Read Part 5 of 8 of our Complete Guide to Small Hotel Property Management Software to learn more about the importance of property management systems, along with 10 compelling benefits of property management systems for small hotels.
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Ten Benefits of Property Management Systems for Small Hotels
If you’ve been running your small hotel for years using the same methods, systems, and workflows, it’s easy to underestimate the importance of a hotel property management system (PMS). After all, if something isn’t broken, why fix it?
This logic may make perfect sense in some situations, but when it comes to managing a small hotel, just because something isn’t obviously “broken” doesn’t mean it can’t (or shouldn’t) be improved—especially when those improvements can help you save time and boost your revenue.
The importance of a PMS in the hotel industry has increased significantly as guests demand better, more personalized experiences, OTAs continue to grow as a key booking channel, and competition gets stiffer. With a variety of features that help small hotel owners manage many aspects of their operations, from making bookings and managing reservations to channel distribution and payment processing, smaller hotels in particular can benefit from implementing a property management system—even if your current (possibly outdated) systems are working “just fine”.
Keep reading to learn about 10 key benefits of property management systems for small hotels, including:
- Accessing all of your data will in one place
- Improved efficiency
- Lower operating costs
- Increased revenue
- Better guest experience
- More bookings
- No double bookings
- Easy visibility into property performance
- 24/7 access to your data on any device
- Data security
Let’s jump in.
1. Accessing all of your data will in one place
With an all-in-one PMS, all of your hotel’s major operating functions will be accessible in one online dashboard, making it easier (and quicker) to review and manage all aspects of running your small hotel, including:
- Making bookings and managing distribution channels
- Managing reservations
- Adjusting room rates based on real-time demand
- Coordinating guest check-in and check-out
- Sending pre-arrival instructions to guests
- Processing payments
- Managing tasks such as room service delivery, housekeeping, and maintenance
- Goal setting and revenue management
- Reporting and analytics on key metrics such as average daily rate, occupancy, revPAR, and more
With customizable access levels for different teams and individual employees, your other team members will also be able to access the information they need whenever and wherever they need it. That means you can focus on boosting occupancy, providing a memorable guest experience, and generating more revenue instead of constantly relaying messages and to-do items to your team.
2. Improved efficiency
A small hotel PMS can save you time on a number of tasks, such as:
- Managing reservations, with your central reservation system, online booking engine, and other booking channels integrated into one simple dashboard
- Accessing key property performance information, such as average daily rate, occupancy, revPAR, and more, with easy-to-read reports
- Managing distribution channels by making changes to rates and availability in one platform and automatically syncing the updates to all of your booking channels
- Coordinating housekeeping and maintenance by easily assigning tasks to available team members
When all of your key functions are available in one place (alongside important data), you can reduce the time you and your team spend on routine tasks and administration, leaving you more time to tackle your to-do list backlog, provide a top-notch guest experience, and (dare we say) even put your feet up for a few minutes.
INNROAD FACT: innRoads all-in-one property management system can save up to 4 hours a day per team member!
3. Lower operating costs
PMSs can help small hotels reduce operating costs in a number of ways:
- Admin tasks: Less time spent on administration and routine tasks means you’ll spend less money paying your staff to tackle these to-do items.
- Channel management: No more time spent updating individual profiles on every OTA (not to mention your direct booking engine), with channel management tools that make it easy to update rates and availability in one place and automatically sync the updates to all of your booking channels.
- Lower fees: Cut down on the fees and commissions you pay to OTAs with a seamless direct booking engine
- Optimized task management: Efficiently prioritize and schedule tasks for your staff, from housekeeping and maintenance to room and guest services
- Fewer manual errors: Easy-to-use software means less chance of manual errors when reporting, accounting, and billing.
4. Increased revenue
One of the most compelling benefits of property management systems for small hotels is increased revenue—innRoad customers see a 27% increase in room revenue on average! An all-in-one PMS can help you boost revenue in a few ways:
- Reducing operating costs by saving time on routine and administrative tasks, simplifying channel management, reducing fees paid to OTAs, streamlining housekeeping and maintenance, and more.
- Generating more bookings. With a direct booking engine and simplified channel management, it’s easier for guests to book rooms—and for you to get more bookings. On average, innRoad clients see a 30% increase in direct bookings alone with the help of our booking engine.
INNROAD TIP: With our direct booking engine, guests can also add perks and services to their stay right when they book, such as early check-in, spa visits, bottles of wine upon arrival, and meal packages. innRoad clients see 10% more revenue by offering unique upsells and add-ons during booking!
