Arrivals board
Each stay for the coming days with room status, promised extras and linked jobs.
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A Bed and Breakfast Manager App for Daily Oversight and Reporting
SIZ Group designs and builds a bed and breakfast manager app that gives the general manager one view of arrivals, open jobs, helper cover and the week's bookings, so a small house runs as calmly as a larger one.
01
How the week runs for a bed and breakfast manager, and where the cracks show
A bed and breakfast manager often works from the booking calendar, a notebook of maintenance jobs and a phone full of messages from guests and helpers. Each of those tells part of the story. Together they show whether tomorrow's arrivals are ready, but building that picture takes time every evening.
The cracks show when a day changes. A guest asks for an early arrival, a helper calls in sick and a boiler repair slips to Thursday. The manager updates the calendar, texts two people and forgets to tell the breakfast helper. Those small misses are what turn a calm week into a difficult one.
The oversight app should bring the calendar, the helpers and the open jobs into one view, so the manager sees a single list each morning instead of assembling it from three sources.
02
What guests see before they arrive, and why the manager's view matters to them
Before arriving, a guest checks reviews, the house photos and a few details that worry them, such as parking, early check-in and where breakfast is served. Those answers come from the manager's calendar and notes. When they are out of date, the guest meets the gap at the door.
Reviews mention those gaps directly: a late arrival with nobody to greet the guest, a parking space that was promised but not held, or a repair that was known about and never explained. An oversight view that catches those items in the morning protects the review score without a separate process.
For this project, the manager's view is partly a guest service tool. Every open arrival item and every promised detail should sit in one place where it can be checked.
03
What the general manager needs this manager oversight app to prove before signing off
The general manager signs off when the app shows whether every arrival is ready without a phone call. Each room due, each promised extra such as a cot or an early breakfast, and each open job tied to an arrival should sit in one list.
The second test is helper cover. The roster should show who is on breakfast, changeovers and calls on each day, with gaps flagged while there is still time to fill them. A list of names with no cover view will not prevent a missed breakfast.
The third test is the weekly figure. The manager needs bookings and occupancy for the coming weeks set against the same weeks last year, in plain numbers that fit on one screen.
- Arrival readiness for each room
- Promised extras tracked against each stay
- Helper cover flagged for breakfast and changeovers
- Coming weeks compared with the same weeks last year
What you get
Key features
Helper roster
Breakfast, changeover and call cover for every day, with gaps flagged early.
Open job list
Repairs and tasks tied to a date, so nothing waits on a reminder from memory.
Weekly summary
Occupancy and cancellations for the coming weeks, set against the same weeks last year.
04
The first release of the bed and breakfast manager app
The first release has three views: an arrivals board, the helper roster and a weekly summary. The arrivals board lists each stay for the next few days with its room status, promised extras and any open job linked to that arrival. It is the first screen the manager opens.
The roster sits beside it, showing who covers breakfast, changeovers and calls on each day. Changing a helper's shift updates the board straight away, so the manager never has to check two places.
The weekly summary stays deliberately small: occupancy, arrivals and cancellations for the coming weeks, plus open maintenance jobs. Deeper reporting can come later, once the manager reads the summary every week.
05
The seasonal peaks that shape a bed and breakfast manager's week
A bed and breakfast's year has peaks. Festival weekends, school holidays and the weeks around a local race or regatta bring a rush of short stays. The manager needs the roster and arrivals board to show that pressure several weeks ahead, so helpers can be booked and linen stocked in time.
Quiet winter weeks bring the opposite problem. Helpers are needed less, deep cleans and repairs are easier to schedule, and the manager benefits from a list of jobs that fit those gaps. The app should let the manager save a seasonal job list and switch it on when the calendar empties.
Short-notice changes, such as a cancellation after a long weekend booking, should flow through the board and the roster in one step. The summary should show the effect on the week, not just the change itself.
06
Where the build cost comes from, and how to keep the first version modest
Cost comes from the number of helpers who log in, the number of systems the app reads from and the depth of the weekly summary. A single house with a calendar link and a roster is a small build. Mobile app projects start at $4,500, and the precise figure follows the scoping call once the systems are known.
Timing depends on the hotel's own inputs: the room list, the helper rota and the rule for what counts as a late job. Once those are settled, the build moves steadily. Waiting for them is the most common cause of delay.
A modest first version is the safest one. We would write the arrivals board, the roster and the weekly summary into the first release, list each extra idea as a later phase and check every request against whether the manager would use it this month. Changes are priced in writing before work starts, and fixes after launch are covered.
- Number of helpers who log in
- Systems the app reads from, such as calendars and rotas
- Depth of the weekly summary
- Rules for late jobs and cover
Does a bed and breakfast manager app replace our booking calendar?+
No. The calendar on your booking channel or property tool stays the source for reservations. The app reads it, so the arrivals board always matches the bookings you already hold.
Can a manager check the board on a phone while away from the house?+
Yes. The board works on a phone, and each person sees the screens their role needs. Helpers do not see the weekly figures, while the owner sees everything.
How does the app flag a gap in breakfast cover?+
When a day's roster has nobody on breakfast, or the number of guests is more than the planned cover allows, the board highlights that day. The manager can assign someone or change the roster from the same screen.
Can a small group of houses share one manager view?+
Often yes, with a separate board for each house and a combined weekly summary. We would confirm the structure during the scoping call, since it sets up the access and the reports.
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A scoping call is where the arrivals board, the roster rules and the weekly summary are agreed, and where the price is written down.