Switching for holiday let operators
From vacation rental software to a hotel PMS as your business grows
Once rooms, breakfast and a cleaner join the business, a vacation rental tool often falls short. STRYK runs apartments and rooms in one booking calendar, with housekeeping, invoices and roles.
- Apartments and rooms in one booking calendar
- Cleaning schedule with assignment per person
- Own logins instead of one shared account
In short
Switching from vacation rental software to a hotel PMS pays off when your business has staff, rooms, breakfast or a restaurant. STRYK runs apartments and rooms in one booking calendar and adds what a rental tool lacks: a housekeeping plan, invoices with restaurant items, guest registration and individual logins. You pay a base fee plus an amount per unit and month, and data migration is included.
Updated
Where a vacation rental tool breaks down in hotel operations
A vacation rental tool suits two apartments that one person looks after. With rooms, breakfast and a small team, it reaches its limits at these points.
- Today
It is Saturday at 08:00 and eleven departures are due. The cleaner and the part-time helper are messaging to ask where to start. The plan exists only in the owner's head and on a scrap of paper, and room status is passed on by word of mouth.
With STRYKThe housekeeping plan shows every room with status, occupancy and tasks, and assigns each room to a person. On request, it arrives by email as a PDF at the same time each morning. Reception can see as soon as a room is ready for arrival.
Read more - Today
Guests in the double room want an invoice with breakfast and dinner, guests in the apartment want one for the rent only. Both are made from one template, and after a correction there are two versions.
With STRYKThe double room and the apartment each get an invoice from their own booking. Dinner and bar items stay on the room stay and appear on its invoice at check-out. A correction after issue goes through a cancellation or credit note, so a second version is never created.
Read more - Today
Everyone in the business uses the owner's login, because the tool knows only one account. Nobody knows who cancelled an invoice on Monday.
With STRYKEach person gets their own login with a role and permissions, and there is no limit on the number of users. Who cancelled an invoice on Monday is recorded in the activity log.
Read more
Apartments and rooms on a changeover day
A sample day in a property with six holiday apartments and eight rooms, run by a family with a head housekeeper and a part-time helper.
Plan for apartments and rooms
The head housekeeper splits the day in the housekeeping plan: the helper takes the apartments with departures, and she takes the rooms. Each unit shows its status, and the checklist for each status sets what is checked.
Breakfast on the invoice
Guests in room 5 booked breakfast as part of their rate. What they ordered at the bar the evening before is posted to their stay. At check-out, the bar items go onto the invoice; breakfast is already in the rate price.
Offer a room instead of an apartment
A family asks by email about the apartment, which is booked for those dates. The calendar shows that a family room is free. In the price calculator you check the rate and the tourist tax (Ortstaxe) without creating a booking.
Apartment 4 without a form at reception
The family for apartment 4 filled in their registration details online the day before, and reception checked them in the morning. On arrival, only the key handover is left at the desk.
Apartment 2 through your own booking page
A reservation for apartment 2 comes in through the booking page. It appears in the calendar without anyone reloading, and the team gets a notice. The apartment is blocked for all other booking channels.
End-of-day handover for the stand-in
The end-of-day close lists open arrivals, open departures and invoice drafts. The helper, who runs reception alone tomorrow, can see what is still to be done.
What a hotel with a team needs on top
A vacation rental tool usually lacks these functions or only hints at them. For a hotel with a team, they carry the day-to-day work.
Assign cleaning per unit
The daily plan shows status, occupancy and tasks for each room and assigns them to room attendants. Room status runs from empty and dirty to ready for arrival, signed off by the head housekeeper. Checklists are set for each status.
Read moreApartments as units alongside rooms
You set up categories with capacity, extra beds, photos and descriptions, and add rooms one by one or in bulk. You run an apartment as its own unit. A room block for renovation or a defect applies to availability and room selection.
Read moreInvoices for rent or half board
The invoice for the apartment contains the rent; the double room adds breakfast and dinner. Both come from the booking, as a PDF with your logo, in one of 18 languages on request. Each month a journal goes to your accountant as DATEV, BMD, CSV or Excel.
Read moreOwn login for the head housekeeper and the helper
The head housekeeper, the helper and the stand-in sign in with their own Nextpulse ID and a second factor. The role decides who edits invoices and who sees only the cleaning plan. For sensitive actions, STRYK asks for a fresh confirmation.
Read moreRegistration details in advance, tourist tax in the price
Guests fill in their registration details online before arrival, and reception checks them in the morning. For Austria, STRYK shows the 24-hour deadline and exports as CSV or for municipal portals (MBS). The tourist tax (Ortstaxe) appears in the website price, in the booking overview and on the invoice.
