Modern Booking System for Hostels – Built for Direct Bookings & Conversion

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Alex Rieux started this discussion 6 months 1 week ago

Hey everyone,

I built Dayletus after seeing how expensive and overcomplicated most booking systems are for small hostel and B&B owners who want to capture direct bookings.

What It Does

Multi-Room Management:

Manage individual rooms or dorms with separate availability, pricing, and images
Guests can book multiple rooms in one reservation
Each room gets its own embeddable booking widget

Conversion-Optimized Booking Flow:

Guided checkout: Dates → Guests → Details → Address → Extras → Confirm
Real-time price breakdown with seasonal adjustments and add-ons
Mobile-first design, bilingual (EN/FR only for now)
Automatic double-booking prevention

Revenue Features:

Add extras like breakfast, laundry, or bike rental (per stay/night/guest/guest-night)
Flexible seasonal pricing adjustments per room
Multi-currency support

OTA Calendar Sync:

Import iCal feeds from Airbnb, Booking.com, Hostelworld
Daily auto-sync + manual sync on demand
Conflict detection with detailed sync logs

Booking Management:

Centralised dashboard for all properties and rooms
Approve/reject requests with automated guest notifications
Add co-owners/managers with full booking permissions

Why It Exists

The platform philosophy is simple: optimise for marketing, brand control, and booking conversion. We're constantly shipping features based on feedback from small property owners who want to reduce OTA dependency without paying £100-300/month for enterprise PMS bloat.

Try it at dayletus.com

Happy to answer questions about how it works for hostel setups.

Cheers,
Alexandre

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Expense Tracking Online

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Gesine Papathanassis-Goetz started this discussion 7 years 6 months ago

Hi,

Does anybody have a good online tool to track expenses? I am not looking for a whole accounting software...just a simple tool to make input of expenses with costs centers easy...

Thanks!

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Looking for Airbnb expert

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Dragan's Den started this discussion 8 years 5 months ago

If your account was locked/suspended. what do u suggest to call them or to create the new one? If anyone is expert here I am able to pay some fee to call and try to fix it. I am outside the usa. thank you

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SilverSeagull

8 years

1) At community forums you can ask for a contact phone/email of your local airbnb office/representative (community.withairbnb.com).

2) Take in account, that AirBnb can block professionally managed properties at their discretion -https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1526/what-are-hosting-standards-for-...

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SilverSeagull

8 years

I was able to find a topic with a list of all avaliable AirBnb phone numbers, here you have it - https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Contact-Airbnb-A-Community-Help...

Gogle hotel adds, tripadvisor booking button and others..

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Dragan's Den started this discussion 8 years 5 months ago

Hi IT guys,

what is the best way to be added there? Hw and booking com automatically add u. i think that is the best way. what if they do not. how do u contact booking com to add u there? if u want do by your self, some Pms, channel managers offering u that? but prices are high?

please more info and offers

thank you

[email protected]

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Adwords and my allocator's Book now

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Luis Sánchez started this discussion 8 years 9 months ago

Hi all,

I was planning to use myallocator's Book now widget for the website of my hostel (we expect to open within the next weeks). I have read in myallocator's site that "The BookNow widget is not compatible with Adwords". Does anyone knows what it exactly means? That I can't track conversions in adwords or that, for some strange reason, I can't advertise my site with adwords if I have the Book now iframe installed?

By the way, would you say it is worth it using adwords? Or should the bids be too high to rank well?

Thank you very much,

Luis

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Any good software for multi location management

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AUNG WIN CHEN started this discussion 8 years 10 months ago

Hi,

I am planning to open a few different locations and am looking for a software that can linkup all the location to the headoffce. Also most importantly to include the front desk and controling booking which can avoid cheating on booking. I am also looking for a consultant or a full time experince management to help on my hostel chain.

Thanks in advance. Can also privately email me at [email protected].

Cheers,

AW Chen.

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jason_noronha

8 years

Hey AW,

The software really depends on the size of the properties as well as your budget. If you start off with a budget software such as Loventis for your PMS you will be forced to login separately for different properties. You can manually extract the data in a csv and run your own consolidation reports in excel - which might or might not be a problem for you - but it's definitely the cheapest option.

Another option is to get into the Cloudbeds ecosystem which provides a dashboard to manage all properties. The cost is slightly higher in this case.

