Guest portal for hotels
Hotel guest portal: booking, requests and cancellation by the guest
Your guests open their booking through a secure link, send requests to the front desk and cancel under your terms. The portal is optional.
- Cancellation by the guest under your terms
- Booking link without an account, guest account on request
- Privacy requests with a closing note
In short
A guest portal is an area where guests open their direct booking through a secure link, send requests to the front desk and cancel under the hotel's terms. In STRYK the portal is optional, and guests can use an account if they want one. Pricing is a base price plus an amount per room and month; you can try the core product free for 14 days.
Updated
What the front desk loses time on when guests ask questions
In hotels with many direct bookings, the early shift starts with the inbox, not with the guests.
- Today
At 07:15 there are eleven emails in the inbox. One guest asks about the arrival time, another about the invoice address, a third is changing his phone number. For each email, the front desk first has to find the matching booking.
With STRYKThe guest opens the booking through the secure link and sends the request from there. The request then belongs to a booking, and your team does not have to match it first.
Read more - Today
On Sunday evening a guest writes: "Please cancel our booking." The late shift does not know whether the deadline still applies, and the cancellation terms are in a different email.
With STRYKThe guest cancels on their own, under the terms recorded when the booking was made. Cancellation is possible before arrival. For fee-free cancellations, STRYK refunds an online payment automatically.
Read more - Today
A former guest asks what data you hold on him. The email goes back and forth between the holiday cover and the owner, and nobody notes when it was dealt with.
With STRYKAccess, correction and deletion are handled as a privacy request in the guest portal. Each request gets a closing note, and statutory retention obligations are not affected.
Read more
What reaches the front desk of Hotel Nordlicht through the guest portal
24 rooms, check-in from 15:00, check-out by 10:30, front desk staffed in early and late shifts. Many guests book directly through the hotel's own website and receive their booking link with the confirmation.
Requests from the evening before
The early shift sees two requests from guests. One couple only arrives around 19:00, and a family asks for a cot. Both requests belong to their booking, and replies go out through guest communication.
Guest opens the booking
A guest who arrives in three weeks opens the booking link from the confirmation. He needs no account for that. Anyone who wants a guest account signs in with a one-time link.
Cancellation before the deadline
A guest cancels her direct booking for next month on her own. The deadline in the cancellation policy has not yet passed, so no fee applies. If she paid online, STRYK refunds the payment automatically.
Call about a portal booking
A guest who booked through a booking platform calls about a cancellation. The front desk tells him he has to cancel there. The guest portal does not cover platform bookings.
Privacy request
A former guest requests access to her data in the portal. The owner handles the request and sets the closing note. Six months later, the log still shows when it was completed.
What the guest portal gives your guests and your team
Everything relates to direct bookings and is tied to the booking page of your hotel. You decide whether you offer the portal.
Secure booking link
Every guest with a direct booking opens the booking through a secure link, without creating an account. That lowers the barrier for guests who only come once a year.
Read moreGuest account on request
Regular guests can use a guest account and sign in with a one-time link. They do not have to remember a password. Your team still sees the guests in their guest profiles.
Read moreRequests and cancellation
Guests send requests to the front desk and cancel before arrival under your hotel's terms. The deadline comes from the cancellation policy that was recorded at the time of booking.
Read morePrivacy requests
You handle access, correction and deletion as a traceable request with a closing note. That way you can later show when a request was completed.
Read more
Guest questions without and with the guest portal
The table shows what changes for typical requests about a direct booking.
| Request | Without a guest portal | With STRYK guest portal |
|---|---|---|
| Look up a booking | The guest writes an email, the front desk searches for the booking and replies with a screenshot. | The guest opens the booking themselves through the secure link, without an account. |
| Share arrival time or a wish | The message lands in the general inbox, perhaps with the wrong subject line. | The guest sends the request to their booking, and the front desk sees the connection. |
| Cancel a direct booking | An email triggers questions about the deadline, and the late shift works out the fee by hand. | The guest cancels by themselves before arrival, and the terms of the booking apply. |
| Refund a deposit | The refund is started by hand and forgotten over the weekend. | For fee-free cancellations STRYK refunds an online payment automatically. This requires your online payment account. |
| Change a portal booking | The guest asks the hotel, although the portal is responsible. | Portal bookings stay with the portal. The guest portal concerns your direct bookings. |
| Answer a data request | The email goes round the team, and nobody notes it as done. | The privacy request has a status and a closing note. |
One price that grows with your property
The price card assumes 20 rooms. If you accept deposits online through your online payment account, the platform fee applies to these payments, plus the payment provider's fees.
Pricing in detail€59 base fee + €6 per room or unit per month
Example with 20 rooms€179per month
- 14-day free trial
- No setup fee
- Personal onboarding
Net prices, annual billing. 20% off the base fee in the first contract year.
How to introduce the guest portal in your hotel
The guest portal needs no installation. It belongs to the booking page and runs in the browser.
Describe how bookings reach you
Tell us your number of rooms and how direct bookings come in today: website, email or phone. Then we set up trial access with you.
Define the cancellation terms
You set the cancellation deadline and fee in your cancellation policy. They apply to the booking and are recorded with it. The guest later cancels under exactly those terms.
Check the booking page and the portal
You look at how the booking appears to your guests and decide whether the optional guest portal suits your hotel.
Brief the front desk
Your early and late shifts know where requests arrive and can point guests with platform bookings to the right place.
Frequently asked questions
Do guests have to create an account?
No, the secure booking link works without an account. Guests who want to can also use a guest account and sign in with a one-time link. You decide whether your hotel offers the account.
Can guests cancel themselves?
Yes, before arrival and under the terms recorded at the booking. If the stay has already started, cancellation is no longer possible; it ends with check-out or no-show.
Does the guest portal also apply to bookings from Booking.com?
No, portal bookings stay with the portal. The guest changes or cancels them there, under the terms they booked with the portal. The guest portal is intended for your direct bookings.
Is the deposit refunded when a booking is cancelled?
Yes, for fee-free cancellations STRYK refunds the online payment automatically. This applies to payments made through your hotel's online payment account. If a cancellation fee applies, it is settled in the Finance area.
How do I handle deletion requests?
You handle them as a privacy request with a status and a closing note. Statutory retention obligations, for example for invoices, remain in place, and STRYK does not replace legal advice. If in doubt, clarify the individual case with your data protection officer or accountant.
Can the guest change their contact details themselves?
They send the change as a request attached to their booking, for example a new phone number. Your front desk copies it into the guest profile. A correction under data protection law runs as its own privacy request with a closing note.
Is the guest portal mandatory?
No, it is optional. Without the portal your booking page keeps running, and guests contact the front desk as before. You decide whether your hotel uses it.
See the guest portal from your guests' point of view
Tell us your number of rooms and how guests ask and cancel today. In the 14-day trial you see how the booking link, requests and cancellation look to your guests.