Apr 13 2010
Bed and Breakfast Reservation Software – What do you really need?
I don’t know how many different kinds of bed and breakfast reservation software packages there are out there – I do know it’s a lot!
So how do you make an informed decision? Which room reservation software is right for your bed and breakfast (or guest house, country inn, gite, chambre d’hotes, etc). Reading a website can only tell you so much and, would you believe, they don’t always tell you all of the truth! 
You need to look at your requirements. If you’ve got two or three letting rooms you don’t need hundreds of dollars worth of program. Even if you’ve got 20 rooms, at the high end there’s a lot of reservation booking software that does way more than you need.
At the budget end of the scale you might find a free reservation software download – but “free” is often worth every penny! Price is always a consideration – but you’ve got to know you’re getting something that does the job. If you don’t, you are just going to waste time learning it, then waste more time trying to get it fixed. I’ve done it myself and it gets very frustrating!
I think the easiest solution is not bed and breakfast reservation software as such – it’s a managed solution provided by someone else. They take care of the actual software side of things and give me something that’s easy to for my guests and me to use. In return I pay them a few bucks a month. It’s worth it to save you all that grief downloading, installing, setting up, sending emails when things go wrong, not getting good enough support…
What’s more, with several of these web reservation software services you can get a free trial – so you don’t have to commit to anything before you’ve had a chance to really put it through it’s paces.
I’ve recently started using Keep Me Booked – in fact I’m still on their 30 day free trial. So far it has been excellent – and I have really put it to the test. I try pretty hard to break these things at first so I know it’s going to be up to the job!
They have a couple of options and I would recommend the “PLUS” service, which not only lets you enter details yourself but also gives you a bit of code so you can have a booking form on your own b & b website. It’s excellent that people don’t have to leave your site to book. The “PLUS” level can incorporate Paypal too, at no extra cost, so people can pay you by credit card. It all runs in the background so all you really need to do is log in and see when people have booked for!
Installing the code to have it working on your own site is just a question of copying and pasting. It can also work in a WordPress blog if you have the right plug-in (drop me a line if you need help with this).
To be honest, it does a lot more than I could explain here. It’s really well thought out, yet it remains the easiest bed and breakfast reservation software that I have seen so far.
You can enter details yourself, or your guests can book themselves in. The system will send them a confirmation email, and let you know who has booked. I could go on but I would recommend that you take the free trial like I have. It’s absolutely free – they don’t want any kind of deposit or a credit card number – and there’s lots of videos to help you through the set-up (although I doubt you’ll need them).
Keep Me Booked seems to do exactly what you need. A few dollars a month for a fuss-free bed and breakfast reservation software with a 30 day free trial and no commitment. That’s my kind of service. Test it out here.
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Do you know of a good system that gives the guest a calendar of availability so they can choose dates that suite them or choose a room that is free when they are – instead of having to try each room with their dates???
Thanks!
Krista
Hi Krista
Have you had a look at “Keep Me Booked“? I think that will do what you need.
By the way, love your blog. What’s the theme?
Bob
Just saying… I am having trouble understanding how to get the calendar to appear on my website. It just shows up blank. I use wordpress which is so common it seems it should be compatible. I have also written for support and haven’t heard back yet…. not a good sign.
I am hoping things turn around because I want to like “Keep Me Booked” but so far it’s not as great as you make it out to be…. maybe you can help me???
Krista
Hi Bob, I just saw your reply to my last post! I use Thesis on wordpress for my site…. It works. I wish I had more color and art, but all in good time I guess!
Krista
Hi Krista
Support has been pretty good in my experience. Maybe they’re just having an off day? Have you tried Skyping? That should get a rapid response.
As for embedding it in your site, I’m pretty sure you can’t do that. It runs on their servers so you use your link to direct people over there. In some ways I think that’s better. It means you don’t have to worry about installing or keeping updating it when WordPress changes – which it does quite often.
Good luck
Bob