Comparing Rez GT with Rez Key

[Breakfast Diva]

Before my switch to Res Key in Jan 2011, I was a RezOvation user. It was not GT, but an older version. VERY similar to the GT.
I have been much happier with Res Key and am delightfully happy to have the RezOvation team and products out of my life! Yes, believe it, Res Key does what everyone says and for much less money. There are a few drawbacks though:

• There is not as much backend reporting. The financial reports are enough for me, but I would like a few additions, i.e. I can get a report on POS, but it doesn't catagorize and total. I can't see a report that will tell me how many romance packages I sold, it put all POS together and I have to go in and count each item.
• One thing I used often with RezOvation was getting a list of guests with special occasions. I would enter special occasions (anniversary, honeymoon, birthday, etc) and then later be able to pull a list of say...all guests who had an anniversary in January. I would then send them an e-mail special offer in December if they booked their stay for January. Res Key does not have that capability.
• A big negative is that you can't transfer your guest reservation history from RezOvation to Res Key. You can get guest name, address, e-mail, phone, but not reservation history. This would happen with ANY new reservation system you would change to, not just Res Key. It's a big drag, but it's still worth the change. On my new ResKey reservation page, I created a box the guest must answer "have you stayed with us before?". If they click yes, then I go back to my old RezOvation, pull the history and add it to ResKey. That way the old info slowly gets inputed over time.

On the positive side:

• Great support and you don't have to pay extra for it!
• The look
• The price!
• John listens to his customers and comes out with new features constantly
• Having a web based program. You can get to your info anywhere you are, not just on your home computer. Again, at no additional fee. RezOvation seemed to charge every time you blinked!
• It's easy for the guest to make a reservation. Multiple rooms....no problem. Add packages, no problem, everything is right in front of them and immediately adds the tax/fees so they see extactly what they are purchasing.

The bottom line is that after being a RezOvation user for many years, I'm now a happy Res Key convert.
Best of luck with whatever you choose!

 

[Copperhead]

Hi K -
K stated "I just do not like cc# online and do not want to have PCI problems."
If you have John convert you to his new PCI format, you only will see the last 4 digits of the card on Res Key, the other 12 are sent by email. This will save you LOTS of time calling to get that info. It's then there whether you use it for deposits or just for security of the res. You can still take cash when they arrive

. There is NO additional charge, unless you have Authorize or Paypal process your payments. Otherwise it is just a gathering source for this information.
PCI also has issue with paper stored CC numbers. How do you store this info? (no need to answer here!) If you have this info written down in a file, you could have PCI issues.
John has made this task easy, you should come fully into the present on this, save time, money and possible PCI issues!

 

[EmptyNest]

Before my switch to Res Key in Jan 2011, I was a RezOvation user. It was not GT, but an older version. VERY similar to the GT.
I have been much happier with Res Key and am delightfully happy to have the RezOvation team and products out of my life! Yes, believe it, Res Key does what everyone says and for much less money. There are a few drawbacks though:

• There is not as much backend reporting. The financial reports are enough for me, but I would like a few additions, i.e. I can get a report on POS, but it doesn't catagorize and total. I can't see a report that will tell me how many romance packages I sold, it put all POS together and I have to go in and count each item.
• One thing I used often with RezOvation was getting a list of guests with special occasions. I would enter special occasions (anniversary, honeymoon, birthday, etc) and then later be able to pull a list of say...all guests who had an anniversary in January. I would then send them an e-mail special offer in December if they booked their stay for January. Res Key does not have that capability.
• A big negative is that you can't transfer your guest reservation history from RezOvation to Res Key. You can get guest name, address, e-mail, phone, but not reservation history. This would happen with ANY new reservation system you would change to, not just Res Key. It's a big drag, but it's still worth the change. On my new ResKey reservation page, I created a box the guest must answer "have you stayed with us before?". If they click yes, then I go back to my old RezOvation, pull the history and add it to ResKey. That way the old info slowly gets inputed over time.

On the positive side:

• Great support and you don't have to pay extra for it!
• The look
• The price!
• John listens to his customers and comes out with new features constantly
• Having a web based program. You can get to your info anywhere you are, not just on your home computer. Again, at no additional fee. RezOvation seemed to charge every time you blinked!
• It's easy for the guest to make a reservation. Multiple rooms....no problem. Add packages, no problem, everything is right in front of them and immediately adds the tax/fees so they see extactly what they are purchasing.

The bottom line is that after being a RezOvation user for many years, I'm now a happy Res Key convert.
Best of luck with whatever you choose!.

list of guests with special occasions. I bet if you asked John, he could provide this. I thought there was something like that but I may be mistaken. Seems like an easy enough thing to add...LOL!

 

[Weaver]

HHHMMM... that's an interesting thought. Wonder if I could have both on their for a short time, just to see what I think.
What I can't get over is the price difference... so what is the actual flat rate monthly for a five room inn with two users and real time online booking. Is it really $18.99?
Must be I am missing something. I don't know if I want to ask the folks at REZ GT..

What I can't get over is the price difference... so what is the actual flat rate monthly for a five room inn with two users and real time online booking. Is it really $18.99?

You can create as many users as you need. No extra charge for that, or anything else.
We're having ResKey pass the credit card on to Authorize.net to process a deposit charge (1st night's stay) at time reservation is made, and Authorize.net DOES have a monthly charge for using them, and for using their service that stores the card numbers for future use, but those are Authorize.net charges.
ResKey only charges the rate you quote above, and if you don't take payment online payments, the $18.99 is all you'll pay each month.
.

AHHH! That's one thing that is different. We do not currently charge a deposit at the time of reservation. However, we could do that on our Costco credit card machine once the information came to us .
RESERVATION GT does not do any processing for us, they just pass it through to us on a secure server. SOOO.. Can you receive the credit card information and process it yourself or do you have contract with Authorize.net to receive the credit card information.
May I ask what authorize.net charges?
This was very helpful to hear.
.

