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 108 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:
HOIST GROUP shines .
Planet shines in ease of use and customer support — especially for brand properties (5.0/5) , with exclusive features like On premise and Revenue management module.
Side-by-side ratings based on 108 verified hotelier reviews on HTR.
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| Starting Price | Contact sales | From $500/mo |
| Verified Reviews | 0 | 108 |
After analyzing 108 verified reviews, HOIST GROUP users most value its , while Planet users highlight functionality and features, ease of use, multi-property management. Click any theme to see what reviewers say.
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Functionality and Features
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Ease of Use
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Multi-property Management
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Support Issues
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Customization and Flexibility
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System Performance and Reliability
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How each product ranks among Property Management Systems vendors for different property sizes, types, and regions — based on verified reviews from hoteliers in each segment.
By Hotel Size
| Segment | HOIST GROUP |
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|---|---|---|
| Small (10-24 rooms) ▾ | — | #27 32 reviews |
| Mid-Size (25-74 rooms) ▾ | — | #15 50 reviews |
| Large (75-199 rooms) ▾ | — | #15 10 reviews |
| X-Large (200+ rooms) | — | #17 3 reviews |
By Property Type
| Segment | HOIST GROUP |
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|---|---|---|
| Boutique ▾ | — | #21 42 reviews |
| Luxury ▾ | — | #21 34 reviews |
| Branded / Chain ▾ | — | #17 33 reviews |
| Extended Stay ▾ | — | #20 9 reviews |
By Region
| Segment | HOIST GROUP |
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|---|---|---|
| North America ▾ | — | #29 6 reviews |
| Europe ▾ | — | #10 79 reviews |
| Middle East | — | #15 2 reviews |
When choosing a property management system (PMS), your primary goal is to streamline hotel operations, improve guest experiences, and maximize revenue. Both HotSoft by HOIST GROUP and protel PMS by Planet aim to serve these needs but differ significantly in scope, features, and user feedback. HotSoft is a legacy platform with a minimal online presence, while protel boasts a broad, modern ecosystem with extensive reviews and recent activity. Which system better aligns with your hotel’s needs?
HotSoft by HOIST GROUP is a traditional PMS that has been known for its basic reservation and front desk functionalities. However, it lacks recent reviews, active support, and a clear online feature set, making it difficult to assess its current capabilities. Conversely, protel PMS is a cloud-native platform with over 100 recent reviews, a 4.11/5 rating, and a broad feature set supported by a large ecosystem of integrations. Given that protel’s reviews are more recent and detailed, it provides a clearer picture of contemporary usability and support.
HotSoft’s limited online presence suggests it might serve hotels with minimal needs or those already committed to legacy systems. Yet, with no recent reviews or updated features, it’s hard to verify if HotSoft can meet modern hospitality demands. Protels' active user feedback indicates ongoing development and support, making it a more transparent, reliable choice for hotels looking to stay competitive. Are you prepared to settle for a system that might be outdated or one that is actively evolving?
If your hotel needs a straightforward, perhaps legacy system with minimal modern features, HotSoft might suffice, especially if your team is accustomed to its interface. But if you require a scalable, feature-rich platform with continuous updates, protel PMS is the clear winner. For independent or small hotels seeking ease of use and basic operations, HotSoft could be adequate, but for hotels aiming to grow, integrate, and innovate, protel’s extensive functionalities and ecosystem are essential.
Hotels that prioritize comprehensive integration, automation, and multi-channel management should lean toward protel. On the other hand, properties with very simple operations or those heavily invested in existing HotSoft infrastructure might consider sticking with it — although the lack of recent reviews and support data makes this a risky choice in the long term.
Based on current reviews, protel scores a 4.12/5 for ease of use, with users praising its intuitive interface, quick onboarding, and straightforward navigation. HotSoft, with zero recent reviews and little online feedback, offers no current data on usability, but legacy systems are often less user-friendly due to outdated interfaces.
Given the recent positive feedback and active development, edge: protel PMS.
Protel offers over 46 features, including revenue management, multi-currency support, integrated booking engine, guest CRM, digital registration, real-time reporting, and more. HotSoft, without recent updates or detailed public feature lists, likely provides only core reservation and front desk functionalities, with limited automation or advanced tools.
Protel’s extensive ecosystem, including modules like booking engines, guest apps, dashboards, and integrations with over 1,200 systems, clearly surpasses HotSoft’s capabilities. Edge: protel PMS.
