It's been a few years since I posted, but I've regularly been on here reading :) I'm in the process of starting up a ~180 bed hostel in Cape Town together with some partners, and I've been researching a bunch of PMS/CM/IBE systems, largely thanks to the info found here. We were originally looking at Guest Centrix, but that doesn't appear to be available for African based businesses... I was wondering if anyone here would choose something different if they were starting up again from scratch?
Here's a summary of my research so far, in no particular order, though some of the comments might give away preferences:
PMS
Hostel Office: www.hosteloffice.com ; essentially a provider/reseller of Dorm Project (http://dormproject.ch) it looks like. Active commenter on these forums and seems to know what he's talking about.
Loventis: http://www.loventis.com/PropertyManagementSystem (their CM looks to be https://www.myallocator.com - not their own as it originally looks like). Site and interface not looking so spiffy.
Banana Desk: https://bananadesk.com - ties in with My Allocator. Clear pricing a $1 per month per bed.
Cloud Beds: https://www.cloudbeds.com - ties in with My Allocator (owns them?). Looks very easy to use (note to self; good websites sell!!). Free IBE, but no pricing on site.
Man Cloud: https://www.mancloud.eu/en - Looks nice and modern. .8 EUR per bed with optional extras. Ties in with MA.
Room Pillow: http://www.roompillow.com/home/#features - looks nice and very focused on hostels; possibly smallish - still around in a few years?!
Hostel System: http://www.hostelsystem.com - looks to have its own CM and IBE (2% commission). CM might be one of the below disguised? 55GBP p/m +
Charts: http://www.chartspms.com - used by Nomads, Jazz amongst others. Looks like it was built in 90s and no clear pricing. Have their own CM but also appear to link up to Siteminder.
Happy Booking - http://www.happybooking.se - Swedish system.
Room Key PMS: http://roomkeypms.com (doesn’t look like they are hostel focused, but system and site look GREAT!)
Web Res Pro: http://www.webrezpro.com/cloud-pms-hostels/ - for some reason the site does not inspire me with confidence.
CM
My Allocator: https://www.myallocator.com (17 per month regardless of size?) - links up with these PMS's https://www.myallocator.com/pms-connections/ . Has own (free) IBE it seems.
Site Minder: http://www.siteminder.com/channel-manager/ (more focused on hotels than hostels?) - has own booking system for site integration (The Booking Button). Works with a ton of PMS’s: http://www.siteminder.com/integrations/property-management-systems/ . 109 for the CM, 179 for CM + IBE
In short
Price is not the main focus here, but I have included it where I could easily find it (and also if hidden too much that's a negative in my book). The main focus is a great system that increases our rev/profit at the end of the day. I'm willing to pay more for GREAT vs good - this saves us time, and that pays for this many times over. We are going all out on this property and are focused on it being as ahead of its time as it can be, with a clear focus on personalization where it makes sense. I nicked this off another thread here and I feel similar:
What we are looking for is a comprehensive PMS with a good amount of features. We want all the basic features like guest profiles (for individuals and companies), easy room changes, CRM features, chance to sell the same room as different room types etc. and of course full integration to channel manager and/or individual channels.
What else we are looking for? Of course we are looking for a realiable partner, someone who will not be out of business in 6 months after we have changed our system. We need a software which can expanded when we grow (multi-property, door locking interfaces etc.). We are looking for a good and intuitive interface (Charts, come on! It's 2012!!)
Oh, and if you want to come and work with us, get in touch! :)
Log in to join discussion