Some of the best hotels and hotel chains worldwide use PMS systems to boost their services and conquer the market. A hotel property management system is meant to help hoteliers with critical business operations and enhance the guest experience from multiple points of view.

In fact, a good PMS system may even help hotels boost their sales with competitive prices around the market. Traditionally, hotel property management software systems didn’t extend beyond the front desk operations.

Nowadays, they are even more critical and encompass all parts of hotel management. Here is everything you need to know about hotel PMS systems and how they can benefit your business.

What Is the Meaning and Purpose of a Hotel Property Management System

A hotel property management system deals with all aspects of hotel business operations, including offering superior guest experiences. Property management system PMS software enables the hotel staff to deal with issues such as:

• Front office management
• Booking reservations
• Guest check-ins and check-outs
• Room assignment
• Managing room rates and billing
• Distribution channel management
• Competitor analysis, special deals and offers, and many things

When property management system PMS software was introduced in the hotel industry, it replaced many time-consuming and paper-intensive processes, which slowed down the front desk operations.

Hotel PMS systems allowed staff to do their work more easily and efficiently, with features such as mobile housekeeping among many others.

With the gained time, the staff can now focus even more on delivering a great experience for their guests, improving your hotel business even more.

What Is the Difference Between POS and PMS Systems?

Hotels use the POS system to manage their restaurants or boutique stocks.

The hotel PMS can be used to manage room inventory, and the software will notify you what room is ready for guests or if it needs to be cleaned.

For example, you will receive notifications when a table is available or booked. The latest PMS solutions already integrate the POS system as part of their many features.

No matter where your POS systems are placed, the PMS system can control each and every one of them.

With such monitorisation, hoteliers can easily make special offers on their features, such as bars, restaurants, and others for their guests and enhance their business and customer experience. No one likes to be told that they can’t pay in a certain way.

What Are the Benefits of Using Hotel Property Management Systems?

The PMS hotel software combines several work environments that truly encapsulate the meaning of a modern hotel. Cloud-based PMS software allows users to perform various tasks from a distance and on time.

Some PMS systems can be used on mobile devices as well. All you need for the mobile app to work is a good internet connection.

The old limitations of hardware or location are no longer an issue like in the old days, but there are so many more advantages. Here are some of the best benefits of using hotel property management systems:

Better Housekeeping With Mobile Notifications

Room availability and other administrative tasks depend directly on how fast the freed rooms are cleaned and ready to assign to other guests. With hotel PMS software, you can increase your housekeeping services. The staff will receive mobile updates in real-time when customers check out.

Hotels can have better flexibility regarding room management and response time for room-service tasks.

PMS software allows you to deal more efficiently with room maintenance needs, ensuring that rooms are clean and in good condition at a fast pace.

For example, the housekeeping staff will be alerted right away if you have guests arriving earlier. They can organize quicker than before to clean the rooms as needed.

Hotel Check-Ins and Check Outs

No matter where you are, you can take care of your guests and business with a mobile-enabled cloud-based PMS.

All you need is a reliable internet connection. PMS services will help your front-desk staff deal with online booking easier and the system makes it so much more accessible with guest check-ins and check-outs.

All your guest data will be stored and used later to create guest profiles that the front office can use to make special offers – so they will ‘never checkout‘.

Integrated Hotel Back-Office Systems

A reliable cloud-based property management system positively influences payment processing, billings, and improved revenue management systems, making it even easier for the back office and front office to work in tandem.

You can use the PMS to connect operations and financial processes, such as payable accounts, receivable accounts, payment gateways, and other hotel industry applications or property infrastructure devices. This will allow your hotel to issue faster and more reliable billing for your guests.

Increased Room Occupancy and ADR

Hotel property management systems help with room occupancy and ADR by providing real-time rates.

The management across distribution channels will also help you boost sales through direct booking channels on your main hotel website.

Most hotels can’t benefit from online booking at its full capacity without a PMS system. This software is designed specifically for your business.

For example, if there are events in your city or other factors that play a key role in your offers, the PMS system will change your prices accordingly across all distribution channels.

Guest Data

Hotel property management systems also play a significant role in centralising and securing customer data.

