The project dashboard is a free tool that is only available to verified hoteliers to make adopting new technology easier by streamlining their research and simplifying their communication workflow.
TLDR
We analyzed 32 verified hotelier reviews, compared feature sets, pricing, and real-world case studies to break down where each platform delivers. The right choice depends on your property type and priorities:
Carlito shines in ROI .
Gastfreund shines when it comes to support, onboarding, and responsiveness , with exclusive features like Mobile Checkin and Mobile Checkout.
Side-by-side ratings based on 32 verified hotelier reviews on HTR.
| HTScore |
|
|
| Likelihood to Recommend |
|
|
| Ease of Use |
|
|
| Customer Support |
|
|
| Value for Money |
|
|
| Starting Price | Contact sales | From $100/mo |
| Verified Reviews | 3 | 29 |
After analyzing 32 verified reviews, Carlito users most value its , while Gastfreund users highlight support, onboarding, and responsiveness, guest app usability and ease of setup, guest information and digital directory. Click any theme to see what reviewers say.
|
|
|
|---|---|
| Pros | |
|
+
Support, onboarding, and responsiveness
▾
|
|
|
+
Guest app usability and ease of setup
▾
|
|
|
+
Guest information and digital directory
▾
|
|
|
+
Reducing reception workload and self-service communication
▾
|
|
| Cons | |
|
−
Local recommendations, excursions, and activity promotion
▾
|
|
|
−
Multilingual support and translation quality
▾
|
|
How each product ranks among Hotel Guest Apps vendors for different property sizes, types, and regions — based on verified reviews from hoteliers in each segment.
By Hotel Size
| Segment |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Small (10-24 rooms) | #30 0 reviews | #21 3 reviews |
| Mid-Size (25-74 rooms) ▾ | #25 2 reviews | #18 7 reviews |
| Large (75-199 rooms) | — | #27 1 reviews |
By Property Type
| Segment |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Boutique | #33 1 reviews | #25 3 reviews |
| Luxury | #37 0 reviews | #25 3 reviews |
| Branded / Chain | #25 1 reviews | #19 3 reviews |
| Extended Stay | — | #17 1 reviews |
By Region
| Segment |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Europe ▾ | #18 3 reviews | #14 13 reviews |
Choosing between Carlito App by Carlito and Gastfreund | Hotelcore hinges on your hotel’s specific needs, operational priorities, and guest engagement strategies. Both platforms aim to enhance the guest experience through digital solutions, but they differ significantly in features, customer feedback, and market presence. Understanding these differences will help you decide which platform aligns best with your hotel's goals.
Carlito offers a customizable guest app focusing on guest personalization and operational efficiency, primarily serving resorts with a small but recent review base. Gastfreund | Hotelcore, meanwhile, delivers a modular guest experience platform with a broader feature set and larger, more recent review base, making it a more proven choice for diverse property types.
Carlito App and Gastfreund | Hotelcore both aim to improve guest communication and streamline hotel operations through digital platforms. Carlito emphasizes customization, allowing your team to tailor the app experience to your property's specific offerings, which can foster stronger guest relationships. In contrast, Gastfreund | Hotelcore provides a comprehensive suite of tools—including digital guest directories, info channels, and upsell features—that can replace multiple systems, reducing complexity in daily operations.
While Carlito scores higher on ease of use (4.67/5 vs. 4.27/5) and value for money (4.67/5 vs. 3.67/5), it has a limited review count (3 reviews, no recent ones), raising questions about its scalability and ongoing support. Gastfreund | Hotelcore, with 11 reviews and recent activity (2 reviews in last six months), offers more reliable feedback on its performance and customer satisfaction, even if its overall ratings are slightly lower.
Are you looking for a highly customizable app primarily for resorts that value tailored guest interactions? Or do you prefer a more established, modular platform capable of supporting diverse property types with recent positive reviews? Your choice depends on your hotel’s size, market segment, and digital maturity.
If your hotel needs a flexible, customizable app focused on guest personalization and operational efficiency, Carlito is the better option. It excels at delivering personalized content, cross-selling, and engaging guests through spontaneous messaging, making it ideal for resorts and boutique properties aiming for a tailored guest experience.
Conversely, if your hotel requires a proven, modular platform with a broad feature set—including digital check-ins, payments, and multi-language content—Gastfreund | Hotelcore is the stronger choice. Its extensive partner integrations and recent reviews suggest a reliable solution for hotels seeking to streamline communication, increase ancillary revenue, and support various property types.
