16 years
See also the website booking integration directory (not complete, but a work in progress).
:)
Software for taking online bookings
Front Desk Operations
What kinds of software or services do people use to take bookings through your own Web sites?
Here are some that I know about:
- hostelworld
- powerhostels (hostelbookers)
- ASSD
- worldhostelguide.com
Are there others that people have used and would recommend?
I'm especially interested in services that run on hostels' own Web sites and that can handle taking bookings at multiple locations.
- Comments
16 years
More like 500 bookings. There are always lots for bookings for 6-10 persons for 4-7 nights.
Indeed, that makes it easier! Also it means 2,5 minutes per booking on an average 8,5 bednights for the two weeks though. And that's if both of you can work at the same time. If you alone would do it, it would be five minutes per booking, so regarding my calculation it costs you estimated 2000EUR a month just for taking care of reservations manually.
Night staffers handling reservations is a good idea, at least they are not there to Counter Strike all night! Although people don't work as efficient during the night. Are you providing free Red Bulls for them as well? ;)
Let me know if my calculations are incorrect...
How about having a user friendly processing method so you would have more trust about it? :)
You have to email those people and ask them what they actually intended to book and then try to straighten that out.
Maybe it would be avoidable if HW would offer a messaging interface? So the guests would be able to contact the hostel from their booking profile and request for bed changes? Maybe taking extra deposit for changing bookings so they won't lose the business when people don't make extra reservations?
Would it be so hard and senseless?
Anyway, I love that job every year. There are two good reasons why we do it that way, too:
1. I don´t want to be booked up two years in advance.
2. Nearly all of the Oktoberfest bookings come through our booking engine on our own site, so we get most of the deposits back.
I've checked your website and it is integrated with HW, which means you have the same availabilities with the main site and the same chance to get booked by both engines, so as you said you get the 50% share between these two channels. That's an average 6.25% commission. With a good marketing campaign and a free booking engine, you could get all bookings from your site, save as much as well. Money talks, innit?
We just enter Name and ref number, which can be copy&pasted. That´s very quick.
Quick but doesn't have any statistic data or contact details integrated. So if you need anything like that, you would need to login to your inbox. Also get any details or reports done manually, like the one about ages, travelling habits or arrival/destination cities...
The only automatisation I´d accept is that the raw data of the bookings is downloaded and I only assign bed numbers to each booking.
I guess that's what we all looking for. A customizable, universal software which would solve all our problems! :)
Yes we do. We have a geek here in Vienna. Anyway, the hostels in Munich and Berlin insist on doing it manually. If they prefer to waste their time I don´t care.
Well it is up to your company how much do you want to spend on things like that but especially large companies suffer from cost increases. It is always good to think about cost efficiency before it's going to be too late and you have to cut the costs dramatically. Not talking about your successful company but in general.
Well, they do inform them.
Well, they could do a bit better then. I've seen it, it suffers from the fineprint effect, even if it's written in red.
There are plenty of things we, hostels could recommend to HW how things could be done better. Although worried about the one legged market we rely on.
That´s basically right. Still - if they really wanted to be so customer-friendly - do you seriously believe that Hostelbookers would provide Hostelworld the information needed to build an automatic interface between BPO and the Hostelbookers inbox? I doubt that.
I doubt that either. HW and HB are competition on the BEs, even if not competition on the hospitality software market.
Although the best thing would have been if someone could have made a very fast step providing software integration, before BPO was introduced, so HW wouldn't be aware of BPO's competition, hence BPO wasn't out that time!
It's a kind of cold war between BE's and BPO is HW's neutron bomb. So the worst step would be if HB would introduce a software. That would not help the situation at all. A joint pressure from hostels on the engines could solve this feature, although need to join and step up first.
It would require a lot of diplomacy without interfere interests to clear this situation. That's why I recommend an independent environment, probably open source. Or a lots of cash to pay the geeks to make it.
Oh, competition is pushing them. I told them more than once "look at that cool feature Hostelbookers has" and then they adopted it. Example: you allocate beds per category since last year, not rooms.
That's more likely Klaus-pushing, not the competition! :D
IMHO, if HW would listen to what hostels say, everyone would like HW.
Overall, at least we know what our guests need or complain about!
Will see, I dropped some e-mails to them, let's see what they answer!
