Building Online Booking Software and Keyless Technology for Serviced Apartments
- 72+
- Weekly self check-ins via mobile app
- 580+
- Active users on the new website within 2 months of rollout
Custom Hotel Guest Apps | Mobile & Web PMS Integration
Hotel Guest Experience App
Development with PMS Integration
RaftLabs builds hotel guest experience apps, both mobile and web, integrated directly with your PMS. Features include contactless check-in, mobile room keys, in-app upselling, and loyalty rewards. We are an official RMS Cloud certified integration partner, and also build on Cloudbeds, Mews, Opera, Protel, and Apaleo. Launch a validated v1 in 8 to 16 weeks at fixed cost, then grow it, with full IP ownership.
Contactless mobile check-in and digital room keys, so guests skip the front desk queue.
In-app upselling for room upgrades, late check-out, and F&B, surfaced during the stay.
Service requests, concierge, and two-way messaging in one app instead of scattered channels.
Real-time PMS integration so the app always matches your property system.
72+ weekly self check-ins Hotel guest app580+ active users in 2 months Guest platform adoption
The problem
Sound familiar?
Service requests getting lost between WhatsApp, the front desk notepad, and verbal handoffs, and guests following up twice before anything gets done?
F&B and upsell revenue flat because guests only hear about offers at check-in and forget within an hour, with no in-stay channel to resurface them?
Short answer
RaftLabs builds hotel guest apps for iOS, Android, and web, integrated with your PMS. Features include contactless check-in, mobile room keys, upselling, and loyalty. Certified RMS Cloud partner, and also builds on Cloudbeds, Mews, Opera, and Apaleo. Launch a validated v1 in 8 to 16 weeks at fixed cost, then iterate.
Key takeaways
- RaftLabs builds hotel guest apps for iOS, Android, and web with direct PMS integration.
- Features include contactless check-in, mobile room keys, in-app upselling, and loyalty rewards.
- RaftLabs is an official RMS Cloud certified integration partner and also builds on Cloudbeds, Mews, Opera, Protel, and Apaleo.
- Launch a validated v1 in 8 to 16 weeks at a fixed cost, then grow it, with full IP ownership.
According to Oracle Hospitality and Skift Research, 73% of travelers prefer properties that offer mobile check-in, and 54% of hotel executives rank cutting the front-desk queue among their top technology priorities. That is the market signal, and it is third-party data.
Our own evidence is narrower and verifiable. For City Break Apartments in Dublin, the booking and keyless app we built drove a 7x rise in self check-ins and reached 580 active users within two months of rollout. The rest of this page is about how we get a hotel from today's setup to that kind of outcome.
Proof from a guest app we shipped
- 7x
- rise in self check-ins after launch
- City Break Apartments, Dublin
- 25%
- rise in direct revenue
- City Break Apartments
- 4.9/5
- rated by clients
- Clutch, verified reviews
Why it matters
Why hotels need custom guest apps?
- 01One channel instead of five
Guests text the front desk, call for towels, email about late checkout, and message on WhatsApp. Requests get lost between channels. A guest app puts every request in one tracked queue, so nothing falls through and nobody chases it twice.
- 02Fewer front-desk touches
Check-in, room keys, and routine requests move to self-service. Staff stop keying booking data by hand because the app reads and writes to your PMS in real time. For City Break Apartments, that shift saved more than 20 staff hours a week.
- 03Revenue Growth
Turn your hotel guest app into a revenue generator with strategic upselling and direct booking capabilities that add to ancillary revenue.
- 04Competitive Differentiation
Stand out in a crowded market with technology that showcases your commitment to innovation and guest satisfaction, appealing to tech-savvy travelers and reducing OTA dependency.
Services
Our hotel guest app development services
- 01Custom Mobile Guest Apps
We build custom mobile applications for native iOS and Android alongside responsive web apps, all fully branded to match your hotel's identity and integrated with your PMS for real-time synchronization.
- Built with
- iOS · Android · Opera · Mews · RMS Cloud · Cloudbeds
- 02Property Management System Integration
Deep, real-time integration with leading PMS platforms that powers every feature of your hotel guest app with accurate, up-to-date information. As an official RMS Cloud certified partner, we handle RMS Cloud integration natively, and also build on Cloudbeds, Mews, Opera, Protel, and Apaleo.
