Choosing guide
Every PMS can record a booking. The difference shows up in what happens next: how many figures you have to reconcile, and how many decisions you make looking at spreadsheets you built yourself.
The problem
Almost nobody replaces a PMS because theirs «does not work». They replace it because they noticed that the programs are connected and the numbers still do not add up — and it usually shows in three symptoms.
The PMS and the pricing tool are connected, yet they give two different occupancy figures for the same month. Nobody got the sums wrong: each divides by its own rooms, and the connection carries the result, not the rule behind it.
The channel manager carries the rate everywhere. Minimum stays, closed dates, rooms held for one channel get through only in part, each under the name that program gives it — and what you change by hand often does not flow back.
The PMS knows which channel every booking came from, the accounts know what you spent. What is left per room sold, channel by channel, is in neither: you rebuild it yourself, when you have time.
The criteria
Not «how many features it has», but how much work it takes away. They are the same five areas the check-up is built on, and you can put them to any vendor before signing.
| Criterion | Booking ledger | Full PMS |
|---|---|---|
| A figure is typed once | The price reaches the channel manager, the restrictions only in part | One inventory: typed into the PMS and pushed to the channels, restrictions included |
| Numbers about the future, not only the past | no | yes |
| The repetitive work is done by the system | Lists to print | Guest messages, housekeeping plan and meal sheet generated from the stays |
| Italian compliance included | Tourist tax recomputed by hand | Tourist tax and police reporting computed from data already entered |
| The books close on the same data | no | yes |
| Pricing and cost control as separate tools | no | Added when needed, and they connect to a third-party PMS too |
«Booking ledger» is not an insult: for a small, steady property it can be enough. The comparison is there so you know what you are not buying.
The real cost
The list price is the easy part of the sum. Three items turn up afterwards, and together they often cost more than the subscription.
For the full picture of market costs — price bands per room, setup, the hidden items — there is a page of its own: how much a hotel PMS costs.
Where we come in
It is the PMS we built to answer those five questions with a yes: one inventory, numbers about the future, the repetitive work automated, and Italian compliance inside rather than beside. Pricing and cost control are separate tools (RatePilot and CostCore): switched on when needed, and they work on top of a PMS that is not ours.
Two or three weeks for a single property, counting data migration and hand-holding. The long part is not technical: it is deciding which data is worth bringing along.
The right moment is low season, and the rule is never to switch with a full house.
It depends which one. Some connect; others overlap with functions the PMS already has — and then you would be paying twice for the same work, with two versions of the truth about availability.
It is one of the first things to look at, before the price.
It is worth it if you are the one doing the repetitive work. Room count matters less than it seems: a small property with many channels and many rates needs automation more than a large hotel with a single rate.
If you have few rooms, few channels and steady prices, a ledger can be enough — and we will tell you so.
It is yours, and you must be able to take it away. The question to put to any vendor is: «in what format do you export it, and what does that cost?». If the answer is vague, that is the answer.
None: they are two names for the same thing. Vendors tend to reach for whichever sounds newer, which is a good reason to look at what the software does rather than at what it is called.
Ten questions, three minutes, and you know which two areas are worth acting on — which are not always the PMS.
Take the check-up