For small boutique hotels or resorts prioritizing guest personalization and easy updates, Carlito’s intuitive interface and higher satisfaction scores make it appealing. Larger hotels or properties with complex operations needing more extensive features and integrations should opt for Gastfreund | Hotelcore.
Carlito scores a 4.67/5 for ease of use based on user reviews, with hoteliers praising its structure, customization, and support. Reviewers emphasize how straightforward it is for staff and guests to navigate, supported by their positive onboarding experiences.
Gastfreund | Hotelcore, while also rated highly (4.27/5), receives slightly lower ratings for ease of use, with some feedback indicating that its dashboard could be more detailed. Support ratings are close, but reviews note that Gastfreund’s interface is modern and user-friendly, though perhaps less tailored.
Edge: Carlito.
Gastfreund | Hotelcore offers a broader feature set, with 4 features unique to its platform—app download, mobile check-in, mobile checkout, and payments—absent in Carlito. Its modular system allows for more comprehensive guest engagement, automated check-in/out, and integrated payments.
Carlito’s feature set remains limited (7 shared features), focusing on personalized guest communication, cross-selling, and event promotions. If your hotel values a wide range of functionalities like payments or mobile check-in, Gastfreund holds the edge. For tailored guest engagement without extensive additional features, Carlito suffices.
Edge: Gastfreund | Hotelcore.
Carlito’s support scores (4.67/5) surpass Gastfreund’s (4.27/5), with reviewers describing support as “great” and “open to improvements” but emphasizing positive experiences. The limited review count for Carlito makes these ratings more reliable, indicating consistent support quality.
Gastfreund | Hotelcore’s support is praised for speed and friendliness, but some reviewers mention room for improvement, especially regarding dashboard details. Given its larger user base, Gastfreund’s support might be more scalable but slightly less personalized.
Edge: Carlito.
Carlito’s only three reviews, but they are highly positive, with a 93% likelihood to recommend and an overall rating of 0/5 (likely a scoring anomaly). The recent review activity (none in last six months) limits confidence in its current performance.
Gastfreund | Hotelcore, with 11 reviews and recent activity (2 reviews in last six months), has a solid 8.18/10 NPS score and a 90% recommendation rate. Its diverse property use—resorts, vacation rentals, boutique hotels—reflects broader market acceptance.
While Carlito’s reviews are promising, Gastfreund’s larger, recent review base makes it a more dependable gauge of customer satisfaction.
Edge: Gastfreund | Hotelcore.
Carlito does not publicly list pricing or offer a free trial, which suggests a custom quote approach. Its lack of transparent pricing could be a barrier for hotels with tight budgets or seeking straightforward comparisons.
Gastfreund | Hotelcore charges a base fee of $400 monthly, with no free tier or trial, reflecting its established pricing model. Its transparent structure allows for easier budgeting and planning, making it a preferable option for hotels wanting clarity on costs.
Carlito App and Gastfreund | Hotelcore serve different hotel segments and operational needs. Carlito excels at personalized guest interaction and ease of use, making it a good fit for resorts and boutique hotels focusing on tailored experiences.
Gastfreund | Hotelcore, with its wider feature set, recent reviews, and larger market presence, offers a more reliable, scalable platform suitable for hotels seeking to streamline operations and boost ancillary revenue. If your hotel seeks a proven, comprehensive solution, Gastfreund is the clearer choice.
If your property values customization, guest engagement, and straightforward support, go with Carlito. But if you need a broad, integrated platform with recent positive feedback, Gastfreund | Hotelcore is the best fit.
Hotel Guest Apps pricing is rarely straightforward. Here is what we know from each vendor's public pricing data. Always request a custom quote for your property size.
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | — | From $100/mo |
These are the features each vendor has configured, organized by feature group — the same data shown in the vendor dashboard. Expand a group to compare features side by side.
| Feature |
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
▾
Communication & Messaging
|
|
|
| Automatic Translations (Multi-Lingual) | ||
| Request Management | ||
| Room Service Ordering | ||
| Guest Messaging | ||
| App download | ||
| Web-app | ||
|
▾
Content Management
|
|
|
| Hotel Directory | ||
| Guest Profiles | ||
| Local Recommendations | ||
| Web-app | ||
|
▾
Upselling
|
|
|
| Payments | ||
| Room Service Ordering | ||
|
▾
Request Management
|
|
|
| Request Management | ||
| Room Service Ordering | ||
| Mobile Checkout | ||
| Mobile Checkin |
We analyzed 3 verified case studies to compare what hotels actually achieve with each platform across four key business objectives.
No published case study for this goal yet.
"To us, digitalisation means not replacing humanity, but strengthening it. With Gastfreund and the integration of our hotel software Casablanca, we have simplified processes while s..."
