Automation in rental: the essential tools for saving time
Why automation is essential in the rental sector
Managing a hotel, apartment hotel or guest house has never been so exciting... or so time-consuming. With bookings coming in day and night, one customer message after another, housekeeping schedules, invoicing and e-reputation, the days can quickly feel like a marathon with no finish line. That's where Hotel automation A set of tools and methods that delegate repetitive tasks to the software to free up human time - time that we would rather devote to welcoming and personalising the passenger experience.
In this article, we'll take a look at the key solutions and practical steps for automating rental, from the booking engine to the connected room door. The aim: to reduce the mental workload, minimise errors and, above all, offer a smoother service to your customers. Whether you're a beginner or already well equipped, you'll find here a realistic action plan for moving forward tomorrow... without developer jargon.
The foundations: a solid booking engine and Channel Manager
Why start with the booking engine?
The booking engine is the main gateway to your direct sales. It manages availability, displays your rates and collects payments. If it's not automatically linked to the other channels (Booking, Airbnb, Expedia, etc.), there's always a risk of double selling. This is one of the main causes of operational stress.
Hotel Web Design has clearly understood this by offering an engine coupled with a Channel Manager synchronised in real time; you can find it here : https://hotel-webdesign.com/moteur-reservation-channel-manager-hotel-chambre-hote. In less than sixty seconds, any new booking is reflected on your other platforms. No more sleepless nights checking the calendar!
Start-up checklist
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List your current channels (OTA, site, telephone) and check that they connect to the Channel Manager.
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Configure your pricing rules a percentage or a fixed amount above the direct price.
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Activate the payment gateway to collect the deposit and reduce no-shows.
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Schedule automatic e-mails (confirmation, pre-stay reminder, thank you).
Once this foundation has been laid, you have already eliminated 50 % of the risk of overbooking and halved the time spent on Excel spreadsheets.
Hotel Web Design is the web agency 100% dedicated to the hotel industryWe can help you with all aspects of digital communication for your accommodation: booking websites, natural referencing specialising in the hotel industry, Google Ads referencing and Google Hotel Ads, social networking campaigns, graphic charters and logos for hotels.
Make an appointment today for free advice on how to optimise the digital management of your accommodation.
Common mistakes to avoid
Too many apps" syndrome
Accumulating twelve different subscriptions multiplies security breaches and API failures. Prefer a single base - like the one offered by Hotel Web Design - then add one or two specialist modules if you really need to.
Human control forgotten
Automating does not mean giving up. A monthly check of reports, monitoring of sensitive messages and an annual security audit are essential.
Sloppy configuration
A badly configured Channel Manager creates confusion: reversed rates, forgotten taxes, inaccurate availability. Take the time to set up VAT, rate plans and cancellation policies.
Training neglected
Even a perfect tool becomes useless if the team doesn't use it. Schedule new functionality sessions for each update.
The PMS: your all-in-one control tower
Le Property Management System is the hub where reservations, invoices, household planning and statistics converge. With a connected PMS, manual data entry is a thing of the past. The best solutions today offer :
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Visual dashboard colour-coded for each room status.
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Housekeeping module : housekeepers receive tasks on their smartphones.
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Accounting integration Your invoices are synchronised in your management software.
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Analytical reports RevPAR, occupancy rates, ancillary revenues - everything is ready to use.
Practical tip For example, schedule a fifteen-minute meeting every morning with your team around the PMS board. Everyone can immediately see which rooms need cleaning, VIP arrivals or special requests. This saves you a lot of round-trips and prevents you from forgetting things.
Automation tools that transform the day
Multi-channel customer messaging
Gone are the days of switching from a Booking tab to the Airbnb application and then to WhatsApp. Centralised messaging systems (such as GuestJoy, Akia or Hotel Web Design's native module) bring all conversations together in one place. An "Arriving late?" template can be sent in a single click, an automatic translation responds to the Brazilian visitor, and notifications are sent just like in a simple SMS application.
Connected locks and dynamic codes
There's no need to run back and forth between reception and the room: an intelligent lock issues a unique code, valid from check-in to check-out. Late arrivals at 11pm can check in without waking the night watchman. Collectively, hotels equipped with this system have seen a 65 % reduction in queues on arrival (source: SmartLock Hospitality Report 2024external : https://smartlockreport.com).