AHHH! That's one thing that is different. We do not currently charge a deposit at the time of reservation. However, we could do that on our Costco credit card machine once the information came to us .
RESERVATION GT does not do any processing for us, they just pass it through to us on a secure server. SOOO.. Can you receive the credit card information and process it yourself or do you have contract with Authorize.net to receive the credit card information.
May I ask what authorize.net charges?
This was very helpful to hear.

Hi, been using Res Key since the beginning of the year. I love it. Regarding the deposit & CC info. I do not use Authorize.net or Paypal (both of which are available to use with Res Key) BUT I do get the CC info - securely through ResKey and process deposits myself.
Once a reservation is made online, you will be sent an email telling you a reservation has been made and another providing you with the first 12 digits of the CC#, the remaining 4 digits will be contained with the reservation on Res Key. I just set up a folder in my email to house the emails with the CC#. The subject provides the last name and the reservation number to go back to at other times if need be. You can also find by date as the email & date reservation was made are the same.
I can not compare GT to Res Key, but compared to Webers, it is far superior product and the support could NOT be any better. I highly recommend them. Go through the trial period and see how you feel. If not enough time for a real test, go a couple more months, @ $18.99 a month. You are not under any long term commitment.
.

Well this is good information. IF I can take a secure reservation online in real time (it goes automatically into the Reservation system) and can send out an automatic confirmation, that is a good thing. That is what happens now with Rez GT.
Me thinks I would need to disable Rez GT so that I don't end up with double bookings.
I am not keen on asking REZ GT to compare, so I do wish there was a GT user who had switched.
Everyone has been (and is being) very helpful.
.

YOU write the thank you for your reservation (confirmation if you want it on autopilot), Your Reservation is in 3 days, and the Thank you for staying letter that will send automatically AND you can personalize the generic "stay" letter (or any of them)when you do the checkout, just do an edit and update in queue plus tell it when to send the e-mail as in now or later.
It is a thing of beauty. I have been at teh computer when a rez came in and did the call for cc# (I do not take cc# online like Copperhear and JB) immediately. The guests have been amazed at how quickly the call came to confirm the rez they just made. It is real time in that it takes the room(s you can reserve multiple rooms in one rez) out of invemtory immediately but mine are not confirmed until I get the cc#. I think you will like it.
.

We have instant confirmation set up. It has to be able to reserve and confirm automatically. Sounds like it can.
.

What is your reasoning for instant confirmation vs for lack of a better term manual confirmation?
Is it just to review the reservation? I am sure this has been discussed elsewhere however, since it came up here thought I would double check what I think I already know.
.

What is your reasoning for instant confirmation vs for lack of a better term manual confirmation?
Is it just to review the reservation? I am sure this has been discussed elsewhere however, since it came up here thought I would double check what I think I already know.

W, the whole purpose of online reservations is an amenity, they book it right now from anywhere any coast, any country, they are confirmed right now. There is no other reason to have it, and stuff around.
For those who have online rez and don't have it auto confim there must be a reason, ie they are using another service somewhere and don't want to double book... For most inns, our website is the portal to book a room, and in fact if we take one over the phone we are in the online rez system at the same time which takes the room out of inventory as we are doing it, so there is no double booking.
If someone calls and you are on a cell phone in the grocery store then you can ask them to book online right now as it is up to date. Although I prefer them to get a voice mail suggesting they book online instead of standing in line at the check out counter. That's just me though.
.

JB - Ok so the confirmation is really immaterial. I totally understand the online booking and personally would not want to do it any other way. As long as the room is out of inventory and you are not using alernate or second res system there is no big deal. The guest is basically autonomous in the reservation process, and really no need for you to intervene. Guest enters information including credit card, deposit gets processed, and you never touch the card or interact with the guest unless they have questions or changes.
Those that manually confirm are either using a secondary res system in addition to the portal on your inn's web site, or they choose to review the reservation (for whatever reason including a potential double booking), and or charge the card manually before an offical confirmation, even if the room is out of inventory on the web site.
Correct?
Just trying to make sure there is no other outstanding reason to not have it automatically and instantly confirm and charge the card the deposit.
.

JB - Ok so the confirmation is really immaterial. (NO! It has important info, so they don't try to check in at noon!!) it may have policies as well, whatever the innkeeper wants on it, it IS IMPORTANT.)
I totally understand the online booking and personally would not want to do it any other way. As long as the room is out of inventory and you are not using alernate or second res system there is no big deal. The guest is basically autonomous in the reservation process, and really no need for you to intervene. Guest enters information including credit card, deposit gets processed, and you never touch the card or interact with the guest unless they have questions or changes. YES! or maybe. I have had three emails from a guest for this saturday, she is very excited!
Those that manually confirm are either using a secondary res system in addition to the portal on your inn's web site, or they choose to review the reservation (for whatever reason including a potential double booking), and or charge the card manually before an offical confirmation, even if the room is out of inventory on the web site. (They manually confirm thinking they can knock it back if they need to, but as discussed most of the time you don't know someone may be a wacko from an online booking anyway!)
Correct?
Just trying to make sure there is no other outstanding reason to not have it automatically and instantly confirm and charge the card the deposit.

.

JB-What I meant and should have been clearer, is the confirmation is just that like a reciept with pertinent data as you mentioned above. AND regardless if they actually read what you send them or not the automated confirmation is the final step in a reservation and no further contact is required. The room comes out of inventory once the guest hits the send/submit button.
Note I said required, no necessarily true, in the case of your excited incoming guest!
Thanks for the great clarification, sometimes my techno-weanie mind over complicates things.