Ranks higher for
What hoteliers love
Positive reviews consistently praise Gastfreund’s onboarding, training, and quick support response when issues arise. At the same time, one review rep... Positive reviews consistently praise Gastfreund’s onboarding, training, and quick support response when issues arise. At the same time, one review reports very slow responses and poor handling of a business relationship, so service consistency appears to matter a lot to buyers.
Reviewers frequently describe Gastfreund as intuitive for both guests and hotel teams, with straightforward setup, customization, and day-to-day use.... Reviewers frequently describe Gastfreund as intuitive for both guests and hotel teams, with straightforward setup, customization, and day-to-day use. Ease of administration is seen as important because it lowers internal effort and makes it faster to launch and maintain the guest app.
Reviewers most often say Gastfreund centralizes essential hotel information so guests can find Wi‑Fi, check-out times, house rules, amenities, and pro... Reviewers most often say Gastfreund centralizes essential hotel information so guests can find Wi‑Fi, check-out times, house rules, amenities, and property details instantly on their own devices. Hotels see this as a practical way to improve the guest experience while reducing repetitive staff questions at reception.
Where hoteliers push back
Many hotels use Gastfreund to showcase regional attractions, excursions, hiking tips, and leisure activities, helping increase guest engagement and po... Many hotels use Gastfreund to showcase regional attractions, excursions, hiking tips, and leisure activities, helping increase guest engagement and potentially drive ancillary revenue. Reviewers like the ability to inspire guests before and during the stay, though some note they must manually create a lot of this content.
Several reviews mention multilingual functionality as a key requirement, especially for international or seasonal guests. While the ability to offer m... Several reviews mention multilingual functionality as a key requirement, especially for international or seasonal guests. While the ability to offer multiple languages is seen as valuable, users also report translation gaps, incomplete coverage, and weaker quality in some languages, which can limit usefulness.
Ranks higher for
Unique capabilities
Where the ratings diverge most
It depends on your requirements. Carlito App and Gastfreund share many core Hotel Guest Apps features, but each has unique capabilities. Carlito App offers 2 verified integration partners, while Gastfreund offers 17. Review the feature comparison above to see where they differ before switching.
Small hotels should prioritize ease of use and fast onboarding. Carlito App leads in ease of use at 4.7/5 vs 4.6/5. Look for transparent pricing and a trial or demo option. Filter reviews on each product page by property size to hear from hotels like yours.
Carlito App: No. Gastfreund: No. Neither product currently offers a free tier. Most Hotel Guest Apps vendors offer demos or trials — request one from each to evaluate before committing.
The HT Score is a composite ranking that considers 4 criteria groups and over a dozen variables to help hoteliers objectively compare hotel technology products. Carlito has an HT Score of 0 and Gastfreund has 79. Here is how the score is calculated.
| Criteria Group | Weight | What It Measures |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Ratings & Reviews |
|
How highly do users recommend this product? Ratings Score, Review Volume, Share of Voice, Review Depth, Review Recency, Success Stories ▾ The most heavily weighted factor. Analyzes average satisfaction ratings (likelihood to recommend, ease of use, support, ROI), total review count relative to category peers, review recency (at least 20 reviews in the trailing 6 months), and share of voice across unique hotel clients to detect selection bias. |
| Partner Ecosystem |
|
How highly do tech partners recommend this company? Partner Recommendations, Integration Quantity, Integration Quality ▾ Evaluates partner recommendations as expert votes of confidence, the number of verified integrations, and ecosystem quality — the average HT Scores of integration partners. Products with higher-quality integration ecosystems are more likely to deliver a connected tech stack. |
| Customer Centricity |
|
How customer-centric is this organization? Certified Support, Review Consistency, Profile Completeness ▾ Assesses whether the company has earned HTR Customer Support Certification, maintains consistent review collection over time (an indicator of feedback-driven culture), and keeps product profiles complete with capabilities, screenshots, pricing, and features. |
| Reach, Staying Power & Resources |
|
How extensive is this company's reach and resourcing? Geographic Reach, Staying Power, Company Resources, Trending Score ▾ Measures global presence (countries and regions served), years in business as a stability proxy, team headcount as a resource proxy, and a trending score based on trailing-twelve-month buyer inquiries, reviews, partner recommendations, and press activity. |
Customer ratings and reviews are by far the most important factor in the HT Score algorithm. HTR does not accept payment for higher rankings. All reviews are verified — only hotel industry practitioners with confirmed affiliations can submit ratings. View full HT Score methodology →
Custom recommendations tailored to your property