Property management software: thelobbyboy

Picture a property management system built around the way your property actually works. It handles bookings from several channels, shows which rooms are free, holds your rates for every season and for longer stays, lets you take and change reservations, collects payments and keeps guests informed before, during and after their stay.

That is the system thelobbyboy set out to be. It was built by a hotelier, with the problems of real owners and managers in mind from the start.

How booking moved online

Most guests now look for a place to stay online. They compare by location and dates and book for themselves, rather than through a travel agent. That asks more of the people running a property: they need to be comfortable with technology, market themselves actively and still deliver a stay worth recommending.

Online booking is not new. For a long time, though, the tools behind it belonged to the large booking sites and hotel groups, which had the money and the IT teams to build them. Like most software, those tools became more affordable as competition grew, and that has levelled the field.

Today small hotels, boutique hotels, hostels and individual owners use them as a matter of course, not least because guests, owners and staff all spend so much of their day online.

From paper to the cloud

The first booking systems at smaller properties, kept on paper or on a single office computer, were awkward to use and held little more than a guest's name, home address, room and expected arrival and departure.

That was enough when guests arrived through television, radio, newspapers, magazines, letters, phone calls and walk-ins. The internet changed how almost every business operates. Travel and accommodation were among the first sectors to market themselves online, and that pushed demand for better systems.

Hoteliers and other owners adapted, and property management systems such as thelobbyboy are part of that change. They bring the day's work together, connect the tools a property relies on and make the stay smoother for guests.

What thelobbyboy is

thelobbyboy is cloud-based software in which the property management system and the channel manager work as one. It is designed to make the day easier for the people running a property, and for their guests.

It works for many kinds of property, including:

• Hotels, small and large
• Boutique hotels
• Hostels
• B&Bs and guesthouses
• Apartments and villas
• Groups of properties run from one account

What it includes

• Mobile friendly: it runs on any phone, tablet or laptop, with nothing to download.
• Cloud-based: your team can log in from anywhere, at any time.
• Today's Agenda: the day's arrivals, departures and unpaid balances in one view.
• Property management and channel management in one: rates and availability stay in sync with the OTAs.
• Extra services: breakfast, laundry, drinks and transfers sold at reception and added to the guest's invoice.
• Multiple users: every member of staff gets their own login, with a role and permissions to match.
• Multiple properties: switch between locations under a single account.
• Shared inventory: share rooms between the properties you run.
• Bookings calendar: drag a booking to move it, change the room or extend the stay.
• Easy room setup: our team sets up your rooms, rate plans and channels for you.

Mobile friendly

More and more travellers search for a place to stay on a phone or tablet, and many book on the same device. thelobbyboy's booking engine gives them a checkout built for mobile.

Your team works the same way. The front desk can move a booking or change a room from a phone, and housekeepers update room status, log minibar items and report repairs from theirs.

Cloud-based

Because thelobbyboy runs in the cloud, you and your team can reach it from anywhere, at any time, with nothing to install.

Today's Agenda

Today's Agenda shows the state of the day at a glance: who is arriving, who is leaving, who is staying on and which balances are still unpaid, so the team is ready long before check-in time.