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 66 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:
Experience Hotel shines in ease of use and customer support , with exclusive features like Guest profiles and Guest Feedback Module (comment cards/reviews).
WhatCounts shines .
Side-by-side ratings based on 66 verified hotelier reviews on HTR.
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| Starting Price | From $200/mo | Contact sales |
| Verified Reviews | 66 | 0 |
After analyzing 66 verified reviews, Experience Hotel users most value its support and responsiveness, pre-stay, mid-stay, and post-stay communication, personalized guest experience, while WhatCounts users highlight . Click any theme to see what reviewers say.
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Support and Responsiveness
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Pre-Stay, Mid-Stay, and Post-Stay Communication
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Personalized Guest Experience
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User Interface
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System Integration Issues
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Language Support
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How each product ranks among Hotel CRM & Email Marketing vendors for different property sizes, types, and regions — based on verified reviews from hoteliers in each segment.
By Hotel Size
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| Small (10-24 rooms) ▾ | #3 43 reviews | — |
| Mid-Size (25-74 rooms) ▾ | #17 12 reviews | — |
| Large (75-199 rooms) | #17 2 reviews | — |
By Property Type
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| Boutique ▾ | #6 40 reviews | — |
| Luxury ▾ | #15 11 reviews | — |
| Branded / Chain ▾ | #13 14 reviews | — |
| Extended Stay ▾ | #6 7 reviews | — |
By Region
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| North America | #15 3 reviews | — |
| Europe ▾ | #5 56 reviews | — |
| Asia Pacific | #11 1 reviews | — |
Choosing between Experience Hotel and WhatCounts hinges on your hotel's core needs. Experience Hotel specializes in guest relationship management and automating communications, while WhatCounts is purely an email marketing platform designed for broad travel industry outreach. Both address hospitality marketing, but their focus and capabilities diverge significantly. Which aligns better with your current priorities—deep guest engagement or targeted email campaigns?
Experience Hotel offers a comprehensive CRM with 30 unique features, whereas WhatCounts provides a specialized email marketing service. The former boasts a higher review count and more recent feedback, making its strengths more verifiable today. Are you seeking a full guest engagement suite or a dedicated email tool?
Experience Hotel is designed explicitly for hoteliers aiming to cultivate closer guest relationships through personalized, automated communications. It centralizes guest data, offers segmentation, and even includes reputation management tools, making it suitable for hotels that want to own their guest interactions entirely.
WhatCounts, on the other hand, functions solely as an email marketing platform, supporting campaigns and customer engagement through targeted messaging. It is meant for hotels or travel businesses that already have a customer database and want to optimize communication efforts without broader CRM capabilities.
If your hotel needs a complete guest relationship platform with automation and data management, go with Experience Hotel. If your priority is sophisticated email marketing with deep customization, WhatCounts is the better choice.
Your decision depends on your hotel’s operational focus. If your team requires a CRM system that manages guest profiles, automates pre- and post-stay communications, and offers reputation management, Experience Hotel is the clear winner. It’s especially suited for boutique hotels, hostels, and resorts that benefit from personalized guest interactions.
Conversely, if your hotel already has a solid guest database and your goal is to craft engaging email campaigns to increase revenue, WhatCounts is your solution. It’s ideal for hotel chains or online travel agencies that want to focus solely on email marketing without the need for extensive CRM features. Experience Hotel’s review count of 56 with high scores (4.78/5 overall) signals strong recent user satisfaction, whereas WhatCounts’ lack of recent reviews leaves its effectiveness less certain.
Experience Hotel scores an impressive 4.72/5 for ease of use, supported by reviews praising its intuitive interface and straightforward onboarding process. Users mention that the platform is easy to navigate and that staff adoption is smooth, contributing to more efficient operations.
WhatCounts has no publicly available ratings or review data, making it impossible to assess ease of use accurately. Given the detailed positive feedback for Experience Hotel, it clearly has an edge in user experience.
Edge: Experience Hotel.
Experience Hotel offers 30 unique features, including guest profiles, segmentation, automation, reputation management, and an open API. Its comprehensive suite supports multi-hotel management, personalized communication, and detailed guest data collection.
WhatCounts provides no specific features listed beyond its email marketing capabilities. It is purely an email platform, lacking the broader guest data and automation features found in Experience Hotel.
For hotels seeking an all-in-one guest relationship solution, Experience Hotel’s extensive feature set provides a decisive advantage. Edge: Experience Hotel.
Experience Hotel’s support ratings stand at 4.67/5, with reviews highlighting its responsiveness and helpful staff. Users appreciate the dedicated onboarding and ongoing assistance, which helps maximize the platform’s potential.
