Building your hotel room booking software doesn’t have to be complicated or require coding skills.
With Adalo’s no-code platform, you can create a personalized app for web and mobile.
Read on to learn:
- A step-by-step process to develop hotel booking software
- How to customize it to match your brand and needs
- Techniques to manage and promote your app after launch
Let's get started with the basics!
Hotel Room Booking Software Development: Getting Started
Instead of jumping head over heels in developing your hotel room booking app, you’ll need to have a plan. Before you start building, ensure you have these 3 prerequisites:
- An Adalo membership for building web and native mobile apps: Adalo is a versatile app builder that balances functionality with ease of use, allowing you to start building apps immediately.
Adalo combines simplicity with powerful features. It comes packed with nearly 40 templates that you can customize to your needs, wants, and preferences — indeed, you’ll be able to make a finished product that looks on-brand and exactly the way you want it.
Adalo provides various add-ons, plugins, and integrations with platforms such as QuickBooks, MailChimp, and Zapier. Adalo packs enough punch to bring any hotel booking software ideas to life.
- Features and functionalities: What other unique functionalities do you want to add to your software besides booking rooms? For instance, you can create a messaging feature so folks don’t have to use their phone or fumble through text messages.
Write down a list of each feature and functionality you want to include in your software. That way, you won’t forget to include anything when you start building.
- A set of wireframes: Wireframes are digital blueprints that give you a screen-by-screen layout of your software. Instead of going the cumbersome route using a pencil and paper, wireframing is done using an online program.
Lucidchart offers a popular wireframing tool with a free version that provides about 100 templates. Using this tool will give you a solid idea of how your software will appear.
Parts of Hotel Booking Software
When you build your hotel booking software with Adalo, you won’t need to use any third-party app-building software to finish. Adalo lets you build the major parts of any software, which are:
- Frontend: The frontend has all your screens, pictures, text, and more. This is the part of your booking software with which your potential clients and clients will interact. They’ll use it to browse available rooms, make reservations, send payments, and more.
- Backend: Unlike your software’s frontend, users won’t see your backend. But they’ll interact with it, as the backend serves as your software’s command center. It will pull up rooms and pictures, deliver messages from the frontend to your inbox, connect with integrations, and much more.
- Database: Your software’s database is essentially its information warehouse, storing data about rooms, payments, clients, and much more.
The backend works closely with your database, sending it info that clients enter on the frontend and dipping into it to deliver data that you or your clients request.
Adalo provides its own prepackaged database. Just like your frontend and backend, you’ll be able to edit and configure it to your unique needs. If you already have a database through a provider such as Airtable, Google Sheets, or Xano, Adalo will let you connect it to your software in just a couple of clicks.
Ok, now it’s time to get started building your hotel room booking software.
Hotel Booking Software Building Guide
Step 1: Downloading Adalo’s Template
As we said earlier, Adalo lets you begin building from one of their premade templates. Each template has everything you need to start piecing together your software, such as frontend screens and components, backend commands, and databases.
Adalo offers customizable templates that can be adapted for hotel room booking software. You can modify templates like the real estate app template to include hotel-specific features such as room availability, bookings, and payments.
Step 2: Software Customization Using Adalo’s Building Interface
Adalo is one of the most customizable software builders on the market today, making it a breeze to transform your app template into a unique hotel room booking software.
You’ll craft and cobble together your software using Adalo’s building interface, which is the tool you see after opening your real estate template from your Adalo Account.
Adalo’s building interface is relatively straightforward, made up of the following 3 parts:
- Adalo’s Building Canvas: Located at the center of your screen, this is where you’ll execute your building. You’ll see all your software screens (pages) to select for editing by clicking on them.
You’ll also be able to reposition and resize pieces like pictures, text boxes, and other elements using your cursor. Additionally, you can delete a screen component by clicking it and pressing the “Delete” button on your keyboard.
- Adalo’s Horizontal Ribbon: This bar expands across the entire top of your screen, going from left to right. Click the icon at the top right of your screen to access your Adalo account settings and help documentation, which is a rich resource if you get stuck building.