I don´t think anyone cares that much. I doubt that there are a lot of travellers who deliberately use HB because they don´t like HW or vice versa. They want to book a bed. Same for hostels: they want to get bookings.
I'd look a bit beyond... Overall no one like hassles, over bookings, complications and headache. Even if HW provides the most of the bookings, they make the most headache as well. Maybe it is the same percent of errors for all engines though just didn't come out as frequent on the others? :D
The more smooth and secured things are, the more people gonna like it. It's a simple receipt.
So let's clarify your statement if you don't mind: People want hassle free bookings, just like hostels as well.
You are right. I´m sorry for Plakian that he has to start as a Virgin Mary every year. I´m not at all sorry for those crap summer hostels.
So who would lose on this deal then? Only the bad ones... Any ideas why did they change it to 6 months from the total show before?
BTW, Mary was no virgin. The popes only tell you that because they hate sex!
I disagree. You have to believe that Mary was virgin (which means no doubt about it), just like you have to believe that HW will be No.1 of all times! :p
You are right, there are obvious signs they are overworked there. I don´t feel too guilty about being more equal than others though. We´re a big customer after all. I bet we also buy our beer kegs a lot cheaper than Hostel Ruthensteiner - because we buy much more beer kegs.
I also think it´s not only about our size. Indeed working with the same person helps a lot (that´s luck on our part), but I make an effort to give them constructive input on how they can improve. I think they appreciate it.
IMHO, there are people (especially your contact buddies), who remember you from the beginnings when HW was small. At least you supported them from the beginning (since '99) and you were one of the first hostels (all right, 730th) who implemented their system for secured reservations!
Also I guess you have a flight pass to Dublin... :D
I think the hostels won´t be the problem, but somebody actually has to do the job - geeks. Tell me about your Krakow geek, I tell you about ours, maybe we set them up with each other and nine months later ... a good software! :D
I'll PM you today with more details. :cool:
Ah, now I know what you mean! Right! Very odd. I´ll tell them about that.
Thanks for that! I hope they will listen to you more than to the rest of us!
16 years
Indeed, that makes it easier! Also it means 2,5 minutes per booking on an average 8,5 bednights for the two weeks though. And that's if both of you can work at the same time. If you alone would do it, it would be five minutes per booking, so regarding my calculation it costs you estimated 2000EUR a month just for taking care of reservations manually.
Night staffers handling reservations is a good idea, at least they are not there to Counter Strike all night! Although people don't work as efficient during the night. Are you providing free Red Bulls for them as well? ;)
Let me know if my calculations are incorrect...
Well - like I said, Oktoberfest bookings are always very messy. That´s why everything takes so long. And because any Oktoberfest booking mistake is absolutely fatal (no way to find other accomodation if you´re overbooked) we don´t let the receptionists to do them.
No way a normal HW booking takes 5 minutes.
Maybe it would be avoidable if HW would offer a messaging interface? So the guests would be able to contact the hostel from their booking profile and request for bed changes? Maybe taking extra deposit for changing bookings so they won't lose the business when people don't make extra reservations?
Would it be so hard and senseless?
I guess that would just be another source of mistakes. When they have a booking, they have the hostel´s email address - that´s sufficient.
I've checked your website and it is integrated with HW, which means you have the same availabilities with the main site and the same chance to get booked by both engines, so as you said you get the 50% share between these two channels. That's an average 6.25% commission. With a good marketing campaign and a free booking engine, you could get all bookings from your site, save as much as well. Money talks, innit?
For Oktoberfest, nearly 100% of the bookings are "own bookings" - because we don´t mention in HW we release Oktoberfest beds on June 1st - only on our own website.
As for all the other bookings: We would never be able to get the amount of bookings just from our own site that we get from HW. During Summer, that wouldn´t matter, because we would still fill up. During Winter, getting 90% (for a HW booking) is much better than getting 0% (for no booking at all).
You are basically right with your calculation insofar as we could completely cut out HW during times we fill up anyway and only use them to sell Winter beds. Anyway, we decided we are nice to them and somewhat expect they are nice to us in return. Which seems to work.
Quick but doesn't have any statistic data or contact details integrated. So if you need anything like that, you would need to login to your inbox. Also get any details or reports done manually, like the one about ages, travelling habits or arrival/destination cities...
