If you stumbled upon this article, your hotel or hospitality business is exploring alternatives to HotSOS. Perhaps your organization has been a long-time user of HotSOS but the cloud-based hotel property management solution no longer meets your needs. Alternatively, your hotel may have started the procurement process with a focus on HotSOS but realize that the solution may not be as ideal as initially presumed.
No matter your situation, this article will give an overview of the best alternatives for hotels to use instead of HotSOS for 2024 and beyond. Before we examine the alternatives, we must first examine HotSOS, which has proven to be a popular choice for good reason.
HotSOS
Strengths
Developed by Amadeus, HotSOS offers three product tiers that scale in complexity to suit the needs of hotels: HotSOS Select, HotSOS, and HotSOS Housekeeping, its most premium offering. HotSOS Housekeeping includes features for task automation, scheduled maintenance and equipment orders, and automation of housekeeping workflows.
HotSOS Housekeeping offers mobile access and real-time dashboards that give insights into all of the hotel’s business activities on the platform. It also supports guest management, so that guest requests are fulfilled more efficiently and thoroughly, boosting their satisfaction.
Weaknesses
As we noted previously, reviewers have complained about performance issues with HotSOS, including high latency and app crashing. This lackluster performance may be because HotSOS only provides mobile access as an additional feature: It is not a mobile-first solution, one designed natively for busy hotel staff on-the-go.
While some may view these glitches as mere quality-of-life issues, they may ultimately be counterproductive for hotels: It will be difficult to generate buy-in from staff and promote the product as a time-saver when it frequently lags and crashes when in use.
Vouch
Strengths
Vouch’s operations solution is focused on housekeeping. Appropriately named Vouch Housekeeping, this mobile-first solution enables housekeeping to track and prioritize tasks and even automate recurring assignments. Hotel leaders can get real-time updates on tasks and use the centralized data to make better operational decisions, such as staff allocation and resource optimization. Impressively, Vouch Housekeeping even works offline, which may be ideal for hotels in exotic locations where connectivity may be spotty.
Weaknesses
Vouch Housekeeping focuses entirely on housekeeping. While Vouch offers other products – for bespoke offerings, contactless check-in, and guest experiences – these do not focus on enhancing operational workflows. Hotels looking to improve their operations hotel-wide would be better served by other more comprehensive solutions. Vouch Housekeeping seems like an after-thought in the wake of the organization’s other guest-facing products.
FCS Solutions
Strengths
FCS1, a hotel operations cloud-based suite, allows hotels to pick features a la carte or avail themselves of all features. The suite includes features that cover the breadth of hotel operations, including maintenance, incident management, and jobs and tasks dispatch, which has real-time tracking and automation for select tasks. From a back-end manager, hotel leaders can review dashboards, escalate tasks, and examine reports. FCS1 integrates with other hotel software, including everything from IBM to Epson. The company also has an incredible reputation: It counts Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott as some of its clients.
Weaknesses
The flexibility of FCS1 may also be its downfall. The fact that organizations can pick and choose which features to avail may lead to organizational gridlock. Some departments may opt for the features relevant to them, while others may push back, preferring to stick with the legacy or incumbent solution. This free-for-all will lead to fragmentation. Instead of being a comprehensive operations software that encompasses all the hotel’s business activities, only some departments may adopt the platform, requiring the continued use of other, less-than-ideal solutions. Hotels will have a Frankensteined approach to their operations.
StayPlease
Strengths
StayPlease Operations is an integrated hotel management software designed around a dispatch board that overviews tasks and facilitates the necessary communication around them. The software is thus ideal for any department, from front office to engineering, and even has function-specific features for some of them. For example, employees in housekeeping can better execute room cleaning and defect reporting, while the concierge can take better note of guest preferences.
There is also a module for inventory, which will track in-room products, such as the content of a mini-fridge, and even lost and found items. StayPlease Operations also offers reporting capabilities, so that hotel leaders can improve operational efficiency based on data.
Weaknesses
StayPlease appears to be very much a startup. It raised an undisclosed funding round as recently as 2019, and it has only reached the 1000+ download milestone on its official Android profile. StayPlease may thus not be ideal for hotels that prefer to do business with long-founded companies where business continuity is always guaranteed. In addition, StayPlease Guest only interfaces with StayPlease Operations, which may not be the preferred choice for hotels looking for a seamless, end-to-end solution for all their workflows, requests, and communication.
Aiello TMS Pro
Strengths
Aiello TMS Pro may be the most compelling option for hotels looking to switch over from HotSOS. Aiello TMS Pro encompasses most of the best features from HotSOS but suffers from none of the performance issues. With a modern user interface, hotel staff can easily pick up Aiello TMS Pro and begin using it for their workflows, whether they are in front of house, guest relations, housekeeping, or maintenance.
With their usage, hotel leaders gain a treasure trove of data that can be used to improve hotel operations and guest relations even more on both a short- and long-term basis. Finally, Aiello TMS Pro can integrate with any hotel system, ensuring that it advances – and not detracts from – the hotel’s overall strategy toward technology.
Weaknesses
As the disruptor in the space of hotel property management software, Aiello TMS Pro does what most competitors do except in a more user friendly, cost-efficient, and reliable way. It offers most of the major features and modules that other solutions provide. In a minority of cases, however, Aiello TMS Pro does not have a one-to-one analogous feature as a competitor. The company is transparent about what features are on its product roadmap and will be developing its offerings well beyond the scope of any competitor in the medium-term. Aiello TMS Pro may thus be ideal for hotels that prioritize ease-of-use, value, and innovation.
Beyond the brand name
Your hotel leadership chose – or is considering – HotSOS on the strength of its brand name. The company has a great reputation in the field of hospitality, and deservedly so: It has provided valuable software to many hotels around the world.
Despite this success, HotSOS may not be a fit for you, in the same way that not every driver will prefer a Ford or every athlete will like Nike. Leadership must always choose the solution that works best for the unique needs of your hotel or hospitality business.
From this perspective, there are four notable alternatives to HotSOS, and perhaps none more than Aiello TMS Pro, which offers similar features at a better value with no performance issues. Hotel leaders would be well-served to closely examine alternatives like Aiello TMS Pro to start 2024 right: Your staff, fellow leaders, and guests will thank you.
