Affixify Partner Industry Expert Series: Edition Two | The Hotelier's PMS Playbook

Affixify is thrilled to collaborate with our incredible PMS partners to shine a light on what's possible with today's property management tools. When configured and used correctly, a PMS isn't just a reservation log …it's the engine behind every guest interaction, every rate decision, and every dollar your property earns. We're grateful to the partners who showed up for this series and shared their expertise so generously.

What’s Inside

We asked each partner for their best, most actionable advice. What follows is their expertise, the things they wish every hotelier knew.

Insights from Josh Graham, Head of Market Development, NORAM, CloudBeds

Josh Graham leads market development for CloudBeds across North America, working with independent hoteliers who want to move beyond legacy systems and build operations that are built for growth.

1. Move Beyond Front Desk Optimization

Front desk efficiency matters, but it’s a fraction of what drives your hotel’s success. Modern hospitality happens in real-time messaging, reputation management, and OTA rate decisions so make sure your core system is helping you act on what’s next, not just recording what already happened.

2. Rethink the Multi-Tool Approach 

Managing a separate tool for every challenge means managing multiple vendors, invoices, and versions of the truth. A unified platform with a single data layer is more reliable and more effective than a collection of point solutions stitched together.

3. Understand What Kind of AI You’re Actually Buying

Not all AI works the same way: some systems make suggestions based on patterns, while others act on verified, real-time data. When evaluating vendors, ask whether their AI can take action autonomously or whether it’s simply generating recommendations for you to review.

4. Use Your Local Context as a Competitive Advantage

Today’s technology rewards context over scale, and independent operators have context that large chains can’t replicate. Hotel 1550 in San Bruno demonstrated what’s possible: by consolidating to a unified platform, they grew direct bookings from 8% to 18% and saved $2,500 a month in OTA commissions.

5. Ask the Right Questions When Evaluating Vendors

Feature checklists are a great starting point for evaluating technology, and the best decisions go a step further. Once you've confirmed the basics, ask vendors directly: Can your AI act autonomously or does it only suggest? Where does my guest data live? Can you show me results from a property like mine? Is your platform built for where I'm headed, not just where I am today?

"The legacy PMS era is over. The superhuman era of automated, context-driven hospitality is already here. Don’t let traditional tech advice keep your business stuck in the past."

— Josh Graham, Head of Market Development NORAM, CloudBeds

Insights from Justin Borkovetz, Director of Operations, Lodgical Solution by Zucchetti

Justin Borkovetz and the Lodgical Solution by Zucchetti team bring practical, operations-focused expertise to hotels that want to get more from their core systems.

1. Stop Rebuilding the Same Reports Every Month

Most PMS platforms can schedule and automatically distribute reports to management, ownership, and accounting teams. If you’re still manually rebuilding the same ones each month, that’s time and consistency you’re leaving on the table.

2. Don’t Assume Your Integrations Are Working

Hotels often set up integrations and never check them again. Review your booking engine, channel manager, payment, and marketing integrations regularly because catching a break early beats discovering weeks of lost reservations later.

3. Put Your Guest Data to Work

Your PMS holds a wealth of guest data: repeat visit patterns, preferences, spend habits. Use it to recognize returning guests and personalize touchpoints, those small touches based on history turn good stays into lasting loyalty.

4. Reduce Front Desk Busywork

The front desk should be focused on guests, not paperwork. Regularly audit your check-in, payment, and communication processes for tasks that can be automated, even small wins free up staff during your busiest periods.

5. Look Beyond Occupancy and ADR 

Occupancy and ADR only tell part of the story. Also track booking pace, cancellation trends, repeat guest percentages, and ancillary revenue for a clearer picture of where your business is actually headed.

"Small improvements in automation, reporting, and guest data can create big gains in efficiency, revenue, and guest satisfaction."

— Justin Borkovetz, Director of Operations, Lodgical Solution by Zucchetti

Insights from Jon Sanford, President of WebRezPro

Jon Sanford leads WebRezPro with the conviction that great hospitality technology doesn’t replace the human touch, it protects it.