You can use it to improve the quality and accuracy of your guest profiles through reports and analytics.

This software will help you get a better picture of customer buying patterns, and this will help you in creating more targeted packages and services to boost your business.

You can work creatively with your point-of-sales services and the PMS to provide guests with a fantastic experience.

When using hotel property management systems to secure guest data, ensure that it complies with national and international data-compliance rules and regulations.

These features might also help your hotel business avoid common booking frauds.

Guest data can help you make special offers to loyal clients, or keep the bad clients away if needed.

Employee Productivity and Engagement Boost

A cloud-based hotel property management system will be less likely to deal with errors commonly encountered in the hospitality industry.

Staff training and daily operations can be managed more efficiently with user-friendly interfaces that facilitate training.

Routine administrative tasks that can be automated will be automated, saving your hotel staff plenty of hours which they can use to focus on adding value to your brand instead and taking care of guests.

Any modern PMS system will also have a mobile app that handles multiple tasks by various programs accessible from one central location. The management will work more efficiently if all the data is in one place.

For example, your employees will have the power to access, update, and track all relevant information across all departments, including multiple property locations.

Since mobile apps allow for greater flexibility, they can do so from any location. The employees will be able to collaborate and work together more efficiently than ever before.

That sense of teamwork transpires the physical world into the digital world where everything is monitored and checked to the benefit of all parties involved.

Increased Cybersecurity

Online booking isn’t as safe as direct bookings as many cybercriminals are after personal information, selling it online. However, with cloud PMS, you don’t have to worry.

Your hotel PMS is securely backed up and encrypted. Your hotel’s data will be stored in the cloud, where the latest security measures and technologies protect it.

This data can be downloaded and analysed anytime, even if one computer/laptop is stolen or broken down. The data can be exported in various formats when needed.

All the PMS data remains online and easily accessible to the hotel PMS users, and any errors or inconveniences won’t slow down your business and management.

Although the property management system is highly secured online, you can always opt for an additional safety feature, namely, a VPN. With a VPN, all your employees and guests will have their online data encrypted.

A fake IP address will take over the real one, and would-be attackers won’t be able to tell the difference. Having sound cybersecurity in the hotel industry is something more and more guests pay attention to.

Better Guest Experience

Customer experience is enhanced right away when your hotel becomes a cloud hotel. Hotel operations and administrative tasks are automated, leading to consistently delivering quality services.

Hotel PMS is also built to remember customer preferences. The PMS will combine both customer preferences and feedback and relay it to your employees. This, together with customer feedback analysis, is a recipe for success.

This can help them offer a better guest experience, which is another fantastic feature of this hotel management software.

The front office will be more than grateful, and guests will be awed once they see that their opinions are considered and applied to their future stays.

Made for All Types of Properties

PMS systems can be used for big properties and small properties alike. Some work for bigger venues, others for small ones, and some are designed for multi-property management systems of all sizes.

All the functions of a PMS system can be applied to properties such as:

• All types of hotels, resorts, or condos
• Villas and vacation rentals
• Campgrounds or marina-resortsHotel properties can benefit from PMS solutions no matter how many rooms they might have.Some PMS systems work for hotels with 50 rooms, 500 rooms, or both. The revenue management systems offered by hotel PMS can help properties of all sizes to optimise their room rates, availability, special offers, and more!

What Are the Top Must-Have Features Of a Hotel Management System?

A modern hotel PMS software can be a game changer for any hotel that wants to stay at the top of the game.

A PMS software should be able to combine various work environments into one single piece of software accessible to all employees.

Not all hotel property management systems have the same functionalities and modules. It all depends on what your business needs the most.

However, there are some top must-have features that any hotel management system should have. Here is what you should look for:

User Friendly Interface

One of the key aspects when deciding on a hotel PMS system is the user interface. If you have a complicated software that’s hard to learn, you and your employees will loose precious time.

Instead, you should opt for a hotel PMS system with a user-friendly interface that staff can quickly learn and use, which will overall reduce the likelihood of errors as well.

Some of the best PMS solutions are self service, meaning they can help streamline various operations and tasks for hotel businesses, such as allowing guests to check in faster than ever before.

