News Briefs

With more than 25 years of success, RoomKeyPMS, has entered 2025 with a technological roadmap designed to keep guest data safer, modern travelers happier, and hoteliers connected to operational information anywhere, anytime. Beginning this month, the provider of property-management systems for hotels and motels will begin releasing a host of modern tools.

Serving more than 70,000 guestrooms across North America, this trusted PMS partner is:

• Strengthening remote access security, mitigating data breaches, and safeguarding sensitive information and brand reputation via Multi Factor Authentication (MFA).
• Tokenizing credit cards to reduce fraud and the risk of data breaches; enhancing mobile check-in to give guests a complete enable guests to bypass the front desk and go directly to their rooms.
• Expanding integrations to include solutions that support golf, activities, food and beverage, marketing and more to make RoomKeyPMS a single partner for operators.

“2025 is a really great time to be a RoomKeyPMS customer,” said Shane MacPhail, RoomKeyPMS Product Director. “Our integrated hotel management platform is being enhanced to better support a touchless world. Over the last 10 years our development team was focused on improving our security infrastructure to prevent any malicious or unauthorized access to the system. We are pleased to report that since this initiative began, there have been no security breaches. However, because we handle credit card transactions, we have a responsibility to make our system more secure. Therefore, we began expanding our security focus by requiring an additional verification step beyond passwords, significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized access. We also are replacing sensitive credit-card details with a unique token to reduce the risk of fraud and data breaches allowing hotels to securely process payments for deposits, cancellations, or future charges without storing actual card information.

“This month we released ‘Embedded Gift Cards’ through our RoomKeyPMS Payments platform,” he added. “This enables hotels to sell physical and digital gift cards directly from RoomKeyPMS and redeem gift cards within the system to be used on the reservation folio. This will provide a more flexible and appealing way to attract new guests, encourage repeat stays, and generate revenue year-round. Gift cards are an easy gifting option for special occasions. They help hotels reach a wider audience while ensuring future bookings, and they can often lead to higher spending, as recipients may upgrade rooms or enjoy extra services during their stay.”

End-to-End Mobile Check-In Experience with Mobile Key and More

Today, travelers staying at hotels with RoomKeyPMS can confirm their personal and reservation details, upgrade their room type, add guest services, and provide credit card information along with any special notes about their stay. In the coming months, RoomKeyPMS will release an enhancement to its Mobile Check-In process that will support full credit-card processing and enable guests to completely bypass the front desk and proceed directly to their rooms. Through integration to Flexipass Mobile Keys, guests can use their mobile devices to access their rooms. If the hotel does not support mobile keys, guests simply stop at the front desk to pick up a plastic keycard. This service, also offered through RoomKeyPMS Payments, will improve guest loyalty, minimize chargeback risks, and streamline payment processing for a seamless booking experience.

RoomKeyPMS is also working to increase its interface library to add point-of-sale integrations and a mobile communications platform that will enable hotels to stay in constant contact with guests from reservations to check out. This program will give operators and companies managing multiple hotels the ability to integrate with any of RoomKeyPMS’ sister companies, including Silverware, Club Prophet, The Flybook, Priswing, HoldMyTicket, and Adventure Office.

“By creating an API layer and integration hub, RoomKeyPMS customers can integrate faster with other technology partners,” MacPhail said. “While software for golf, activities, and marketing is not yet mainstream at most limited-service hotels using RoomKeyPMS, about 45 percent of our customers do require some type of POS integration. RoomKeyPMS + Silverware, for example, can facilitate posting room charges from the restaurant POS right onto the guest bill in the PMS. When demand for these peripheral solutions does arise, especially among hotel companies that manage multi-branded properties with varying PMSs, this type of deep integration will go a long way towards streamlining communication across the enterprise.”

