EB Res

A web based on-line booking and reservation system developed for small owner-managed hotels and guest-houses.

FRONT OFFICE (Interactive users interface)

Individual Hotel URL – The system is designed to host more than one property within the system in this way a separate hotel or resort section within one establishment can be treated as two separate entities for reservations. Each hotel or unit, in the system will have an individual URL allowing a user to click and go directly to a hotel of his/her choice. The overall layout of a booking system will be same for all hotels/units - the only difference being the respective hotel logo on the top of each hotels’ page.

Room Availability Search – Every visitor of the website can check the availability of the hotel rooms at a particular hotel in the system without registering. Visitors will have to enter arrival and departure dates information which will produce a number of results showing room types and number of available rooms during the chosen period. If the user is satisfied with the results, he / she can then proceed into a price calculation page.

Room Options and Rates – Users can choose the board basis options and the bed allocation for a specific room. A total calculation of his/her requirements will be made together with an offer for the option of making a reservation. If the confirmation button is selected, the visitor is then forwarded to a secure area of the system to complete the reservation and authorise the payment necessary for the on-line confirmation.

Booking / Confirmation – This page is hosted on a secure server and it serves as a collection point for visitors’ personal and credit card information. Once the form is filled in, the credit card authorization is made. If the credit card is valid, the pre-calculated sum that will be equal to a deposit of say 10% of the total amount due, will be deducted from the visitors credit card. This will mean that the reservation is confirmed and that a deposit on the rooms is paid. Two emails will be sent out, one email will be sent to the user confirming the reservation and another to the client informing the client that the reservation has been made.

To make the system more appealing to users, it is recommended that clients do not opt for full payment in advance as this deters users from making online reservations. It is recommended that the confirmation of the booking is made by the charging of a non-refundable reservation fee which is immediately charged to the user’s credit card account by the system. This amount is then set off against the amount due for accommodation services which the client pays on site when staying at the hotel.

BACK OFFICE (System administration interface)

There is an extensive array of functionalities within the back-office system that provide a high degree of flexibility to the system administrator and to the hotel administrator at the individual hotel level. At this lower level the system is designed to give full flexibility including variation of rates for particular categories of rooms for a specific day or days. The flexibility in options includes number of guests per room and the type of board available. Essentially the back office system provides the following main features:-

Admin Hotels – Main Hotels Administration page will be the list of hotels or units within the same hotel that are available i.e. hotel, villa unit, timeshare unit etc.. There is an option for each hotel/unit options to be edited simply by clicking on “edit” link that is positioned next to each hotel on the list. From the same page the Main Administrator will be able to add new hotel, remove or maintain existing hotels.

Admin Menu - After Logging-in as “hotel administrator” the user is forwarded to a page featuring an administrative menu for each hotel. This gives options for the administration of: room categories, individual rooms availability, past orders and other related facilities.

An option of three different types of hotel administrators is available where different sections can be administered by different administrators. One will be responsible for overall administration, another one for room types/prices, and a third for availability maintenance. When logged-in, the particular hotel administrator will be able to view only the admin functions that he/she is authorized for. Obviously, there must be “the main administrator” who will have the authorization for all administrations on the site and who has rights to decide other administrators’ roles. This main administrator will also be responsible to add or remove hotels/or units from the system.

Room Types (Categories) – To add, remove or edit different categories of the rooms for each hotel, the administrator is to use this page. The number of types (categories) is unlimited. Day to day prices for each room type will be edited from this section.

Room Availability – Calendar based database system where the availability of each room can be viewed and administered. Beside the administrator who will update this database, the system also is automatically updating the availability or the room every time a booking is made through the site.

Orders Grid – All previous bookings orders are listed here. A “Search box” makes it possible to find orders by the name of the room types or by the name of the buyer. Each order can be edited, deleted, by the administrator.

Payment clearance gateway is integrated into the website via API (Application Programming Interface), allowing quick, real-time and secure transaction authorization. It is easy to use and is a cost-effective payment gateway that will process up to 15 transactions per minute. This is a scalable package providing merchants, regardless of size, with the ability to authorize credit/debit card transactions independently. Funds are deposited in the merchant’s account immediately with real-time transaction reporting.

Transaction Security - All sensitive data will be encrypted with SSL prior to transmission including order information both during the customer ordering process and subsequently during order processing. Multiple layers of login permissions allow a centralized manager the ability to grant store level permissions to different developers and merchants.