In this guide 6 sections
Test it on a houseboat, not a hotel. It should hold a calendar for each cabin and record advances and balances. It must separate agent bookings from direct ones and stop double sales in peak weeks. It should also keep working when your signal drops out on the water.
Can it model a houseboat as rooms on one hull?
A houseboat on Dal Lake or Nigeen Lake is one structure with three or four double rooms, a dining room and a sundeck. Hotel systems expect a building with a floor plan. Ask the vendor to set up your boat live during the demo.
Each cabin needs its own calendar, bed type and rate. Some guests book the whole boat for a family. Others take one room. The system should handle both, and block the other rooms when a group takes the full hull.
If you own two or three boats, check that each shows on one screen. Staff should not log out between them. Test it.
- A calendar for every cabin
- A whole-boat booking that blocks all cabins
- Several boats under one login
- Meal plan and extras kept on the booking
How does it handle advances, balances and refunds?
Almost every booking here starts with an advance. It may arrive by bank transfer, a UPI payment or cash handed to an agent in Srinagar. Ask whether each payment is recorded with its mode, its date and who received it.
The booking should always show the balance due at check-in. Then cancel a test booking in front of the vendor. You want the cancellation terms attached to the booking, with the refund worked out from your own rules.
Ask for the printable receipt and the guest’s invoice. Check that both carry your name and boat name, not the vendor’s. Ask, too, whether a part payment can be split between the room charge and the shikara transfer, since many guests settle those separately.
Does it keep agent bookings apart from direct ones?
Much houseboat business comes through travel agents in Srinagar, Delhi and Mumbai. Each agent has a rate, a commission arrangement and a habit of changing dates by message at night. A system that treats every booking alike will mix them up.
Ask whether you can tag each booking with its source. Then ask for the report showing what each agent sent you, and what is still owed to them.
Also ask about holds. An agent often reserves a room for a day or two before paying. The hold should lapse by itself unless someone confirms it. A commission statement for the month should print in one click.
- Source tag on every booking
- Agent rate cards
- Commission owed, listed by agent
- Holds that expire on a set date
What stops two guests booking the same cabin in peak weeks?
May and June, and the autumn weeks, are when overlaps happen. A message arrives on WhatsApp, a call comes from an agent and a walk-in turns up on Boulevard Road, all for the same night. Ask what the system does when the second one is entered.
The right answer is that it refuses or warns, loudly. It should not allow both and leave you to find out at the jetty.
If you sell through a site such as an online travel agency, ask whether the calendar updates both ways. A manual step between them is where double sales come from.
Does it still work when the connection is poor?
Signal on the water is uneven. A system that needs a live connection for every screen will fail at the moment the guest is standing in front of you. Ask whether staff can view the day’s arrivals, take an advance and print a receipt offline.
Ask where your data is stored and who can export it. Downloading every booking into a spreadsheet must be possible at any time. Test the export on the trial copy, not on the day you leave.
End the demo by asking for a month’s trial on your own boat. Enter the real bookings of one week and see whether your manager can use it without help.
Vendor question sheet
A single printed page in five blocks, matching the five questions in this article. Each block lists the questions to ask, a column for the vendor’s answer, a tick box for shown live and a column for notes. A final row records trial length, support hours and the cost of leaving.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Do I need a system built only for houseboats?
Not always. A general booking tool can work if it handles cabins, whole-boat blocks and agent sources. What matters is that it passes the demo on your own boat.
Should guests be able to book online directly?
It helps when you have photos, rates and a payment method ready. Start with a simple enquiry form if you are unsure, and move to instant booking once the calendar is accurate.
How do I move my existing bookings in?
List future bookings in a spreadsheet with cabin, dates, guest, source and advance. Ask the vendor to import it, then check ten entries by hand against your diary.
Who is responsible for my guests’ data?
You are, as the business collecting it. Ask where it is kept, who can see it and how it is deleted if you stop using the service.