Choosing hotel software: 10 questions to ask before you sign
Demos all look good. These ten questions show what a hotel system will be like on a busy Saturday, at renewal time and on the day you want to leave.
The right hotel software is the one your team can use on a busy day, that tells you the truth when something fails, and that lets you leave with your data. Every demo shows the happy path. These ten questions show the rest.
About the product
- Do the parts share one database, or synchronise copies? If reservations, channels and the front desk each keep their own availability, you have built overbooking into your stack. Ask how a walk-in at reception reaches Booking.com.
- Can my receptionist use it without training? Ask to do a check-in yourself in the demo, not watch one.
- What does it show when a channel fails? Ask to see a failing connection. If everything is always green, it is not measuring.
- Does the price a guest sees first equal the price they pay? Taxes and fees revealed at the last step cost direct bookings.
About money
- What will I actually pay in year one? Monthly fees, setup, per-booking fees, payment fees, channel fees — on one page.
- Where does guest money go? Into your own account, or through the vendor first? Who handles chargebacks?
About risk
- How do I export my data, and in what format? Reservations, guests, invoices. Ask for a sample file.
- Where is my data hosted, and who can read it? For EU hotels this is a GDPR question as much as a technical one.
- What are the support hours and response times — in writing?
About the future
- If I start with one product, what does adding another involve? “A new project” and “a switch we flip” are very different answers.
Use the answers
Score each vendor on the same ten questions, then do a trial with your own rooms and prices — not the demo hotel. Two weeks of real use tells you more than any feature list.
How Revio answers them
Revio is four products on one shared inventory: RevioLink, RevioCRS, RevioPMS and RevioDirect. Adding a product is an entitlement, not a migration. Tenant data is isolated by the database itself, two-factor sign-in is on every product, and guest payments go to the hotel’s own Stripe account. Prices are on one page, and every product can be tried free for 30 days with no card.
A guest books a Deluxe on Booking.com.
Questions
Is an all-in-one suite better than separate tools?
Neither is automatically better. A suite avoids integrations but asks you to take everything; separate tools let you choose but need connections. A modular platform on one shared database is a third option: buy one product, add others later with nothing to migrate.
How long does switching hotel software take?
For a small property, setup can take days; the careful part is moving future reservations and checking room mappings. Plan a quiet week and a rehearsal before going live.
What should a contract include?
Monthly price per property and what changes it, notice period, how to export your data, service levels for support and uptime, and where data is hosted.
Try Revio free for 30 days — all three products, no card.
