Hostel Software

Hostel software presents a specific set of challenges to software companies.

Hostel managers deal with a wide range of things which need to be features specific to them within any software package they buy.

Some of the main things pertinent to hostels are:

Dormitories and beds – each individual bed is classed as a unit (unlike a hotel which classes each room as a unit). Often times these beds are grouped into dormitories. Sometimes there are smaller rooms with only a few beds in each room.

Gender bookings – smaller bedrooms are often only allowed to be shared between same sex occupants. So if the first booking in a room with 3 beds is a female, then the other two beds must be sold to females also. This can become tricky to manage on a day to day basis.

Security Deposits- these are a big thing for hostel software to accommodate. It is often used for safe, towel and bed usage and acts as security for loss or damage during the clients stay.

Additional charges are a big thing in the hostel accommodation market. The hostel software should make the taking of additional charges as easy as possible and place it straight onto the clients bill so no charges are missed at checkout.

Typically hostels are at the lower end of the accommodation scale and often used by students and backpackers as they travel nationally or internationally on long trips.

Cash is often the preferred method of payment, however credit cards are becoming more and more popular. To this end PCI compliancy will become a bigger issue in this market, as more and more hostel operators become more organized and start processing significant funds.

An easy to use and train reservation grid should be used to manage all aspects of reservations management in any good hostel software package such as the one in ROS2006.