The hospitality industry encompasses a lot of different businesses, but the core focus centers around customer satisfaction. This naturally involves dealing with lots of customer complaints and requests, which can quickly get overwhelming.
Fortunately, you can combat this issue by using hospitality software (like Fetch!) to streamline guest communications, deliver memorable experiences, and improve your services.
But every hospitality tool has a specialty. And the right tool for you will vary based on the type of business you run. But don’t worry — we’ll be introducing you to a range of tools in this article, so you’re sure to find one that fits your needs.
Ready to get started? Let’s dive in.
What Is Hospitality Software?
Hospitality software refers to any tool or platform that helps businesses in the hospitality sector manage and streamline their work—whether that’s by automating:
- Inventory updates
- Sending messages
- Checking guests in or out
- Generating reports and data analysis
- Processing payments
- Accepting reservations
In the hotel industry specifically, the purpose of hospitality software is ultimately to elevate your guest experience by streamlining things like customer communication and ticketing.
How Can Hospitality Software Benefit Your Hotel?
Increase Bookings
Hospitality software can provide you with an efficient booking engine, which makes it easier for customers to book your service. This enhances your overall guest engagement and can increase the number of bookings you receive.
Streamline Processes
Hospitality software exists to make your work easier by automating tasks like reporting, support ticket management, and more. Streamlining these processes is a great strategy for improving hotel operations — both in terms of efficiency and cost savings.
Greatly Reduce Manual Errors and Double Bookings
Automation can reduce the number of manual errors since there’s less human input involved — especially when it comes to numbers and data. You can ensure your inventory is always accurate with automatic updates, which helps you avoid issues like double bookings.
Things to Consider When Choosing Your Hospitality Software
Understand Your Team’s Requirements (and Goals)
Any hospitality software you choose has to meet (or exceed) your team’s expectations and requirements. They’re the ones who will be using it the most, after all! Ask them what they hope to get out of using hospitality software, and use that information to pick the right tool.
Look for Flexibility
Your hospitality software should be accessible from anywhere to accommodate team members who work from home. You may also need access during travels or conferences, where you’re outside the workplace. Consider cloud-based tools and prioritize mobile compatibility.
Flexible pricing can also be a significant factor, depending on the size of your hotel and its current growth trajectory.
Avoid Sacrificing Key Features
Your hospitality software needs to support your short- and long-term business goals. With that in mind, always look at what features the software offers before committing. Will they support your operations in their current state? Will they continue to support your operations as they evolve?
Best Hospitality Software For Your Hotel
Below, we’ve got a list of the best hospitality software that can help you improve guest satisfaction — this saves you the trouble of researching all of them yourself.
If you’re in a rush, here are the tools we’re going to cover:
- Fetch: A Guest Engagement Platform
- WebRezPro: A Cloud PMS & Hospitality Software
- Cloudbeds: An Efficient Hospitality Management System
- Lodgify: A Website Builder & Vacation Rental Software
- Hostaway: A Vacation Rental & Airbnb Management Software
Now, let’s dive into the details!
1. Fetch: A Guest Engagement Platform
Here at Fetch, we cover all bases for guest engagement, including real-time messaging, ticketing, bookings, and more.
We keep our interface simple and easy to use, so anyone can pick it up and become a pro within minutes. We specifically target independent hotel businesses, helping them deliver memorable experiences for their guests.
Key Features
- Analytics: Fetch provides analytics on guest satisfaction, using a mix of ratings and comments so you can better understand what made your customers happy.
- Ticketing: You can set real-time alerts, badges, and reminders for team members when support tickets need their attention. This involves tagging staff, custom checklists, 2-way texts/emails, and more.
- Centralized Dashboard: Guests can contact your hotel with a custom local number and receive immediate support. Handle feedback, requests, and more from one central dashboard, providing complete visibility for your whole team.
Pricing
Fetch offers custom pricing that’s tailored to your specific business needs. To get an accurate price, you have to submit a request detailing some information about yourself and your hotel.
Fetch Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Custom pricing
- You can request a meeting
- 1-tap surveys
- Real-time messaging
- Centralized dashboard
- Streamlined ticketing system
- Analytics
- Low learning curve
- ROI calculator
Cons:
- No free trial
- Only targets hotels
2. WebRezPro: A Cloud PMS & Hospitality Software
WebRezPro is an award-winning PMS (property management system) that focuses on increasing your bookings and streamlining hotel operations. While the tool is designed for hotels, it also works well for B&Bs, vacation rentals, campgrounds, and more.
Key Features
- Integrated Accounting: WebRezPro’s integrated accounting tool makes it easy to manage your revenue, with features like trial balance and profit/loss. They also offer PMS tools, such as custom email templates and guest search, to streamline communications.