“RoomKeyPMS has been around for 25 years,” MacPhail said. “Our solution is tried and true. Because of our size, we can be more responsive to feature requests, enhancements and customization. For our price point, our number of integrations is impressive and far surpasses those of our competition. Our biggest strength is that our product and support staff come from hotels. We know what hoteliers are going through, and we will do whatever it takes to eliminate their pain points. In 2025, RoomKeyPMS is making BIG changes, and by doing so, we will be making an even BIGGER difference to operators, staff and guests.”

ezCater and Dave’s Hot Chicken, today announced the launch of the fast-casual brand’s first-ever catering program, responding to the increasing demand from workplaces nationwide. The new partnership enables organizations to conveniently order Dave’s Hot Chicken for meetings, events, and employee lunches from over 200 of its locations.

Drawing on ezCater's 18+ years of workplace catering expertise, Dave’s Hot Chicken has crafted a versatile catering menu that includes individually packaged boxes and trays. The menu has been optimized for large-group orders, featuring fan-favorite hot chicken tenders, sliders, and sides.

“Partnering with ezCater allows Dave’s Hot Chicken to tap into high-value workplace customers like never before,” said Jim Bitticks, President and Chief Operations Officer, Dave’s Hot Chicken. “This partnership will help us capitalize on the growing demand in workplace catering while also opening up a new revenue stream for our franchise owners. The average order value for Dave’s Hot Chicken orders on ezCater exceeds $500, and we expect catering to represent as much as 10% of our business within a year.”

Dave’s Hot Chicken will benefit from ezCater’s platform, which is designed to help restaurants get valuable, incremental catering orders and backed by award-winning customer service. A majority of Dave’s Hot Chicken locations also leverage ezDispatch, which supports them with local, reliable delivery partners in their area.

Absolute Hotel Services Group (AHS), one of the fastest-growing hospitality management and branding companies in Asia, has chosen the Oracle OPERA Cloud and Simphony Cloud Point of Sale (POS) platforms for all of its AHS-branded properties worldwide. With connected, intelligent applications running on a common data platform, Absolute will be able to glean the insights it needs to operate more efficiently, enhance guest experiences, and support revenue growth. Absolute began the rollout of the Oracle solutions across 23 properties that account for 3,600 rooms in late 2024, and its remaining locations are expected to be transitioned by early 2026.

“Making this investment in Oracle’s cutting-edge technology is a testament to Absolute’s unwavering commitment to innovation and guest satisfaction,” said Jonathan Wigley, CEO and founder of Absolute Hotel Services Group. “This marks a pivotal moment in our journey toward becoming a global hospitality leader. The Oracle platforms are already helping us refine our operations and assist our staff in delivering exceptional service.”

With the OPERA Cloud property management system (PMS), Absolute is centralizing its guest data and operations to provide management a complete picture of its business, encompassing distribution, sales, customer service interactions, and loyalty programs. Accessible through mobile devices, OPERA Cloud enables staff to make faster, data-driven decisions from anywhere on its properties to better serve guests, handle housekeeping tasks, manage reservations, and more.

With Simphony POS, Absolute will also be able to better understand the dining preferences of its customers to reward guests for their purchases and deliver more relevant offers over time.

“By leveraging OPERA Cloud and Simphony POS, Absolute Hotel Services Group is not only elevating the guest experience, it is reshaping the hospitality industry's landscape in APAC,” said Patrick Andres, Regional Vice President of Hospitality for JAPAC at Oracle. “This digital transition highlights Absolute’s commitment to providing an easy-to-navigate, comprehensive customer experience to guests, while also setting themselves up for success with all the modern tools they need to drive revenue and make their staff’s lives easier.”

Absolute Hotels (AHS) selected Oracle OPERA Cloud in Q1 FY25.

Aptech, a provider of enterprise accounting, business intelligence, financial planning and management solutions for the hospitality industry, announced the launch of its new accounting solution, PVNG Fixed Asset Management (FAM). Designed to meet the unique needs of hotel organizations, properties and groups, PVNG FAM offers an interactive platform for managing, updating and reporting on assets across one or multiple locations.

