The Independent Hotelier's Guide to Property Management System Selection

Wholesalers

The Hotel Sales Team work with Wholesalers to help fill their hotel rooms. A wholesaler will be provided with a special negotiated rate which is typically  based on the number of occupied rooms that are guaranteed to the hotel over a determined period of time.

Wholesaler functionality allows you to hold a block of rooms for a wholesaler, with the ability to book rooms out of the group block at previously negotiated rates that are offered to the wholesaler.

A wholesaler reservation is not the same as a typical reservation as it is necessary for a wholesaler to book reservations and obtain their preferred room rate while at the same time behind the scenes having their reservation take inventory from the block of rooms that have been assigned by the hotel wholesaler coordinator to their specific room block.

Here are functions that you may want to look for when evaluating the Wholesaler module of property management systems you are evaluating for your lodging business.

• Wholesaler confirmations.
• Wholesaler pickup reports.
• Pickup from Wholesaler block.
• Wholesaler statistical reports.
• Set pre-determined wholesaler rates.
• City Ledger/Account receivable billing.
• Ability to add additional hotel services.
• Group check-in entire group or individually.
• Group check-out entire group or individually.
• Ability to assign room numbers to reservations booked by wholesaler.
• Ability to quickly create ongoing wholesaler blocks for seasons or entire year.
• Ability to drop unbooked rooms from the block by set number of days prior to arrival date.
• Ability to split charges for incidentals and room and tax charges for wholesaler reservations.

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Guest History

Guest History is an important module with respect to how your business can build guest information and serve your customer better. If your lodging business is dedicated to keeping your existing customer base returning to your establishment then this is a very important module indeed.

Guest History is generally made up of guest contact information that is taken during the reservation process such as name, address, phone number, email address, and past guest stay information such as rates and room types booked on previous stays and the dates of those stays. It may also contain previous source of business information and market segment information which may indicate whether the guest is a AAA member, a corporate account member, was part of a convention or an independent traveller.

Guest history is also used to track special requests so this information can be used to anticipate guest needs and requests for future stays.  If a guest prefers a low floor or is allergic to feather pillows, it is helpful to record this information and recognize your guest’s needs for future bookings without them having to repeat these requests at the time of each booking.

Having the ability to export guest information such as email addresses for email marketing or guest names and addresses for special mail outs is necessary in today’s competitive world of guest lodging.

A number of property management systems have the ability for guest history to be interfaced with more detailed guest management systems that focus on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) which also encompasses guest loyalty systems.

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Groups

If you handle groups at your hotel you will require group functionality within your property management system. A group may be a tour group, wedding, corporate function, convention or an airline crew to name a few.  

Group functionality allows you to hold a block of rooms for a group, with the ability to enter a complete rooming list for the group or have guests book their own rooms individually out of the group block.

Group business can be big business so hoteliers are always looking for ways to make it easier for their group business customers to book their accommodation.

Providing the service for a group customer to be able to book their rooms online is now an essential service as far as most hoteliers are concerned.

A group reservation is not the same as a typical reservation as it is necessary for a group client to get their preferred room rate while at the same time behind the scenes having their reservation take inventory from the block of rooms that have been assigned by the hotel group coordinator to their specific group.

Here is an example, Bob and Sally have guaranteed the hotel that they will bring 250 wedding guests that will stay over at the hotel the night of their wedding. The hotel group coordinator has offered them a special rate based on Bob and Sallys guarantee that their wedding group will occupy 125 rooms.

The group coordinator provides Bob and Sally with a booking code that will be given out to their wedding guests. Their guests may phone direct to the hotel or book their own reservation using the online booking engine on the hotel web site.  By using their code during the booking process the room is taken out of the guaranteed block of 125 rooms and the guest gets a special room rate as part of the Bob and Sally wedding group.

Here are some more functions that you may want to look for when evaluating a property management system for your lodging business.

• Group confirmations and deposits
• Ability to split charges for incidentals and room and tax charges
• Master folio for Group and individual folios
• Group Notes
• Ability to add additional hotel services
• Ability to assign room numbers to group members
• Ability to import group rooming lists
• Pickup from Group Block
• City Ledger/Account receivable billing
• Group check-in entire group or individually
• Group check-out entire group or individually
• Ability to drop unbooked rooms from the block by set number of days prior to arrival date
• Group pickup reports
• Group statistical reports