Checklist for selecting a booking System for your hotel Website

An integral part of any HotelA Hotel or Inn may be defined as an establishment whose primary business is providing lodging facili... website is its capability to generate maximum online bookings from its website, As a decision maker or the owner it is crucial to select the right booking engine for your hotel website when it comes to return on investments, usability, multi-platform availability, and functionality.

At present many companies in the market allow you to accept bookings online either through your website or through a third-party booking site.

All of these systems offer Quick and efficient ways to manage your internet bookings, administration and management of room availability, and prices, send automated confirmation letters, and also link to a payment gateway.

It is those small add-on features or so-called toppings on the pizza 🙂 which keeps them apart.

1) Misspelled or multiple name search: This feature is important for a hotel group that has hotels across the globe or in multiple locations in a country. In the below example, you can see a search done on location ‘Bangalore’ or ‘Bengaluru’ as the guest might search on any of these names.

2) Choose property by the map: Ability to choose a hotel from an interactive map, This feature is very useful for hotels who have multiple units in the same location.

3) Book Restaurant Table and Room reservations: Possibility to make table reservation and room reservations with the same booking engine.

4) Price Slider / Price Range selector: Allows the guests to easily set their budget and view the available rate and room for the selected hotel.

5) Multi-currency and Language: Possibilities of Displaying the total room rate in multiple currencies and the description/labels in multiple languages.

6) Search filter: Advanced refined search filter for choosing property features like room type, Rates, PromotionsPromotions - The ways in which a business tries to persuade people to buy its products and services...., packages, etc.

7) Display Slash through rate: Slash through rates displayed on the website have more CTR ( Click through rate) when compared to another normal rate. The booking engine should be able to support this functionality. Eg: the original rate was 4000.00 and now 2500.00

8) Embed Trip advisor or guest reviews: Possibility to embed the guest review or trip advisor comments and ranking on the booking page. 

9) Sort  by – Price, Best deal, Ascending: Possibility to sort displayed price by rate, best deal, discount, etc.

10) Photo Gallery with High Definition pictures: Pictures speak more than words! and bring more user engagement to the booking page. There should be possibility to upload high definition pictures with Resolutions 1920×1080.  

11) Lesser number of steps: The fewer the number of steps involved in the booking process more the chance to convert the booking attempts into actual reservations. The booking engine should have the option to complete the booking attempt in the same window instead of navigating the user to a different page after each step. 

Also, there should be a possibility to re-order the booking steps for example the Add-on offers or purchase tab should only appear to the guest once they have booked the room successfully.

12) Responsive design: The booking screen should have a responsive design that adapts the layout according to the type of device the guest uses to view the website. Eg: If a guest visits from a mobile or tablet the buttons and date selection on the booking screen should be easily clickable with a finger. Check your hotel website responsiveness here: Mobile-Friendly Test

13) Booked Price summary: This should display the breakdown of the selected price, If there are taxes and service charges then there should be an option to show this breakup to the guest.

14) Possibility of login with multiple IDs: Guests should be able to log in to the hotel website by different options like Loyalty program number, Google account, Facebook, and corporate booker ID.

The customers who had logged in to the hotel website should show the summary of their Future Stay, Current Stay, and Cancelled bookings, and if interfaced with the hotel property management system it should be also capable of showing those Bookings also which were made directly by the hotel staff. Also, Option to opt in / opt out of promotion and loyalty programs.

15) Amendment and cancellations: Possibility to amend the booked reservation with Add packages/upgrades. Modify the arrival and departure date. Cancel an existing reservation.

16) Time-specific pop-up: Possibility of showing pop-ups as per hotel, GuestDefinition of Guest in Hospitality Industry: A guest is the most important person in any business. A... type ( Repeat, Member, etc.), and special promotion codes.

17) Promotion Code: Should have the option to display special rates upon the use of different promotion codes.