PMS & Own Hostel Website Booking System - With Once-Off Pricing Model

[jonL]

Hi

I was wondering if anyone knows an online booking system (which is placed on your own hostel website..not a third party channel) which can interface
directly with a PMS system? By interfacing I mean that when a guest makes an online booking, it automatically takes that booking and registers it into the PMS system and adjusts inventory accordingly. Also pricing can be automatically updated by the PMS to the online booking system (which may also possibly incorporate a revenue management system to change prices according to inventory level)

The issue is that I know such combination systems exist, but I have yet to find one with a pricing model where I can buy both the PMS and the online booking system upfront without any further obligatory commissions, transactions or support costs.

I think Micros has their Opera PMS System and MyLink online booking system which does such an interface but from what I understand they ask for annual fees and commissions, which I don't like or want.

Does anyone know of a system combination which is free of ongoing fees, commissions and support costs?

Thanks

Jon

[Scotch Argus]

The combination of backpack online and a booking page through hostelworld can do most of what you want. The page is hosted by hostelworld but appears to be on your site. Payments are handled through hostelworld. You pay no commissions on these bookings, but there is a small credit card processing fee. I imagine you'll always have to pay a card processing fee whatever you use. All availability is automatically updated through BPO. It's free to use.

Probably not exactly what you want though, as you don't own the software etc. If you buy a package won't it always have support costs? i.e. if you need support and you're stand-alone customer won't you always have to pay for it? Th risk to me of this as well is that if the software company goes out of business you can be left wtih no support and potentially a less than perfect product. An example of this is if the PMS offers HW and HB etc integration, and then one of the booking engines breaks this integration, who will try and patch it back up for you?

[jonL]

Hi Scotch

Thanks for response.

Just wondering, I thought if you use Hostelworld, even on your site they still will take the 10% commission they take for bookings?
Also from memory if I use HostelWorld booking engine I can not have different prices between whats one HostelWorld and whats on my corporate website. Does anyone know if this correct?

Cheers

Jon

[HOSTELMATE]

HostelMate does this. It allows you to take guest bookings from your website. They pay a 10% deposit with their credit card. This 10% is yours to keep we do not charge any commissions. The booking goes directly into your PMS and the prices for beds can be changed or altered as you wish.

HostelMate's prices are per month and include the PMS and commoission free web bookings. It's subscription based so no contracts, fee's or obligations.

Email me for more info if you wish, or see http://www.hostelmate.com for information.

[Scotch Argus]

Hi Scotch

Thanks for response.

Just wondering, I thought if you use Hostelworld, even on your site they still will take the 10% commission they take for bookings?
Also from memory if I use HostelWorld booking engine I can not have different prices between whats one HostelWorld and whats on my corporate website. Does anyone know if this correct?

Cheers

Jon

If the booking is done on your site then you get the deposit back as "payback" this happens when you have generated a certain amount of deposit money. You also get a portion of the booking fee money. You are right that you cannot alter the prices between the two. I assume they do the payback to encourage the hostel to list all its beds on hostelworld, as if they're on your site then they are also on HW. We take a decent amount of bookings on our site, so it works for us. It seems to be a good system to me for a smaller hostel to get bookings onsite, which is very important.

One thing I think is important in a booking portal on your site is that people have confidence in the security of the system. Whatever you go for, make sure that the customer will have confidence that their details are secure, otherwise they wont use it. HW, being the largest player in the sector fulfills this I think. The other thing I like about it is that it means you get lots of bookings through HW, which means you'll get more reviews through HW. Personally I like this, as for a new hostel it gives people a chance to see independent reviews, which they know are by people who have stayed. It also helps your presence ont eh main HW site if you have good reviews.

Hostelmate - what happens to the credit card fee on your system? And also who stores the CC details?

[HOSTELMATE]

The guest pays the 10% securely through PayPal with their credit card. The money is paid into a Paypal account created by the hostel and set up in the system settings, then the hostel can move that money to their bank account whenever they wish. HostelMate's system does not store any credit card details or sensitive information. We believe if you want to store any of your guests personal or credit card details you should know exactly where they are kept and who can see them so we do not store them and hostels can store them on their own seperate systems.

HostelMate is designed for the smaller to medium sized properties to be an affordable and easy to use solution,something previously lacking in the industry. We hope to improve over time with the help of hostels.

[jonL]

Thanks for the info on HW payback Scotch
veru interesting.

[HostelOffice]

Well if PMS is what you want then fear no more as Hostel Office is here. For over 10 years we have supplied Hostel front office software to hostels in Europe. It has the most intelligent Booking engine that synchronises with the front office software that comes with it.Then on top of all that it automatically adjusts allocation and prices to a bunch of agents you already have contracts with. www.hosteloffice.com "Join the list of switched-on hostels"

[JCJ]

Hi Jonl

I am curious about your final conclusion regarding the best front desk system and booking engines. Which are you finally using? are they working fine as you thought before?
Thanks.

[Hostel Seattle]

Hi , I use Hostel Office , where 90 % of my bookings come from my website and 10% from the intigrated HW and Hb to name a couple. Let me know if you have any questions.