving all their challenges as a world-class Hostel PMS. And this is neither true nor practical.
Here’s why opting for a free Hostel Management Software is not a solution
A Free Hostel Management Software may address one of your challenges to a certain degree, but there is no guarantee that it will show results. If you are considering opting for a free Hostel Booking System, you should ask yourself these questions:
- Are you sure that your free hostel booking software guarantees you complete and uncompromised data security? Is your hostel and guest data safe in there?
- Does your Free Hostel Management System allow you to integrate with other hospitality tech solutions, so your PMS is fully comprehensive and thereby capable of handling end-to-end operations of your hostel?
- Can your free Hostel Booking Software guarantee you increase in OTA bookings, direct bookings, revenue, guest experience and staff productivity?
- Will the free Hostel Management System help streamline processes and automate them with absolute efficiency? Will it allow you the luxury of time to focus on more rewarding activities like interacting with your guests and nurturing your guest experience?
- Does the Free Hostel Booking System give you insights on pricing, competition, etc? Can you be sure that it empowers you to stay ahead of competition?
If your answer to any of these is ‘No’, then you cannot possibly settle for a free Hostel Management Software because your business deserves nothing short of the best Hostel PMS, that guarantees you each one of those and so much more!
The Hotelogix PMS for Hostels will ensure that your hostel’s revenue is multiplied because it guarantees streamlining of processes and increases your access to all the myriad sales channels available online. We can also help you improve online visibility, increase staff productivity, save man-hours, enhance guest experience as well as build online reputation!