In order to prevent fraud, you need to focus on a couple of general things

a) Booking fraud - this happens when staff sell a bed without logging it in the system. Helps if you PMS has user access control to prevent deletion of bookings. It also helps to ensure that there are multiple handoffs between staff so that chances of fraud is minimized. Another check could be to link laundry costs with occupancy.

b) Cash fraud - this can be easily avoided by a simple POS software (beginning of day and end of day) cash count. Another way of doing this is to put a notice up asking customers to request for a receipt or else their stay is free. POS transactions should be linked to the PMS so that every booking translates into a POS transaction (cash or credit).

c) Inventory fraud - a little more subtle than the other two, this is important when your staff handles inventory of any items that you might be selling that are valuable (merchandise). You might ignore this for commodities (coffee beans). An inventory management system (tons of free stuff out there) with a regular stock take should be sufficient. If you are managing a huge amount of inventory, you should ensure that this inventory management system links to your accounting system so that your balance sheet captures accurate inventory assets.

I hope this helps. I've dropped you a note so if you have any more questions, you can reach out.

Good luck!!

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awchen

8 years

Hi Jason,

Thanks very much for all these great advices and recommendations. Will keep in touch with you via email.

Oh any experience with SiteMinders?

Cheers,

AW Chen.

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jason_noronha

8 years

Siteminder is good as a channel manager. But isn't good for multilocation management because a channel manager has no view of walk-in customers. It would be best to look for this functionality from the PMS and POS software.

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awchen

8 years

Thanks, Jason. Saw your success story article. It's a great accomplishment. Take care.

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awchen

8 years

Hi Jason,

I finally picked Cloudbeds which is working fine so far. We started soft opening in Oct. 2017. Please check us out on FB

https://www.facebook.com/pg/BaobaBed-Hostel-Yangon-Myanmar-1137982839668...

Thanks again on all your valuable suggestion.

- AW Chen.

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Kylie Keane

8 years

SIHOT Property Management Software caters for single units as well as multi properties, central reservation systems, trust accounting. Our Software covers all the traditional PMS functions, provides multiple interface options, mobile apps, GDS/OTA connectivity and much more. SIHOT is available both as a local installation and as a cloud based (SaaS) installation. Apart from individual properties, SIHOT has been success factor for many hotel chains world wide - from small local chains to global players. SIHOT is also an ideal solution for hostels, motels, conference and training venues, serviced apartments, caravan parks, houseboats and sports centres. SIHOT with its open structure, modular set-up and flexible configurability, SIHOT is an inexpensive, individual solution for any property.
If you would like further information or a demonstration please contact our sales team at [email protected] or visit our website www.sihot.com or call our office on 07 5634 9527.

How do you process direct bookings?

Website, Computer, and Tech Support

Courtney Loechl started this discussion 9 years 4 months ago

Hey all. I want to work on some content for HostelManagement that compares options we have for running our hostels. Everything from booking engines to locks.

One area I'm particularly curious to gain a better idea about is how hostels accept their direct bookings. Not how you get them in terms of marketing, prices, etc. but what you actually use (software, widgets, etc).

For ex.:

Do you use a booking page from your PMS?

Do you use a booking widget from a chanel manager?

Do you use a booking widget from an OTA, like HostelWorld?

Do you use your own booking page on a website you built?

What PMS/CM/etc do you use, and what is the cost to you? Is it a percentage, flat rate, vary on total bed number, etc?

Thanks!

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John Moriarty

9 years

No

Yes

No

Yes but with the myallocator booking widget

PMS - Bananadesk 1 dollar per bed per month

CM - Myallocator 25 dollars per month

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lasagna

9 years

My case is very specific.

I use a PMS but I don't use its own booking engine (that would automate the process) because I don't like it. Instead I use another PMS just to use their booking engine that I love and receive those bookings on the email

Then I have to manually enter them in the actual PMS.

So far I wouldn't trade this for nothing.

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HostelKabeh

9 years

How does your hostel currently accept direct bookings?

Do you use a booking page from your PMS?

- Yes (kind of... from HW/BPO: a 'mega-micro site')

Do you use a booking widget from a chanel manager?

- Not yet.

Do you use a booking widget from an OTA, like HostelWorld?

- Not on our own site yet, no.

Do you use your own booking page on a website you built?

- No.

What PMS/CM/etc do you use, and what is the cost to you? Is it a percentage, flat rate, vary on total bed number, etc?

- BPO (actively looking to change) - 'free' of charge.

Otherwise, we still accept direct bookings via email, phone, and fb page messages which are all manually input into our PMS.

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Lior

9 years

I will answer on behalf of 6 properties I currently work with...

Do you use a booking page from your PMS?

Actually most booking engines are from the channel manager as it is a booking channel. And YES ABSOLUTELY!