- Built with
- RMS Cloud · Cloudbeds · Mews · Opera · Apaleo
- 03Contactless check-In & mobile keys
Eliminate lobby congestion with complete digital arrival experiences. Guests check in remotely and access their rooms using their smartphones, with mobile keys synced to smart lock systems.
- 04In-App upselling & revenue management
Turn your hotel guest app into a powerful revenue channel with personalized offers and reliable booking of ancillary services.
- 05Guest Communication & Concierge
24/7 digital concierge services accessible from any device, changing how guests interact with your hotel staff.
- 06Loyalty Program Integration
Connect your hotel guest app with loyalty programs to deliver personalized perks, track points, and encourage repeat bookings. We also provide custom loyalty app development services to build a loyalty platform as per your needs.
- 07Analytics & Reporting
Custom dashboards that pull data from your PMS and guest app into one view, so managers can see what to fix without exporting three reports.
- 08AI Personalization & Automation
Embed Artificial intelligence across the guest journey to deliver hyper-personalized recommendations, an AI chat assistant for instant guest support, and context-aware upsell suggestions, without compromising the human touch.
- 09Digital Guest Feedback & Reputation Management
Capture in-the-moment feedback and protect your online reputation by resolving issues before guests check out, with NPS and CSAT tracking across rooms, staff, and services.
Hotel Guest App Key Features
Pre-Arrival Experience
Digital Check-In: Complete registration, upload ID documents, and add payment methods before arrival. Guests save time and you collect necessary information in advance.
Reservation Management: View, modify, or cancel reservations directly in the app. Receive booking confirmations and pre-arrival communications in one convenient location.
Personalized Pre-Arrival Offers: Showcase room upgrades, early check-in options, and special packages before guests arrive, maximizing ancillary revenue opportunities.
Arrival Preferences & Requests: Allow guests to share arrival time, bedding preferences, special requests, and accessibility needs in advance. This helps hotel teams prepare better, reduce front-desk friction, and deliver a more personalized first impression.
During Stay Experience
Mobile Key Access: Replace plastic key cards with smartphone-based entry using Bluetooth or NFC technology integrated with smart lock systems.
Room Controls: Adjust temperature, lighting, curtains, and entertainment systems from guest devices, creating personalized comfort environments.
Service Requests: One-tap requests for housekeeping, maintenance, extra amenities, or concierge services with real-time tracking.
In-Room Dining & Restaurant Reservations: Browse menus, place food orders, and book restaurant tables without calling the front desk.
Guest Communication Hub
Two-Way Messaging: Direct communication between guests and staff for quick questions, special requests, or service issues.
Automated Messages: Pre-programmed messages for welcome notes, check-in reminders, activity suggestions, and checkout instructions.
Multilingual Support: Communicate with international guests in their preferred language, removing language barriers.
AI Chatbot Support: Instant, 24/7 responses to common guest queries with direct escalation to staff when needed.
Post-Stay Experience
Express Checkout: Review and approve charges, receive digital receipts, and skip the front desk for an instant departure.
Feedback Collection: Gather real-time satisfaction data while experiences are fresh, enabling service recovery and improvement identification.
Stay History & Preferences: Store guest preferences for future visits, personalizing the experience for returning guests.
Loyalty Program Management: Show points earned, display tier benefits, and promote exclusive member offers to encourage repeat bookings.
Four guest-app capabilities, and what each one actually takes
| Capability | What the guest does | What it integrates with | Where the payback shows up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile check-in | Registers, uploads ID, and adds payment before arrival, then skips the desk. | PMS reservation and folio API (RMS Cloud, Mews, Opera). | Shorter queues and fewer front-desk hours per stay. |
| Keyless entry | Opens the room from their phone over Bluetooth or NFC. | Smart-lock provider such as OmniTec, synced to check-in status. | No key-card reissues, contactless arrival, fewer lockouts. |
| In-app upsell | Buys upgrades, late checkout, and F&B mid-stay, when intent is highest. | PMS rate and inventory plus a payment gateway (RMS Pay, Stripe, Square). | Ancillary revenue the front desk never has time to ask for. |
| Concierge and messaging | Sends one request, tracks it, and chats with staff in-thread. | Two-way messaging and a service-request queue routed to the right team. | One tracked channel, faster resolution, better review scores. |
Honest engineering
Pitfalls we plan around
- 01PMS sync drift
The app and the PMS disagree the moment one write fails silently. A guest sees a room as available that the desk already sold. We build on webhooks where the PMS supports them, fall back to polling where it does not, make every sync idempotent, and run a nightly reconciliation so folio and availability never quietly diverge.
