Top Front Desk Systems for Small Hotels

Further Reading: Best Hotel Management Software for Small Properties

What is Hotel Front Desk software?

Front desk software for hotels is an online solution that automates routine hotel operations from check-in/check-out to enhancing your guest experience. Digitizing reservation processes makes the guest journey smoother and seamless.

Adopting front desk technology isn’t merely software, rather it’s a strategic tool for hotels to save time and provide quality services to guests.

For small properties, hiring more staff to manage the front-end operations is a major investment in time, effort, and cost.  

While it’s also true that small hotels have limited budgets, they too want the software to manage their everyday operations such as check-in, check-out, automate reservations, and get guest insights such as their preferences, where they stayed in, and what their needs are.

Thus, it frees up the front desk staff to focus more on increasing guest satisfaction. At the same time, it also saves the guests time as they can skip the long queue and do the check-in/check-out.

Why do small properties need a front desk system?

Today’s guests value the concept of time as the new currency of the town. Running an accommodation isn’t a cakewalk, it’s a time-consuming chore. 

A primary concern for small hotel owners, independent hotel chains and boutique hotels is that they are resistant to investing in hotel technology systems. They prefer sticking with the traditional paper-based approach for manual bookings.

Managing reservations manually doesn’t just waste time, it’s an error-prone process. A lack of centralized hotel management software doesn’t just result in loss of reservation opportunities, it impacts your revenue, dampens your hotel’s reputation, and affects you financially.

The big part is that you have to face those angry and dissatisfied guests if you fail to match their expectations.

Another dilemma that small hotel owners face is real tracking and inventory management. Traditional data management tools fail to provide you with real-time insights on room inventory, rate management, and knowing the guest preferences.

They’ll struggle with maximizing their hotel revenue because of the absence of a property management system. This results in lost bookings and misses revenue opportunities.

They don’t know when and where the booking is coming from, they're unaware of market trends, and they struggle with setting the right plan for their hotels, especially during the peak season. 

That poses a significant challenge for small hotels when they’ve limited financial resources, and they must keep their hotel running all the time.

With a limited staff, small hoteliers find it challenging to manage everything on one plate from automating reservations and streamlining housekeeping processes to providing customized guest experiences. 

Moreover, searching for the right hotel staff remains a top challenge for the entire hotel industry. Finding people for the front office department requires attention to detail as it’sa people-facing role.

Thus, there is a need for an all-in-one hotel management solution to manage back-and-forth tasks related to reservation, housekeeping, and guest communication.

Consider the front office system as the nerve of the hospitality business. 

Guests have become more tech-savvy; they want convenience at their fingertips. In the era of digital transformation, they want instant responses to their queries. They want everything to be personalized. 

A small hotel or an independent property having limited staff won’t solve guest problems or any booking request instantly. As a result, this dissatisfies guests, and they won’t prefer having a stay at your property.

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Key Features of Front Desk Software for Small Hotels

Here are a few key features of front desk systems for small hotels-

1. Express check-in/check out

In this ever-changing hospitality landscape, guests want contactless solutions which reduces the need for in-person assistance.

The best front desk software for hotels supports the feature of contactless check-in and check-out. It means that guests can skip the long queue and do the check-in before they arrive at the hotel using a mobile app or through a self-check-in kiosk in the lobby. 

They can complete their registration process digitally without flocking to the front desk department.

2. Guest management 

A front desk system for small hotels creates and manages guest profiles. It records guest details, special requests and stores their preferences. 

By analyzing the guest’s history, demographics, contact details, etc., they can help you serve guests in a better fashion.

3. Payments and Finance

Guests feel confident in making payments when they’re sure that it’s integrated with a secure payment gateway.

The integration of the hotel management system with a point-of-sales system ensures that guests can make secure payments hassle free.

Additionally, the software should send automated invoices to guests informing them reservation is confirmed.

4. Digital Scanner

Another important feature of front desk software for small hotels is document verification. Hotels can verify the guest documents during the check-in process with few taps and guests won’t have to stand in the long queue for a lengthy verification process.