1. Choose a Flexible PMS That Integrates and Handles Payments, Seamlessly

WebRezPro offers over 150 integrations and an embedded payment processor, so transactions, deposits, and guest data flow seamlessly within one platform. Eliminating manual double entry reduces errors and frees up your team for higher-value work.

2. Prioritize Cleanliness 

Eighty-five percent of guests rate cleanliness as a primary factor in whether their experience was positive or negative. A PMS with mobile checklists and real-time room status updates keeps housekeeping standards high and the front desk informed.

3. Select Software Backed by Reliable, Expert Support

Select software backed by a hospitality-expert support team available seven days a week, at no additional charge, because the hotel business never sleeps. Issues resolved quickly prevent costly bottlenecks and keep guests happy. 

4. Maintain a Robust and Consistent Online Presence 

Your website is your highest-margin booking channel, but travelers and AI platforms pull from sources across the internet so a multi-channel approach is essential. Automatically syncing live inventory between your direct booking engine and OTAs maximizes visibility without overbooking risk.

5. Leverage Automation to Deliver Personalized Guest Experiences

Over 70% of consumers expect personalized interactions, and automated PMS tools make it easy to deliver. Pre-arrival emails, tailored add-ons, and guest-history touchpoints ensure every guest feels valued which drives satisfaction and repeat revenue.

"Modern hotel operations aren’t about working harder; they’re about connecting smarter. The independent properties that stand out are those who use technology to protect the human touch, not replace it. When the right systems handle the administrative heavy lifting, your team is free to focus on the warm hospitality that makes a stay truly memorable."

— Jon Sanford, President of WebRezPro

Insights from the Skyware Team

Skyware believes a great PMS should serve hospitality quietly, being invisible to guests, intuitive to staff, and powerful enough to unite an entire hotel group.

1. A Good PMS Should Be Invisible to the Guest 

The best PMS isn't noticed by guests but it's felt in seamless check-ins, accurate folios, and frictionless communication. If guests are aware of your technology, something has gone wrong.

2. Hospitality Is People-Driven, Ultimately Supported by a Good PMS 

Technology exists to serve your team, not the other way around. A well-implemented PMS handles the administrative load so staff can focus on what only humans can do: making guests feel genuinely welcomed.

3. A Good PMS Should Fit a Hotel's Workflow, Not Complicate It

Every property operates differently, and a PMS that forces you to change how you work creates friction and frustration. Look for a system that adapts to your processes, not one that demands you adapt to it.

4. A True All-in-One PMS Enables Resort Departments to Work Together 

For resort properties, fragmentation between departments creates costly communication gaps. A genuinely integrated PMS gives every team, from front desk to F&B to spa, a shared view of the guest.

5. A Good PMS Should Complement Operations for Entire Hotel Groups

Multi-property operators need visibility and consistency across their portfolio. A PMS built for hotel groups centralizes reporting and standardizes processes so teams don't operate in disconnected silos.

Insights from Stacey Lawson, VP of Sales, Stayntouch 

Stacey Lawson leads North American sales at Stayntouch and works closely with hoteliers every day to understand what actually moves the needle on property performance.

1. Turn Guest Data Into Guest Loyalty

Every stay generates data: preferences, spend habits, repeat visit patterns. A modern PMS captures all of it in one guest profile so you can personalize offers, anticipate needs, and turn one-time bookings into repeat stays.

2. Automate the Busywork, Not the Hospitality

The best PMS platforms handle the repetitive stuff like room assignments, rate updates, folio splits, night audit, so your team doesn't have to. That's time back for the moments that matter, like greeting a guest by name or solving a problem before it becomes a complaint.

3. Open APIs Aren't a Buzzword, They're a Bottom Line 

A PMS that connects with your CRM, revenue management tool, and payment processor saves you from manual workarounds and data silos. Open APIs let you add new tech as your property grows without ripping out what already works.

4. Mobility Isn't a Perk, It's the Standard Now 

Guests expect mobile check-in; staff expect to manage room status from the floor, not a back-office terminal. A PMS tied to a front desk workstation limits your team, mobility means your team can work from anywhere on property.

5. Future-Proof Without the Rip-and-Replace 

Hotel tech evolves fast, and a modern PMS is built to adapt without disruptive overhauls. That flexibility means your property can keep pace with guest expectations and industry shifts without the cost of starting from scratch.

