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 23 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:
Gastfreund shines , with exclusive features like Mobile Checkin and Mobile Checkout.
Orana Software shines in ease of use and customer support .
Side-by-side ratings based on 23 verified hotelier reviews on HTR.
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| Likelihood to Recommend |
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| Ease of Use |
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| Value for Money |
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| Starting Price | From $100/mo | From $400/mo |
| Verified Reviews | 21 | 2 |
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
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| Small (10-24 rooms) | #21 3 reviews | #24 1 reviews |
| Mid-Size (25-74 rooms) ▾ | #18 7 reviews | — |
| Large (75-199 rooms) | #27 1 reviews | — |
By Property Type
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| Boutique | #25 3 reviews | #29 2 reviews |
| Luxury | #25 3 reviews | — |
| Branded / Chain | #19 3 reviews | — |
| Extended Stay | #17 1 reviews | — |
By Region
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| Europe ▾ | #14 13 reviews | — |
Choosing the right guest app for your hotel hinges on your priorities: whether you seek a platform with more recent reviews, broader regional presence, more features, or better support. Both Gastfreund | Hotelcore and Orana Stay aim to streamline guest communication and enhance guest experiences, but they diverge significantly in user feedback, feature sets, and market focus. Your decision should align with your property type, tech needs, and regional presence.
Gastfreund | Hotelcore is a more established player with a larger review base from recent months, giving it an edge in reliability and ongoing innovation. Orana Stay, despite fewer recent reviews, offers a straightforward, easy-to-use interface with a focus on boutique hotels and a strong feature set. Are you ready to dive into the specifics?
Both platforms serve to improve guest communication via a digital guest app, but they target different hotel profiles and regional markets. Gastfreund | Hotelcore, with its 11 reviews and recent feedback, has a broader international footprint, especially in Europe and North America, making it suitable for hotels with diverse or international guests. Conversely, Orana Stay's limited reviews—only 2, all recent—are primarily from boutique hotels in Australia and other regions, indicating a more niche focus.
In terms of functionality, Gastfreund | Hotelcore offers more extensive integrations, including partnerships with major PMS providers like SiteMinder, Mews, and Little Hotelier, enhancing operational workflows. Orana Stay, with fewer integrations, simplifies use but might lack some advanced connectivity needed by larger properties. Both platforms focus on contactless check-in, information delivery, and messaging, but Gastfreund’s modular approach supports a wider array of services.
Does your hotel require a platform with proven, recent customer feedback and a global reach? If so, Gastfreund | Hotelcore’s recent review count and regional coverage make it the more dependable choice.
If your hotel needs a highly customizable digital guest experience that integrates with existing PMS and offers a broad feature set, Gastfreund | Hotelcore is the clear choice. Its suite includes digital guest directories, info channels, hotel newspaper, and hotelboard, plus four features exclusive to it such as room service ordering, mobile check-in, and checkout—features that can streamline operations and elevate guest satisfaction.
On the other hand, if your hotel is boutique or small, prioritizes simplicity, and values a straightforward, branded app that can be quickly adopted, Orana Stay might suffice. Its feature set includes reception messaging and booking tools, with a notable feature—guest profiles—that support personalized service, albeit with fewer integrations and a narrower focus.
For properties demanding extensive customization, broader integrations, and proven recent customer satisfaction, Gastfreund | Hotelcore is the better fit. Meanwhile, boutique hotels seeking an easy-to-manage, cost-effective solution could lean toward Orana Stay.
Gastfreund | Hotelcore boasts a solid ease-of-use rating of 4.27/5 and an onboarding score of 4.44/5, indicating a user-friendly interface and smooth setup process. Despite its larger feature set, reviews highlight its intuitive design and quick support, though some users note a learning curve with its modular system.
Orana Stay scores a perfect 5/5 on ease of use, with all reviews praising its simplicity and straightforward implementation. The Australian-based developer’s close communication and responsive support make onboarding faster and less complex, especially for small teams or boutique hotels.
Edge: Orana Stay.
Gastfreund | Hotelcore offers 7 shared features, with 4 unique to its platform, including room service ordering, mobile check-in, mobile checkout, and app download. These capabilities support comprehensive guest engagement and operational efficiency, especially for larger or more service-oriented hotels.
