I’ve been trawling the Internet trying to find a new booking system for our Inn.  For those in the know, its called a property management system or PMS.  But on top of that we need online booking from our website and channel management of the 2 OTA’s (Online travel agents) that we use – Booking.com and Laterooms, as they are difficult to keep updated with our availability – which can change in moments.  Channel management offers the possibility of signing up with loads of OTA’s and our availability being mirrored on all sites, thanks to some clever software ‘in the cloud’.

But there are so many systems out there, with vastly different pricings and capabilities, that I’m now totally confused.  We cannot afford the ‘Rolls Royce’ solutions costing thousands and am trying to find something in the lower price range – allthough I’m willing to be convinced of one or two of the more expensive systems, but find that a return on investment is difficult to quantify.

So, surely you would think that these companies would get results (i.e. a rise in bookings perhaps or a large saving in time) from their customer base and lead with these facts in their marketing – but no sadly.

Which leaves this potential customer thinking he might just stick with what he’s already got!