 

[Copperhead]

Before my switch to Res Key in Jan 2011, I was a RezOvation user. It was not GT, but an older version. VERY similar to the GT.
I have been much happier with Res Key and am delightfully happy to have the RezOvation team and products out of my life! Yes, believe it, Res Key does what everyone says and for much less money. There are a few drawbacks though:

• There is not as much backend reporting. The financial reports are enough for me, but I would like a few additions, i.e. I can get a report on POS, but it doesn't catagorize and total. I can't see a report that will tell me how many romance packages I sold, it put all POS together and I have to go in and count each item.
• One thing I used often with RezOvation was getting a list of guests with special occasions. I would enter special occasions (anniversary, honeymoon, birthday, etc) and then later be able to pull a list of say...all guests who had an anniversary in January. I would then send them an e-mail special offer in December if they booked their stay for January. Res Key does not have that capability.
• A big negative is that you can't transfer your guest reservation history from RezOvation to Res Key. You can get guest name, address, e-mail, phone, but not reservation history. This would happen with ANY new reservation system you would change to, not just Res Key. It's a big drag, but it's still worth the change. On my new ResKey reservation page, I created a box the guest must answer "have you stayed with us before?". If they click yes, then I go back to my old RezOvation, pull the history and add it to ResKey. That way the old info slowly gets inputed over time.

On the positive side:

• Great support and you don't have to pay extra for it!
• The look
• The price!
• John listens to his customers and comes out with new features constantly
• Having a web based program. You can get to your info anywhere you are, not just on your home computer. Again, at no additional fee. RezOvation seemed to charge every time you blinked!
• It's easy for the guest to make a reservation. Multiple rooms....no problem. Add packages, no problem, everything is right in front of them and immediately adds the tax/fees so they see extactly what they are purchasing.

The bottom line is that after being a RezOvation user for many years, I'm now a happy Res Key convert.
Best of luck with whatever you choose!.

list of guests with special occasions. I bet if you asked John, he could provide this. I thought there was something like that but I may be mistaken. Seems like an easy enough thing to add...LOL!
.

list of guests with special occasions. I bet if you asked John, he could provide this. I thought there was something like that but I may be mistaken. Seems like an easy enough thing to add...LOL!

You make a field to ask the question. - you can make it a drop down or blank space, make it required or not.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

Before my switch to Res Key in Jan 2011, I was a RezOvation user. It was not GT, but an older version. VERY similar to the GT.
I have been much happier with Res Key and am delightfully happy to have the RezOvation team and products out of my life! Yes, believe it, Res Key does what everyone says and for much less money. There are a few drawbacks though:

• There is not as much backend reporting. The financial reports are enough for me, but I would like a few additions, i.e. I can get a report on POS, but it doesn't catagorize and total. I can't see a report that will tell me how many romance packages I sold, it put all POS together and I have to go in and count each item.
• One thing I used often with RezOvation was getting a list of guests with special occasions. I would enter special occasions (anniversary, honeymoon, birthday, etc) and then later be able to pull a list of say...all guests who had an anniversary in January. I would then send them an e-mail special offer in December if they booked their stay for January. Res Key does not have that capability.
• A big negative is that you can't transfer your guest reservation history from RezOvation to Res Key. You can get guest name, address, e-mail, phone, but not reservation history. This would happen with ANY new reservation system you would change to, not just Res Key. It's a big drag, but it's still worth the change. On my new ResKey reservation page, I created a box the guest must answer "have you stayed with us before?". If they click yes, then I go back to my old RezOvation, pull the history and add it to ResKey. That way the old info slowly gets inputed over time.

On the positive side:

• Great support and you don't have to pay extra for it!
• The look
• The price!
• John listens to his customers and comes out with new features constantly
• Having a web based program. You can get to your info anywhere you are, not just on your home computer. Again, at no additional fee. RezOvation seemed to charge every time you blinked!
• It's easy for the guest to make a reservation. Multiple rooms....no problem. Add packages, no problem, everything is right in front of them and immediately adds the tax/fees so they see extactly what they are purchasing.

The bottom line is that after being a RezOvation user for many years, I'm now a happy Res Key convert.
Best of luck with whatever you choose!.

list of guests with special occasions. I bet if you asked John, he could provide this. I thought there was something like that but I may be mistaken. Seems like an easy enough thing to add...LOL!
.

list of guests with special occasions. I bet if you asked John, he could provide this. I thought there was something like that but I may be mistaken. Seems like an easy enough thing to add...LOL!

You make a field to ask the question. - you can make it a drop down or blank space, make it required or not.
.

list of guests with special occasions. I bet if you asked John, he could provide this. I thought there was something like that but I may be mistaken. Seems like an easy enough thing to add...LOL!

You make a field to ask the question. - you can make it a drop down or blank space, make it required or not.

CH, I do have that on the reservation form. What Res Key can not do is search the database to have a list of all guests who have an anniversary in Jan, or birthday in April, etc. This was a great marketing tool I used on RezOvation.

 

[Arks]

Before my switch to Res Key in Jan 2011, I was a RezOvation user. It was not GT, but an older version. VERY similar to the GT.
I have been much happier with Res Key and am delightfully happy to have the RezOvation team and products out of my life! Yes, believe it, Res Key does what everyone says and for much less money. There are a few drawbacks though:

• There is not as much backend reporting. The financial reports are enough for me, but I would like a few additions, i.e. I can get a report on POS, but it doesn't catagorize and total. I can't see a report that will tell me how many romance packages I sold, it put all POS together and I have to go in and count each item.
• One thing I used often with RezOvation was getting a list of guests with special occasions. I would enter special occasions (anniversary, honeymoon, birthday, etc) and then later be able to pull a list of say...all guests who had an anniversary in January. I would then send them an e-mail special offer in December if they booked their stay for January. Res Key does not have that capability.
• A big negative is that you can't transfer your guest reservation history from RezOvation to Res Key. You can get guest name, address, e-mail, phone, but not reservation history. This would happen with ANY new reservation system you would change to, not just Res Key. It's a big drag, but it's still worth the change. On my new ResKey reservation page, I created a box the guest must answer "have you stayed with us before?". If they click yes, then I go back to my old RezOvation, pull the history and add it to ResKey. That way the old info slowly gets inputed over time.

