Reservation software

[ams56]

I am a new member to this site, though a few years back when I was starting my guest retreat I read quite a few postings here and learned quite a bit.
I run a retreat space located in an addition to my home which is a ministry to Christian pastors and missionaries. Our zoning does not allow me to charge, however we do accept donations on an at-will basis.
Because we are not for profit and so small, I am looking for simple reservation software (low cost or even free) that will help me keep track of bookings, guest information, donations and expenses.
I have found a few out there, but some give no information regarding source and I am hesitant to download something that might contain a virus.
Does any one know of/has anyone used a good reliable program that they could recommend? Your help would be appreciated.

 

[Copperhead]

Hi AMS, nice to have you back.
There have been a good number of posts regarding this subject. May I suggest going to the search feature at the top right of this forum and searching this topic.
Note that in the more recent ones that most of us are using Reservation Key.
Good luck and happy reading.

 

[JimBoone]

It may depend on how many rooms/visitors you have, but for our 8 room motel I print a book with space for the needed information for each room, one page for each day of the year (takes 2 books). If you're looking for something for your use in house and not booking online we find it fits us very well. I did start an Access database with the idea of using that for reservations (again not online), but as my other half is not a computer person it was more of an exercise. Glad to offer either if interested. Many here seem very happy with one of the online programs and it sounds to be a reasonable cost if you are looking to book online.

 

[Generic]

Try https://simplybook.me/ which is free if you have less than 50 appointments a month. And http://www.freetobook.com which is British and offers a basic version for free. I think http://www.sagenda.com/ also offers a free small version. But I haven't tried any of them, it's just a list of companies that I have seen online.

 

[ams56]

Hi AMS, nice to have you back.
There have been a good number of posts regarding this subject. May I suggest going to the search feature at the top right of this forum and searching this topic.
Note that in the more recent ones that most of us are using Reservation Key.
Good luck and happy reading..

Great idea, thank you. I will.

 

[ams56]

It may depend on how many rooms/visitors you have, but for our 8 room motel I print a book with space for the needed information for each room, one page for each day of the year (takes 2 books). If you're looking for something for your use in house and not booking online we find it fits us very well. I did start an Access database with the idea of using that for reservations (again not online), but as my other half is not a computer person it was more of an exercise. Glad to offer either if interested. Many here seem very happy with one of the online programs and it sounds to be a reasonable cost if you are looking to book online..

Yes, I am looking for something in house. Your post made me wonder what lodging places did in the era before computers. I am very comfortable with computers but love the "hands on" aspect of a book. I will research this a bit. Thanks.

 

[ams56]

Try https://simplybook.me/ which is free if you have less than 50 appointments a month. And http://www.freetobook.com which is British and offers a basic version for free. I think http://www.sagenda.com/ also offers a free small version. But I haven't tried any of them, it's just a list of companies that I have seen online..

Thank you. I will check those out.

 

[gillumhouse]

It may depend on how many rooms/visitors you have, but for our 8 room motel I print a book with space for the needed information for each room, one page for each day of the year (takes 2 books). If you're looking for something for your use in house and not booking online we find it fits us very well. I did start an Access database with the idea of using that for reservations (again not online), but as my other half is not a computer person it was more of an exercise. Glad to offer either if interested. Many here seem very happy with one of the online programs and it sounds to be a reasonable cost if you are looking to book online..

Yes, I am looking for something in house. Your post made me wonder what lodging places did in the era before computers. I am very comfortable with computers but love the "hands on" aspect of a book. I will research this a bit. Thanks.
.

Before online booking, I used an Excel Spreadsheet on the computer and a Premium Accounting Pad (just looked at what it was called. It had 8 columns. I still use an Excel spreadsheet as my ledger and have ReservationKey for my online bookings.

 

[OnTheShore]

Webreserv.com has a free version, I started with that for my boat rental business (they support all kinds of businesses, not just lodging), but have upgraded to the first level paid version since we have expanded our fleet. It supports online booking, with live availability calendars, etc... It works well enough, although it is not as nice as ReservationKey.com, which is what we use for our lodging business.

 

[EmptyNest]

if you use wordpress for your website, you can use a variety of booking plugins. many are free or for little cost. wp simple booking calendar is an example.