These PMS platforms are easy to use, learn, train your staff, and can be operated even from a mobile device through mobile apps.

The good news is that some of the best PMS systems are user-friendly, so you don’t have to worry about how hard it will be to train your staff to use it.

Front Desk Operations & Reservation System

Every top property management system should have a reservation system with all the inventory information and dates. They must be integrated with the website booking engine and other distribution channels.

No matter how good a hotel PMS is, it needs to be user-friendly as stated above to reduce the likelihood of errors.

The dashboards that display the current and upcoming reservations must be easy to understand for hotel management. The ability to check room availability and status is key to any successful PMS.

Keeping track of reservations and guests and easily moving them as needed is also essential. Thus, when you are looking for a top property management system, their module should be able to do the following:

• Verify check-ins and check-outs
• Issue key cards as needed
• Has room location tracking
• Can manage room-related requests
• Processes payments and issues receipts to customers
• Can perform night and shift audits securely

The faster the hotel staff can learn to use the PMS, the better for your business. Properties should use a PMS system designed for their overall capacity.

A property management system that can’t handle the number of rooms you have you have won’t do anyone any good.

Distribution Channel Management

Another top feature of a sound hotel property management system is the distribution channel management integration.

Every hotel needs visibility across different audiences. Many hospitality businesses need to be visible across multiple online distribution channels to achieve this.

Hotel bookings come from various places, such as the hotel’s main website, travel websites, mobile applications, travel agents, corporate clients and airlines, and many other sources.

With its channel manager features, the hotel property management system can help expand the hotel’s reach across the web as it can manage multiple channels.

A top PMS can integrate online travel agencies (OTAs) and global distribution systems (GDSs) and enable your available listing rooms and rates to appear everywhere and through third-party booking partners.

The channel manager can update everything in real-time without delays.

An online channel manager can control the distribution channels if a centralised hotel booking engine handles direct sales. With such features, manual management is no longer required as it can facilitate booking-related transactions.

The channel manager software can connect directly to the reservation system and offers a single interface to control and share inventories across all the channels.

In this way, bookings are synchronised; therefore, room availability is constantly updated accordingly and accurately in real-time across all channels.

The PMS will also ensure consistency regarding your hotel’s rates and discounts.

Maintenance Management & Housekeeping

Housekeeping functionality encapsulates assignments for room cleaning, management of room statuses, and tracking housekeepers’ duties and tasks.

Management tasks are automated by the PMS module and connect the housekeepers to the front office.

Top PMS services can identify which rooms need to be cleaned or prepared for your next arriving guests, including early ones. The software should also notify and assign tasks to the housekeeping staff and other employees.

A font-office manager has the ability to track the status of every room and organise maintenance reports.

Cloud-based hotel property management systems allow housekeepers to easily update the status of their current tasks or rooms on their smartphones or tablets once their duties are completed.

A welcomed feature is the addition of the issue reporting tool. When the staff discovers something out of order within the hotel rooms, they can take pictures and upload them to the PMS. The maintenance department will therefore be able to assess and repair any issues in a timely manner.

A top feature of a hotel property management system is its ability to help plan and organise maintenance operations, manage maintenance reports, record hotel disruptions and repairs, track maintenance requests, and update all statuses accordingly.

Revenue Management & Strategy

The hotel revenue management system should provide a secure and user-friendly interface for users to help track, manage, and analyse payments.

The revenue management should accept online payments and validate credit card/debit card details immediately. In case of non-payment, this PMS feature should be able to track and manage outstanding charges.

Another top feature of hotel PMS is the ability to empower hoteliers to implement flexible, data-driven revenue management strategies. A hotel property management system should track key performance indicators such as occupancy rate, revenue per available room, and average daily rates.

It also can analyse local events, weather, and competitor rates to provide optimal rates for your business. Dedicated pricing tools can enable hoteliers to adjust room prices across all distribution channels connected to them automatically.

They can set up packages, special offers, or even impose restrictions. The revenue management system can also help hotel managers to change their processes to achieve better results and control finances more efficiently.

