An agency is pitching a booking engine for our hotel — what is it exactly and what should we demand from the vendor?

Before signing anything, ask the agency these questions: 1) Are there per-transaction fees on top of the initial setup cost? 2) Do you offer a two-way XML connection or are you just syncing calendars via iCal? 3) Do you guarantee technical support on weekends or overnight if the system goes down?

We switched to a direct booking engine two years ago at our 18-room property in Costa Brava. We pay a flat licensing fee of 85 EUR per month. In the first year, our direct booking share jumped from 8 percent to 27 percent. Thanks to the drop in portal commissions, the engine paid for its annual cost within the first two months.

Whatever you do, don't rely on basic iCal sync for your calendar. iCal can take up to half an hour to update, and in peak season that delay will definitely cause double bookings. Make sure the booking engine and channel manager provide direct API-based instant syncing.

Don't expect guests to just magically flock to your website once you set up a booking engine. The portals spend massive ad budgets. If you're not driving traffic to your own site organically or via ads the engine is just sitting there as decoration. Setting it up is only 20 percent of the battle; the real challenge is driving the traffic.

give guests little perks on the engine imo. offer free breakfast or late checkout to whoever books directly on the site and if you list the same price as the portals without any perks nobody's gonna wanna type their credit card into a boutique hotel's website.

I advise you to be careful regarding the payment infrastructure. You cannot store customer credit card data directly on your own server; routing the payment gateway through a secure provider compliant with international security standards (PCI-DSS) and European payment directives is a legal requirement.

i'd be cautious when agencies promise they will "build custom software from scratch." It's always safer to stick with well-known, proven standalone booking engines on the market. you don't want your entire booking infrastructure held hostage if you decide to part ways with the agency down the road.

Don't sign anything during the initial meeting. Ask the provider for at least two active boutique hotel references currently using the engine. Go to their websites and test the booking flow as if you were a customer—you'll see firsthand how smoothly the system really runs.

I agree with this. honestly if it's your first time start small; scaling comes later.

That's all sorry if I went on too long.

Following. If it's your first time, start small; scaling comes later.

I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.

Quick summary for newcomers: If you get three different answers on a topic, the question was asked wrong.

Just because everyone does it doesn't mean it's right. Hope this helps.

There's a trap here, let me mention it. The cheapest quote is usually the least thought-out one.

Proven by experience.

Generally correct, but one part is missing. If it's your first time, start small; scaling comes later.

Good luck with that.

I was thinking the same thing. If acceptance criteria aren't written, when the work is done is open to debate.

Quick summary for newcomers: Code without setup documentation isn't yours, even if you have it.

If I were you, I'd go this route.

Don't miss this: People defend habits, not processes. Resistance comes from there.

Ask who prepared the quote and who will actually do the work. That's all, sorry if I went on too long.

Noted thanks. The real issue isn't the number but what it's based on.

If you have questions write them; I'll answer as best I can.

The opposite happened to me, that's why I'm writing. When making a decision, first look at what data you have on hand.

The harder it is to reverse a decision, the slower you should make it. If I were you, I'd go this route.