This saves time for guests as they can complete their registration process by scanning their IDs using a digital scanner. Similarly, hoteliers can speed up their check-in process and serve other guests that require immediate attention.

5. Packages and Selling

Front desk software acts as a powerful marketing tool for hotels to upsell and cross-sell their services to increase revenue.

At the time of guest registration, they can suggest room upgrade options, arrange a transportation facility (pick and drop from the airport), or reserve a SPA appointment. 

6. Reporting and analytics

Data is the GOLDMINE for the hospitality business and if you don’t know how well your hotel is performing, what its peak days are, an average occupancy estimate, or how many people do express check-in and check-out. Then, you’re on the wrong track.

Undoubtedly, our front desk software supports this feature so you can make data-driven decisions. You don’t have to rely on your GUT anymore.

Benefits of using a front desk system for small hotels

Here are a few benefits of using front desk software for small hotels.

1. Booking becomes easier

A front desk system is not merely software for check-in/check-out, rather it helps your hotels to manage operations with ease. 

No matter where your hotel receives bookings from (walk-in, OTAs, or direct website), our booking engine ensures you won’t miss any booking opportunities. 

2. Manages guest communication

Our front desk system for hotels isn’t just a contactless check-in solution, it personalizes your guest experience by sending automated e-mail templates confirming the guest check-in and check-out. Regular communication with guests drives guest satisfaction. 

3. Saves time and money

One of the primary benefits of using hotel management software is that it automates administrative processes. Such automation saves time by freeing the front desk staff to focus on serving other guests. 

This automation software makes your front desk staff more productive, and it results in substantial savings for businesses. 

4. Helps you make data-driven decisions

An effective front desk system supports reporting and analytics features. It's useful for hoteliers to assess the performance of hotels and fine-tune the marketing and revenue strategies by analyzing leaps and bounds of data. 

5. Set dynamic pricing

In this hyper-competitive hotel industry, it’s difficult for small hotels to stand out, especially when they compete with large-scale hotel chains and premium resorts.

That’s why they need the best hotel management solution that has dynamic pricing features to help themcurate their prices based on competitors, market trends, current demand, seasonality, etc. Hence, they can earn more revenue and stay competitive. 

6. Continuous support to guests

The front desk software should provide 24*7 support to guests, meaning the software can solve technical queries on the go. This also includes training your hotel staff to get familiar with the nuts and bolts of the system.

How to Choose the Best Front Desk Software for Small Hotels?

Take a minute to note down what are the MUST-HAVE things that you need to take care of while selecting the front desk software for small properties -

1. Check for features

The front desk software you go with should not only cover basic features such as managing reservations and guest communication.

It should also support additional functionalities such as housekeeping processes, revenue management, what integrations it can support, or does it provide mobile app access or not. 

2. Cost of software

As you are operating a small chain hotel, find the hotel management software that suits your budget. The software you go with should offer flexible pricing options or it should at least charge monthly subscriptions.  

3. 24*7 support

When choosing a front desk system, you need to see whether the software provides 24*7 customer support. Do they assist multiple channels or not? 

4. Social proof matters the MOST

The last way to assess the software's capability is to check out the reviews and testimonials of previous hoteliers. How was their experience with that software? Were the users satisfied with the system or was it full of loopholes?

Final Notes

There are tons of front desk software you can find in the market, but the best software for your hotel is the one that digitizes your hotel operations and at the same time enhances your guest's experience. 

While choosing the front desk system, make sure to select the one that covers the following things- 

• What features and functionalities do it offer? 
• What’s your budget to invest in? 
• How was other hoteliers' experience with that software? 
• Does it provide 24*7 support to guests? 

At BOTSHOT, our contactless check-in solution named efrontdesk automates your guest journey from check-in to check-out. It provides hoteliers with access to a single dashboard to help them manage reservations and get insights about their guests.

Want to see how it works?

Sign up for a 14-day free trial and we can up your hotel’s revenue.