Welcome to another blog on Brance’s Stayfull Channel Manager series. Today, look at Stayfull by innQuest, a channel manager that promises to streamline hotel operations and boost online visibility. In the competitive hospitality industry, the right channel manager can make all the difference. But how does Stayfull by innQuest measure up? We've conducted an in-depth analysis and scored it on several critical parameters to give you a clear picture of its performance.

Are you curious about how intuitive Stayfull by innQuest is for your staff? Does it offer the technical reliability you need to avoid costly downtime? What about the level of customer support—will it meet your expectations? And, more importantly, does it provide value for money? We've summarized our findings in a tabular format to help you quickly grasp the pros and cons:

Our Channel Manager Review Parameters You Can Trust

As part of our review policy, we’d like to state that our reviews were created using an AI analysis. Then, we reviewed the whole review for any inaccuracies before editing it for clarity and crispness.

Moreover, we’ve picked specific parameters, like ‘technical reliability,’ for example, that best demonstrate a channel manager's performance. We then judged our review of the channel manager's performance against these parameters. Here are all the parameters we have picked:

Parameter | Positive | Negative | Ok

--- | --- | --- | ---

Ease of Use | 88% | 12% | 0%

Technical Reliability | 33% | 67% | 0%

Customer Support | 71% | 29% | 0%

Price | 83% | 17% | 0%

Operations Management | 88% | 12% | 0%

Integration | 43% | 57% | 0%

Revenue Management | 75% | 25% | 0%

Marketing Visibility | 0% | 100% | 0%

Reporting Analytics | 29% | 57% | 14% 

So those are our parameters, along with your review of Stayfull, in a nutshell. Want a complete point-by-point breakdown? Jump into the guide below.  

1. Ease of Use 

| Positive | Negative | Ok  |

|----------|----------|-----|

| 88%  | 12%      | 0%  |

Positives: 

Stayfull by innQuest scores impressively with an 88% positive rating in ease of use. 

Users appreciate its user-friendly interface, which highlights how it simplifies learning and staff training. The minimal hardware requirements make it accessible for various hotel setups, and its cloud-based version enhances operational ability and remote management. 

Features for managing multiple hotels simultaneously benefit central reservations teams, and the ease of managing reports and online account handling streamlines administrative tasks. 

Customization options are available and appreciated by users, indicating a high level of adaptability and user satisfaction.

Negatives: 

Despite the high praise, there are a host of drawbacks. 

For one, the Stayfull channel manager has limited functionality that was not communicated beforehand, leading to user dissatisfaction. 

The mobile experience with Stayfull is not intuitive and requires improvement for many users. Meanwhile, the calendar functionality is also described as clunky, slow, and unreliable—affecting daily operations in the long run. 

2. Technical Reliability 

| Positive | Negative | Ok  |

|----------|----------|-----|

| 33%  | 67%      | 0%  |‍

Positives: 

Stayfull by innQuest's technical reliability gets a positive score of 33%. 

The software's easy troubleshooting and 24-hour service ensure quick issue responses and no revenue loss. 

Similarly, the seamless integration with other software systems and cloud-based options support remote work during emergencies; overall, everything about this indicates a foundation for reliable operations.

Negatives: 

Despite its positives, technical reliability can be massively improved upon.   

It gets a negative score of 67%, highlighting significant technical shortcomings. Moreover, users report integration issues with Stayfull and Expedia and problems with migration.

Interface problems between Innquest and Shift 4 cause system restarts, slow and unreliable calendar functionality, recurring issues with credit card processing, and slow inventory updates to GDS, which are significant concerns for many people.

These technical issues, along with inadequate mobile access, suggest critical areas for improvement to ensure stability and reliability. 

3. Customer Support 

| Positive | Negative | Ok  |

|----------|----------|-----|

| 71%  | 29%      | 0%  |‍

Positives: 

Customer support for Stayfull by innQuest receives a 71% positive score. 

It provides beneficial sales and support services. The customer service is responsive and professional, offering quick problem resolution. Similarly, the support team effectively solves mapping and channel activation issues, and the company provides fast response times for support inquiries and work orders. 

InnQuest's 24/7 tech support system with prompt follow-ups, the staff's friendly and accommodating nature, and direct contact with support without long hold times are highly praised. 

Negatives: 

On the downside, customer support has slow response times and inadequate follow-up in some cases. 

The quality of customer support has declined over time, with long delays and poor communication skills. The support team often lacks knowledge of the system, hindering issue resolution. Sales service is poor, with no response to calls and emails and unfulfilled commitments.

Not all staff are knowledgeable or able to assist, leading to inconsistent support experiences. 

4. Price 

| Positive | Negative | Ok  |

|----------|----------|-----|

| 83%  | 17%      | 0%  |

Positives: 

The pricing of Stayfull by innQuest is viewed favorably; it gets an 83% positive score. 

