#1 Best Hotel Management Software

What is the best hotel management software?

Hoteliers responsible for medium to large hotels have a slew of choices when it comes to hotel management software. There are dozens (if not hundreds) of different options, and the search for the perfect web-based hotel management software can quickly become overwhelming. Even the most experienced hotel professionals can fall into analysis paralysis.

Considering where you found this guide, you already know that we’re going to submit our own solution—SiteMinder—as the best hotel management software. And for good reason: through our solutions, our clients have seen up to 40% more bookings, massively reduced administration time, powerful revenue growth, and a big drop in stress headaches too.

However, biases aside, we’d love to guide you through this important decision for your hotel, digging into the features you need to look out for, the price you can expect to pay, and – let’s be honest – show you why SiteMinder is considered one of the best softwares for hotel management available on the market today.

What is the best web-based hotel management software for small properties?

Hotels with smaller footprints have very different needs than larger ones. SiteMinder is tailored for medium to large hotel businesses and would be “too much horse” to fit what smaller hoteliers are looking for.

However, we’ll point you in the direction of Little Hotelier, the SiteMinder equivalent for smaller hotels. It has many of the same features as SiteMinder, but built specifically for BnBs, motels, small hotels, hostels, and other similar operations.

This includes:

• Front desk automation
• Guest communications
• OTA integration and channel management
• A website builder
• A book engine
• And much more

Best of all, it includes a dedicated mobile app, so small hotel owners can keep up to date with their hotel activities wherever they are, whenever they want. While it’s designed for smaller users, that doesn’t mean it isn’t one of the best online hotel management software solutions on the market.

Learn more here

Best online hotel management software features

When it comes to hotel management computer software solutions, hotels often make the mistake of choosing complex systems that don’t fulfil their basic requirements.

In other scenarios, they opt for a high-end solution that comes with a lot of features which may not be of much use to them.

To help hotels make the right decision when selecting a web-based management system, we’ve created a quick feature checklist to refer to.

1. Real-time Reporting and Business Intelligence

Accurate data drives accurate decisions, so it is unsurprising that reporting is a very important aspect of your hotel’s operations and strategic planning.

When selecting a hotel management system, look at the different reports it provides.

• Ask yourself whether it will help gain insights on the revenue, profits and performance of the business.
• Make sure the reports generated are pulling from genuine sources and there is no time lag. Accurate data is generated in real-time.

2. Quality System Integrations

A hotel management platform should be able to integrate with the one system at the heart of a hotel; that is, the property management system (PMS).

Additionally, through channel integration, it should integrate with other solutions such as Revenue Management Systems (RMSs) and Reputation Management Systems. See if the vendor is well connected with reputable systems.

This will save you and your staff time in tedious admin work.

3. Integrated Reservation System

Online booking systems are an important part of generating revenue and profit.

Too often, we have seen properties lose out on their direct bookings by either;

• Not having an internet booking engine integrated on their website, or partnering with one that
• charges commissions
• is not mobile optimised or,
• doesn’t integrate with the properties’ channel manager.

Choosing a hotel management system with its own mobile-optimised Internet booking engine is a must-have feature.

4. After Sales Support and Data Security

Hoteliers should look at the after-sales support of the system and the data security features offered as part of the solution.

A PCI-DSS compliant vendor is absolutely essential in today’s privacy-driven society. Your guests will demand it, and so should you.

Ask questions like:

• Where is the data being stored?
• Are credit card payments being done through the system?

Make sure that the basic standards of PCI-DSS are met.

5. Ability to sell and market to guests efficiently

The distribution landscape has been evolving at an exponential rate with many OTAs, meta search engines, wholesalers, review sites, social media and aggregators entering the market.

This is why it is important to…

• Ensure your solution includes a reliable and powerful integrated channel manager
• To have a successful sales and marketing strategy, hotels cannot ignore channel management technology.A channel manager is necessary to connect to the online travel agencies (OTAs) and global distribution systems (GDSs) for real-time distribution of room inventory and dynamic room pricing.Choosing hotel management software that does not provide this functionality could result in a huge loss of revenue.
• Integrate social media and reputation management
• The hotel management system should provide a platform that will connect to your social media platforms and review sites like TripAdvisor easily.Check if it offers a Facebook booking button to encourage direct bookings from your hotel’s Facebook page.

6. Pricing Intelligence

A leading hotel management system should provide a platform that will help you monitor your comp-set in real-time. This includes the ability to be notified of pricing increases or decreases straight to your inbox.

Check if it offers a pricing intelligence tool that offers reliable and accurate data at the click of a button.

What is the price of the best hotel room management software?

The question of the “best” hotel room management software’s price isn’t straightforward, as it depends on various factors like the size of your hotel, the features you require, and the vendor’s pricing model.

Generally, the cost can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per month. Some vendors offer a per-room pricing model, which can be beneficial for larger hotels. Software like Cloudbeds, innRoad, and WebRezPro often state that their pricing is “available upon request,” indicating a custom pricing model based on your specific needs.

It’s also worth noting that some software providers – including SiteMinder – offer free trials, allowing you to test the software before committing in full. Always consider what features are essential for your operation—be it front office management, central reservations, or online booking capabilities—when evaluating the cost.

Pro-tip: Remember that some hotel management software providers have add-on features that cost more on top of the recurring subscription price. On the one hand, this means that you don’t have to pay for features you don’t want or need (yet). On the other, this can end up with crucial features being locked behind paywalls.

At SiteMinder, we use a transparent, tiered pricing system that clearly outlines what features you can expect. No matter what, you always get access to our channel manager, PMS integration, performance and pace insights, and 24/7 support.

Read more about our pricing structures.