Do you use a booking widget from a chanel manager?

Im kind of confused as this seems to be the same question as the last. The booking engines I have been using come from the Channel Manager/PMS

Do you use a booking widget from an OTA, like HostelWorld?

NO! It was a great service when booking engines were hard to develop/find, but nowadays they are very easy and standard for many channel managers or even better, PMS's which have their own channel manager!

Do you use your own booking page on a website you built?

yes... again, the booking engine from your PMS/C.M. should be on your own booking page!

What PMS/CM/etc do you use, and what is the cost to you? Is it a percentage, flat rate, vary on total bed number, etc?

-MasterYield with Wubook integration

-Front Desk Master with it's own Channel Manager

-Host with a siteminder integration

-Cloudbeds with a Myallocator integration

all of the above vary in costs and functionality all depends on the kind of property and what their sales strategies. Feel free to contact me for more info on the pro's and cons of each

Lior

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bluealmondhostel

9 years

Hi,

I haven't been able to find a solution that satisfies my every need,

the first booking engine was the one given by booking that would only charge a 3% comission which got later downed to 0% (still is) I developed a joomla module that would integrate the booking widget into joomla, then I would feed this reservations to my old PMS (hoteldruid) manually, than i moved to the latest joomla and that widget stopped working and never bothered to update it.

Then I experimented with Solidres which is a joomla component that connects to myallocator, this was in theory a great idea, but the module is a bit of a mess as i would have to update rates from joomla (which would be weird) so I scratched that idea, the good thing about this booking engine is that is Joomla native, has discount codes and you can sell other stuff (tours, services), but the connection with myallocator is weird and doesn't follow any logical flow, so i had to ditch it.

Then i got tired of feeding stuff manually to my PMS and moved to another one called Optilodging which connects to myallocator, their booking engine lacks certain things like the ability to import restrictions and rates from myallocator (yeah weird) so I scratched that one too.

Then i have settled for the myallocator widget which i honestly lacks good features, but is good enough, in my opinion it would be nice if it was more customizable and had more documentation on the CSS and analytics, more custom fields and the ability to sell other things. I know for 22 dollars is hard to ask for all those features, but there hasn't been a front end update to that widget in a long time and everytime you ask them they tell you to get Cloudbeds.

What i like about the current PMS i'm using is that they do custom programming, so if you need something in particular, they quote you a price and is up to you!

hope this helps

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Podstel

9 years

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Hey Courtney,

Here's our piece:

Do you use a booking page from your PMS?

No - we use Loventis and this function is not supported.

Do you use a booking widget from a chanel manager?

Yes, MyAllocator's booking widget works very well with our hostel. You can copy the link directly and put it on your facebook call to action as well.

Do you use a booking widget from an OTA, like HostelWorld?

Nope - they charge commission ;)

Do you use your own booking page on a website you built?

No.

What PMS/CM/etc do you use, and what is the cost to you? Is it a percentage, flat rate, vary on total bed number, etc?

We use Loventis and love its simplicity. It syncs very well with MyAllocator. MyAllocator don't charge anything to use the widget for direct bookings.

All the best,

Dan

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SilverSeagull

9 years

Do you use a booking page from your PMS?

Yes

Do you use a booking widget from a chanel manager?

No

Do you use a booking widget from an OTA, like HostelWorld?

No, for me it can't be considered as direct booking.

Do you use your own booking page on a website you built?

No, just a link to a booking page of PMS, which we use (though PMS have various options to integrate, such as widget and built-in booking form/page, but I don't like that I can't customize their design as I like for our website).

What PMS/CM/etc do you use, and what is the cost to you? Is it a percentage, flat rate, vary on total bed number, etc?

Wubook booking engine, ZAK PMS and their built-in channel manager. Fixed pricing. Wubook - 27 euro per month, ZAK - 22 euro per month and 6 euro per channel manager per month.

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cmloechl

9 years

Thanks for all the info everyone!

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Ground Inn

9 years

I'm surprised I didn't see the Google suite of tools mentioned here so I thought I'd write. After paying for PMS solutions that never really worked right, I became so frustrated that I decided to build it myself using simple Gmail, Google Drive and Google Calendar. It's not as automated as other systems, so I may copy/paste more that I used to. But it's free and I can easily get help.

I say it's free, because it is. But you can also pay $5 per month and also take advantage of 24/7 phone support. So my google website has a google form that feeds a spreadsheet with visitor's content. I get a gmail notice that its happened. I paste the information they provided into those dates on the Google calendar (each bed has its own calendar, of course) and send them a "canned response" confirmation. It takes two minutes.

