Brick by Brick

The add-on capabilities of property management systems are popular among lodgings of all shapes and sizes, and no wonder. The flexibility of having so many modules to choose from gives operators the ability to customize applications, plan for growth and concentrate their energy where it belongsÃ.‚¬"with guests.

View of a room

"It was a huge undertaking," says Dan DeLaughter of upgrading the PMS that linked Arkansas' 51 state parks. But the DOS-based relic that ran critical applications was unsupportable. That was the push, according to DeLaughter, director of management information systems for the state's Department of Parks and Tourism.

Thirty of the locations offer lodges and camp sites, plus activitiesÃ.‚¬"from horseback riding to golfÃ.‚¬"that vary among sites. "We looked for an enterprise-wide solution to bring all the parks online," says DeLaughter. That turned out to be the Maestro (maestropms.com) Multi-Property Suite from Northwind.

"We wanted a centralized database," says DeLaughter, and real-time connectivity between the department's Web engine, which is on a separate server, and the PMS. But the reservation booking engine, configured for hotel rooms, wasn't quite what DeLaughter need for reserving campsites, cabins and lodges. State Park guests want to know the dimensions of a site; what size RV it can accommodate; and whether it has water.

"Northwind allowed us to go in and make changes to the Web engine," says DeLaughter. Now, with a couple of test sites running, it's his "one-hundred percent intention to have all the parks up in the next six months." Online customers will pull up a picture of campsite, reserve a space and even plan ahead to take part in an eagle watch (DeGray Lake Resort) or hunt treasure in the world's only diamond mine that's open to the public, Crater Diamonds State Park, (where by the way, you can bring home what you find).

King's Mill Inn & Suites deployed SoftBrands (medallion.softbrands.com) Medallion PMS in February, aiming for online reservations and the ability to show guests what the rooms look like, particularly since renovations are planned. The King's Island hotel, Ohio, with 194 rooms and a 4,000-square-foot conference center, needed a Windows-based, training-friendly system, says Ron Baird, general manager of parent company Carroll Properties, based in Fort Meyers, Florida. He expects the reservation system to be complete by year's end and was pleased at how easily employees were able to pick up the new PMS, using the training module.

Modular flexibility

The applications of add-ons are limited only by the imagination of the property manager. The Maestro sales-and-catering package, great for groups, was the obvious choice to help Arkansas park staffers at the DeGray convention center handle rooms, food and facilities. It also turned out to work well for booking knife-making workshops at Old Washington Historic State Park.

This flexibility within the modules is the heart and soul of property management, allowing operators to maximize the potential of their lodging's most attractive features. Skiers from the Washington D.C. area flock to Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Champion, Pennsylvania, accounting for a winter occupancy rate upwards of 95 percent, according to director of lodging and hotel operations, Jeff Coulter. Their PAR Springer-Miller Systems HOST Hospitality Management System (springermiller.com) ski package can handle all the choices that make for a perfect getaway.

"Slope view, non-slope view, the kids aren't skiing, the kids are skiing but mom's not; there are so many variations!" says Coulter.

The 5,000-acre, privately owned, year-round resort has about 700 accommodations, a mix of hotel rooms/suites and condominiums, that hold some 2,000 guests. An owner fulfillment module, developed for condos and timeshares, allows operators to maintain the owner database, process fees and taxes, and more. The Golf Tee Times piece will be integrated with the Web interface next year, says Coulter. And Springer-Miller's acquisition of SpaSoft made the company's robust spa management product (a stand-alone, spa-specific solution that's not integrated with the HOST suite) very appealing, as Seven Springs pampers guests with Champion Massage and Spa Services.

Every Springer-Miller module is in use at LaPlaya Beach and Golf Resort, Naples, Florida, according to Jay Robinson, director of marketing and information technology at LaPlaya's parent company, Noble House Hotels and Resorts. With a dozen luxury locations coast to coast, Noble House selected LaPlaya for the first install four years ago because the PMS offered something that fit the property's every need. And while the initial drive was to get all the resorts on the same PMS (there were seven different ones in use across all the hotels before the conversion), Robinson says add-on ease has been a bonus. When they put spas in the Miami and Key West locations, "we just called and added on the spa software," says Robinson. "They came and put it together."

It's all about software interfaces. "That's the single biggest thing," according to Bob Hodona, general manager of Remington Hotel & Conference Center, Wichita Falls, Texas. "There's a relationship between the PMS vendor and outside links," he says. That drew him to Multi-Systems, Inc.'s WinPM (www.msisolutions.com). Recently independent, the hotel uses a separate Web reservation service. WinPM's seamless interface allows reservations to transfer directly to the PMS room inventory. And with 30 percent of the 241-room hotel's business being conferences, the sales package add-on was essential for group management. Hodona plans to add WinPM's food and beverage point-of-sale module, which will post activity directly to the guest's folio or house account.

Happy returns

"This data is a gold mine. Understanding who our customer is, is something we've got to do," says DeLaughter of tracking guest preferences for targeted marketing. The PMS, working with the state geographic information system, will enable an evaluation, by zip code and region, of how well Arkansas parks department's promotional materials generate revenue. They can use that data to market appealing packages and let guests know exactly what's included in their stay.

Jim Mitchell, vice president of business solutions for La Quinta Inn & Suites, is running a data warehouse powered by NCR Teradata technology (teradata.com) and contains information about every guest who has stayed with them over the past three years. With this information La Quinta is able to conduct national and regional campaigns to reach out to customers and help drive return visits. The hotel launched its customer site, your returns.com this year to create a better experience or their customers.

Baird will use guest history to fine tune King's Mill quarterly mailings, making the most of the inn's ability to attract repeat customers. He'll be able to promote specific events, such as wine tastings, to folks who have enjoyed them before.

Offering bundled attractionsÃ.‚¬"such as golf, ski or spa packagesÃ.‚¬"helps lodging operators entice patrons to return to their property by acknowledging their preferences while respecting their budgets.