Best Hotel Management Software in 2025

Hotels can use hotel management tools to perform essential operations and processes. So it is important for hotel and other lodging providers to do educated comparisons to select the best hotel management tools for their requirements. However, this can be a tricky task given the scores of quality platforms out there. To help you, we have prepared this buyer’s guide that gives useful pointers on the list of features to look for and the factors to consider in your search for the best hotel management software tools.

The best way to start is by signing up for the free trials or demo offered by leading hotel management software providers. This will give you a chance to test drive each solution’s features at no cost and also do a comparison. You will be able to understand which system is a good fit for your needs. Visit the websites of the following popular hotel management software applications and find out if they offer a free trial: eZee Frontdesk, roomMaster, Hotelogix and MSI CloudPM. These apps have received high rankings in our  hotel management software reviews. 

The following businesses typically make use of hotel management software tools:

• Franchises – Many franchises stipulate rules on what type of hospitality software should be used. Others like Holiday Inn let their franchisees to make the selection decision.
• Hotel chains – If your hotel chain has multiple properties, then you need to decide whether to use a single system across all properties or to allow each one to select for themselves.
• Large resorts and hotels – Larger properties need a more robust system as they have more complicated reservation and scheduling requirements, maintenance requests, and because they offer a wider range of services and products.
• Small properties – Small bed-and-breakfast types and hotels can do with a basic system that offers account and property management features.
• Residential properties – RV parks, condos, and other residential properties need a good property management software solution and not hotel management software.

• eZee Frontdesk: Caters to resorts, hotels, chain properties, vacation rentals, B&Bs, boutique hotels, and more. It is a simple and fast all-in-one hotel management system.
• roomMaster: It is an easy property management solution to set up and operate. The software is used by more than 5,000 properties in over 100 countries.
• Hotelogix: A cloud-based, complete property management system for seamless management of hotels, resorts, serviced apartments and more. It is used by hotels in more than 100 countries.
• MSI CloudPM: A cloud-based PMS designed by MSI hotel experts. All the tools of a full-featured hotel property management system delivered in a web browser on your computers.
• Oracle Hospitality: A feature-rich hotel management software designed to help hotels, casinos, and cruise businesses streamline their operations.

As mentioned earlier, there are two main types of hotel management software–Property Management System (PMS) and Hotel ERP. What are the differences between the two?

A PMS typically consists of front office software and other best of breed systems. It is a basic app that is good for small hotels but inadequate for the needs of large chains.

Hotel ERP is a comprehensive app from a single vendor. Its benefits include greater automation, seamless utilization of technology, optimized use of resources, deeper visibility into operations, minimized revenue leakages, and higher profits.

Besides, hotel management software can be classified as cloud-based or on-premise solutions. Cloud-based hotel management software are next-gen solutions that are offered as SaaS platforms. On the other hand, on-premise hotel management software are legacy systems that are hosted on your computer systems.

Hotel management software should offer robust reporting capabilities and business features such as employee scheduling and accounting. If the system does not offer these features, it should be compatible with your existing software.

Other important features include:

• Customer relationship management – This feature allows you to use customer information to boost retention and loyalty. You can track guest profiles, their activity history and involvement in loyalty programs, and offer specific rewards programs to retain their patronage.  
• Maintenance management – With this feature you can track property ownership, rental info such as taxes, leases, etc., and work orders, schedule maintenance, and communicate with maintenance employees.
• Point of sale (POS) – POS solutions are used by retail stores and restaurants. In hotels, this system allows customers to pay for services such as health club, spa, Wi-Fi, pay-per-view, mini-bar items, room service, restaurant meals and more.
• Front desk and housekeeping – Includes managing check-ins and check-outs, scheduling wakeup calls, coding keycards, supervising the work of cleaning staff, assigning them to work in specific rooms etc.
• Reservations – Hotels should use an effective website that their guests can utilize to make reservations online. They also require an employee reservations tool that helps in room scheduling and availability, and makes it simple to identify reservations, occupancies, and vacancies visually and by using custom searches.

• User friendly – Cloud-based systems are easy to install and set up as you only need an internet connection. You don’t need extensive hardware, updating the software is simple, and the app can customized for your individual needs. This adaptability helps hotels to meet the changing demands of modern travelers.
• Remote access – Cloud-based systems enable hotel managers to access information anytime, anywhere, from any device. These solutions continuously back up data in the cloud and make it available to hoteliers in real time. As a result, you can fix customer service issues quickly and easily.
• Distribution system – You can use a PMS that integrates seamlessly with Channel Manager to expand your market reach and boost revenue. This will allow you to keep room rates and inventories up to date for guests wishing to rent rooms. The system offers real-time updates that help to prevent double or lost bookings.
• Automation improves control – Automated cloud-based systems enable hoteliers to enhance efficiency and save time. For instance, you can automatically sync housekeeping with front desk to facilitate seamless communication. You can track and update tasks more effectively and thus offer a better user experience to guests. Another advantage of automation is point of sale functionality that can be used to promptly service the facilities requested by guests.

Software as a Service (SaaS) – These systems are flexible and are fast replacing on-premise solutions. The advantages are you can access the software and data anytime, anywhere. You simply need to pay a monthly fee and save the upfront costs of buying a system and maintaining the IT infrastructure.

Market fragmentation – Hotel management software is relatively easy to develop and for this reason many Canadian and European vendors are entering the US market. This competition is good as it provides better quality and lesser costs to users, but the flip side is it makes purchasing decisions trickier for hoteliers.

Mobility – More and more guests are using their smartphones to book hotel rooms. Therefore, hotels need to ensure their website is easy to use and book on mobile devices. Therefore to improve occupancy rates, individual as well as chain hotels need to offer websites that are optimized for mobile search and bookings.

Ineffective marketing effort

Many hotels and chains still follow old-fashioned and ineffective marketing practices which affects their brand recognition, market share, and revenue. The solution is for hotels to use hotel management software to improve ROI and reduce the workload of their employees.

IT Costs

Hotels need to shell out for hardware, software, and maintenance expenses and also need to hire IT specialists to run the infrastructure. However, these costs are unavoidable as a good hotel management software solution is essential to boost efficiency and productivity.

Disparate software

Disparate hospitality management solutions work in a siloed manner. Because of this you cannot access data in real time across systems. Each application’s data can be only be extracted and used separately. The solution is to ensure seamless integration of all the software platforms you use for easy access to data across products.

Hotels, like other businesses, are multi-departmental entities with different teams for housekeeping, front desk, back office, kitchen, and also finance professionals. In most cases, the heads of these departments are the key users of hotel management systems. To mention, here are the people who use the systems to streamline operations: 

• Hotel managers
• General managers
• Guest relationship managers
• Reservation/front office managers
• Housekeeping managers
• Banquet managers
• Hotell accountants
• Financial controllers

Generally, hotel management software solutions are offered on a subscription-based or license-based pricing model. The price you pay may vary based on a range of factors, including the size of your property (number of rooms), 3rd party integrates and OTAs that you take, and any other add-ons. Combined, all these factors make it difficult to definitively tell the ideal pricing of hotel management software.