Online real time booking?

Modest-sized Highland hotel we may be, but we've always actively embraced new ideas and new technology to keep us progressing. And usually its worked wonders for us. Stand still and watch the world pass you by and all that. Curious then, that we've been slow on the uptake with what those in the trade might call Property Management Software.

There are in fact any number of reasons, but we don't really want to bore you with these right now. However, the tide is turning. We've recently made a few changes to some of the front of house systems and already the results have taken us by surprise. For example, 56% of our guests since the turn of the year have either been to Clachaig before or were referred by a friend who had. Whilst we always knew that repeat & referred business was a significant part of our business, prior to now we couldn't put an exact figure on it.

And this is the tip of the iceberg. We had a meeting on Friday to discuss moving forward, some may say to arrive in the 21st Century, and the ball is beginning to roll. Perhaps by the autumn we'll be saying adieu to the pencil and the ledger. Perhaps.

One thing we're keen to know is your view on online booking. Whilst introducing PMS software will do many things, an important consideration is whether we go the 'whole hog' and also add online booking. Some of us think it works fine for the bog standard - dare we say Premier Inns, but feel that booking something slightly out of the ordinary in the Highlands still requires that personal intervention.

What do you think?