That´s true, but I´ll never expect receptionists to enter correct statistical data into the reception software anyway. I had to do that when I worked in my first hostel. There was a code for every country a guest came from. Some receptionists never bothered and entered "01" for Germany all the time. Result: useless data.
It´s not much effort to get data from the HW inbox and at least I know it´s correct.
I guess that's what we all looking for. A customizable, universal software which would solve all our problems! :)
Exactly.
Well it is up to your company how much do you want to spend on things like that but especially large companies suffer from cost increases. It is always good to think about cost efficiency before it's going to be too late and you have to cut the costs dramatically. Not talking about your successful company but in general.
Well. It is a topic here. I´m glad we have the geek and his software to synchronize. Anyway, synchronizing allocation is not such a drama when you have many beds - and know you´ll sell 20-30 every day to walk-ins anyway.
Well, they could do a bit better then. I've seen it, it suffers from the fineprint effect, even if it's written in red.
True.
There are plenty of things we, hostels could recommend to HW how things could be done better. Although worried about the one legged market we rely on.
They don´t perceive it as one-legged (believe me) - that´s the most important thing. They know a dotcom business can go down the toilet just as quick as one can rise. If they would really think they rule the world they would just increase the commission to 20%. They don´t and they are convinced they can´t.
I doubt that either. HW and HB are competition on the BEs, even if not competition on the hospitality software market.
Although the best thing would have been if someone could have made a very fast step providing software integration, before BPO was introduced, so HW wouldn't be aware of BPO's competition, hence BPO wasn't out that time!
It's a kind of cold war between BE's and BPO is HW's neutron bomb. So the worst step would be if HB would introduce a software. That would not help the situation at all. A joint pressure from hostels on the engines could solve this feature, although need to join and step up first.
It´s indeed the neutron bomb. It could be devastating, so I´m somewhat surprised they don´t pour more resources into BPO.
It would require a lot of diplomacy without interfere interests to clear this situation. That's why I recommend an independent environment, probably open source. Or a lots of cash to pay the geeks to make it.
Nobody will ever spend a lot of cash on that so a minimal open source thing designed to grow snowball-like is the only hope I have.
That's more likely Klaus-pushing, not the competition! :D
Well, OK. Both. :D
IMHO, if HW would listen to what hostels say, everyone would like HW.
Overall, at least we know what our guests need or complain about!
Will see, I dropped some e-mails to them, let's see what they answer!I'd look a bit beyond... Overall no one like hassles, over bookings, complications and headache. Even if HW provides the most of the bookings, they make the most headache as well. Maybe it is the same percent of errors for all engines though just didn't come out as frequent on the others? :D
You are right, there are frequent weird errors. They need more and better geeks. I think they WOULD listen, but don´t have enough ears. Or maybe ears, but not hands to act on what they hear.
The more smooth and secured things are, the more people gonna like it. It's a simple receipt.
So let's clarify your statement if you don't mind: People want hassle free bookings, just like hostels as well.
Agreed. Both want hassle-free. Hostels want MANY bookings in addition.
So who would lose on this deal then? Only the bad ones... Any ideas why did they change it to 6 months from the total show before?
It wasn´t a total show before. The avg rating was calculated from the last 50 ratings before. Just like HB still does it.
You are right though. Only the crap summer hostels would really lose.
I disagree. You have to believe that Mary was virgin (which means no doubt about it), just like you have to believe that HW will be No.1 of all times! :p
Good point! :D
I don´t believe in any dogmas, don´t worry.
IMHO, there are people (especially your contact buddies), who remember you from the beginnings when HW was small. At least you supported them from the beginning (since '99) and you were one of the first hostels (all right, 730th) who implemented their system for secured reservations!
Also I guess you have a flight pass to Dublin... :D
I have been in Dublin .... ONCE! Honestly! :)
II'll PM you today with more details. :cool:
Many, many thanks for that story!
16 years
Hello,
I am the GM at Sir Toby's Hostel in Prague, and also a partner of WorldHostelGuide.com which provides the booking engine known as 'Max'.
Max was conceived by well traveled hostel owners/managers and introduced to the market in late 2004. The idea of Max was to create a booking engine which allowed hostels (and all accommodation types) to receive secure on-line bookings directly via their own website. Even further, to allow the property to set their own cancellation policies, room types & descriptions and to adjust settings to their own needs. Another main point in the conception of Max was that the property should receive 100% of the booking value; there should not be a commission paid on direct bookings and based on your own marketing work.