Innquest offers an economical solution for hotel management, with the service level justifying customer loyalty despite other options. Continuously improving features provide value for money, making it affordable for small independent hotels and recognized as a cost-effective solution.

Negatives: 

Despite the overall positive view, there are criticisms regarding the product becoming more expensive, with fee structure changes negatively impacting the bottom line. 

Per reservation fees are considered too high, indicating areas where pricing could be adjusted to better meet customer expectations. 

5. Operations Management 

| Positive | Negative | Ok  |

|----------|----------|-----|

| 88%  | 12%      | 0%  | 

Positives:

Operations management is another area where the Stayfull by innQuest makes its name.

With an 88% positive rating, it is loved by many users, as shown by the collective ratings.

For one, comprehensive reports enhance yielding, availability, and forecasting, covering all operational aspects of hotel management. Similarly, the ability to enable remote management of hotel operations, smooth integration with second hotel PMS, and cloud management for multiple properties are significant advantages. 

Then, the all-encompassing product features like daily diary, rate management, and cleaning schedules, along with efficient customer management within the system, all of them come highly valued by many users.

Negatives: 

Naturally, there’s a sentiment of disapproval towards the tool. 

For example, it lacks a scan ID system for verification across databases and no inventory/clothing scan system to integrate into roomMaster, indicating specific areas for improvement in operations management to enhance functionality and efficiency.

6. Integration 

| Positive | Negative | Ok  |

|----------|----------|-----|

| 43%  | 57%      | 0%  | 

Positives: 

Integration scores a positive 43%, with RoomMaster's integration with other software enhancing operational efficiency. 

The IQ lineup and Stayfull channel manager application are highly appreciated for their depth, and the easy setup with channels to increase room volume and revenue is noted. 

Moreover, the system supports various channel connection options, though integration with accounting systems needs improvement.

Negatives: 

More than half of reviews about Stayfull's integration tilt towards negative. 

With 57% of users disapproving of the tool, it's clear that a lot can be improved. For one, integration with Expedia is problematic and does not function correctly, per one user review. It requires additional accounting parameters for better interfacing with accounting software. 

Similarly, the integration with Google and web interfaces is insufficient, leading to an overreliance on third-party reservations. This indicates significant integration issues that need addressing. 

7. Revenue Management

| Positive | Negative | Ok  |

|----------|----------|-----|

| 75%  | 25%      | 0%  |‍

Positives: 

Revenue management with Stayfull by innQuest receives a 75% positive score. Its reports and chart features enhance daily decision-making and follow-ups, and easy rate configuration improves revenue management. 

Similarly, its helpful forecasting tools assist in anticipating business needs and facilitating new business generation through practical tools. 

Negatives: 

The yield management software is limited, indicating a specific area where improvements could enhance revenue management capabilities and effectiveness.

8. Marketing Visibility

| Positive | Negative | Ok  |

|----------|----------|-----|

| 0%   | 100% | 0%  |‍

Negatives: 

Marketing visibility is a significant weakness for Stayfull by innQuest, with a 100% negative score. 

The online booking engine is not ADA-compliant, affecting marketing visibility. Previous versions lacked online presence and direct booking capabilities, and the current solution fails to communicate minimum stay requirements, risking lost bookings. 

The lack of marketing options for promoting in-house specials and the need for instant messaging for guest communication, along with the absence of a contactless check-in feature for guests, are critical areas for improvement.

9. Reporting Analytics 

| Positive | Negative | Ok  |

|----------|----------|-----|

| 29%  | 57%      | 14%  |

Positives: 

Reporting analytics with Stayfull by innQuest gets a meager positive score of 29%, with the software offering great reporting features and making handling reports easy.‍

Negatives:‍

Reporting analytics is another area where the developer needs immediate action—it scores 57%. 

Quite a few things are wrong with the tool—as all the reviews show—and they have to be resolved as soon as possible. For one, the stock list of reports is limited, and building SQL reports is also very complex and not user-friendly. 

Similarly, building custom reporting requires additional training or assistance from many people. Then there’s the trouble with the cloud version's reporting, which is restricted to one-year data, with access to historical data beyond one year desired. 

The need for specific reports like booking lead time and repeat clientele tracking, along with the functionality to export reports easily to Excel or CSV, are highlighted. 

All in all, reporting features suffer from delays, and data syncing to OwnCloud is not timely. All of this needs timely improvement from everyone involved.

Should You Buy the Stayfull Channel Manager?

That’s all about Stayfull channel manager. So, let’s look at the bigger picture now: is the tool worth it? As the results show, most likely not. 

While there’s an overwhelmingly positive response in some places, like in ease of use (88%), price (83%), and operations management (88%), Stayfull by innQuest has a long way to go when it comes to technical reliability, marketing visibility, integration, and so on. 

Finally, you can also get a free demo to try out the tool and decide if you’d like to continue with it.