How to actually evaluate a hotel PMS

This isn't a "why Hos91 is the best PMS" post - you can find plenty of those, usually from vendors ranking themselves first. This is a list of the questions worth actually asking before you sign a contract with anyone, including us. Some of them won't show up on a feature comparison chart, which is exactly why they're worth asking directly.

"Show me what happens when the internet drops"

Almost every vendor's site says "cloud-based" and implies reliability. Ask them to actually demonstrate a dropped connection mid-check-in, live, not describe it in a slide. Watch what happens to the guest's data, whether the action has to be redone from scratch, and how the front desk finds out whether it actually completed once connectivity returns.

"Is GST e-invoicing actually built in, or is it a manual export?"

There's a real difference between a system that generates a real IRN and QR code automatically at checkout, and one where "GST compliant" means the invoice format is correct but you're still manually uploading data to a separate e-invoicing tool once a month. Ask specifically whether the IRN generation happens automatically, per invoice, and what happens when it fails.

"What does the free trial actually include?"

A trial that's a stripped-down demo of a handful of screens tells you very little about what you'll actually be running your hotel on. Ask whether the trial includes the full product - every module, real data import, a real booking flow - or a curated subset chosen to look good in fifteen minutes.

"Can I actually get my data back out?"

Ask this before you sign, not after you've decided to leave. A real export of your guest history, folio records, and rate data - in a format you could hand to a different system - is a reasonable thing to expect from any vendor. If the answer is vague, that's the answer.

"Is payroll/HR native, or a completely separate product I'll have to reconcile by hand?"

Plenty of "all-in-one" hotel platforms bundle a PMS with a channel manager and a booking engine, and then point you to a third-party HR/payroll tool for everything involving your staff. That's a legitimate choice for a vendor to make, but it's worth knowing upfront, since it means a second subscription and a second system that has to agree with the first one.

"What's the real monthly cost, all in?"

The advertised "starting at" price rarely includes everything you'll actually pay for - WhatsApp or SMS message credits, payment gateway fees, e-invoicing GSP charges, per-room add-ons past a certain count. Ask for a real total at your actual room count and expected usage, not the headline number.

The honest version of our own answer

For what it's worth, since you're reading this on our site: Hos91's free trial is the full platform at up to 30 rooms, no credit card required; e-invoicing generates a real IRN automatically per invoice; your room, rate, guest, and payroll data all live in one exportable system rather than three; and we'll show you exactly what happens when you unplug the router mid-check-in. Ask every vendor you're considering the same questions, ours included, and go with whoever actually answers them. See these laid out side by side in Hos91 vs. a traditional hotel PMS, or Book a walkthrough or start a free trial.