You’ll also find a green “View App” button. Select this to preview your app on several different devices, such as an iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, or desktop, as your build. This button also lets you send folks a link so they can download your app.
- Adalo’s Editing Dashboard: This is the part of Adalo’s Building Interface that you’ll use the most. It consists of a vertical drop-down bar located at the far left of your screen. The Editing Dashboard is essentially your software-building toolbox.
It has all the functionalities you need to create every pixel of your software, including selecting, adding, or deleting screens, publishing to the web and app stores, adding color, pictures, features and text, and other essential functions.
The Editing Dashboard’s Components
Made up of a total of 9 different functionalities, you’ll spend most of your time using the Editing Dashboard to create your software. You’ll be able to see the written functionality of an icon when you put your cursor on top of it.
Here’s an overview of each functionality and the role it plays in building your software:
- Colorful Circled with a “+” inside: This button adds components like text, lists, and buttons. You’ll also be able to access the Adalo Marketplace to add plugins and more. If you were a painter, this button would be your brush — it’s the button you’ll use the most.
- Branding Button (artist’s palette icon): Click this to change up your software’s colors and font styles.
- Screens (screen icon): This will display a comprehensive list of all your app’s screens. Click on this to swiftly navigate to the screen you want to edit.
- Database Collection ( spreadsheet icon): This is where your software’s database lives. In Step 3, we’ll walk you through its parts and show you how to customize your data.
- Settings (mechanical gear icon): Here, you can write an app description and upload your software’s icon, connect APIs, and more.
- Publish (double checkmark icon): This function allows you to publish to the app stores and the web. In step 6, we’ll show you how to do both.
- Analytics (chart icon): After you’ve finished building, you’ll use this function quite often. It gives you feedback about your users, their locations, and your most popular screens.
- Version History (a circled check mark inside a rectangle icon): You can create up to 10 versions of your software but publish only one. This button allows you to access each version.
- Hire an expert (check mark inside a spiked circle icon): If you want to contract out the building of your app, do so here. You’ll connect with a fully vetted Adalo professional who can guide you through the app-building process efficiently.
Step 3: Customizing Your Software’s Database
Adalo has a built-in database, and you can customize it to your needs, such as your software's screens. You can access your database by clicking the “Database” button on your Editing Dashboard.
Here are the 3 parts of your Adalo database:
1. Records: These are the actual data that gets entered into your booking software. They’re found inside the cells of your collections. Examples of records can include vacant rooms, rented rooms, booking dates, payments, and more.
2. Properties: You’ll find these at the top of every collection — they’re the titles of your records, organized in columns. Select a collection to create a new property, then press the “Add to Properties” button.
3. Collections: Appearing and functioning like a spreadsheet, collections are simply groups of similar data. They’re the first thing you’ll see after clicking on your “Database” button.
The real estate template comes with several collections which can be customized to your hotel booking needs.
To edit your collections, click the 3-dot vertical button to the right of the title. To add a new collection, click “Add Collection” at the bottom of your collections list.
Connecting an External Database to Your Booking Software
If you already have a premade database with Airtable, Google Sheets, or Xano, go ahead and connect it to the template by pushing the “Add External Collection” button in the editing box. Then, follow the directions, and your database will be plugged into your software.
Step 4: Creating New Screens and Adding Components
You can add new screens to your software in several different ways. First, press the “Screens” button and click “Add New Screens.” A selection of screen types will appear on your left. All you need to do is drag the desired one over to your building canvas.
The other way to add another screen is by clicking the “+” button. When you do so, the same selection of screen types will appear to your left.
Adding Custom Components
Customizing all your screens and components to match your needs and tastes is simple. Just push the “+” button to toggle through all the components. Then, drag your chosen element to the screen you want.
To customize individual components, click the one you want to change on your Building Canvas. An editing box will appear next to your Editing Dashboard, enabling you to customize the colors, background, and more.
You can access another version of the Adalo Marketplace directly from the “+” button to add free and premium plugins. You’ll find components such as a Calendar Strip that lets users view your calendar as a string of days, a marker pin to show precise locations on a map, a messaging feature, and much more.