This doesn't account for taking credit card deposits if needed. That would happen in a follow up invoice or phone call.

www,GroundInn.com

Why POS is Vulnerable?

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staceymatthews matthews started this discussion 9 years 7 months ago

Most POS systems consist of desktop computer running the Windows operating system and several POS devices directly connected. Windows is a well understood and high profile target for hackers. In too many cases, the POS computer is treated like all other desktops on the operator’s network, with

the standard endpoint protection of antivirus and personal firewall.

The traditional approach to protecting endpoints focuses on detecting threats. The leaves most endpoint security vulnerable to zero day malware, where the threat has not yet been discovered by the vendor and their signature files not yet updated. Malware creators are very good at modifying the

files of known malware so that, for a time, they will be undetected as a threat.

BlackPOS, the malware used in the Target Data breach, was “in the wild” at least 3 months before being discovered and most antivirus systems could be updated to deal with it. According to Verizon’s 2014 Data Breach Report, 85% of POS intrusions compromised the target for more than 2 weeks before being detected. By the time the malware is discovered it may be too late.

Secure Your Application, Not Just Your Endpoint

The safest assumption for protecting your POS system is to assume that detection will fail. Your POS application must be able

to operate safely in an already infected environment.

Comodo SecureBox is not endpoint protection. It is a fortress where your POS application can run safely and

communicate securely on a compromised machine. Like a medieval castle, It provides safe harbor in an increasingly

hostile landscape.

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brickpos

8 years

pos software are in most of case can not be vulnerable.it is useful for small business like restaurant , cafe , bar management .it manage all kind of system added on particular industry.

more details :-

www.brickpos.com

[email protected]

Looking for Webinar Particpants: Web Apps for Hostels

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Courtney Loechl started this discussion 9 years 8 months ago

Do you use some type of project management web app in your hostel? For ex. Trello, Asana, Jira or something else? Do you use any communication web apps, such as Trello? What about web extensions or bots?

Do you use these for day to day tasks, bigger overall goals (marketing, maintenance), as a replacement to PMS, or some combination of those?

Web apps and certain types of software can be real game changers for hostels and efficient management. We are planning a series of webinars on how to use various types and their valuable applications.

If you use any of the above or similar, and are comfortable doing a recorded screen sharing session, please email our editor here. Include the web app(s) you are familiar with.

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Re-thinking PMS systems

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Georgina Grey started this discussion 9 years 8 months ago

Hi there! My name is Georgina, I'm a software developer who happens to love traveling! Something I’ve noticed in many hostels is the lack of a proper PMS, they still rely on e-mail and spreadsheets and that can get really messy.

I did some research and it seems like there are already some (apparently good) cloud systems out there, which leads me to wonder, what are some reasons Hostel Owners are not using cloud systems or any systems? Is it…

Lack of awareness?
Fear of change?
Are they too expensive?
Are hostel requirements not completely addressed?

What do you think are some KILLER features on a PMS that would make you say “TAKE MY MONEY!”?

As a guest, this is something I would LOVE to hear: “Welcome Georgina, thanks for checking-in through our web app (now you won’t have to wait for millions of years with your huge backpack on your back while I ask you for every detail), here’s your bed, here’s your tour of the Hostel and… by the way you can go to this internet address (which you would not need to hire a web developer to achieve it) and book any of our tours, plus you can check the announcement board curated by our guests where you can login with your Facebook account to interact and plan different activities if you’d like.”

Would you consider a necessity to include marketing and social features to a PMS, or just a commodity?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this!

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xav

9 years

Hi Georgina,

I used 2 differents PMS (2 years ago and 1 year ago), loventis and cloud bed.

The price wasn't a problem, both had different price depending of your number of beds and that was great for a small hostel.

They were both SaaS application, accessible through the browser.

The things, I would have love to see or have, would have been to make it easy to tweak the bed or to upgrade any guest when they walked in, loventis was good for that and cloudbed a bit less (too much of Hotel thinking, not really for dorms).

Mobile app... or really responsive (like cloudbed), I was crazy when thinking about a possibilty of this feature... changing the bed, and in the same time allocating room on my phone, or being able to do thing from the kitchen or other common area without going to the office. I think that will be a game changer for small hostel.

And as you said some CRM features, I remember two years ago I was sending custom emails to each of the guest to talk about the tours and activities before the checked in.

If you want to look into this kind of problem, you should look into myAllocator (also from cloudbed), it will connect all the OTAs for you, and you can concentrate on the PMS features.

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