By Jeff Sefton

A hotel sales team will work with Wholesalers to help fill hotel rooms. A wholesaler will be provided with a special negotiated rate which is typically based on the number of occupied rooms that are being guaranteed to the hotel over a determined period of time.

Wholesaler Functionality

Wholesaler functionality allows you to hold a block of rooms for a wholesaler and book those rooms out of the group block at previously negotiated wholesaler rates.

A wholesaler reservation is not the same as a typical reservation – It is necessary for a wholesaler to book reservations and obtain their preferred room rate while having their reservation take inventory from an assigned block of rooms.

Here are functions that you should look for when evaluating a property management system’s wholesaler module:

• Wholesaler confirmations
• Wholesaler pickup reports
• Pickup from Wholesaler block
• Wholesaler statistical reports
• Ability to set predetermined wholesaler rates
• City Ledger/Account receivable billing
• Ability to add additional hotel services
• Group check-in entire group or individually
• Group check-out entire group or individually
• Ability to assign room numbers to reservations booked by wholesaler
• Ability to quickly create ongoing wholesaler blocks for seasons or entire year
• Ability to drop unbooked rooms from the block by set number of days prior to arrival date
• Ability to split charges for incidentals and room and tax charges for wholesaler reservations

Image Credit: Alan Levine

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By Jeff Sefton

Guest History is an important property management system module because it helps your business build guest information in order to help facilitate better customer service and repeat business.

Guest History is generally made up of contact information gathered during the reservation process including:

• Name, address, phone number, email address, etc.
• Rates and room types booked on previous stays and the dates of those stays
• Previous source of business information i.e GDS, website, walk-in, etc.
• Market segment information i.e. AAA member, a corporate account member, convention guest, independent traveler, etc.

Guest history can also be used to track special guest requests. For example, if a guest prefers a lower floor or is allergic to feather pillows, it is helpful to record this information to anticipate guest needs for future stays.

Other Important Guest History Functions

• Exporting data for email marketing, direct mail campaigns, etc.
• Interfacing to systems that focus on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and/or guest loyalty programs

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By Jeff Sefton

If you handle groups at your hotel you will require group functionality within your property management system. A group could be a wedding party, corporate function, convention, tour group, an airline crew, etc.

Group functionality allows you to:

1. Hold a block of rooms for a group
2. Enter a complete rooming list for the group
3. Have guests book their own rooms individually out of the group block

Group business can represent a large part of a property’s revenue, so hoteliers are always looking for ways to make it easier for their group business customers to book accommodations. In addition, providing the ability for group customers to book their rooms online is becoming an essential service requirement for many hotels.

Not a Typical Reservation

Group reservations are unique because clients:

1. Need to get their preferred room rate AND
2. Have their reservation remove inventory from a preassigned block of rooms

Here’s an example:

• Bob and Sally have guaranteed the hotel that they will bring 250 wedding guests that will stay over at the hotel the night of their wedding
• The hotel group coordinator has offered them a special rate based on Bob and Sallys guarantee that their wedding group will occupy 125 rooms
• The group coordinator provides Bob and Sally with a booking code that will be given out to their wedding guests
• Their guests may phone direct to the hotel or book their own reservation using the online booking engine on the hotel web site
• By using their code during the booking process the room is taken out of the guaranteed block of 125 rooms and the guest gets a special room rate as part of the Bob and Sally wedding group

Here are some more group functions that you may want to consider when evaluating a property management system for your lodging business:

1. Group confirmations and deposits
2. Ability to split charges for incidentals and room and tax charges
3. Master folio for Group and individual folios
4. Group Notes
5. Ability to add additional hotel services
6. Ability to assign room numbers to group members
7. Ability to import group rooming lists
8. Pickup from Group Block
9. City Ledger/Account receivable billing
10. Group check-in entire group or individually
11. Group check-out entire group or individually
12. Ability to drop unbooked rooms from the block by set number of days prior to arrival date
13. Group pickup reports
14. Group statistical reports

Image Credit: Jacob Botter

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By Jeff Sefton

Housekeeping is often one of the last departments that is consulted during the evaluation and purchase of a hotel property management system. Housekeeping is usually one of the larger departments in a hotel or resort, so providing that division with the tools they need goes a long way to:

• Facilitating improved guest service
• Contributing to human resources by aiding in cost reduction through efficiency

There are two primary concerns that the housekeeping department will have with regards to the property management system:

1. Access to easily read screens and reports so they know the the status of rooms at any given moment
2. Having the ability to easily update room status in the property management system

Some Functions to Consider

Phone System Interface

• This offers housekeepers the ability to update the room status (set the room as “clean”) in the property management system by simply keying in a code on the guest room telephone
• When the supervisors follow with their inspections, they may then punch in a code to designate the room as “inspected”

Tracking and Reporting Maintenance Items

• It is also the responsibility of the housekeeping department to manage out of order guest rooms that need repairs or upgrades to keep them up to standard.
• Tracking and reporting of maintenance items is essential, as is having the ability to keep a history of these items to spot trends or for future reference.
• The ability to track maintenance on common areas such as lobbies, meeting rooms, public washrooms and health club areas is key in keeping those areas up to acceptable standards as well.
• Keeping service standards high includes the efficient tracking and management of maintaining your hotel and keeping it looking good.