Akia vs. Aruba Central:
Which Is Right for You?

The Decision

Choosing between Akia by Akia and Aruba Central by HPE/Aruba hinges on your hotel’s specific needs. Both target different operational challenges: Akia focuses on guest messaging and engagement, while Aruba Central is a network management platform. Are you seeking to improve guest communication or streamline your hotel’s IT infrastructure?

Akia is a dedicated guest messaging platform with a strong reputation backed by over 113 recent reviews, while Aruba Central lacks publicly available customer feedback. This review will clarify which solution fits your hotel best.

Is Akia or Aruba Central Better for Hotels?

Akia and Aruba Central serve vastly different functions in hotel operations. Akia helps your team communicate efficiently with guests, automate responses, and enhance guest satisfaction through a variety of messaging tools. Aruba Central, however, manages your hotel’s network infrastructure, providing control over wired and wireless systems, and ensuring seamless connectivity.

While Akia has a stellar overall rating of 4.93/5 based on recent reviews, Aruba Central has no publicly available customer ratings or reviews, which limits insight into its real-world performance. With Akia’s recent reviews praising its ease of use, automation, and guest engagement, it clearly offers practical value for hoteliers. Aruba Central's lack of recent reviews raises questions about its current customer satisfaction or market presence.

Are you prioritizing guest communication or IT infrastructure management? Your hotel’s specific operational needs will determine which platform is more suitable.

Akia vs Aruba Central: Which Should Your Hotel Choose?

If your hotel needs to elevate guest experience through personalized messaging, automation, and upselling, Akia is the clear choice. It’s especially well-suited for boutique, luxury, or branded hotels looking to improve online reviews and streamline guest interaction, boasting a 4.93-star rating from over 100 reviews.

If your primary concern is managing complex network environments, ensuring Wi-Fi reliability, or integrating wired and wireless infrastructure seamlessly, Aruba Central might seem appealing. However, the absence of recent reviews or publicly available customer feedback makes it difficult to assess its real-world effectiveness.

For hoteliers aiming to improve guest communication and satisfaction, Akia’s proven track record makes it the recommended choice. Aruba Central, despite its capabilities, remains unverified in today’s market.

Is Akia or Aruba Central Easier to Use?

Akia impresses users with its intuitive interface and streamlined onboarding, rated at 4.84/5 for ease of use. Reviews highlight that staff find it simple to adopt, thanks to mobile-friendly design and user-friendly apps, with a 4.66/5 onboarding score. Guests also appreciate that they don’t need an app download to communicate, which increases engagement.

Aruba Central, by contrast, has no publicly available usability scores or recent reviews, making it impossible to judge its user experience. Without user feedback, it’s unclear whether your team would find it straightforward or complex to operate.

Edge: Akia.

Which Has Better Features: Akia or Aruba Central?

Akia offers a comprehensive suite of 59 unique features, including mobile-friendly messaging, WhatsApp integration, automated replies, photo sharing, real-time analytics, API access, and digital check-in. Its extensive feature set supports automation, guest personalization, upselling, and review campaigns, making it a versatile platform.

Aruba Central provides network management and analytics tools but lacks detailed feature information or user reviews. Its feature count is not publicly available, and without specific details, it’s challenging to compare directly.

Edge: Akia.

Which Has Better Customer Support: Akia or Aruba Central?

Akia consistently receives high marks for support and onboarding, rated at 4.84/5, with recent reviews emphasizing its responsiveness and helpfulness. Hotel staff praise Akia for its support during onboarding and ongoing use, with comments like, “Akia has revolutionized the way we prioritize customer service,” and “instant access to our guests.”

Aruba Central offers no publicly available support ratings or recent customer testimonials, raising concerns about support quality or availability. Without verified feedback, it’s difficult to determine how well your team would be supported post-implementation.

Edge: Akia.

Which Has More Integrations: Akia or Aruba Central?

Akia integrates with 32 verified partners, including popular PMS and tech platforms such as RoomRaccoon, WebRezPro, Stayntouch, and others. Its open API allows for customization and broad connection to existing hotel systems.

In contrast, Aruba Central has no publicly listed integrations or partner count, which suggests limited or unverified integration options. The extensive integration options make Akia a more flexible choice for hotels looking to connect diverse systems.

Edge: Akia.

Which Do Hoteliers Rate Higher: Akia or Aruba Central?

Akia’s ratings are solid across multiple categories: 4.93/5 overall, 4.84/5 for ease of use and support, based on 113 recent reviews, with a 97% likelihood to recommend. Hotel segments like boutique, branded, and resort hotels rate Akia highly, with reviewers citing improved guest communication and operational efficiency.

Aruba Central has no publicly available reviews or ratings, making it impossible to assess user satisfaction or hotel segment preferences. The lack of recent feedback diminishes confidence in Aruba Central’s current standing.

Edge: Akia.

How Much Do Akia and Aruba Central Cost?

Akia’s pricing starts at $500 per month, with no free tier or trial offered. The fee covers access to its extensive feature set and support. Pricing details for Aruba Central are unavailable, which might indicate custom quotes or enterprise-level pricing, making direct comparison difficult.

Given Akia’s transparent pricing model, your team can evaluate ROI more confidently. Aruba Central’s unclear costs may require direct inquiry, and potential hidden fees could impact your decision.

What Type of Hotel Should Use Akia?

• Hotels that want to boost guest satisfaction through personalized, automated messaging.
• Properties aiming to improve online reviews and TripAdvisor rankings.
• Hotels that prefer a mobile-friendly platform with easy guest engagement.
• Teams seeking a user-friendly system with extensive automation features.
• Hotels interested in upselling and digital surveys for revenue growth.

Not ideal if your hotel primarily needs network infrastructure management, as Akia does not handle IT hardware.

What Type of Hotel Should Use Aruba Central?

• Hotels with complex network environments needing centralized control.
• Properties prioritizing Wi-Fi reliability and security.
• Hotels seeking to manage multiple access points and switches from one interface.
• Teams that want automated network monitoring and troubleshooting.
• Hotels that integrate wired and wireless infrastructure into a single management system.

Not ideal if your main focus is guest messaging or engagement, as Aruba Central is designed for network management.

The Bottom Line for Hotels

Akia stands out with its proven track record, user-friendly interface, and extensive feature set tailored for guest messaging and engagement. It’s backed by over 113 recent reviews and a 4.93/5 rating, confirming its market leadership.

If your hotel’s priority is elevating guest experience, increasing reviews, and automating communication, Akia is the clear choice. Its ease of use, support, and integrations make it a reliable partner.

On the other hand, Aruba Central’s lack of recent reviews, user feedback, and clear pricing make it a less certain option. Unless managing your hotel’s network infrastructure is your primary concern, Aruba Central is unlikely to deliver the guest-centric features you need.

In summary: For guest messaging and engagement, go with Akia. For network management, consider Aruba Central, but be aware of the limited public data and reviews.