WhatCounts has no available review data on support quality, making it difficult to evaluate. Given the high support ratings for Experience Hotel and the lack of information on WhatCounts, the edge clearly goes to Experience Hotel.
Edge: Experience Hotel.
Experience Hotel integrates with 40 verified partners, including prominent channel managers and property management systems like RoomRaccoon, apaleo, and WebRezPro. These integrations facilitate seamless data flow and operational efficiency.
WhatCounts offers no listed integrations, limiting its ability to connect with other hotel or travel industry systems. For your hotel seeking an interconnected platform, Experience Hotel’s extensive integrations are a key benefit.
Edge: Experience Hotel.
Experience Hotel’s recent reviews reflect high satisfaction, with an overall rating of 4.78/5 based on 56 reviews, including fresh feedback within the last six months. Hotels of varying sizes, especially boutique hotels and hostels, praise its functionality and support.
There is no publicly available recent review data for WhatCounts, making it impossible to gauge current user satisfaction. Given the strong, recent positive feedback, Experience Hotel is the clear leader here.
Edge: Experience Hotel.
Experience Hotel charges a flat rate of $200 per month without any trial, freemium, or implementation fees. Pricing details for WhatCounts are not publicly available, so exact comparison isn’t possible.
If budget transparency is essential, Experience Hotel’s fixed monthly fee simplifies planning. The lack of pricing info for WhatCounts suggests it may be variable or tailored, but the absence of concrete data favors Experience Hotel as the more straightforward choice.
Experience Hotel is a complete guest relationship platform designed specifically for hotels seeking better control over their guest interactions. Its extensive features, high user ratings, and large integration network make it the preferred choice for hotels aiming for a full guest engagement solution.
If your hotel needs a dedicated CRM with automation, reputation management, and multi-property capabilities, experience clearly outweighs the limited data and feature set of WhatCounts. It’s especially advantageous if your team values recent reviews and proven hotel-specific functionalities.
Conversely, if your hotel’s focus is solely on sophisticated email marketing and you already have a guest database, WhatCounts might be sufficient. However, with no recent reviews or detailed features available, its position is less certain. For most hotels looking for a full-service solution, Experience Hotel is the more trustworthy and comprehensive option.
Hotel CRM & Email Marketing 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.
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| Starting Price | From $200/mo | — |
According to HTR's product database, Experience Hotel and WhatCounts share 0 features. Here are the key differences — features one has that the other lacks.
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| Centralized data warehouse | ||
| Centralized multi-hotel/multi-brand solution | ||
| Guest profiles | ||
| Personalized one-to-communication | ||
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| WYSIWYG - HTML Editor |
Showing top differences. 18 more features differ between these products.
What hoteliers love
While the support team is generally praised for their responsiveness and helpfulness, there are some concerns about the accessibility of support as we... While the support team is generally praised for their responsiveness and helpfulness, there are some concerns about the accessibility of support as well as the delayed responses after initial interactions.
Users frequently praise Experience for its ability to streamline communication with guests at key stages – before, during, and after their stay. This... Users frequently praise Experience for its ability to streamline communication with guests at key stages – before, during, and after their stay. This functionality allows hotels to customize guest experiences, provide assistance, and manage expectations efficiently.
Many reviews highlight the ability of Experience to gather guest information and preferences, enabling hotels to offer tailored services and create a... Many reviews highlight the ability of Experience to gather guest information and preferences, enabling hotels to offer tailored services and create a remarkable hospitality experience. This aspect significantly enhances guest satisfaction and loyalty.
Where hoteliers push back
Some users have mentioned issues with system integration, specifically with the PMS and other hotel management systems. This can cause delays and dupl... Some users have mentioned issues with system integration, specifically with the PMS and other hotel management systems. This can cause delays and duplication of work, leading to inefficiencies and user frustration.
A notable grievance is the limited language support within the Experience tool. Users have expressed a need for more languages in automated emails and... A notable grievance is the limited language support within the Experience tool. Users have expressed a need for more languages in automated emails and certain parts of the interface to cater to a broader guest demographic.
Unique capabilities
Where the ratings diverge most
It depends on your requirements. Experience Hotel and WhatCounts share many core Hotel CRM & Email Marketing features, but each has unique capabilities. Experience Hotel offers 40 verified integration partners, while WhatCounts offers 0. Review the feature comparison above to see where they differ before switching.
Small hotels should prioritize ease of use and fast onboarding. Experience Hotel leads in ease of use at 4.7/5 vs 0.0/5. 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.
Experience Hotel: No. WhatCounts: No. Neither product currently offers a free tier. Most Hotel CRM & Email Marketing 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. Experience Hotel has an HT Score of 76 and WhatCounts has 0. Here is how the score is calculated.
| Criteria Group | Weight | What It Measures |
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| Customer Ratings & Reviews |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 →
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