"The real ROI of your PMS isn't the software itself—it's the loyalty it helps you build."

— Stacey Lawson, VP of Sales, Stayntouch

Insights from the Mews Team

Mews is the operating system for hospitality, unifying workflows across revenue, operations and the guest journey so teams can automate the mundane and focus on memorable guest experiences. From property management to revenue management and guest experience, Mews brings it all together in one system.

1. Automate the admin so your team can focus on being great hosts

The average hotel runs on a surprising amount of manual coordination: housekeeping updates called across radios, check-in queues that back up because a room isn't marked ready, maintenance requests sitting in someone's inbox. None of it is complicated. All of it takes time that could be used somewhere else. When operational workflows run through the same system as your bookings, payments and guest data, that coordination happens automatically. The system handles the handoffs. Your team can focus on the most important thing – being good hosts.

2. Connected systems mean fewer gaps for your team to fill

Fragmentation doesn't show up as a line item. It shows up as minutes lost, errors made and revenue lost. When your PMS, payments, POS and third-party tools share a single data layer, those gaps close. Every part of your operation is working from the same picture at any given moment.

3. Have an RMS. Then let it run on autopilot.

Most revenue strategy is still built around room rate because that's what legacy systems make easiest to manage. But revenue management is a full-time job, and most hotels either don't have a dedicated revenue manager or have one person doing the work of three. A good RMS doesn't just surface better rates – it applies them automatically and continuously across every channel. The metric worth optimizing for isn't ADR, it's total revenue per guest. That requires a system that's always working, not one that waits for someone to log in.

4. Let AI handle the first response

Your guests are already on WhatsApp. They're used to AI handling their questions, booking their restaurants and sorting their travel. The gap between how they communicate in everyday life and how most hotels communicate with them is wider than it should be.

Conversational AI in guest messaging means requests get handled instantly, preferences get captured and your team only steps in when a human touch actually adds something. That's a better experience for the guest and a lighter load for your staff.

5. You don't have to be a resort to think like one

The most profitable properties aren't always the ones with the highest room rates. They're the ones that find more ways to earn from the guests they already have. Ancillary revenue – spa access, late checkout, F&B, local partnerships, hire spaces, exclusive experiences – doesn't require a resort footprint. It requires knowing what your guests want and making it easy to say yes. A starting point: survey your guests. Ask what they'd spend money on if you offered it. The answers are usually more actionable than any benchmarking report.

"Most hotels are sitting on years of guest data and still treating every arrival like a first visit. That’s not a people problem – it’s a systems problem. The PMS should be doing that work."

— Josef Starýchfojtů, Chief Product & Technology Officer, Mews

What the Experts Agree On

Across all six partners, a few themes came up again and again. Here’s what every hotelier should take away.

Integration and unified data are table stakes.

Whether it was CloudBeds calling out the fragmented stack, Stayntouch championing open APIs, WebRezPro highlighting embedded payments, or Mews making the case that fragmentation doesn't show up as a line item but as minutes lost and revenue missed, every partner pointed to the same truth: a disconnected tech stack costs you time, accuracy, and revenue. A PMS that plays well with everything around it isn't a luxury, it's the foundation.

Automation should free your team, not replace them.

From Lodgical Solution's push to reduce front desk busywork to Stayntouch's reminder to automate the task not the hospitality, and Mews' point that a good RMS should be always working, not waiting for someone to log in, every partner drew the same line. The goal of automation is to clear space for the human moments guests actually remember.

Your guest data is your biggest underused asset.

All experts said it in different ways: the guest information already living in your PMS is more valuable than most hoteliers realize. As Mews' Josef Starýchfojtů put it, most hotels are sitting on years of guest data and still treating every arrival like a first visit. That's not a people problem, it's a systems problem.

Turns out, the secret to better property management isn’t a secret at all, it’s the right people and the right tools working together behind the scenes. At Affixify, connecting hoteliers with partners who actually move the needle is kind of our whole thing, and we couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead. Stay tuned for more editions of the Affixify Partner Industry Expert Series.