Jeffrey, I'm not sure, but I think there are a few software packages that allow online booking -- and I mean *online* -- but I don't know their names. Have you been to the PAII site to see what vendors advertise with them?

I totally agree with you that online reservations are a must. I think you'll find that most innkeepers are concerned about letting people see their books though and software companies probably are designing their products around what will sell best.

Let us know what you find.

Hello Jeffery,

Most computer software reservation packages are made to work with another product that is web based. I know of two supplementary online web based packages that are available. One is Availability Online and the other is Webervations.

Either package requires that you have a current computer reservation system in place (Guest Tracker and RezOvation both work). The online reservation system can either be manually updated or can have a two way modem connection to your computer reservation software.

The modem connection would allow reservations to be uploaded onto your computer software in real time at set intervals. In addition, dates that become unavailable due to your taking reservations are posted to the online system helping eliminate double bookings.

The only cost of the online availability is a yearly charge no matter how many reservations you may get. When we owned our inn, I found that the in the course of a year, 25 % of my reservations were a result of online bookings. Many of these came in the middle of the night when I was fast asleep. We found that the cost of the yearly service was justified.

The user was pleased that they could make a reservation no matter what the time. I was pleased that I still will had the ability to confirm the reservation and price it accordingly (discounts, extra person charge, packages etc.). Credit Card information is done through secure sites.

There is a web based reservation system called Super Inn. It is designed mostly for small users. It has an online reservation system built into it. The down side is that you do not have control of your data as it resides on the website not in your computer. If the company were to go out of business, or if there were server problems and the site was down, or you were having problems logging into the internet, you are dead in the water so to speak.

Hope this helps.

We used a product called Guestall from Applied Technologies in Orlando Fl. It was a no brainer to use and was easily integrated with online reservation services. The tech support is second to none and the few times we needed it, we had help immediately. As this a small company, you have access to the owner for advise. Give them a call at 407 529 9072. You call tell him that Terry & Ginger from Kokoke Lani in Hawaii referred you. I am only passing this along as we feel that for the money and service, it can't be beat and for the computer challenged like me, this is something even I can work with.

We use SuperInn which is entirely web based for all reservations. It allows it also keeps track of all bills, check-in registration forms (printed), guest statements (printed or email), Letters of confirmation (printed or email. It is really an inn management system not just an online reservation system. You don't need anything else to interface with it. Because its web based you can deal with reservations even if you are on vacation or away from your inn. No special software is needed.

It really is a very nice system. It's monthly cost (~$40 for a three bedroom inn) is well worth it. It has been responsible for nearly half of our reservations and greatly reduces the number of calls we get from people at midnight or later. They can check availability online and reserve directly from our website.

I am pretty sure they still offer a free 2 month trial, they did when we signed up..

If you're using a dial-up connection you may find it a bit of a pain to have to dial up all the time, but on a constant connection, it is a great asset

We use Webervations. Easy to use, no extra software,and inexpensive. They offered a 90 day free trial so you can check it out before spending any money. Just add a few lines of code to your website and tailor it to your own needs and you're up and running!

How much does it cost per month? Is it a per transaction fee or a flat monthly fee?

Can you share how much of your business comes from having an online reservation system?

Kit Cassingham wrote: Can you share how much of your business comes from having an online reservation system?

For our B&B it is just over 50% of our guests that book online. I would say another 15-20% check the availability online but prefer to call to make the actual reservation. (they call because they have specific questions, fear of credit card info submitted over the internet, or they just like to talk with a human). I am certain that a great deal of business comes from the online reservation system that would have passed us by if we didn't have it.

We use Webervation ($55 a year through our Guild) and Innovation.

Webervation has to be the singlemost cost effective tool my Inn has. For less than a cost of the room, we have availability online, secure booking and the pssibility of upselling packages.

Innovation on the other hand helped us modernize the booking system for the Inn (from pen and paper).

Innovation keeps Webervation up to date, although you can use the later and manually update it.

Without these applications my life and Inn would be in disarray. I complete my quarterly taxes in seconds thanks to one of the reports Innovation can run. I can produce reports on occupancy, sales projections and the like in seconds as well.

To top it off support on both of these products is extremely good!

That's great to hear. It sounds as though the combination of Webervation and Innovation are catching up to where SuperInn is. When I reviewed both products several years ago, there was quite a separation between the two companies. It's great to hear that there is more competition now.

We just switched from GuestAll use a fairly new system called QRes - http://qres.net - it's free to use, you only pay them if you want to use their website reservations module.

Thanks for sharing Darren and welcome to B&B Talk. We'll have to have a look.