Customer Data and Relationships Management

A key factor in most hotel businesses is the ability to keep in touch with your customers before, during, and even after their stay. In this situation, an integrated CRM system with the front desk and reservation systems can help to collect and organise guest contact information and other vital data.

If your hotel already has a CRM system, you should choose a hotel property management system that is compatible with it. Any guest information database is advantageous to hotel managers as it can help develop their marketing strategies, membership, and loyalty programs.

They can use the PMS system to personalise guest services and experiences better. A top feature of hotel PMS is also the presence of the feedback management system.

This system is used to record guest feedback. Such information is very effective in promoting the hotel. The client’s feedback can be very valuable, and their reviews can be used on the hotel’s website, travel booking sites, mobile apps, or even surveys, among other things.

Analytics and Reporting

A top hotel property management system needs timely and comprehensive reporting software that can positively affect business growth.

Automated reports are a crucial part of hotel PMS. Depending on what PMS a hotel uses, they can generate various reports such as room and tax reports, night audits, shift audits, departure/arrival, and housekeeping.

It is reliable if a module can track revenue, inventory, and reservations, and provides valuable insights into hotel performance through daily reports, occupancy rates, ADR, and RevPAR.

However, the proper hotel PMS should help hoteliers comply with local tax reporting requirements and regulations as well. The central dashboard should let users view right away what needs to be done today, monitor key metrics, and more.

Back-office Management

Another important PMS module is back-office management. This software helps streamline, improve visibility, and can optimise back-office and administrative hotel operations. Some of the following functions should be present:

• Reviews management
• Catering and event management
• Human resources management and includes shift management and staff invoicing
• Gym, conference room, and spa management
• Assets management
• Sales and catering execution when group bookings are made
• Inventory analysis
• Promotional campaigns and sales management
• Hotel spending analysis and other consumption costs

The back-office module is crucial, especially for multi-property operations. It can offer features such as sending emails, internal messaging, guest arrival time reports, basic accounting, or managing campaigns, among other things.

If the PMS system has the features mentioned above and the ones needed for the front desk, you can combine the back and front offices to optimise your hotel to the highest standards.

POS or Point-of-sales Services

Many properties have various features on their premises to entertain their guests. Hotels can have restaurants, banquet halls, conference halls, gyms, gift shops, day spas, etc.

Each and every one of these features can also include extra costs or discounts on food and beverages, in-room services, mini-bar items, WI-Fi on the guest folio, or TV.

The point-of-sale POS function of any hotel operating system is meant to help manage payments accepted through multiple point-of-sale terminals quickly, automating transactions, and keeping data secure in one location.

A POS can integrate very well with hotel property management systems and can be a great addition from multiple perspectives, which essentially, contributes to customer satisfaction in the long run.

What Are Some of the Best Hotel Management Systems?

It comes without question that independent hotels, or any other type of property in the hospitality industry in general, can benefit greatly from property management systems. But what are some of the best hotel management systems?

Cloud-based PMS systems should all have some of the top features mentioned above, but most importantly, you should pick one that suits your needs the most.

When it comes to hotel properties, you should also take into account the number of rooms you have and if the PMS system you desire can manage them. Here are some of the best hotel management systems currently on the market:

Micros Opera

The Opera Hotel Program is a property management system meant to work for all types of hotels, no matter their size.

It automates many font office services and provides detailed reports in regards to personnel and workflow.

This cloud-based property management system can be used to identify inefficient procedures and processes.

It can address such problems quickly and efficiently and reduces human errors by a long mile. Opera PMS is used by many hotel and hotel chains worldwide. Some of the features included by Opera PMS include:

• Quick check-in and check-outs that save time in all front office operations
• Ready and customisable report formats that are sent automatically and periodically
• Opera PMS can work alongside with Revenue Management software programs
• Advanced and automatic pricing options, including daily price, special price, dynamic pricing, or base price
• It can separate customers into groups based on their characteristics and preferences. When these groups are made, the PMS can also create unique campaigns and promotions for such groups
• Opera PMS can manage housekeeping according to the situation of your rooms
• It builds customer profiles with accurate and detailed data
• E-Transformation process products such as e-Invoice or e-Archive are compatible with Opera PMS
• Opera PMS has an interface that can be integrated with above 1,000 third-party systems, and it has over 80 channel managers

Cloudbeds

Another top hotel management system is Cloudbeds. Many hoteliers recommend it. This cloud-based PMS has an attractive front desk interface.