On the positive side:

• Great support and you don't have to pay extra for it!
• The look
• The price!
• John listens to his customers and comes out with new features constantly
• Having a web based program. You can get to your info anywhere you are, not just on your home computer. Again, at no additional fee. RezOvation seemed to charge every time you blinked!
• It's easy for the guest to make a reservation. Multiple rooms....no problem. Add packages, no problem, everything is right in front of them and immediately adds the tax/fees so they see extactly what they are purchasing.

The bottom line is that after being a RezOvation user for many years, I'm now a happy Res Key convert.
Best of luck with whatever you choose!.

• John listens to his customers and comes out with new features constantly

New feature report: I wrote John just this morning about a problem. We have ResKey charge the first night's fee to their credit card at time reservation is made, as a deposit, but I told John that it was only charging the base amount of the room but not the sales tax, so when the guest arrives we have to remember to charge them the approximately $11 sales tax that's still due. It would be nice to have 100% up front on one-nighters so there's nothing left to do but clean up after they leave.
John wrote back with 5 minutes saying this new feature was just added last week. There's a new checkbox where you can, optionally, tell it to charge sales tax up front as well as base fee. He said some states don't let you charge sales tax up front with the deposit, and some do, so having the checkbox lets you turn it on and off as needed for your situation.
It still won't charge for extras bought on the first night, like extra fee to bring a dog, but he said he may be adding that next.

 

[gillumhouse]

Before my switch to Res Key in Jan 2011, I was a RezOvation user. It was not GT, but an older version. VERY similar to the GT.
I have been much happier with Res Key and am delightfully happy to have the RezOvation team and products out of my life! Yes, believe it, Res Key does what everyone says and for much less money. There are a few drawbacks though:

• There is not as much backend reporting. The financial reports are enough for me, but I would like a few additions, i.e. I can get a report on POS, but it doesn't catagorize and total. I can't see a report that will tell me how many romance packages I sold, it put all POS together and I have to go in and count each item.
• One thing I used often with RezOvation was getting a list of guests with special occasions. I would enter special occasions (anniversary, honeymoon, birthday, etc) and then later be able to pull a list of say...all guests who had an anniversary in January. I would then send them an e-mail special offer in December if they booked their stay for January. Res Key does not have that capability.
• A big negative is that you can't transfer your guest reservation history from RezOvation to Res Key. You can get guest name, address, e-mail, phone, but not reservation history. This would happen with ANY new reservation system you would change to, not just Res Key. It's a big drag, but it's still worth the change. On my new ResKey reservation page, I created a box the guest must answer "have you stayed with us before?". If they click yes, then I go back to my old RezOvation, pull the history and add it to ResKey. That way the old info slowly gets inputed over time.

On the positive side:

• Great support and you don't have to pay extra for it!
• The look
• The price!
• John listens to his customers and comes out with new features constantly
• Having a web based program. You can get to your info anywhere you are, not just on your home computer. Again, at no additional fee. RezOvation seemed to charge every time you blinked!
• It's easy for the guest to make a reservation. Multiple rooms....no problem. Add packages, no problem, everything is right in front of them and immediately adds the tax/fees so they see extactly what they are purchasing.

The bottom line is that after being a RezOvation user for many years, I'm now a happy Res Key convert.
Best of luck with whatever you choose!.

• John listens to his customers and comes out with new features constantly

New feature report: I wrote John just this morning about a problem. We have ResKey charge the first night's fee to their credit card at time reservation is made, as a deposit, but I told John that it was only charging the base amount of the room but not the sales tax, so when the guest arrives we have to remember to charge them the approximately $11 sales tax that's still due. It would be nice to have 100% up front on one-nighters so there's nothing left to do but clean up after they leave.
John wrote back with 5 minutes saying this new feature was just added last week. There's a new checkbox where you can, optionally, tell it to charge sales tax up front as well as base fee. He said some states don't let you charge sales tax up front with the deposit, and some do, so having the checkbox lets you turn it on and off as needed for your situation.
It still won't charge for extras bought on the first night, like extra fee to bring a dog, but he said he may be adding that next.
.

Can you put that in the add-ons or is it already there?

 

[Arks]

Before my switch to Res Key in Jan 2011, I was a RezOvation user. It was not GT, but an older version. VERY similar to the GT.
I have been much happier with Res Key and am delightfully happy to have the RezOvation team and products out of my life! Yes, believe it, Res Key does what everyone says and for much less money. There are a few drawbacks though:

• There is not as much backend reporting. The financial reports are enough for me, but I would like a few additions, i.e. I can get a report on POS, but it doesn't catagorize and total. I can't see a report that will tell me how many romance packages I sold, it put all POS together and I have to go in and count each item.
• One thing I used often with RezOvation was getting a list of guests with special occasions. I would enter special occasions (anniversary, honeymoon, birthday, etc) and then later be able to pull a list of say...all guests who had an anniversary in January. I would then send them an e-mail special offer in December if they booked their stay for January. Res Key does not have that capability.
• A big negative is that you can't transfer your guest reservation history from RezOvation to Res Key. You can get guest name, address, e-mail, phone, but not reservation history. This would happen with ANY new reservation system you would change to, not just Res Key. It's a big drag, but it's still worth the change. On my new ResKey reservation page, I created a box the guest must answer "have you stayed with us before?". If they click yes, then I go back to my old RezOvation, pull the history and add it to ResKey. That way the old info slowly gets inputed over time.

