Why did we become hoteliers in the first place?
Not for room occupancy and not for table utilization. But to give guests a stay they remember. A guest experience that works as a whole, from check-in to breakfast to the evening in the restaurant and beyond, instead of a good night's sleep with a separate restaurant visit on the side.
For that, everyone in the house needs to know who is standing in front of them. That is exactly the challenge: the knowledge about your guest is already there, it just lives in two separate worlds, and today the only link between them is your staff.
What really matters to you
You don't sell rooms or covers. You sell a stay.
Your guest doesn't distinguish between Rooms and F&B. They check in, have breakfast, stop by the bar in the afternoon, dine in the restaurant in the evening and check out. To them it is one single experience with one property. Whether it becomes great isn't decided at one touchpoint, but at every one.
And it becomes great when everyone in the house knows who is standing in front of them. Not just the front desk, which knows the guest anyway, but also the evening service team, the kitchen and the bar. If you know your guest, you can surprise them. If you don't, all you can be is polite.
That requires one thing: the information has to be where the guest is. And that is exactly where almost every property breaks down, because this knowledge lives in two separate places.
What stands in the way today
The PMS runs the stay, your restaurant runs the table. The two systems aren't connected. So several people make that connection by hand, every single day.
Almost every property has a well-practiced routine for this. The arrivals list is pulled, half-board guests are entered, someone decides where they sit, asks the front desk about allergies or looks them up in the PMS. It works. It only goes unnoticed because it has been done this way for years and nobody measures the time it takes.
The path of a single booking looks roughly like this. Seven steps, six of them manual, often spread across several people, and the last two repeat for as long as the guest is in house.
What the guest notices
Both sides know your guest. Each just knows a different part of them, and neither knows the whole guest.
Some of it does make it across. What's on the arrivals list reaches the restaurant: name, room, stay, meal plan. But only as of the moment the list was pulled.
More interesting is what never appears on such a list. And that goes both ways. The hotel system knows whether children are travelling along, which rooms belong together and how often the guest has stayed. The restaurant knows where they like to sit, what they like and which wine they had last time. None of this reaches the other side.
Some of it even comes down to chance. If the guest mentions an allergy at check-in, it's in the hotel system. If they mention it at the table, it's in the restaurant. If they say at dinner that they're leaving early tomorrow, the service team knows, but the front desk doesn't. And the next morning someone asks how they enjoyed a dinner they were never at.
What's missing at the table
Whether the guest is staying in house, which package they have, how long they're staying, whether children are along, whether three rooms belong together. That's in the hotel system and only arrives if someone carries it over.
Result: Service works with a name and a time and has to ask for everything else.What's missing in the hotel system
Where they like to sit, what they like and dislike, which wine they praised last time, what the service team noted about them. This knowledge is created in the restaurant and stays there.
Result: At check-in, the front desk could proactively mention that their window table is free and ask whether they'd like the Barolo from last time again. Today the front desk knows none of this, and the extra revenue is left on the table.Time nobody counts
The hand-off isn't in any job description. It happens on the side, usually at the front desk or by the restaurant manager, so it never shows up in any report. You only feel it when the house is full.
Result: At the front desk your guest is greeted by name. Two hours later the same conversation starts from scratch.Connect the two worlds
When Rooms and F&B know the same things about your guest, you get what you run your property for: an experience that is equally attentive everywhere. Not just a nice stay with a pleasant restaurant visit on the side, but a house that truly knows them.
Everything else follows from that. The manual hand-off disappears, and so do the errors it causes, and the time that goes into lists today goes back to the guest.
They experience two different houses. Recognized at the front desk, starting from scratch at the table. What they said once, they often have to say again.
Seven manual steps per booking so half board reaches the restaurant. Again with every change. And whatever isn't on the list never arrives.
Pull lists, retype, ask around, update, reconcile. Time that never reaches the guest.
All three are solved with one connection.
Bookings, arrivals and departures, rooms, rate codes, guest profiles
Drag or click
Only know what someone passes on about the hotel stay.
A holistic view of your guest. All information is there, in real time.
Two worlds, one house. What the guest experiences depends on which side they happen to be on.
And that opens up something that wasn't even an option before.
Two experiences become one holistic guest experience
What you know about your guest is available at every point in the house – and that is exactly what makes the experience possible. Not just at the front desk, but in every outlet: at breakfast, in the restaurant at night, at the bar.
Seven manual steps become one flow
The chain from chapter 02 doesn't disappear because someone works faster. It disappears because the systems are connected and the transfer happens automatically – at booking and with every change.
The time goes back to the guest
Staff are scarce. The people you have no longer transfer information and reservations by hand, reconcile or update lists. That time goes into serving the guest – which benefits your team and your guest alike.
How aleno makes it possible
aleno is both: your restaurant reservation and guest system, and the link to your PMS.