- 02Lock hardware reality
Digital keys fail in the field, not in the demo. Bluetooth range, firmware versions, and dead phone batteries all break the arrival. We integrate the lock provider (OmniTec and similar), keep a working key card as the fallback, and test unlock on real hardware before launch, not just in an emulator.
- 03Offline and dead zones
Lifts, basements, and thick stone walls kill connectivity right where guests need the key. We cache the room key and pending requests on the device, unlock over local Bluetooth without a live server call, and sync the queue when the phone gets signal again.
- 04Payments and PCI scope
In-app upsell means taking card details, which drags PCI-DSS scope into the project if you are careless. We tokenize through the payment gateway and never store raw card data on our servers or in the app, so your compliance surface stays small and the audit stays cheap.
Why us
Why teams choose RaftLabs
- 01Official RMS Cloud integration partner
We are an official RMS Cloud integration partner with hands-on experience integrating hotel systems through PMS APIs, data models, and secure data synchronization. We also build on Cloudbeds, Mews, Opera, Protel, and Apaleo, with a working grasp of hospitality KPIs such as RevPAR, ADR, and booking windows.
- 02Senior engineers build what they scope
The engineers who assess your problem also build the solution. No bait-and-switch, no offshore handoff after the contract is signed. The team you meet in week 1 is the team that ships your v1.
- 03Fixed price before development starts
We scope the work, calculate the cost, and lock it in writing before any development starts. A scope change is a change request: priced, agreed, or dropped. It never absorbs into the project and appears on the final invoice.
- 04Shipping production software since 2015
Clients include Vodafone, T-Mobile, Aldi, Nike, Cisco, and Lockheed Martin, as relationships, not as attached metrics. A decade of shipped products across AI, SaaS, mobile, automation, and enterprise platforms in healthcare, fintech, logistics, and hospitality.
- 05Hospitality compliance built in from the start
GDPR requirements are scoped in week 1, not retrofitted before launch. We have shipped hospitality platforms for European markets including Ireland and the UK, with guest data handling that meets GDPR requirements without added scope creep.
What clients say
What our clients say about us
Three-year average engagement. Founders and operators describing the work in their own words. No marketing varnish.
Paula Castro
IrelandReservations Officer, City Break Apartments
Working with RaftLabs has been amazing. The team is super responsive and quick to address our needs. They built a booking platform that's been a game changer for our team and our guests.
Process
Our hotel guest app development process
Discovery & Planning
We start by learning your hotel, brand, guests, and daily workflows through interviews with your team and guest journey mapping.
Deliverables:
Guest persona documentation
Detailed guest journey maps
Feature prioritization matrix
Technical requirements document
Project roadmap with milestones
Design & Prototyping
Our design team creates wireframes and interactive prototypes, testing with real users to ensure intuitive navigation.
Deliverables:
User flow diagrams
Low-fidelity wireframes
High-fidelity mockups
Interactive prototype
Design system and style guide
Development & PMS Integration
We build your Minimum Viable Product with core features and deep PMS integration, using agile methodology for continuous feedback.
Deliverables:
Functional iOS and Android apps
Backend API and admin dashboard
Complete PMS integration
Payment processing setup
Internal testing reports
Testing & Quality Assurance
Rigorous testing across devices, operating systems, and real-world scenarios ensures a smooth launch.
Deliverables:
Integrated production environment
Full test reports and bug fixes
Performance optimization
Security audit results
Deployment & Launch Support
Smooth rollout with all technical aspects handled, plus training for your team.
Deliverables:
Live application deployment
Knowledge transfer documentation and sessions
Guest onboarding materials
Launch monitoring
Optimization & Growth
Continuous monitoring, feedback gathering, and feature improvements keep your hotel guest app fresh and engaging.
Ongoing services:
Performance monitoring and analytics
Bug fixes and security updates
Feature improvements based on feedback
How we work
From scope to shipped
Every hotel guest app project follows the same four phases. Scope is locked and price is fixed before development starts.