On the positive side:

• Great support and you don't have to pay extra for it!
• The look
• The price!
• John listens to his customers and comes out with new features constantly
• Having a web based program. You can get to your info anywhere you are, not just on your home computer. Again, at no additional fee. RezOvation seemed to charge every time you blinked!
• It's easy for the guest to make a reservation. Multiple rooms....no problem. Add packages, no problem, everything is right in front of them and immediately adds the tax/fees so they see extactly what they are purchasing.

The bottom line is that after being a RezOvation user for many years, I'm now a happy Res Key convert.
Best of luck with whatever you choose!.

• John listens to his customers and comes out with new features constantly

New feature report: I wrote John just this morning about a problem. We have ResKey charge the first night's fee to their credit card at time reservation is made, as a deposit, but I told John that it was only charging the base amount of the room but not the sales tax, so when the guest arrives we have to remember to charge them the approximately $11 sales tax that's still due. It would be nice to have 100% up front on one-nighters so there's nothing left to do but clean up after they leave.
John wrote back with 5 minutes saying this new feature was just added last week. There's a new checkbox where you can, optionally, tell it to charge sales tax up front as well as base fee. He said some states don't let you charge sales tax up front with the deposit, and some do, so having the checkbox lets you turn it on and off as needed for your situation.
It still won't charge for extras bought on the first night, like extra fee to bring a dog, but he said he may be adding that next.
.

Can you put that in the add-ons or is it already there?
.

Can you put that in the add-ons or is it already there?

If you mean the "include tax" checkbox, it's out to the right of Deposit payment type on the Payment Schedules tab of the Website tab.
If you mean charging extra for something like pets, it's one I set up on the Items For Sale tab of the Website tab.

 

[gillumhouse]

Before my switch to Res Key in Jan 2011, I was a RezOvation user. It was not GT, but an older version. VERY similar to the GT.
I have been much happier with Res Key and am delightfully happy to have the RezOvation team and products out of my life! Yes, believe it, Res Key does what everyone says and for much less money. There are a few drawbacks though:

• There is not as much backend reporting. The financial reports are enough for me, but I would like a few additions, i.e. I can get a report on POS, but it doesn't catagorize and total. I can't see a report that will tell me how many romance packages I sold, it put all POS together and I have to go in and count each item.
• One thing I used often with RezOvation was getting a list of guests with special occasions. I would enter special occasions (anniversary, honeymoon, birthday, etc) and then later be able to pull a list of say...all guests who had an anniversary in January. I would then send them an e-mail special offer in December if they booked their stay for January. Res Key does not have that capability.
• A big negative is that you can't transfer your guest reservation history from RezOvation to Res Key. You can get guest name, address, e-mail, phone, but not reservation history. This would happen with ANY new reservation system you would change to, not just Res Key. It's a big drag, but it's still worth the change. On my new ResKey reservation page, I created a box the guest must answer "have you stayed with us before?". If they click yes, then I go back to my old RezOvation, pull the history and add it to ResKey. That way the old info slowly gets inputed over time.

On the positive side:

• Great support and you don't have to pay extra for it!
• The look
• The price!
• John listens to his customers and comes out with new features constantly
• Having a web based program. You can get to your info anywhere you are, not just on your home computer. Again, at no additional fee. RezOvation seemed to charge every time you blinked!
• It's easy for the guest to make a reservation. Multiple rooms....no problem. Add packages, no problem, everything is right in front of them and immediately adds the tax/fees so they see extactly what they are purchasing.

The bottom line is that after being a RezOvation user for many years, I'm now a happy Res Key convert.
Best of luck with whatever you choose!.

• John listens to his customers and comes out with new features constantly

New feature report: I wrote John just this morning about a problem. We have ResKey charge the first night's fee to their credit card at time reservation is made, as a deposit, but I told John that it was only charging the base amount of the room but not the sales tax, so when the guest arrives we have to remember to charge them the approximately $11 sales tax that's still due. It would be nice to have 100% up front on one-nighters so there's nothing left to do but clean up after they leave.
John wrote back with 5 minutes saying this new feature was just added last week. There's a new checkbox where you can, optionally, tell it to charge sales tax up front as well as base fee. He said some states don't let you charge sales tax up front with the deposit, and some do, so having the checkbox lets you turn it on and off as needed for your situation.
It still won't charge for extras bought on the first night, like extra fee to bring a dog, but he said he may be adding that next.
.

Can you put that in the add-ons or is it already there?
.

Can you put that in the add-ons or is it already there?

If you mean the "include tax" checkbox, it's out to the right of Deposit payment type on the Payment Schedules tab of the Website tab.
If you mean charging extra for something like pets, it's one I set up on the Items For Sale tab of the Website tab.
.

Sorry, s/b more specific than "it". I meant the dogs fee and you said it is already there. Can you make it a package where it would pick up everything? Call it a Canine Package that includes the room and dog fee. THAT will pick it up.

 

[Arks]

I'll look at making it a package and see if it picks it up without being confusing to the ones booking the room. Amazing how there's almost always a work around in this stuff!

 

[gillumhouse]

I'll look at making it a package and see if it picks it up without being confusing to the ones booking the room. Amazing how there's almost always a work around in this stuff!.

Call it Bring your doggie or Bring your Pooch

 

[Arks]

I'll look at making it a package and see if it picks it up without being confusing to the ones booking the room. Amazing how there's almost always a work around in this stuff!.

Call it Bring your doggie or Bring your Pooch
.

Call it Bring your doggie or Bring your Pooch

Bring your flea bag pee bag.

 

[Happy Keeper]

HHHMMM... that's an interesting thought. Wonder if I could have both on their for a short time, just to see what I think.
What I can't get over is the price difference... so what is the actual flat rate monthly for a five room inn with two users and real time online booking. Is it really $18.99?
Must be I am missing something. I don't know if I want to ask the folks at REZ GT..