Step 5: Preview Your Hotel Room Booking Software
Previewing your hotel room booking software is easy. As we mentioned earlier, press the green “View App” button and select “Staging Preview.” You’ll see a version of your software appear on the device screen of your choice.
Here’s the cool thing about Adalo’s preview function: It allows you to click through your software as if it were live. Do this and click through each one of your pages.
Take note of any problems or issues and fix them on the double. Solving problems before you start the publishing process, which we’ll talk about in Step 7, can save you time and headaches.
Step 6: How To Integrate Payments
Taking payments with Adalo’s Stripe integration involves a few straightforward steps. First, go to Stripe’s website and create an account.
Then, in your Adalo account, select the “Add Components/Add Screens” button from the Editing Dashboard. Scroll to the Stripe form, drag it to your payments screen, configure your settings, and start getting paid.
Step 7: Web and App Store Publishing
When you build your software with Adalo, you’ll be able to publish it on the web, as well as in the Apple App Store and Google Play Stores. Conveniently, you won’t need to make separate versions for each platform — Adalo’s app-building interface lets you publish the same version of your app on the web and in the app stores.
Publishing your software to the web is quite easy. First, go to your profile in the Horizontal Ribbon. Then, click “Settings” and scroll down to the domain bar. After entering your domain name (www.yourdomain.com), select “Publish” on the Editing Dashboard. After you’ve completed these steps, your app will be live on Google.
Don’t have your domain name? Get one quickly from GoDaddy.com.
Preparing To Publish to the App Stores
Publishing your app on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store takes more time and effort than publishing it on the web. But, the extra effort will pay dividends: Both app stores have over a billion combined monthly visitors.
Prepare for the publishing process with these essential steps:
- Research competitors: Search for similar "hotel booking apps" and analyze their descriptions. Note down commonly used keywords and common features.
- Optimize your description: Use competitor keywords and synonyms like "hotel reservation app" to improve your app’s ranking. Keep your description concise, and avoid using the full 4,000-character limit.
- Create an on-brand icon: Ensure your app icon is visually appealing and professional to attract users. Use your existing logo resized or try a tool like Looka to design a memorable icon.
- Include quality screenshots and videos: Use high-quality visuals that showcase key app features, such as booking and payments. Avoid poor-quality images, as they can harm your app's professional appeal.
Now we can start preparing to publish!
How To Publish a Hotel Booking App to the Apple App Store
First, go to Apple’s iOS developer page and create an app developer account. Pay the $99 required yearly fee, and sign up for Apple’s testing program, Testflight. Apple will allow several testers to download and use your app, and they’ll give you feedback. You should implement it to improve your app.
Once you’ve made the necessary tweaks, return to Adalo, select the “Publish” button, and follow Apple’s directions. While Apple’s approval process takes a little longer on average than Google’s, you could see your app published in as little as a few hours.
Publishing to the Google Play Store
First, navigate to the Android developer account page and create an account. Pay your one-time $25 fee and sign up for Google’s app-testing program. This program will invite a select number of testers to download your booking software, test it, and give you feedback.
Allowing third-party testers to try out your app is crucial because these folks will share the user experience. Take their suggestions seriously, and make changes to your app if need be. Doing so can make your app better for real users.
After your app is all dialed in, return to Adalo and press "Publish,” following the Android directions. Your app will be up within a few hours to a few days, per Google’s average app approval time.
Next Steps: Maintaining Your Software, Analytics, and Marketing
After building and publishing your app, it’s time to move into “maintenance mode.” You’ll want to check up on your app daily — if you or any of your users find bugs or crashing screens, fix them immediately. Failure to do so will result in fewer people using your app.
Now, it’s time to use the “Analytics” button in Adalo to track your app’s users and their locations and figure out which screens are performing the best. Use this to make any necessary changes to your app’s screens or cater to a specific demographic.
To learn effective strategies for marketing your app and increasing downloads, consider reading our app-marketing guide. This guide is a rich source of tips, tricks, and features to help you grow your audience.
Successfully marketing and growing your hotel room booking software is a skill that takes time. But if you put in effort on a daily basis, the chances that you’ll attract a healthy stable of users increases.
