Hotels look to unify payments, guest data and booking technology

Hotels have accumulated separate systems for reservations, payments, guest records and messaging, leaving staff to piece together information that belongs to one stay. A co-authored article by hospitality technology companies The Anything Group and Cendyn argues that bringing those tools together is becoming important both for hotel operations and for guests who expect smooth digital interactions.

The article illustrates the problem with a couple booking a suite, later adding a spa treatment, paying with different cards and repeating details to staff. Each interaction may work on its own, but separate systems can leave the hotel with fragmented records of the guest and their preferences. The authors say that fragmentation can hinder personalization and make it harder for hotel teams to rely on their operational data.

The cost of disconnected systems

The article says only 11% of hotel operators report having a fully integrated technology stack, while more than a quarter use seven or more platforms. It also cites figures indicating that 27% spend more than 11 hours a week reconciling data across systems, and that 91% still use manual reporting in otherwise automated workflows. Just 15% of operators, it says, have strong confidence in the accuracy and timeliness of their operational data.

The article does not identify the survey sample or methodology behind those figures. Its authors argue that data silos have become more than an administrative burden as hotels face margin pressure and consider using artificial intelligence, which depends on the quality of the underlying data.

A trip-wide booking model

The companies approach integration from different sides. The Anything Group says its platform combines brand, content, booking, payments and analytics. Cendyn focuses on bringing together guest information held in property management, booking, loyalty and sales systems to create a single profile for hotel teams.

One example is ALBIE, a booking engine from The Anything Group. The article says it lets guests book multiple properties in a group, along with activities and other add-ons, for different dates in one reservation on the hotel’s own website. That approach treats a trip, rather than a room alone, as the booking unit. The article does not provide performance results or say how widely the platform has been adopted.

This report draws on information from Hotel News Resource.