What I can't get over is the price difference... so what is the actual flat rate monthly for a five room inn with two users and real time online booking. Is it really $18.99?

You can create as many users as you need. No extra charge for that, or anything else.
We're having ResKey pass the credit card on to Authorize.net to process a deposit charge (1st night's stay) at time reservation is made, and Authorize.net DOES have a monthly charge for using them, and for using their service that stores the card numbers for future use, but those are Authorize.net charges.
ResKey only charges the rate you quote above, and if you don't take payment online payments, the $18.99 is all you'll pay each month.
.

AHHH! That's one thing that is different. We do not currently charge a deposit at the time of reservation. However, we could do that on our Costco credit card machine once the information came to us .
RESERVATION GT does not do any processing for us, they just pass it through to us on a secure server. SOOO.. Can you receive the credit card information and process it yourself or do you have contract with Authorize.net to receive the credit card information.
May I ask what authorize.net charges?
This was very helpful to hear.
.

AHHH! That's one thing that is different. We do not currently charge a deposit at the time of reservation. However, we could do that on our Costco credit card machine once the information came to us .
RESERVATION GT does not do any processing for us, they just pass it through to us on a secure server. SOOO.. Can you receive the credit card information and process it yourself or do you have contract with Authorize.net to receive the credit card information.
May I ask what authorize.net charges?
This was very helpful to hear.

Hi, been using Res Key since the beginning of the year. I love it. Regarding the deposit & CC info. I do not use Authorize.net or Paypal (both of which are available to use with Res Key) BUT I do get the CC info - securely through ResKey and process deposits myself.
Once a reservation is made online, you will be sent an email telling you a reservation has been made and another providing you with the first 12 digits of the CC#, the remaining 4 digits will be contained with the reservation on Res Key. I just set up a folder in my email to house the emails with the CC#. The subject provides the last name and the reservation number to go back to at other times if need be. You can also find by date as the email & date reservation was made are the same.
I can not compare GT to Res Key, but compared to Webers, it is far superior product and the support could NOT be any better. I highly recommend them. Go through the trial period and see how you feel. If not enough time for a real test, go a couple more months, @ $18.99 a month. You are not under any long term commitment.
.

Well this is good information. IF I can take a secure reservation online in real time (it goes automatically into the Reservation system) and can send out an automatic confirmation, that is a good thing. That is what happens now with Rez GT.
Me thinks I would need to disable Rez GT so that I don't end up with double bookings.
I am not keen on asking REZ GT to compare, so I do wish there was a GT user who had switched.
Everyone has been (and is being) very helpful.
.

YOU write the thank you for your reservation (confirmation if you want it on autopilot), Your Reservation is in 3 days, and the Thank you for staying letter that will send automatically AND you can personalize the generic "stay" letter (or any of them)when you do the checkout, just do an edit and update in queue plus tell it when to send the e-mail as in now or later.
It is a thing of beauty. I have been at teh computer when a rez came in and did the call for cc# (I do not take cc# online like Copperhear and JB) immediately. The guests have been amazed at how quickly the call came to confirm the rez they just made. It is real time in that it takes the room(s you can reserve multiple rooms in one rez) out of invemtory immediately but mine are not confirmed until I get the cc#. I think you will like it.
.

We have instant confirmation set up. It has to be able to reserve and confirm automatically. Sounds like it can.
.

What is your reasoning for instant confirmation vs for lack of a better term manual confirmation?
Is it just to review the reservation? I am sure this has been discussed elsewhere however, since it came up here thought I would double check what I think I already know.
.

What is your reasoning for instant confirmation vs for lack of a better term manual confirmation?
Is it just to review the reservation? I am sure this has been discussed elsewhere however, since it came up here thought I would double check what I think I already know.

W, the whole purpose of online reservations is an amenity, they book it right now from anywhere any coast, any country, they are confirmed right now. There is no other reason to have it, and stuff around.
For those who have online rez and don't have it auto confim there must be a reason, ie they are using another service somewhere and don't want to double book... For most inns, our website is the portal to book a room, and in fact if we take one over the phone we are in the online rez system at the same time which takes the room out of inventory as we are doing it, so there is no double booking.
If someone calls and you are on a cell phone in the grocery store then you can ask them to book online right now as it is up to date. Although I prefer them to get a voice mail suggesting they book online instead of standing in line at the check out counter. That's just me though.
.

JB - Ok so the confirmation is really immaterial. I totally understand the online booking and personally would not want to do it any other way. As long as the room is out of inventory and you are not using alernate or second res system there is no big deal. The guest is basically autonomous in the reservation process, and really no need for you to intervene. Guest enters information including credit card, deposit gets processed, and you never touch the card or interact with the guest unless they have questions or changes.
Those that manually confirm are either using a secondary res system in addition to the portal on your inn's web site, or they choose to review the reservation (for whatever reason including a potential double booking), and or charge the card manually before an offical confirmation, even if the room is out of inventory on the web site.
Correct?
Just trying to make sure there is no other outstanding reason to not have it automatically and instantly confirm and charge the card the deposit.
.

JB - Ok so the confirmation is really immaterial. (NO! It has important info, so they don't try to check in at noon!!) it may have policies as well, whatever the innkeeper wants on it, it IS IMPORTANT.)
I totally understand the online booking and personally would not want to do it any other way. As long as the room is out of inventory and you are not using alernate or second res system there is no big deal. The guest is basically autonomous in the reservation process, and really no need for you to intervene. Guest enters information including credit card, deposit gets processed, and you never touch the card or interact with the guest unless they have questions or changes. YES! or maybe. I have had three emails from a guest for this saturday, she is very excited!
Those that manually confirm are either using a secondary res system in addition to the portal on your inn's web site, or they choose to review the reservation (for whatever reason including a potential double booking), and or charge the card manually before an offical confirmation, even if the room is out of inventory on the web site. (They manually confirm thinking they can knock it back if they need to, but as discussed most of the time you don't know someone may be a wacko from an online booking anyway!)
Correct?
Just trying to make sure there is no other outstanding reason to not have it automatically and instantly confirm and charge the card the deposit.