- Week 101
Discovery and scope
We map the hotel workflow, guest journey, and PMS integration requirements. You leave week 1 with a written scope document and a fixed-price quote. No development starts without your sign-off.
- Weeks 2-302
Design and architecture
Wireframes and UI mockups before any production code. We design the guest-facing app and the admin dashboard together so integration points are confirmed early. Spec is locked before the build starts.
- Weeks 4-1203
Build, integrate, and QA
Working app at a staging URL by the end of sprint one. PMS integration runs in parallel with feature development. Bi-weekly demos. QA runs alongside every sprint, not as a phase at the end.
- Weeks 12+04
Launch and post-launch support
Production deployment with monitoring activated on launch day. Staff training and guest onboarding materials included. 8 weeks of post-launch support in every project.
Most properties start with a first module that proves value, a single PMS integration or a check-in app, then grow it into the full platform once the numbers hold up. A first slice starts around USD 5,000 to 30,000. A full multi-property guest platform grows from there over time.
Pricing for Guest App Development
Basic Integration
Connect a single third-party system (channel manager, payment gateway, or CRM) to support your guest app through secure API synchronization.
- Single integration point
- Data mapping and sync setup
- Testing in RMS Cloud sandbox
- Timeline: 2-4 weeks
Guest Experience App
Build a custom iOS, Android, or web-based guest experience app with essential features and reliable system integration.
- Mobile check-in
- Digital room key (Bluetooth locks)
- Service requests
- Upsell/add-ons
- Real-time booking sync
- Custom design
- Timeline: 8-12 weeks
Full-Stack Solution
A complete guest experience platform with advanced integrations, automation, and long-term support.
- Everything in Guest App
- Channel manager integration
- Loyalty program
- Custom reporting dashboard
- Payment processing (RMS Pay, Stripe, Square)
- Multi-property support (optional)
- Timeline: 12-16+ weeks
Proof
Hospitality software solutions we've delivered
Where hotel guest apps are heading
The digital key is becoming table stakes, not a luxury flag perk. Apple and Google now carry hotel keys in the native wallet, so the next fight is not whether guests get a mobile key but whether it works on the first tap without a separate download. Two shifts are worth designing for now. First, an AI concierge that answers the same twelve questions the front desk fields all day, and hands off to a human the moment intent gets complex. Second, the app as a direct-booking channel: every returning guest who transacts with you instead of an online travel agency claws back 15 to 25% in commission. We build the integration seams for both today, even when a property only launches check-in first, so the platform grows without a rebuild.
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Read moreFAQs
A validated v1 with PMS integration, mobile check-in, and one or two revenue features typically launches in 8 to 12 weeks. A broader build with keyless entry, loyalty, and multi-property support runs 12 to 16+ weeks. The weeks figure is the first shippable slice you can put in front of real guests, not the finished product. We lock the exact scope and timeline in the week-one discovery session.
Both! We build native iOS/Android mobile apps AND progressive web applications (PWAs) accessible through any browser (no download required). Guests can choose their preferred method without sacrificing functionality. The web version works reliably on smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers.
Yes! We integrate with smart lock providers (like OmniTec) to enable Bluetooth or NFC-based mobile keys synced with your PMS check-in status.
We design for inclusivity. Guests can access all features (except mobile key) through our web portal on any device, tablet, laptop, or even desktop computers in their room. Traditional front desk services remain available as a backup option.
Absolutely. We build white-label platforms where each property gets its own branded experience (mobile + web) while sharing the same PMS backend infrastructure. Perfect for hotel chains, resort groups, and multi-property operators.
A guest app pays back through three levers, ancillary revenue from in-app upsells (room upgrades, late check-out, F&B), reduced front desk labour as check-in and routine requests move to self-service, and more direct bookings as guests transact with you instead of an OTA. The size of each depends on your property type, average rate, and current OTA mix. We scope the specific levers for your property in the week-one discovery session so the business case is built on your numbers.
Work with us
Ready to scope your hotel guest app project?
30 minutes. You walk away with a clear cost, timeline, and team. No commitment.
- Scope and cost agreed before work starts. No surprises. No obligation.
- Working prototype within 3 weeks of kickoff.
- Pay by milestone. You see progress before each invoice.
- 60-day post-launch warranty. Bug fixes, UI tweaks, and deployment support. No retainer.
- All conversations are NDA-protected.