Many retreat centers struggle finding the right software to manage their retreats. That is because of how complex and unique their operations are.
Hotel software is one of the most common solutions they turn to since it offers them the ability to manage their rooms, accept bookings, and take basic registrations. However, it isn’t a perfect fit and a lot of retreat centers still end up handling a lot of their more important tasks manually.
What Makes Retreat Center Operations So Complex?
Quite simply, a lot more needs to happen at a retreat center once a booking is made. Once a booking comes in, there is still more information they need from guests on top of making sure their rooms and facility is set up properly.
A lot of retreat centers take on more manual processes than necessary because finding a better way has been a struggle. One of their biggest challenges is managing everything that needs to be done after a booking comes in without missing anything. A lot more takes place beyond room bookings which hotel software isn’t equipped to handle.
They need a tool that gives them more flexibility and control over their retreats from start to finish. Luckily for them, a better solution is finally available: Retreat Guru.
A New Solution for Retreat Centers
Retreat Guru was founded in 2014. They are on a mission to help retreat centers around the world grow and thrive to reach more people that will benefit from their retreats.
Along this journey, Retreat Guru has learned so much about how retreat centers work, their key challenges and concerns, and what’s holding them back. This led them to build the only all-in-one retreat management software available today.
Their software is built specifically to meet the complex and unique needs of retreat centers. It integrates seamlessly with their website to help them accept more bookings, automate processes, leverage different payment features, access more detailed reports about their retreats, and easily manage all of their guest, booking, room and program data in one place.
Retreat Guru’s retreat management software does everything a retreat center needs to make their operations more efficient. It will help them save more time so they can focus on giving their guests the best experience possible.
What Does Retreat Guru Offer?
Retreat Guru works closely with all of their retreat centers to understand exactly how they aim to serve their participants. Every retreat center offers their own path towards healing, growth, and personal mastery, meaning their needs for a retreat management software will be different.
Retreat Guru’s team is made up of people who understand the value retreat centers offer and are on their own personal journey of self-love and growth. They bring their own personal light into everything they do and every interaction they have with retreat centers.
Retreat Guru also sets itself apart from other software options by:
- Providing more retreat-specific features to highlight the benefits for each unique retreat.
- Delivering a seamless integration with their marketplace along with a retreat center’s website.
- Creating more detailed guest profiles and venues to simplify retreat management.
- Offering retreat centers unparalleled training and support to get more out of the software experience.
How Does Retreat Guru Compare to Hotel Software?
While a lot of what Retreat Guru offers sounds like it will benefit retreat centers, making a software change can be a big commitment.
Hotel software will continue to be a popular choice, and for good reason. It can handle the essentials of what a retreat center needs which is enough for most people. The key question is could they be getting more value for a similar cost?
Below, we have broken down some of the main ways Retreat Guru separates itself from traditional hotel software in how they serve retreat centers.
A Program-Centric Approach
Retreat Guru is a program-centric software. You set up your retreat listings to take registrations and payments before attaching different rooms. On top of making it easier to create their retreat packages, retreat centers will also have a lot more control and insight into how each of their retreats perform.
Hotel software on the other hand takes a room-centric approach. This means that, instead, retreats must be created as packages that are attached to different rooms. While this can be enough for some retreat centers, it will involve more manual processes outside of the software and it will be more challenging to get specific details and data for each retreat.
Advanced Registration Forms
With Retreat Guru, you can customize your registration forms to collect all the guest information you need upfront. This helps retreat centers save time on back and forth communication before a booking is confirmed. You can also turn on a waitlist to automatically continue collecting registrations after your retreat is full.
Hotel software gives you simple registration forms that will collect a guest’s name, email, and address, but usually little else. If additional information is needed from guests such as meal preferences, dietary restrictions, or anything else, retreat centers will need to follow up with each guest directly.
Easily Track Retreat Data and Interact with Guests
Retreat Guru keeps track of all data and information related to your retreats. Along with guest registration details, it stores all transactions, program set-up notes, room details, guest profiles, and more. Your team will always have access to the most recent retreat and guest information they need. On top of that, the software allows you to send simple pre-arrival and post-departure emails for all of your retreats.
Most Hotel software will usually only store basic guest registrations but not much else. Retreat centers will need to rely on additional tools or processes to keep track of everything they need for their programs.
Detailed and Custom Retreat Reports
Retreat Guru allows you to create all kinds of different reports whereas hotel software only offers the basics. You can create custom reports for your programs, finances & accounting, room occupancy, meals, and more. All of this will help you view your retreats and business in a whole new light, insights you just can’t get with hotel software.
One of Retreat Guru’s most popular reports is their meal report. These can be generated daily based on guest preferences that were submitted during registration. Not only will this keep your kitchen staff happy, it will give your guests a better overall experience.
More Flexibility to Maximize Your Room Bookings
Retreat Guru offers more flexibility with how rooms can be offered for retreats. Retreat centers have the ability to sell the same room as a “single”, “double”, or “triple” based on who books first to maximize registrations before they need to set the room up. Retreat Guru also allows you to set gender-specific rooms and dorms for different retreats along with offering the ability to room strangers together.
Hotel software can’t do any of this since all of these are very retreat-specific needs. Instead, all room options must be created as their own which means retreat centers need to pay close attention to each registration in order to not overbook rooms.
Final Thoughts
Retreat Guru is able to offer more flexibility, benefits, and options that serve the unique needs of retreat centers. This makes them one of the best softwares for managing retreats compared to hotel software.
Their all-in-one retreat management software makes it easier for retreat centers to manage all of their operational logistics without missing anything. Retreat centers are able to save more time, get more bookings, and give their teams more peace of mind.
Contact the Retreat Guru team today if you want to learn more.
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