.

JB-What I meant and should have been clearer, is the confirmation is just that like a reciept with pertinent data as you mentioned above. AND regardless if they actually read what you send them or not the automated confirmation is the final step in a reservation and no further contact is required. The room comes out of inventory once the guest hits the send/submit button.
Note I said required, no necessarily true, in the case of your excited incoming guest!
Thanks for the great clarification, sometimes my techno-weanie mind over complicates things.
.

Jumping in on this- What you descibe above is very important because it allows a guest to reserve and confirm a reservation ON THEIR TIME in a matter of moments. When I reserve online, I want a confirmation so that I can forget about it and move on to something else. I did my part and when I get an instant confirmation (the innkeeper may be sleeping when I book) I know they did their part and we are all done, time zones be damned!

 

[Happy Keeper]

Before my switch to Res Key in Jan 2011, I was a RezOvation user. It was not GT, but an older version. VERY similar to the GT.
I have been much happier with Res Key and am delightfully happy to have the RezOvation team and products out of my life! Yes, believe it, Res Key does what everyone says and for much less money. There are a few drawbacks though:

• There is not as much backend reporting. The financial reports are enough for me, but I would like a few additions, i.e. I can get a report on POS, but it doesn't catagorize and total. I can't see a report that will tell me how many romance packages I sold, it put all POS together and I have to go in and count each item.
• One thing I used often with RezOvation was getting a list of guests with special occasions. I would enter special occasions (anniversary, honeymoon, birthday, etc) and then later be able to pull a list of say...all guests who had an anniversary in January. I would then send them an e-mail special offer in December if they booked their stay for January. Res Key does not have that capability.
• A big negative is that you can't transfer your guest reservation history from RezOvation to Res Key. You can get guest name, address, e-mail, phone, but not reservation history. This would happen with ANY new reservation system you would change to, not just Res Key. It's a big drag, but it's still worth the change. On my new ResKey reservation page, I created a box the guest must answer "have you stayed with us before?". If they click yes, then I go back to my old RezOvation, pull the history and add it to ResKey. That way the old info slowly gets inputed over time.

On the positive side:

• Great support and you don't have to pay extra for it!
• The look
• The price!
• John listens to his customers and comes out with new features constantly
• Having a web based program. You can get to your info anywhere you are, not just on your home computer. Again, at no additional fee. RezOvation seemed to charge every time you blinked!
• It's easy for the guest to make a reservation. Multiple rooms....no problem. Add packages, no problem, everything is right in front of them and immediately adds the tax/fees so they see extactly what they are purchasing.

The bottom line is that after being a RezOvation user for many years, I'm now a happy Res Key convert.
Best of luck with whatever you choose!.

list of guests with special occasions. I bet if you asked John, he could provide this. I thought there was something like that but I may be mistaken. Seems like an easy enough thing to add...LOL!
.

list of guests with special occasions. I bet if you asked John, he could provide this. I thought there was something like that but I may be mistaken. Seems like an easy enough thing to add...LOL!

You make a field to ask the question. - you can make it a drop down or blank space, make it required or not.
.

list of guests with special occasions. I bet if you asked John, he could provide this. I thought there was something like that but I may be mistaken. Seems like an easy enough thing to add...LOL!

You make a field to ask the question. - you can make it a drop down or blank space, make it required or not.

CH, I do have that on the reservation form. What Res Key can not do is search the database to have a list of all guests who have an anniversary in Jan, or birthday in April, etc. This was a great marketing tool I used on RezOvation.
.

THIS IS HUGELY HELPFUL and exactly what I want to know about.

 

[Happy Keeper]

Before my switch to Res Key in Jan 2011, I was a RezOvation user. It was not GT, but an older version. VERY similar to the GT.
I have been much happier with Res Key and am delightfully happy to have the RezOvation team and products out of my life! Yes, believe it, Res Key does what everyone says and for much less money. There are a few drawbacks though:

• There is not as much backend reporting. The financial reports are enough for me, but I would like a few additions, i.e. I can get a report on POS, but it doesn't catagorize and total. I can't see a report that will tell me how many romance packages I sold, it put all POS together and I have to go in and count each item.
• One thing I used often with RezOvation was getting a list of guests with special occasions. I would enter special occasions (anniversary, honeymoon, birthday, etc) and then later be able to pull a list of say...all guests who had an anniversary in January. I would then send them an e-mail special offer in December if they booked their stay for January. Res Key does not have that capability.
• A big negative is that you can't transfer your guest reservation history from RezOvation to Res Key. You can get guest name, address, e-mail, phone, but not reservation history. This would happen with ANY new reservation system you would change to, not just Res Key. It's a big drag, but it's still worth the change. On my new ResKey reservation page, I created a box the guest must answer "have you stayed with us before?". If they click yes, then I go back to my old RezOvation, pull the history and add it to ResKey. That way the old info slowly gets inputed over time.

On the positive side:

• Great support and you don't have to pay extra for it!
• The look
• The price!
• John listens to his customers and comes out with new features constantly
• Having a web based program. You can get to your info anywhere you are, not just on your home computer. Again, at no additional fee. RezOvation seemed to charge every time you blinked!
• It's easy for the guest to make a reservation. Multiple rooms....no problem. Add packages, no problem, everything is right in front of them and immediately adds the tax/fees so they see extactly what they are purchasing.