We are constantly working on adding new features and options for Max users - hostels, hotels, B&Bs, campsites, etc and of course for the guests who make bookings via it. We take feedback and suggestions very seriously and look to implement those which improve Max. It is an ongoing project!
Max operates on a 1 Euro booking fee per reservation. This fee is paid by the guest and is a flat rate, no matter how many beds/rooms, people, # nights or value of the booking. The guests credit card is verified by Max, and only bookings with valid card details are accepted.
It is the responsibility of the property to maintain availabilities, prices and all data, and to honour all bookings made via Max.
Max is simple to set up and to use. I have been working with Max since 2005 alongside booking portals - HW, HB, Gomio, HC, HT, etc and I joined the team because I believe in Max!
Using software provided by booking portals on your own website costs you money. Not only do you pay a percentage commission (around 2.5%), but in some cases your guest also pays an additional booking fee! On top of that you have extra accounting and bank fees to receive the payback.
Max does not cost anything for you to use. Feel free to open an account and look around the Admin centre. To register visit https://secure.worldhostelguide.com/signUp.php
If you would like more information, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Happy hosteling!
Satya Turner
[email][email protected][/email]
[email][email protected][/email]
16 years
check out Online Systems out of Australia.
We were their first North American customer. It has it's drawbacks but i think has a lot more advantages.
Only downside is they don't have an Ops manual. But we wrote an extensive one and for our use.
If you end up using them, I'd be willing to talk deal for a copy of it. :)
16 years
check out Online Systems out of Australia.
I googled it and it's Charts again.
The biggest problem with Charts' Backpacker PMS, IMHO is it's user interface still belongs to the eighties. 16 colors, keyboard combinations and lots of tabs, and plenty of restrictions. :eek:
No one uses CGA video cards anymore, we are in the 21st century! Click, click, click... all mouse. And please make it compatible with at least XP. I couldn't even exit the software at the first time, had to remove it from task manager... as I supposed to login if I want to log out. Not very user friendly.
Albeit the Charts Portal could be interesting... combining plenty engines on one surface.
Too bad, I just talked to Hostelbookers few days ago and they said there is no official contract between them and any softwares yet. Anyone claimed they have access has been banned. Updates are coming in few months as they consider it as their highest priority for their hostel partners. It was an excellent service! :)
16 years
yeah, i know it seems that way...but it's really easy to use and there's not a lot of windows open at the same time.
we used to use a windows based system - mouse clicks and all and switched to this.
16 years
hehehe - not sure why i find it funny - but i decided not long ago to give charts the ass before we even actually introduced it. ive used it as a front desky and hated it... with a passion. from the back office POV, it certainly has its benefits but its just too damn unuser-friendly for my liking. no way can i be bothered training someone for that long on a program i hated using myself.
wht are we using? hostelpower right now, but switching to Backpack Online very soon.
16 years
what are we using? hostelpower right now, but switching to Backpack Online very soon.
Anything you want to share about your experiences of HostelPower and why you want to switch to BPO?
16 years
hostelpower WILL be great. the idea is there, its intuitive, well laid out... its just got a lot of bugs. it was developed part time but the guy from Stranger Hostels and he definately knows what he's trying to make but it simply needs more work. the cash up feature constantly crashes, switching beds doesnt lock dates into bookings, we could never get the HW/Gomio bookings to download...
give it to a couple of full time developers for 6months and it'll be arguably the best system out there... its just not quite there yet.
why switch to BPO? well, its stable. most of our bookings come through HW, so i dont have to monitor allocations too closely or worry about staff screwing up bookings (how hard can it be? seriously, some people do my head in. not for much longer though ;) ), i can access it from anywhere.
its not perfect by any means but id rather have a system thats constanly improving - HW have 2 full time developers for it - theres good support... its just easier at the end of the day.
all of that said, i'll be keeping my eyes on HostelPower and when it gets up to scratch (rather than just having a LOAD of potential) id be very tempted to switch back. but right now, its not stable enough and has a few too many weird little bugs/quirks.
Pages
Related Pages
Log in to join discussion