The hospitality industry is changing quickly. Guest expectations are increasing, and their patience for long queues and impersonal service is diminishing. At the same time, staffing challenges that started during Covid continue. To meet the needs of guests and staff, your PMS should be easy to learn, easy to use and offer digital solutions that allow guests to check themselves in and out without the need for staff and to streamline communications before and during their stay.
You also want to look for a cloud-native platform that will reduce your downtime significantly compared to a platform with an on-site server or even a platform that migrated from on-premises to the cloud. A cloud platform also allows you to access your PMS from anywhere on any device, which improves the guest experience and your own convenience.
Additionally, best-in-class security and the ability to adapt to your tech ecosystem are vital. Check your vendor for current security and compliance certificates as well as their ability to integrate with custom or third-party applications.
A few other key features:
- User-friendly booking engine to reduce OTA fees and offer special incentives to guests who book with you directly
- Embedded payments platform to remove friction and increase payment security
- A POS (point of sale) as part of the complete platform, giving you one vendor to contact for PMS, POS and Payments
- Complete guest profiles to enable a more personal experience for guests
- Fast, direct two-way connectivity with channel managers like Booking.com and Expedia