The bottom line is that after being a RezOvation user for many years, I'm now a happy Res Key convert.
Best of luck with whatever you choose!.

I can't thank you enough! This is exactly what I needed to hear about.

 

[muirford]

Before my switch to Res Key in Jan 2011, I was a RezOvation user. It was not GT, but an older version. VERY similar to the GT.
I have been much happier with Res Key and am delightfully happy to have the RezOvation team and products out of my life! Yes, believe it, Res Key does what everyone says and for much less money. There are a few drawbacks though:

• There is not as much backend reporting. The financial reports are enough for me, but I would like a few additions, i.e. I can get a report on POS, but it doesn't catagorize and total. I can't see a report that will tell me how many romance packages I sold, it put all POS together and I have to go in and count each item.
• One thing I used often with RezOvation was getting a list of guests with special occasions. I would enter special occasions (anniversary, honeymoon, birthday, etc) and then later be able to pull a list of say...all guests who had an anniversary in January. I would then send them an e-mail special offer in December if they booked their stay for January. Res Key does not have that capability.
• A big negative is that you can't transfer your guest reservation history from RezOvation to Res Key. You can get guest name, address, e-mail, phone, but not reservation history. This would happen with ANY new reservation system you would change to, not just Res Key. It's a big drag, but it's still worth the change. On my new ResKey reservation page, I created a box the guest must answer "have you stayed with us before?". If they click yes, then I go back to my old RezOvation, pull the history and add it to ResKey. That way the old info slowly gets inputed over time.

On the positive side:

• Great support and you don't have to pay extra for it!
• The look
• The price!
• John listens to his customers and comes out with new features constantly
• Having a web based program. You can get to your info anywhere you are, not just on your home computer. Again, at no additional fee. RezOvation seemed to charge every time you blinked!
• It's easy for the guest to make a reservation. Multiple rooms....no problem. Add packages, no problem, everything is right in front of them and immediately adds the tax/fees so they see extactly what they are purchasing.

The bottom line is that after being a RezOvation user for many years, I'm now a happy Res Key convert.
Best of luck with whatever you choose!.

• A big negative is that you can't transfer your guest reservation history from RezOvation to Res Key. You can get guest name, address, e-mail, phone, but not reservation history. This would happen with ANY new reservation system you would change to, not just Res Key. It's a big drag, but it's still worth the change. On my new ResKey reservation page, I created a box the guest must answer "have you stayed with us before?". If they click yes, then I go back to my old RezOvation, pull the history and add it to ResKey. That way the old info slowly gets inputed over time.

We were able to import our res history from Webervations 2 to ResKey. This is a function of the data you can export from your old system; not so much what happens in ResKey. If you can create separate records for each res in your exported spreadsheet, ResKey will accept them and aggregate them under the customer name. We were not able to get bandb.com to commit to do that within their own products - from Webervations to Rezovations. The only field we have lost is the contact notes - because Webervations didn't export it.

 

[Happy Keeper]

Before my switch to Res Key in Jan 2011, I was a RezOvation user. It was not GT, but an older version. VERY similar to the GT.
I have been much happier with Res Key and am delightfully happy to have the RezOvation team and products out of my life! Yes, believe it, Res Key does what everyone says and for much less money. There are a few drawbacks though:

• There is not as much backend reporting. The financial reports are enough for me, but I would like a few additions, i.e. I can get a report on POS, but it doesn't catagorize and total. I can't see a report that will tell me how many romance packages I sold, it put all POS together and I have to go in and count each item.
• One thing I used often with RezOvation was getting a list of guests with special occasions. I would enter special occasions (anniversary, honeymoon, birthday, etc) and then later be able to pull a list of say...all guests who had an anniversary in January. I would then send them an e-mail special offer in December if they booked their stay for January. Res Key does not have that capability.
• A big negative is that you can't transfer your guest reservation history from RezOvation to Res Key. You can get guest name, address, e-mail, phone, but not reservation history. This would happen with ANY new reservation system you would change to, not just Res Key. It's a big drag, but it's still worth the change. On my new ResKey reservation page, I created a box the guest must answer "have you stayed with us before?". If they click yes, then I go back to my old RezOvation, pull the history and add it to ResKey. That way the old info slowly gets inputed over time.

On the positive side:

• Great support and you don't have to pay extra for it!
• The look
• The price!
• John listens to his customers and comes out with new features constantly
• Having a web based program. You can get to your info anywhere you are, not just on your home computer. Again, at no additional fee. RezOvation seemed to charge every time you blinked!
• It's easy for the guest to make a reservation. Multiple rooms....no problem. Add packages, no problem, everything is right in front of them and immediately adds the tax/fees so they see extactly what they are purchasing.

The bottom line is that after being a RezOvation user for many years, I'm now a happy Res Key convert.
Best of luck with whatever you choose!.

• A big negative is that you can't transfer your guest reservation history from RezOvation to Res Key. You can get guest name, address, e-mail, phone, but not reservation history. This would happen with ANY new reservation system you would change to, not just Res Key. It's a big drag, but it's still worth the change. On my new ResKey reservation page, I created a box the guest must answer "have you stayed with us before?". If they click yes, then I go back to my old RezOvation, pull the history and add it to ResKey. That way the old info slowly gets inputed over time.

We were able to import our res history from Webervations 2 to ResKey. This is a function of the data you can export from your old system; not so much what happens in ResKey. If you can create separate records for each res in your exported spreadsheet, ResKey will accept them and aggregate them under the customer name. We were not able to get bandb.com to commit to do that within their own products - from Webervations to Rezovations. The only field we have lost is the contact notes - because Webervations didn't export it.
.

geez... this is so way off my own topic... but if only I could sit down with J.B. and find out the truth about what is going on at Home A... might be fascinating for an innkeeper.