For example, you can use the drag-and-drop movements to check in or check out guests. You can easily update your availability to your internet booking engine and channel manager, making your prices and inventory accurate on your hotel, website, and all OTAs.

This cloud PMS has an active customer support meant to help you out at all times if you have any misunderstandings or issues and hundreds of videos and articles intended to help you in your training. Here are some of its key features:

• User-friendly interface & excellent customer support
• Another great feature is the reliable dashboard that lets you know precisely what is happening in your hotel and what needs to be done today, tomorrow, or the rest of the week.
• You can set up revenue management with personalised taxes, fees, and policies per room, item, or combination. You can also generate financial reports or create new items to sell with one click
• Cash-tracker that lets you see exactly the cash that comes in and out with each shift
• The ability to connect myfrontdesk to third-party systems and reporting tools
• Channel manager with unlimited channel connections
• Dedicated booking engine. If you install mybookings on the hotel website, you can take commission-free, direct reservations
• Multiple property booking engines
• Can generate promotions with unique codes and accepts codes on your booking engine

Oracle Hospitality

Many hotels around the world use Oracle property management systems. Oracle Hospitality is a preferred PMS system for many luxury hotels around the world.

This hotel management system includes many features that hoteliers can use to optimise the number of rooms available for their guests and take care of daily operations such as direct bookings, housekeeping management, transaction operations, analytics, and more.

Both major international resorts and independent hotels use Oracle PMS as it fits all sizes.

Hotels can improve their guest experiences with ease by using the Oracle PMS. Personalised services are also available within the software. Here are some quick noteworthy features:

• Direct multi-currency billing. Channel manager that can help you maximise revenues and occupancy rates along with fast booking engine
• Efficient real-time data that you can use to improve hotel staff performance and operations
• Advanced reporting and analytics with sales and catering software
• Food and beverages point-of-sale system meant to elevate the guest experience.
• Oracle Micros Simphony POS can be used on all mobile devices. The point-of-sale real-time reporting tools are efficient in helping you make the best decisions from any location.
• The Opera booking engine allows for easy reading and navigation across many devices.
• This cloud-based PMS offers sales and catering management to maximise revenue.
• Data analysis and collection meant for increasing customer experience and creating special offers. RevPaR and ADR reports along with automated night audit.
• Multi-lingual centralised user and role management, and more

RoomRaccoon

RoomRaccoon is a U.S. hotel property management system designed by hotel owners. Whether your business has ten rooms or 100 rooms, this PMS will help you with all your daily operations.

You can easily set updates and automatic yield rules that can sell your rooms across multiple booking channels.

Thanks to RoomRaccoon’s channel manager, channel management has never been easier to handle. This management software can help you gather data from your competitors and save you a lot of time in other aspects as well, such as accounting. Here are some main features:

• Online check-ins to help your guests skip the front desk operations and give your staff some slack
• Automated accounting is made possible through automatic data transfer.
• The management software also has automated upsell, meant to increase revenue per room.
• Digital ID scanner that can auto-populate your guest’s details into the required fields, saving a lot of time
• Revenue management which can gather data on how your competitors are doing and how they are pricing their rooms
• Customisable booking engine and integrated payments.
• The hotel management software also has insights and reporting tools to help your hotel business grow

ThinkReservations

Think Reservations is among the most simple and professional property management systems. Meant to help your hotel business by saving time and increasing revenue, this PMS system can handle many hotel operations, such as accounting, reservations, taxes, housekeeping, and more.

You can manage a wide range of tasks in one cloud-based place that is secure.

With 24/7 customer support, Think Reservations allows you to access your data from anywhere easily. Some of the features of this hotel software include:

• Professional reports, including reservation statistics
• Simplified accounting and tax calculations
• Change prices with ease based on occupancy and booking window
• Generated reports can predict demand, and rate adjustments are made easily and quickly
• You can offer multiple rates for your guests with varying deposit or cancellation policies
• Booking engine and channel manager
• Automatic emails with guest management and task management for group bookings

HotelTime

Hoteltime is a fully cloud-based PMS system with over 550 customers in 16 countries. Many city center hotels use it.

