Major hotels have traditionally relied on on-premise property management systems (PMSs), which required on-property servers, hardware as well as on-site IT expertise. While these systems were powerful and impressive for their time, they were also expensive, complicated pieces of software, which were out of reach for small and independent properties who have much smaller budgets.
However, SaaS Hotel Management Software has lowered the barrier to entry for small- to mid-size independent hotels, allowing them the opportunity to take advantage of ‘new’ technology that was once only available to large hotel brands with deep pockets. For small, independent hotel or a small B&B, cloud hotel software offers many advantages and opportunities – here are three such benefits;
- Cost: A huge consideration for any hotel, but in particular, for independents, is cost. Independents naturally have smaller budgets and the high initial costs associated with investing, upgrading and managing on-premise technology can be a deterrent to any small hotelier.
The biggest advantage of SaaS hotel management software is the impact it has on the hotel’s IT budgets. With a low cost to entry, cloud PMS provides independent hoteliers with access to powerful, modern, agile tools at an affordable rate. Not only do cloud solutions cut down on IT, maintenance, infrastructure and manpower costs meaning owners can reap faster returns on their investments, but set-up, training and retraining costs also are reduced.
- Real-Time Distribution and Expanded Reach: Another benefit to SaaS hotel management software, and an advantage that it has over legacy PMSs, is its ability to connect and distribute online room inventory in real time.
With a cloud PMS hoteliers have access to rate control & flexibility, advanced rate management, yield management, rate and stay restrictions etc. from a single point dashboard therefore allowing hoteliers to easily create, control and sell the right rates and packages at the right time to the right customers. There is also no need for manually checking and changing rates across channels – as the PMS will automatically update all rate information across all channels in real time.
- Improve Guest Services: Nowadays, many guests manage most aspects of their lives and travel from their mobile device and as a result expect such self-service capabilities when it comes to their hotel stay. Cloud based PMS solutions allow hoteliers to connect with their guests through their preferred method of communication and offer self-service options such as check-ins, upgrade offers, payment etc.
On the flip side, cloud based PMS solutions enable hotels to gather and analyse guest information, meaning not only can managers view guest profiles, history and reservations allowing them to accurately forecast demand and scale guest services accordingly, but the system is designed to collate all folio information to create loyalty-generating offers.
Using newer mobile technologies results in a better customer experience and increased guest satisfaction. This increased satisfaction equates to positive reviews and positive reviews equate to repeat business and loyal customers.
SaaS doesn’t just offer independent hoteliers a horde of advantages, it gives them a competitive edge; it levels the playing field with the larger brands and chains and enables hoteliers to plug in to the global online marketplace. It also enables independent hotel owners stay up-to-date with the latest technology, meet their guest needs resulting in more efficient hotel operations, increase guest wallet share and customer satisfaction.