Orana Stay provides a focused feature set with 7 shared features but only 1 exclusive—guest profiles. Its core features include messaging, maps, weather, and booking functions, suitable for boutique hotels that want a simple but effective guest app.
In terms of feature depth, Gastfreund’s additional services give it an edge for hotels looking for more functionality that supports complex operations. Edge: Gastfreund | Hotelcore.
Gastfreund | Hotelcore scores 4.27/5 for customer support, with reviews emphasizing professional, quick, and friendly service. Clients appreciate the support team's responsiveness, especially during onboarding, and note that the platform responds well to customization requests.
Orana Stay, with a perfect 5/5 rating, receives praise for its easy communication, quick answers, and proactive suggestions. The Australian-based team’s responsiveness and simplicity make it a favorite among boutique hotel clients.
Edge: Orana Stay.
Gastfreund | Hotelcore integrates with 13 verified partners, including major PMS and booking engines like Winhotel, SiteMinder, and Mews, covering a wide array of hotel tech systems. This extensive integration network supports larger and more complex properties seeking seamless operational workflows.
Orana Software offers six verified partners, including Sirvoy, Guesty, and Cloudbeds, with only one shared partner—RoomRaccoon. While sufficient for small or boutique hotels, it might limiting for properties requiring advanced system connectivity.
Edge: Gastfreund | Hotelcore.
Gastfreund | Hotelcore has a significantly larger review base, with 11 reviews in the last 6 months and a 90% likelihood to recommend. Its recent reviews focus on ease of use, support, and the platform’s ability to automate processes, suggesting a more active and satisfied user community.
Orana Stay’s only two reviews are both positive, with a 100% likelihood to recommend, but the small sample size limits confidence. Its ratings reflect a boutique hotel appeal, emphasizing simplicity and customer service.
In terms of recent, more abundant feedback, Gastfreund | Hotelcore clearly has the advantage.
Edge: Gastfreund | Hotelcore.
Both platforms are priced at a base rate of $400.00, with no freemium, monthly flat, or per-room charges. Since there’s no additional implementation fee or trial info, your decision may focus on feature fit and support rather than price.
Not ideal if your hotel is small, with minimal tech infrastructure, or if you prefer a simple, plug-and-play solution.
Not ideal if your hotel requires extensive integrations or advanced features like room service ordering.
Gastfreund | Hotelcore offers a comprehensive, feature-rich platform backed by a large, recent review base, making it the more proven and versatile solution. Its broad integrations and international presence suit larger, multi-service hotels that want to streamline operations and elevate guest experiences.
Orana Stay is ideal for boutique hotels or smaller properties seeking simplicity, rapid onboarding, and a branded app that improves guest self-sufficiency. Its limited but strong feature set and high ease-of-use rating make it a good fit for properties prioritizing ease over complexity.
If your hotel needs scalability, extensive integrations, and proven recent customer satisfaction, Gastfreund | Hotelcore is the definitive choice. For boutique hotels focused on ease and a straightforward guest experience, Orana Stay will serve well.
In summary, trust the platform with the more recent reviews and broader market presence—Gastfreund | Hotelcore. But if simplicity and quick deployment are your top priorities, Orana Stay remains a solid option.
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.
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| Starting Price | From $100/mo | From $400/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.
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Communication & Messaging
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| Automatic Translations (Multi-Lingual) | ||
| Request Management | ||
| Room Service Ordering | ||
| Guest Messaging | ||
| App download | ||
| Web-app | ||
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Content Management
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| Hotel Directory | ||
| Guest Profiles | ||
| Local Recommendations | ||
| Web-app | ||
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Upselling
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| Payments | ||
| Room Service Ordering | ||
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Request Management
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| Request Management | ||
| Room Service Ordering | ||
| Mobile Checkout | ||
| Mobile Checkin |
Ranks higher for
Unique capabilities
Where the ratings diverge most
It depends on your requirements. Gastfreund and Orana Stay share many core Hotel Guest Apps features, but each has unique capabilities. Gastfreund offers 14 verified integration partners, while Orana Stay offers 6. Review the feature comparison above to see where they differ before switching.
Small hotels should prioritize ease of use and fast onboarding. Orana Stay leads in ease of use at 5.0/5 vs 4.5/5. 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.
Gastfreund: No. Orana Stay: 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. Gastfreund has an HT Score of 0 and Orana Software 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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