Some of the most prominent hotels that use this PMS have over 400 rooms, but even smaller ones with less than 50 can easily use it. Due to this, any hotel business can use Hoteltime for their PMS solutions.

Hotel operations, such as check-ins, check-outs, invoicing, payments, and reservations, are all easy to handle and access from anywhere, anytime you want. Here are some features of this PMS system:

• Real-time control over hotel operations which includes reservation status, check-ins and outs, payments, room sales, and more, with instant access from any location
• Complete managerial reporting with detailed analysis of occupancy ADR and RevPAR
• Hotel bills and invoices with payment status control and central exchange
• Multi-property solution and access to the guest database and instant mobile access
• Multi-location channel manager integration and automated night audit

RMS Cloud PMS

The last hotel property management system on this list is RMS Cloud PMS. Using cloud technology and having over 6,500 properties across 60 countries to manage, this PMS system is on the market for over 35 years.

Focused on increasing revenue, RMS helps hoteliers streamline operations, engage, and retain loyal customers. You can personalise this PMS system according to your business needs. The booking chart is easy to read, and overall the interface is user-friendly and easy to learn.

Many motels around the world use the RMS Cloud PMS system. Here are some of its key features:

• Built-in channel integration with OTA’s
• Affordable price and user-friendly interface
• The system is customisable based on your business needs
• Direct billing, RevPaR and ADR reports, along with multi-currency and automated night audit
• Guest communication through SMS messaging and native email marketing which sends mails to previous guests with special offers and promotions
• Guest profiles and CRM, with gift vouchers creation, channel manager, and booking engine
• Multi-lingual centralized user and role management software

Hotel PMS Systems Final Thoughts

IT infrastructure is critical in the hospitality industry nowadays, and property management systems are a crucial part of the development of any hotel. This software combines so many technical, logistical, and strategical features that any hotel without one loses by a big margin.

PMS systems help hoteliers create special offers based on competitor prices, weather, events, customer profile, and more. It also helps with front and back office operations, housekeeping, analytics, reports, and so much more.

With all that taken into account, a regular hotel nowadays without a PMS system or something similar has no chance in today’s market. Hotel properties with the right PMS system on their side can expand their business like never before, all while making both customers and employees happier.

FAQ About Hotel PMS Systems

What PMS System Does Marriott Use?

The property management system used by Marriott International is Micros Opera. All North American properties under Marriott use this PMS system, and subsequently, all Marriott brands worldwide.

What PMS System Does Hilton Use?

Hilton uses the proprietary technology platform, OnQ residence Management System (PMS). This system can provide to their guest’s many features. Some attributes are employee/staff observation and direction, room key coding, work order tracking, keeping in touch with outside employees, and more.

Do All Hotels Use PMS?

Some of the best hotels in the world use property management systems to take care of their brands by ensuring world-class experiences. These systems help in managing multiple properties. However, not all hotels use PMS systems.

What Hotels Use Opera PMS?

The Micros Opera PMS system is used by many large hotel chains, including Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Accor Hotels, Melia Hotels International, Crown Resorts, Travelodge hotels the UK, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, Jupiter Hotels, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, and many others.

How Long Does it Take To Learn a Hotel PMS System?

All property management systems are complex pieces of software that deal with management in various areas. Depending on what PMS system you choose to use and its features, a friendly interface will significantly affect the time it takes to learn it. Most PMS systems can be learned between six to twelve months. It depends on the number of modules.

How Does a PMS Increase Revenue?

PMS systems can help hotels increase their room revenue due to their efficient booking engine system and housekeeping management. A PMS can also increase revenue by boosting guest loyalty and ancillary revenue, creating the right offers at the perfect moment, or by decreasing costs and time through automation.

What Integrations Should a Hotel PMS System Have?

The software should have the central reservation system integration to make the most out of PMS solutions. CRS systems must be compatible with the one your hotel uses. The booking engine, and channel manager, are also essential integrations.