Dynamic plug-and-play pricing
Revenue management solutions (Beyond, PriceLabs, RoomPriceGenie) analyse local demand, events and the competition. They adjust your rates every two hours to capture the best revenue, without human intervention. You remain in control of the floor and ceiling. According to a McKinsey 2023 study (https://www.mckinsey.com) Hoteliers who adopt such automation earn an average of 11 % in additional revenue in the first year.
Intelligent housekeeping tasks
A housekeeping planning module, integrated into the PMS or offered by dedicated apps (RoomRaccoon, Flexkeeping), allocates rooms down to the minute, calculates journey times and notifies the front-desk live when a room is ready. The front-desk sees the information without lifting the phone. Result: less waiting for the customer and less coming and going for the team.
Automated notice gathering
We talked about this in a previous article: the collection of reviews can be triggered 24 hours after departure, with a gentle reminder after three days. Hotel Web Design offers a module that manages this and redirects to Google or Booking depending on your priority (internal link : https://hotel-webdesign.com/google-free-hotel-booking-links-comment-en-profiter). You solidify your reputation without lifting a finger.
Concrete steps for deploying Hotel Automation
Step 1: Make an inventory of time-consuming tasks
Take out a notebook and list everything that steals time: re-typing, identical e-mails, bookkeeping, duplication of calendars, check-in delays. Tally up the weekly minutes. That's your starting point.
Step 2: choose a modular solution
Rather than stacking five software packages on top of each other, opt for a suite that centralises the most functions. Hotel Web Design offers a unique ecosystem (reservation, channel, PMS, messaging) that limits the risks of haphazard integration.
Stage 3: Setting numerical targets
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"Reduce check-in time by 50 %".
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"Increase the average Google rating from 4.2 to 4.5".
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"Save two hours a week on accounting".
These targets will guide your adjustments and prove the ROI.
Stage 4: Building the team step by step
A one-day workshop is often all that's needed: demonstrations in the morning, case studies in the afternoon, and a memo sheet during the coffee break. Resistance to change falls away when everyone realises that technology lightens the load rather than threatening jobs.
Step 5: Launch a 30-day pilot
Activate automation for part of the flow (e.g. messages + housekeeping). Measure the impact before extending to pricing or locks.
Step 6: Monitor key indicators
Direct visits, message response times, satisfaction rates, technical incidents... Your PMS or Google Data Studio tables become your daily dashboard.
Hotel Web Design is a Google partner with the Google Hotelsincluding our customers enjoy every day: information about your accommodation, availability and prices is sent continuously to the search engine, which displays booking links free from Google search, directly to your booking page. These free links represent around 15% of additional commission-free bookings for our customers in 2022! Read our article on free booking links from Google
Conclusion: automation, a human ally
Adopt theHotel automation doesn't mean replacing the receptionist's smile with a robot; it means giving him or her back the time to make a genuine contact, personalise the welcome and advise on the best restaurant in the area. Hoteliers who take this step save precious hours, reduce errors and increase customer satisfaction. With integrated solutions fromHotel Web DesignYou can start today, even if you're starting from scratch.
Ready to free up your time?
- Test the engine + Channel Manager : https://hotel-webdesign.com/moteur-reservation-channel-manager-hotel-chambre-hote
- Find out how to boost your reviews with Google Free Booking Links : https://hotel-webdesign.com/google-free-hotel-booking-links-comment-en-profiter
A Hotel Web Design consultant will call you back within 24 hours for a free audit. Don't let repetitive tasks drain your energy: leave them to the tools and concentrate on what counts - hospitality.
Booking / reservation website
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Direct booking for your accommodation
- Bespoke booking/conversion site delivered turnkey, with training on the administration interface on delivery
- Adapted logo and graphic charter. Possibility of using your existing elements
- Specific referencing for holiday lets
- Integration of reservations module internal
- or integration of an external booking engine (Reservit, D-EDGE, MisterbookingRoomcloud, etc)
- Integration of specific HTML elements (review portals, customer reviews, weather, press, pop-ups, direct chat, etc.)
- Secure SSL / HTTPS
- Multilingual website & booking engine
- Simple, intuitive user interface
- High-availability hosting and domain name
- Delivery usually within 30 days