So you don't get a third system mediating between two others, but the restaurant system that thinks along with the hotel side. Behind it are two building blocks.
PMS integration brings the knowledge. Guest profiles and hotel bookings appear in aleno, in real time. Service works with the same knowledge as the front desk. That pays off on its own, without automating anything.
PMS automation takes over the hand-off. Meal plans and rate codes turn into reservations according to your rules, and they follow along when the booking changes. It builds on the integration, because without data there is no rule.
What aleno takes care of
The rule, walked through with an example
The most common objection to automation is: it creates nonsense. That's why we explain the mechanics in detail here. You set up one rule per seating: which rate codes it applies to, in which outlet and shift the reservation is created, and on which days of the stay. After that it runs for every matching booking.
Truly knowing your guest
No hotelier runs a property to maintain reservation lists. They run it to create unique experiences that include everything the property has to offer. And that is both: Rooms and F&B.
That's the difference between a good room plus a good meal and a stay that feels like one piece. It takes knowledge about the guest, and your property already has it. It just lives in two places.
The hotel side knows their history with you. How often they've stayed, which room they like, what they booked, who's travelling with them, which language they speak, what was discussed at check-in.
The restaurant side knows their taste. Where they like to sit, what they like and dislike, which wine they praised last time, how often they've dined, what the service team noted about them.
Together they form a complete picture. Apart, they are two halves that don't know each other, and a guest who experiences two different houses.
The goal is a stay where your guest experiences the same attentiveness everywhere in the house.
What it feels like in the house
Same guest, same evening. On the left, what service has to ask because they can't know. On the right, the same situation when the knowledge is already there. The dialogues are illustrative; the fields behind them are described in chapters 03 and 05.
Their preferences are known before they say them again
Seating, wines, dishes, dislikes, notes from earlier visits. It's all in the guest profile anyway; it just has to show up on the right visit, and that visit is now linked to the hotel stay.
For the guest: they're served like a regular, even on their second visit.The restaurant visit is part of the holistic experience
Room number, arrival and departure, package and companions are attached to the reservation. So the evening in the restaurant doesn't start from zero, but from wherever their stay currently is.
For the guest: they're welcomed, not processed.What they say once applies throughout the house
The intolerance mentioned at check-in, the wish for a quiet table, the request for a later dinner time. It's all in the guest profile and therefore on the reservation, without anyone having to remember to pass it on.
For the guest: they don't have to explain themselves again in every department. And with intolerances, that's more than convenience.Their profile grows with every visit
What the service team learns about the guest doesn't stay in the restaurant but can flow back into the hotel's guest profile. On the next stay, the front desk knows it too.
For the guest: the house remembers. How far data flows back depends on the PMS.What your team gets out of it
The second effect, and it's easier to quantify: the hand-off work disappears.
No more manual data transfer
No retyping, no phone calls, no catching up on changes. And no more table-plan decisions that need an F&B perspective the front desk doesn't have.
Today: high manual effort that always comes with potential for errors.Works with one holistic system
Information on hotel guests is there, with room number, package, party size and notes. And it stays up to date without anyone maintaining it.
Today: works with a list that has been out of date since it was printed.Plans with numbers that add up
Covers per seating match the hotel bookings. That drives purchasing, prep and how many people are on shift.
Today: plans against a number that may be off. That costs either food or service.Has all the information instead of searching for it
All relevant guest information is attached to the reservation and available instantly. The time that used to go into asking around can be invested in great service.
Today: sees a name and has to ask for the rest.How your property benefits beyond that
Two effects beyond day-to-day operations.
Extra capacity that sits idle as a buffer today
As long as it's unclear how many hotel guests will come, the buffer is estimated. Too big, and tables sit empty that could have been sold. Too small, and the evening gets tight.
Guests and revenue your hotel doesn't see today
A guest who only dined in the restaurant and never stayed overnight doesn't exist in your hotel system at all. Through the connection, they can get there. Many properties see their restaurant as an acquisition channel for the hotel anyway, because a great evening often leads to the next booking. Until now, the path from the table to the guest profile was missing.
In the other direction, too, there's additional revenue potential that many hotels let slip today. If you can see before arrival that a guest dined in the restaurant every night on their last stay, you can offer the table before they ask. If you see at check-in that they booked without half board this time, you can offer it. That's not extra sales pressure, it's attentiveness that pays off.
And with a connected POS, revenue and items are added. That enables reporting across Rooms and F&B that used to stop at the system boundary.