Empowering Hotel Organizations with Asset Information

PVNG Fixed Asset Management is a dynamic system that helps hotel organizations monitor the full life cycle of their assets, from acquisition through end-of-life. The system’s capabilities allow users to view and update their asset inventory at any time, ensuring that critical information is kept up-to-date. With the ability to log costs against the anticipated and actual life span of assets, hotel management can quickly assess current and potential future savings, optimizing operational efficiencies across all departments.

Key Features of PVNG FAM Include:

• Detailed Reporting: PVNG FAM allows users to generate detailed reports on assets.
• QR Code Scanning: With integrated QR code scanning, users of PVNG FAM can instantly locate assets with their mobile devices and be instantly directed to the relevant asset record, allowing for seamless updates on the go.
• Mobile App Accessibility: Through the convenient PVNG FAM mobile app, users can update and review asset information both online and offline, and synchronize data when reconnected to ensure a fully integrated experience.
• User Access Control: Secure access can be assigned to various users, including staff, engineers and external contractors. Each user has access tailored to their role, ensuring relevant and secure management of assets across single or multiple locations.
• Category Management: With PVNG FAM assets can be categorized and grouped for efficient reporting at a management level. Asset values and depreciation can also be tracked, while identifying when assets nearing the end of their recommended life cycle.

Streamlining Operations Across Multiple Locations

Compatible with all web browsers, PVNG Fixed Asset Management empowers hotel groups to manage assets across multiple properties, providing an all-encompassing view of operations from a single system. With customizable reports, users can compare asset performance across locations and allocate resources effectively, ensuring that budget constraints and maintenance needs are met with ease.

We continuously listen to our clients to develop new products and features to meet their evolving accounting and financial management needs,” said Jill Wilder, Aptech President. “In having these conversations, we identified a need for a robust solution that would allow hotel finance teams to easily track, manage, update and report on their fixed assets across single or multiple properties. PVNG FAM is an ideal enhancement to our PVNG offering for new and existing customers that provides a host of benefits.”

Aptech’s integrated suite of solutions includes PVNG, Execuvue® and Targetvue, which comprise an integrated technology ecosystem designed to help hoteliers at both the corporate and property levels understand their financial and operational data and provide actionable insights. These solutions focus on enterprise accounting, business intelligence, financial planning and management, and are used by more than 3,500 hotel properties across North America.

Cloudbeds announced a strategic partnership with Sabre Corporation.

This collaboration delivers a deeper integration between Cloudbeds PMS and Sabre’s SynXis® Central Reservation System (CRS), offering hotels and accommodation providers a seamless and efficient solution for managing distribution, reservations, and property operations.

The partnership introduces a real-time, enhanced two-way connection between Sabre’s CRS and the Cloudbeds PMS, enabling hotels to streamline their operations, optimize distribution strategies, and improve data accuracy. The API integration will allow for a faster, more reliable flow of data between the two platforms, providing hoteliers with a robust and scalable solution to better manage their properties in today’s highly competitive marketplace.

Key benefits of the partnership:

• Bi-directional data exchange: Utilizing advanced API communication, the integration enables real-time two-way synchronization of inventory, rates, and reservations. This ensures that any updates made in either system are immediately reflected across all distribution channels, reducing discrepancies and eliminating manual intervention.
• Automated inventory and rate management: The integration empowers hotels with dynamic rate and availability updates, automatically distributing changes made in the Cloudbeds PMS to all channels through the Sabre CRS. Hotels can now manage their pricing strategies more effectively, using real-time data to capitalize on demand fluctuations while ensuring full inventory exposure across global distribution channels.
• Unified reservations handling: The enhanced connection facilitates seamless booking updates between Cloudbeds and Sabre, ensuring that every reservation - whether from OTAs, direct bookings, or GDS - is immediately logged in the Cloudbeds PMS. This automated reservations pipeline minimizes the risk of overbookings, missed updates, and guest data inconsistencies, driving operational efficiency across departments.
• Optimized global distribution: Cloudbeds properties gain immediate access to Sabre’s extensive global distribution network, which includes major OTAs, direct booking engines, and travel management companies via Sabre’s Global Distribution System. With the enhanced CRS-PMS connection, hotels can manage distribution across multiple channels from a single, consolidated platform, significantly simplifying channel management and maximizing exposure.

