Hotel software
Three pieces, and almost nobody explains which one you need
You search for hotel software and get twenty products saying the same thing in different words. Before comparing prices it helps to know what each part actually does, because that is what decides whether you end up paying twice for the same thing or coming up short.
PMS, channel manager and booking engine
The PMS is your operation: the planner, the rooms, who arrives today, who leaves, rates, invoicing and housekeeping. It is where your team works every day and where the truth about what is sold actually lives.
The channel manager is the pipe going outwards. It takes your rate, your availability and your restrictions and pushes them to Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb and whichever channels you use, and brings the reservations back. Without it, every price change means four extranets and an overbooking waiting to happen.
The booking engine is your own shop window: the part you embed in your website so somebody can book directly with you. It is the only place where you pay no commission and where the guest is genuinely yours.
All three need each other, and that is where the difficulty starts: you can buy them together or separately, and that decision weighs more on your daily work than the price difference between two products.
All together, or one supplier per piece
There is no single right answer, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you theirs. It mostly depends on whether you have somebody who can deal with it when something breaks.
| The three pieces together | One supplier per piece | |
|---|---|---|
| When something breaks | You call one place and the problem is theirs | Each one says the fault lies with the other |
| Price | One subscription, and you know what you pay | Three subscriptions, sometimes with per-booking commission on top |
| Getting started | One data load | Three setups plus an integration between them |
| What you give up | Picking the best-in-class product for each piece | Nothing, if you have somebody maintaining the joints |
| Who it suits | Properties with no technical department, which is most of them | Groups with somebody dedicated to systems |
| What usually goes wrong | One particular piece turns out to be too basic for you | Availability drifting between systems that do not talk properly |
Sound familiar?
- Raising the price for a long weekend means logging into four different extranets
- One OTA’s availability drifts every few days and nobody knows why
- Direct bookings leave the most margin and have the worst tooling
- Nobody tells you the price until the second call
- Every supplier shows you a beautiful demo and none of them shows you the price
What changes
One change, every channel
Rates, availability and restrictions leave the same planner for all 24 connected channels, when you decide and not before.
Your own booking engine included
With your branding and each day’s price in plain sight, embedded in the website you already have. No commission on direct bookings.
A clear proposal for your property
A plan tailored to your property, no setup fee and no lock-in. Request a proposal and receive it in writing.
Spanish compliance built in
Traveller registration with ID reading and invoicing adapted to Veri*Factu, without buying anything extra.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a PMS and a channel manager?
The PMS is where you work: planner, front desk, rates, invoicing. The channel manager is the pipe that carries your price and availability to the OTAs and brings bookings back. They are different things and you need both; in Hostelum they come together.
Can I keep the channel manager I already have?
We recommend using ours, because that is what keeps everything leaving from a single screen and stops availability drifting between systems. Tell us what you use today and we will tell you how it fits.
How long does it take to go live?
Loading rooms and rates takes hours. What sets the real pace is each OTA approving its own connection, which is up to them and usually takes between a day and a week. In the meantime you carry on selling with what you have.
Does it work for a hundred-room hotel?
It is built for small and mid-sized properties, roughly between five and sixty rooms. Above that you start needing things we do not have today, and we would rather tell you before you sign than afterwards.
What happens to my data if I leave?
We hand you a copy. There is no lock-in and no exit fee, and the retention periods we apply afterwards are only the ones the law requires on traveller registration and invoicing.
Get it running this week
We migrate your rates, connect your channels and open you for sale. No setup fee and no lock-in.