- Reporting: They automatically sync and track your data across different operations, which improves the accuracy of your reporting and speeds up the whole process. These reports can be exported to Excel, printed, or emailed.
- Booking Engine: They provide you with a commission-free booking engine, which includes bookable maps, slideshows, add-ons, and more.
Pricing
You can get a free quote by submitting a pricing request. The price will vary based on the size of your business, what kind of operations you run, and so on. There are no system setup fees or user limitations, and contracts are renewed on an annual basis.
Certain properties can qualify for discounts, including:
- Properties with over 100 units
- Hostels
- Campgrounds
- Marinas and boat slips
WeBrezPro Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Custom pricing
- Cloud-based system
- Large property discount
- No setup fees
- Commission-fee booking engine
- Free payment gateway integration
- Unlimited users
Cons:
- No free trial
- No discounts for hotels
- Doesn’t work well on mobile
- Interface is difficult to navigate
3. Cloudbeds: An Efficient Hospitality Management System
Cloudbeds is a cloud-based management tool for hotels, which helps you manage bookings, payments, housekeeping, and more. They aim to simplify the admin side of things so staff can focus more on catering to their guests.
Key Features
- Property Management: Cloudbeds’ intuitive calendar is made to simplify front desk operations. You can block room availability, upgrade guests, update room inventory, and more.
- Channel Manager: Share your inventory across multiple booking channels, such as Airbnb and Booking.com, with no added commission fees.
- Revenue Management: Increase your revenue with PIE (a.k.a., Cloudbed’s Pricing Intelligence Engine). Use customizable rules and automation to adjust your rate strategy and optimize your pricing.
Pricing
Cloudbeds offers custom quotes, which vary from business to business. There are two distinct pricing tiers available:
- Professional: premium support
- Complete: advanced features & exclusive support
You can complete a request form to get a personalized quote and demo.
Cloudbeds Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Free demo
- Custom pricing
- Accommodates multiple types of properties (e.g., B&Bs, hotels, etc.)
- Intuitive calendar
- Can share inventory across 300+ booking channels
- Automates revenue management
- Cloud-based platform
Cons:
- No way to add tax or service charges at the end of bills
- Sharing inventory with other channels can block your calendars
4. Lodgify: A Website Builder & Vacation Rental Software
Lodgify is a hospitality software that specifically targets vacation rentals. They give property owners an easy way to create their website, where they can manage online bookings effortlessly. Lodgify has tools for businesses of any size, so you can benefit from their service regardless of how many properties you own.
Key Features
- Property Management Software: Lodgify’s PMS lets you track your bookings, guest communications, finances, and more all from one centralized platform.
- Website Builder: You can easily build a bookable rental website even with no technical skills. Make use of their professional and mobile-friendly templates, all of which include an integrated booking engine.
- Channel Management: Sync all your listings and calendars across multiple channels to avoid double bookings.
Pricing
Lodgify offers four paid plans:
- Lite ($0/month + 3.9% booking fee)
- Starter ($13/month + 1.9% booking fee)
- Professional ($38/month)
- Ultimate ($59/month)
Choose between monthly, yearly, or two-year contracts. If you have over 100 rental properties, you can request a custom plan.
Lodgify Pros and Cons
Pros:
- 7-day free trial
- No setup fees
- Custom plan available
- Suitable for small and large businesses
- Easy-to-use website builder
- Mobile-friendly templates
Cons:
- Booking fees included in the cheaper plans
- Channel manager can be faulty
5. Hostaway: A Vacation Rental & Airbnb Management Software
Hostaway is a vacation rental software that centers around property management and automation. They also function as an Airbnb management system, with award-winning customer support and over 100 integrated software partners.
Key Features
- Advanced Reporting: Receive customizable reports based on your KPIs for hotels, vacation rentals, and short-term rentals.
- Marketing: Hostaway’s booking engine lets you build your website and customize it to your liking. Keep your information up-to-date across connected sales channels and even create custom coupons for all your marketing needs.
- Automation: Schedule messages to be sent via text, email, or WhatsApp for various events.
Pricing
Hostaway provides customized pricing based on the number of units needed. Contact them to get more information about their pricing.
Hostaway Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Free demo
- Custom pricing
- Automates messages
- Customized coupons
- Advanced reporting
- Ease of use
Cons:
- Response time delays
- Constant double bookings
Conclusion
Hospitality software is crucial to running a modern, streamlined hotel, where guest satisfaction and communication are keys aspects of daily operations.
At Fetch, we help independent hotels optimize their guest engagement efforts with a range of tools like centralized ticketing, guest messaging, 1-tap surveys, and more. The result is a hotel that functions like a well-oiled machine — providing your guests with the best possible experience.
Want to learn more? Book a meeting and see how Fetch can elevate your business.
