Is It Possible to Run a Hotel Remotely?

Before COVID irrevocably changed the world, running a hotel remotely seemed like pure folly. Why would you even want to try it? Most hotel owners and managers believed that people worked best from the property. That applied to the front desk staff and housekeeping, but also less essential personnel, like your accounting department and back-office staff.

Today, things look dramatically different. While some of your staff must remain at the hotel, many tasks can now be handled remotely. Doing so successfully will require an advanced mobile PMS, but with the right tools, it is more than possible to run a hotel remotely. Below, we’ll explore how the industry is changing, as well as what you need to know about choosing the best hotel management software to ensure remote access and accuracy.

The Impact of COVID on the Hospitality Industry

It’s impossible to overstate the impact that COVID has had on the hotel industry. It has been immense, and despite most states lowering restrictions and the wide availability of vaccines, that impact is not abating. In fact, many of the changes introduced will not go away for a long time, if at all.

One of those is the shift toward remote work. This trend is not unique to the hospitality industry. Businesses large and small have found that they can dramatically reduce their need for real estate by allowing their employees to work from home at least part of the time. This saves them money while making commercial real estate available for businesses that need a physical presence.

How has this trend played out for hotel owners? Here are just a few ways:

Guest Touchpoints – One way that COVID has changed the hotel industry is by dramatically reducing the number of touchpoints for guests. To be clear, this trend was already in place before the pandemic, but it has been greatly accelerated.

With cloud-based hotel management software, it has become possible to eliminate queues at the front desk and other bottlenecks. Some hotels have gone so far as to make it possible for guests to check into and out of their rooms via an app, eliminating the need to visit the front desk at all.

It’s not just about check-in and check-out, though. Touchpoints are being eliminated in other ways, too, such as remote meal ordering and remote concierge services. These capabilities are still needed, and guests continue to look for properties that offer the right mix of services and amenities, but the delivery method has changed.
Non-Essential Staff – Before COVID, most hotel employees worked on the property, including non-essential staff. Today, that’s not really the case. Most non-essential workers were told to work from home during the early days of the pandemic, and that has not changed.

Today, employers realize that non-essential staff can do their job just as well from the comfort of their home, or even better. Remote work offers improved efficiency, better productivity, and reduced costs. Of course, remote workers must be supported with the right technology to ensure they’re able to carry out their responsibilities.
The Drive Toward Paperless Hotels – In the past, paper played a huge role in the hotel experience. There were papers to sign, receipts to save, and so much more. Today, more and more hotels are going paperless. A mobile PMS allows you to provide all the information that guests would normally have had in hardcopy format electronically via email and other digital documents.

These are just some of the ways that hotels have irrevocably changed in the wake of the pandemic. However, rather than looking at them as negative changes, they should be seen as positive evolutions because they enable greater efficiency, control over your time, and a streamlined guest experience.

Finding the Right Mobile PMS

The biggest issue facing hoteliers is this – finding the right mobile PMS. While there are plenty of solutions out there, they’re not all created equal. The right choice will support managers, employees, and guests, but the wrong choice can lead to disastrous results. Some of the things you should look for when considering online hotel management software include the following:

In-depth reporting capabilities
The ability to automate processes
The ability to get more bookings
A 2-way feed of direct booking with leading channels to avoid double bookings
Easy access to your business data at any time and from any location

Perhaps the most important thing is to ensure that the mobile PMS you choose offers access to all the features that you’ll need from a mobile location. Being remote should not mean only having access to some features or sacrificing capabilities because you’re not on a workstation in the back office.

At Hotelogix, we designed our groundbreaking mobile PMS to provide all the features and capabilities that you will ever need. You can access them right from the palm of your hand through our streamlined, easy-to-use app. What can you do with our mobile property management system?

Check room availability
Identify reservation types
Explore and edit single and group reservations
Identify check-in and check-out group reservations
Make reservations
Accept and process payments
Add notes and share information through reservations
Track hotel performance by tracking KPIs, such as house status, RevPAR, and ARR
Speed up housekeeping operations
Perform all required POS tasks
Manage the front desk
Complete night audits

What’s more, our mobile PMS app democratizes these capabilities and makes them available to anyone with sufficient access. Speaking of access, we also make it simple for you to set access to modules and capabilities, limiting access to only those who require it to perform their job duties. This helps you safeguard information and limits liability.

Helping You Do More Remotely

Our cloud-based hotel management software seamlessly connects remote employees with essential, on-site staff. Hotelogix helps you streamline operations, maximize productivity, and reduce hurdles that would otherwise cause friction for guests. You’ll also find that our mobile PMS delivers additional solutions, including the ability to train your staff without the need for face-to-face instruction.

The future of the hotel industry is touchless. Are you ready to embrace it? Hotelogix will help you on the way.