With the integration of Cloudbeds PMS and Sabre’s CRS, hoteliers can expect a substantial improvement in guest service delivery. The seamless flow of booking data ensures that front-office teams have access to the most up-to-date reservation and guest information, allowing for personalized guest interactions and faster check-in/check-out processes.

Additionally, back-office teams benefit from streamlined operations as manual data entry is significantly reduced, allowing staff to focus on higher-value activities such as revenue optimization and guest engagement.

“This partnership between Sabre and Cloudbeds is a game-changer for the hospitality industry,” said Frank Trampert, Managing Director at Sabre Hospitality Solutions. “By deepening the integration between our CRS and Cloudbeds PMS, we are enabling hotels to unlock new efficiencies and revenue opportunities, while also improving the overall guest experience.”

“The real-time data synchronization and enhanced global distribution capabilities provide our customers with powerful tools to increase their profitability and streamline their operations,” added Richard Castle, Co-Founder and COO of Cloudbeds. “We are excited to collaborate with Sabre on delivering a fully integrated solution that empowers hoteliers to stay competitive and agile in a rapidly changing market.”

The enhanced Cloudbeds-Sabre integration is set to go live in Q1 2025, and will be available to all joint customers. Hotels currently using Cloudbeds and Sabre will benefit from seamless onboarding, with full technical support to guide customers through the implementation process.

At Meyer Jabara Hotels, associates are empowered to deliver outstanding experiences for guests. It’s not a directive, but rather a choice whereby its people accept personal responsibility for delivering distinctive hospitality and maintaining operational excellence. One of the greatest indicators of a healthy culture is growth from within. Today, MJH President Justin Jabara announces that Senior Vice President of Operations Eric Churchill has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Meyer Jabara Hotels.  As part of this newly appointed position, Churchill will oversee portfolio operations to ensure best in class operations and performance for our owners, guests and associates.

“The Meyer Jabara Hotels Journey culture is the glue that has held — and continues to hold — us together throughout the decades,” Jabara said. “Eric’s promotion is the perfect example that leading, learning, and teaching results in success. His professional achievements are exemplary. His passion for people is profound. And his pursuit of an enriched work/life balance for guests, associates and owners have made him an irreplaceable asset that deserves to be recognized.”

Churchill joined Meyer Jabara Hotels in 2004 as General Manager of the Courtyard by Marriott Copley Square in Boston. He then transitioned to GM of the Providence (R.I.) Marriott, a much larger hotel where he honed many of his leadership skills. In 2013, Churchill was promoted to Senior Vice President of Operations. Throughout his 21 year career with the company, Churchill embraced the tools of The Journey culture – serving as Chair of the company’s Journey LOP and was later awarded a Mirror of MJ Award recognizing his role in cultural congruency and promotion. Today, he attributes his success to the company’s supported culture of learning and growth, saying he “hit the career development jackpot” when joining the Meyer Jabara family of hotels.

“There is something really exciting about managing people and leading individuals who have a passion to succeed,” Churchill said. “Meyer Jabara Hotels is a true winner. The support from ownership is unlike anything I have experienced before, and the drive for results among the leadership team and line-level employees is contagious. I am honored by this promotion and look forward to assisting this great organization with continued growth for decades to come.”

Churchill is a graduate of Johnson and Wales University. Immediately out of college he accepted a position as a management trainee. His first job in hospitality was as an assistant executive housekeeper at Harvey DFW Airport. Prior to joining Meyer Jabara Hotels, he worked for Bristol Hotels and Resorts. Churchill will continue to operate from his office in Providence.