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Switching from the paper book

A digital reservation book: switching to hotel software

Rooms, prices and the stays that are already booked go into STRYK first. The paper book stays in the drawer until you trust the calendar.

  • Move upcoming bookings in by import or by hand
  • A separate login for every temporary worker, at no extra charge
  • Data migration included in the core price

In short

You digitise a reservation book by moving your rooms, prices and already booked stays into hotel software. STRYK runs in the browser and imports guests and bookings from CSV, XLSX and ZIP, with a test run before the real import. You pay a base fee plus an amount per room and month; standard setup, migration, support and unlimited logins are included.

Updated

What the paper book costs in daily work

A reservation book works as long as one person keeps it and only the phone takes bookings. Once portals, temporary staff and registration duties come into play, it gets tight at exactly those points.

  1. Today

    The book lies at reception, and only the owner understands the abbreviations. When she is out on errands, the temp does not know whether room 6 is free on Saturday and phones her.

    With STRYK

    Everyone with a login sees the same booking calendar in the browser. Each team member gets their own login with roles and permissions, and the activity log shows who changed what.

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  2. Today

    At 18:00 a guest phones, and room 3 is pencilled in. An hour earlier a portal sold the same night. The book only finds out the next morning.

    With STRYK

    When reception enters room 3 in STRYK, the system first checks whether the night is still free. New bookings appear in the calendar without a refresh, with a notification to your team. The channel manager is included in the STRYK core price.

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  3. Today

    Guests fill in the registration forms (Meldeschein) at the counter while their coffee goes cold and the next family waits behind them. In the evening you type the names and addresses in a second time.

    With STRYK

    Guests fill in their registration details online before arrival, and your reception checks them. In Austria, STRYK shows the 24-hour deadline for each stay and exports as CSV and for municipal portals (MBS).

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The first week: the book stays at reception, but you write in the browser

A sample day at a guesthouse with 12 rooms. The paper book still lies at reception, but all new entries go into the browser.

  1. The temp sees the same rooms

    The owner is out shopping, and the temp opens the booking calendar at 07:15. Who checks out today, who arrives and whether room 6 is free on Saturday are all there, in plain words rather than abbreviations. The room attendant sees her rooms in the housekeeping plan.

  2. Call for the next weekend

    A regular guest asks for two rooms from Friday to Sunday. Reception checks the week view in the calendar, creates a multi-room booking and adds a note about the breakfast request to it.

  3. Room 4 checks out

    The couple in room 4 check out. The invoice is created from the booking, and open items carry over. At check-out, the room switches to the matching cleaning status.

  4. Registration details for tomorrow's guest

    A guest has completed the online check-in for tomorrow. Reception sees the ID details and signature and checks them at leisure, instead of making the guest wait at the counter.

  5. A couple without a reservation

    Two cyclists are at the door and want to stay one night. Reception records the walk-in, and STRYK suggests a free room in the chosen category. With the paper book, room 9 would only have been confirmed after checking the wall board.

  6. End of day without matching the book

    The end-of-day close shows what is still open today, such as an invoice draft. It comes from the same calendar, so there is nothing to match against the book. The book gets no more entries that evening.

What counts first during the switch

In the first month you need only part of STRYK. The full list of features is on the features page.

  • Data migration with a test run

    The import reads CSV, XLSX and ZIP files using templates. A test run comes before the real import, followed by an error report. The switch gets a cut-over date, after which you write only in STRYK.

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  • A calendar with all bookings

    The booking calendar shows a day, a week, two weeks or a month with room status. You enter two rooms for one family, or guests without a reservation, directly. A booking route that would assign a room twice does not save.

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  • Room list: from the notice board into the calendar

    You create rooms one by one or in bulk and assign them to categories with capacity, extra beds and a description. A room block for renovation or a defect takes effect immediately in room selection.

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  • Logins for family and temporary staff

    The owner, the son at weekends and the temp each get their own login with matching permissions. Sign-in uses Nextpulse ID and a second factor. The activity log records who changed a booking.

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Paper reservation book and STRYK compared

The table describes daily work, not the history of the book. Many hotels get along well with it for years, until phone, portals and staff come together.

Paper reservation book and STRYK compared
TaskWith reservation bookWith STRYK
Check free roomsTurn pages, read pencil marks, compare with the wall boardCalendar in day, week, two-week and month view, room status visible
Who may writeWhoever has the book in hand, every handwriting differentSeparate logins with roles and permissions, activity log
Double bookingNoticed when two guests are standing at the same doorAvailability check before saving, at reception, on the website, in imports and room changes
InvoiceHandwritten or from a template, corrections by overwritingCreated from the booking, cannot be changed once issued, corrections via cancellation or credit note
Registration detailsPaper form at the counter, typed up laterCompleted online before arrival, checked by reception
Room cleaningA word in passing or a note in the morningHousekeeping plan with assignment to the room attendant and status per room

One price that grows with your property

For twelve rooms, the price card calculates the amount. Moving in upcoming bookings and the standard setup cost nothing extra, and neither do logins for family and temporary staff.

Pricing in detail

€59 base fee + €6 per room or unit per month

Example with 12 rooms€131per month

  • 14-day free trial
  • No setup fee
  • Personal onboarding
Try STRYK

Net prices, annual billing. 20% off the base fee in the first contract year.

How to replace the book in four steps

The order matters more than the speed. You work in STRYK first, before you close the book.

  1. Transfer the room list

    You create your rooms, assign them to categories and enter capacity and description. The room list usually already exists as a notice-board list or a spreadsheet.

  2. Enter prices and tourist tax

    You maintain prices in the price calendar and create rates with cancellation terms. You set up the tourist tax (Ortstaxe) under Settings → Hotel. STRYK applies the amount set by your municipality.

  3. Move in upcoming bookings

    Stays from the cut-over date onward go into the calendar by import or by hand. The test run shows in advance which rows contain errors. You do not need to take over past years.

  4. Look things up for a week, then close the book

    From the cut-over date, your team enters new bookings only in STRYK. The book stays at reception for one week for lookups, and in the evening you check that every upcoming booking from it is in the calendar. Then the book goes into the archive.

Frequently asked questions

How long does the switch from the reservation book take?

That depends on the number of upcoming bookings to transfer from the book. The order is fixed: rooms, prices, upcoming bookings, then the cut-over date. You choose the cut-over date yourself, for example at the start of a month.

Do I have to type in all the old bookings?

No. You only need to take over stays from the cut-over date onward. If they exist as a table, you read them in by import. If they only exist in the book, you enter the upcoming bookings once. Past years stay in the book.

What if I am not comfortable with computers?

Then start with a few tasks, such as the calendar, and add the rest later. STRYK runs in the browser and needs no IT department. Standard setup and support are included in the core price. Support is available Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00.

Do I need a new computer?

No. A device with a current browser is enough, and nothing is installed. You will see in the trial whether your existing computer at reception is up to it.

Will my regular guests from the book end up in the guest profiles?

Yes. Addresses from a table can be imported. From the book, you enter regular guests at the latest with their next booking. STRYK warns you, based on name, date of birth and contact details, when a guest already has a profile.

Does online check-in replace my paper registration form (Meldeschein)?

Not automatically. Whether digital registration details replace the paper form is set by your country's registration rules, not by the software. STRYK records the registration details digitally, your reception checks them, and in Austria STRYK shows the 24-hour deadline from check-in. Whether you still need paper is something to check with your municipality.

Transfer the coming weeks from your book

Send an enquiry for the 14-day trial. Have your reservation book, room list and price list ready, and we will set up the first calendar with you.