Before and after
Everything from the previous chapters, side by side.
| Day to day | Today | Connected |
|---|---|---|
| For your guest | ||
| Welcome in the restaurant | Asked for their name and wishes | Recognized; their table and preferences are ready |
| What they said once | Has to be said again elsewhere | Applies throughout the house |
| Allergies and intolerances | Arrive if someone remembers | Are on the reservation |
| Their preferences | Known only to the side they told | Part of a shared guest profile |
| Their stay | A good room and, separately, a good evening | One holistic guest experience |
| On the next visit | What service learned stays in the restaurant | Can flow back into the hotel's guest profile |
| For your operations | ||
| Reservations for hotel guests | Created by hand, meal by meal | Created from the booking, by your rules |
| Change to the stay | Has to be updated on both sides | Updated in the PMS only, follows automatically |
| Knowledge at the table | Only what someone carried over | Same as the front desk |
| Hand-off errors | Hard to avoid in a long manual chain | No more manual hand-off |
| Numbers for the kitchen | May differ from bookings | Match the hotel bookings |
| Multiple outlets | Each outlet organizes itself | One connection serves all |
| For your team | ||
| The working day | Pull lists, retype, ask around, update, reconcile | That time goes into serving guests |
| Guest information | Service has to ask | Available instantly |
| For your property | ||
| Capacity for outside guests | Buffer is estimated, tables stay empty without revenue | Free seats are known and bookable in the widget |
| Guests who only dined | Don't exist in the hotel system | Can be added there |
| Offers before arrival and at check-in | Knowledge of both sides is missing | Can be targeted |
Manual hand-offs that several team members do day after day become a process you set up once.
What it means in numbers
Calculate it for your property. All assumptions are visible, and you can adjust each one.
- Occupied rooms per night140
- Arrivals per week327
- Of which with meal plan196
- Reservations per booking6
Is it right for your property?
The two building blocks don't fit every operation equally well. Being upfront about that saves both sides time.
Four questions that reveal the need
- How do hotel guests get into your reservation system today? The answer is almost always one person and one list.
- Do you offer half board, breakfast, full board or packages with F&B? That decides on the automation.
- Who creates these reservations today? And how much time does it take?
- What does your service team know about a hotel guest at the table? This shows how much of the property's knowledge actually arrives.
What it takes
Not an IT project, but not a one-click setup either.
Request the connection
Via aleno support. Depending on the PMS, an interface license from the vendor is required. Credentials come from the PMS provider.
Connect and import
aleno sets up the connection. Existing hotel bookings from recent months are imported once, so you don't start from zero.
Define rules
Together: which rate codes, which outlet, which shift, which days. The part that needs F&B know-how, and the reason it's done once instead of daily.
Which PMS are connected today
FAQ
What is the difference between PMS integration and PMS automation?
PMS integration brings the knowledge: guest profiles and hotel bookings appear in aleno in real time, and service works with the same knowledge as the front desk. PMS automation takes over the hand-off: meal plans and rate codes turn into restaurant reservations according to defined rules. The automation builds on the integration, because without data there is no rule.
Which PMS are connected to aleno?
Established connections exist for Apaleo, ASA, Mews, Opera Cloud, protel and Shiji Daylight. Casablanca is in beta. Which data flows in which direction depends on the PMS.
Does each restaurant have to be connected to the PMS separately?
No. One connection serves all outlets of the property. Configuration still happens per outlet, so breakfast, fine dining and bar keep their own rules.
How are reservations for half-board guests created automatically?
You set up one rule per seating: which rate codes it applies to, in which outlet and shift the reservation is created, and on which days of the stay. After that it runs for every matching booking, the same way every time. That's why no reservations are created on days when the guest isn't in house.
What happens when a hotel booking changes?
The reservations follow along. A change to the stay is updated in the PMS only, no longer additionally in the restaurant.
Does information also flow from the restaurant back into the PMS?
That depends on the PMS. Some connections run one way, some both ways, and the available fields differ by system. Where the return path is possible, what service learns about a guest can flow back into the hotel's guest profile.
How much effort is the rollout?
Not an IT project, but not a one-click setup either. First, you request the connection via aleno support; depending on the PMS, an interface license from the vendor is required. Second, aleno sets up the connection and imports existing hotel bookings from recent months once. Third, you define the rules together: rate codes, outlet, shift and days.
Which hotels is it worth it for?
PMS integration pays off for almost every hotel with its own restaurant and a PMS with an interface. PMS automation pays off especially where bookings create F&B commitments, such as half board, full board, packages with F&B, breakfast seatings with fixed capacity or multiple outlets. Hotels without their own F&B have nothing to connect.
How much time does PMS automation save?
That depends on the property. In the model calculation on this page, with 200 rooms, 70% occupancy, a 3-night average stay, 60% of guests on a meal plan and 30 seconds per entry, around 1,180 restaurant reservations per week come from hotel bookings alone. That's about 42 hours of work per month just for creating them, not counting changes, cancellations and follow-ups.
aleno is the reservation and guest management system for restaurants in hotels and the link to the PMS. Which data flows are possible in your property depends on the PMS in use and is clarified together before connecting.