Read moreBar and restaurant charged to the stay
You post restaurant or bar purchases to the guest's stay, and at check-out they appear on the invoice. If you use a till in the restaurant, it can post items to the room through an open, documented interface. The minibar tracks items and history for each room.
Read more
Vacation rental tool and hotel PMS in daily use
What works for two apartments and one person becomes manual work once rooms, breakfast and a team come in.
| Task | With a vacation rental tool | With STRYK |
|---|---|---|
| Plan cleaning | The cleaner gets the departures by message and reports the status back by word of mouth. | Housekeeping plan with assignment, checklists for each status and, on request, a PDF by email each morning. |
| Charge breakfast and restaurant | The items are on a scrap of paper and typed into the invoice on the departure day. | Items stay on the stay and appear on the invoice at check-out. Tills post to the room through an open interface. |
| Correct an invoice | The template is overwritten and the first version is lost. | An issued invoice stays as it is; corrections go through a cancellation or credit note. |
| Assign logins | Everyone shares one account, or the owner does everything. | Own login per person with a role and permissions; the activity log shows changes. |
| Register guests | Registration details are asked for at reception and entered later. | Guests fill in their details online in advance. For Austria, STRYK shows deadlines and exports as CSV or for municipal portals. |
| Manage apartments and rooms | Two programs, or one calendar that only knows apartments. | One booking calendar with categories, room status and room blocks. |
One price that grows with your property
Every room and every apartment counts as one unit, plus a base fee for the property. The price card calculates this for 14 units. If guests pay online through STRYK, the platform fee applies to those payments.
Pricing in detail€59 base fee + €6 per room or unit per month
Example with 14 rooms€143per month
- 14-day free trial
- No setup fee
- Personal onboarding
Net prices, annual billing. 20% off the base fee in the first contract year.
Moving from a vacation rental tool to STRYK
You do not need to retype existing bookings. What matters is a cut-off date after which the old tool is read-only.
Tell us your units and portals
Tell us how many apartments and rooms you have, which tool you use now and which portals your bookings come from today. We then set up your trial access with your units.
Export data from the old tool
Export bookings, guests and properties as CSV or XLSX. The settings of your current tool show what it can export. The import templates show which columns go where.
Dry-run import with an error list
Before anything reaches the calendar, a dry run shows which rows fit. Typical issues are apartments that have different names in the old tool and in STRYK; the error report lists them. You correct the file and run it again.
Cut-off date and portals
From the cut-off date, the old tool is read-only and new bookings are made in STRYK. The channel manager is included in the STRYK core price.
Logins for the head housekeeper and the helper
The head housekeeper, the helper and the stand-in get their own logins with the right role. From then on, the first day runs with the housekeeping plan.
Frequently asked questions
When does a hotel PMS make more sense than a vacation rental tool?
Once several people work in the business or you charge for services beyond the rent. Typical triggers are rooms with breakfast, a restaurant, a cleaner with their own daily plan or a part-time helper on reception. With two apartments that you run alone, a vacation rental tool often still does the job.
Can I manage apartments and rooms together?
Yes, both run in one booking calendar. You set up rooms in categories and run an apartment as its own unit with its own price. Room blocks, housekeeping status and availability apply to both. For pricing, an apartment counts as one unit.
How do I move my bookings from the old tool?
As a file: export bookings and guests from your current tool as CSV or XLSX and copy them into the import templates. The dry run shows in advance what would be imported. There is no extra charge for the data migration.
Can I also charge breakfast or restaurant items?
Yes, restaurant or bar items are posted to the stay and appear on the invoice at check-out. A till system can do this through an open interface. STRYK is not a till system with its own receipt signing; check with your accountant which cash register rules apply to your business.
Can the cleaner read the plan in their own language?
Yes. The housekeeping plan is available as a PDF in 18 languages, and on request it can be emailed at a fixed time each morning. The STRYK interface can also be used in 18 languages.
Can apartments have different cancellation terms from rooms?
Yes, if you set it up that way. A rate combines price, inclusions, cancellation terms and payment, so the apartments get their own rate with their own cancellation deadline. The deadline is recorded with each booking.
When do I cancel my current vacation rental tool?
After the cut-off date, and only once all exports are saved. If the old tool is connected to portals, end those connections on the cut-off date before the STRYK Channel Manager takes over. That way, two systems never send availability to the same portal at once. Keep invoices from the old tool for as long as the retention periods in your country require.
Bring apartments and rooms into one calendar
Tell us how many units you have and which tool you use now. In the 14-day trial, you set up apartments and rooms and plan a changeover day with your head housekeeper.