- Revenue management tools. There are two key revenue management tools to look for in a PMS: Goal setting so you can easily set revenue goals and monitor your progress, and surge alerts with real-time notifications when bookings increase so you can adjust your rates and make the most of the increased demand. Other revenue management tools like innRoad’s Yield Management tool can make things even easier by automatically updating room rates based on occupancy percentage, with instant rate changes when you receive a surge alert or reach an occupancy target.
5. Better guest experience
Compared to larger chain hotels, small and independent hotels are uniquely positioned to provide a friendly, personalized guest experience. An all-in-one PMS can help improve the guest experience in a number of ways:
- Less time spent on admin and other routine property management tasks means more time spent helping guests and providing a memorable guest experience.
- Providing a positive booking experience will start their stay off on the right foot, with simple booking options and key information that is consistent across all possible booking channels, including OTAs and your website
- Options to customize their stay with upsells available at the time of booking, such as early check-in, spa visits, and other perks
- A smoother, streamlined check-in process so guests can get to their rooms faster. Some PMSs, including innRoad, offer online check-in options that can make the check-in process even more efficient by collecting key information before guests arrive.
6. More bookings
With a seamless direct booking engine and simplified channel manager, the right property management system can help your small hotel get more bookings (and that means more revenue). Here’s how:
- With a well designed online booking engine, it’s easy for guests to compare rooms and prices, check availability, and book their stay on any device right from your website. You can even add upsells to your booking engine so guests can add perks to their stay at the time of booking. innRoad clients typically see a 30% increase in direct bookings using our direct online booking engine!
- A simplified channel manager that connects directly to key booking channels like GDSs and major OTAs, ensuring that rates and availability are instantly synced across all channels. With no third parties to slow things down, potential guests can find your property and book their stay on whatever booking platform they prefer.
- Taking advantage of Google Booking Links. Google search results now display free hotel booking links just below paid hotel ads, offering small hotels a new (and free) opportunity to get more direct bookings without paying advertising costs or expensive commissions to OTAs. Some PMSs, including innRoad, will even take care of setting you up with Google Booking Links as part of your monthly software fees.
7. No more double bookings
With availability automatically synced across all booking channels, you can say goodbye to double bookings and overbookings and hello to a better guest experience.
8. Easy visibility into property performance
A PMS with real-time advanced reporting features gives you visibility into all areas of your operations, allowing you to easily track goals and key metrics such as ADR, revPAR, occupancy rate, and more.
Your PMS should come pre-loaded with reports that provide a quick glance at your current performance and operational data, including:
- Front desk activity—reservation details, guest contact information, cancellations, compliance, and more.
- Year-over-year comparisons of occupancy, revenue, and other key metrics.
- Detailed views into your accounting, including advanced deposits, account balances, transactions, and more.
In addition to these pre-loaded reports, innRoad’s advanced reporting features make it easy to:
- Customize, filter, and save specific reports for quick or daily reference
- Get insights into task performance, resource allocation, and productivity
- Batch reports for different business areas
- Schedule and send reports to employees or teams
- Create custom reports that suit your needs
9. 24/7 access to your data on any device
Cloud-based hotel property management software can be accessed on any connected device with an internet browser, giving you the flexibility you need to run a true 24/7 business from wherever your workday takes you, whether it’s cleaning a suite, gardening on the other side of your property, or attending an off-site meeting.
10. Data security
With a cloud-based PMS, all of your data will be stored and secured off-site by your software vendor. That means you don’t have to worry about securing your own data or finding space for on-site servers—and you can stop relying on your tech-savvy team members to act as in-house IT.
Checking Out
The importance of property management systems for small hotels is growing, as competition with larger hotels increases, OTAs remain a popular booking channel, and guests demand exceptional, personalized experiences.
With a variety of features that can improve many of your small hotel’s day-to-day operations, there are many benefits to implementing a hotel management system for small hotels, including:
- Accessing all of your data will in one place
- Improved efficiency
- Lower operating costs
- Increased revenue
- Better guest experience
- More bookings
- No double bookings
- Easy visibility into property performance
- 24/7 access to your data on any device
- Data security
When you switch to an all-in-one cloud-based PMS like innRoad, you get access to all the key benefits of a property management system, customized to suit the needs of your unique property.
Discover innRoad's Small Hotel PMS
Keep Reading
What Is A Small Hotel Property Management System?
Types of Hotel PMS for Small Hotels
How Does Property Management System Software for Small Hotels Work?