HotSoft’s support quality cannot be assessed due to the absence of recent reviews or active online feedback. Conversely, protel scores a 3.95/5 in customer support, with recent reviews highlighting reliable, 24/7 expert assistance and positive experiences.
Many users praise protel support as responsive, helpful, and professional, despite some mentions of delays in complex cases. Given the current data, edge: protel PMS.
Protel showcases a vast ecosystem with 195 verified integrations, including popular modules like booking engines, revenue management, and channel managers. It supports over 1,200 external systems, providing flexibility and scalability.
HotSoft, with no verified integrations listed, likely has limited or no active integration options, restricting its ability to connect with modern third-party tools. Edge: protel PMS.
With 105 recent reviews, protel maintains a strong 4.11/5 overall rating, with hotel segments like independent hotels rating it slightly higher at 4.5/5. HotSoft’s absence of recent reviews makes it impossible to gauge current user sentiment, but historically, legacy systems tend to receive mixed or declining ratings due to stagnation.
Protel’s active reviews emphasize ease of use, robust features, and good support, making it the preferred choice for modern hoteliers. Edge: protel PMS.
HotSoft’s pricing is not publicly available, suggesting it may be a bespoke or legacy pricing model. In contrast, protel charges a base price of $500, with no ongoing monthly fees, but additional modules and customizations are available.
Considering transparency and the modern SaaS approach, protel’s straightforward pricing model offers better clarity for budgeting.
The core difference lies in their modernity and feature sets. HotSoft is a legacy, basic PMS, lacking recent reviews and active development, making it unsuitable for hotels aiming for growth or digital excellence.
Protel PMS is an adaptable, well-supported platform with extensive features, integrations, and recent active reviews. For most hotels looking to modernize and scale, protel provides a more reliable, future-proof solution.
Choose HotSoft only if your needs are extremely simple, and you are committed to an older system. For hotels wanting to innovate, grow, and deliver superior guest experiences, protel is the clear choice.
Property Management Systems 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.
| HOIST GROUP |
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| Starting Price | — | From $500/mo |
According to HTR's product database, HOIST GROUP - HotSoft and protel PMS (by Planet) share 0 features. Here are the key differences — features one has that the other lacks.
| Feature | HOIST GROUP |
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| Booking Engine | ||
| Cloud based | ||
| Multi-currency | ||
| Multi-lingual | ||
| On premise | ||
| Revenue management module |
Showing top differences. 34 more features differ between these products.
We analyzed 4 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.
"It feels like a partnership, not a product. Our feedback is always heard and acted on. We’re working together for the shared goal of great guest service."
What hoteliers love
Users appreciate Protel's extensive features for managing single properties, with comprehensive tools for reporting, room plans, and rate management.... Users appreciate Protel's extensive features for managing single properties, with comprehensive tools for reporting, room plans, and rate management. However, many reviews expressed disappointment that a lot of these functionalities are incomplete, buggy, or missing entirely when dealing with more complex setups or multi-property environments. Custom reports and seamless integration with other tools are also highlighted as beneficial.
The user interface is generally praised for being intuitive and easy to navigate. Many users found Protel Air particularly user-friendly and noted the... The user interface is generally praised for being intuitive and easy to navigate. Many users found Protel Air particularly user-friendly and noted the efficiency in managing daily operations. However, certain updates have made certain functions more complex and less intuitive than before.
Protel's performance in catering to multi-property environments received mixed feedback. While some users praised its organizational tools and interfa... Protel's performance in catering to multi-property environments received mixed feedback. While some users praised its organizational tools and interfaces, many found the system frustratingly limited for multi-location setups, highlighting significant bugs and reduced functionalities.
Where hoteliers push back
Customer support is a consistent area of concern. Reviews mentioned long waiting times for support requests, lack of phone availability, and poor resp... Customer support is a consistent area of concern. Reviews mentioned long waiting times for support requests, lack of phone availability, and poor response times after the acquisition by Planet. Users recommend improving the speed and reliability of customer service.
Users are generally happy with the level of customization available in Protel, allowing them to adapt the system to better fit their specific needs. H... Users are generally happy with the level of customization available in Protel, allowing them to adapt the system to better fit their specific needs. However, this flexibility often comes at a high cost, and some required features are only available through paid custom development.
Unique capabilities
Where the ratings diverge most
It depends on your requirements. HOIST GROUP - HotSoft and protel PMS (by Planet) share many core Property Management Systems features, but each has unique capabilities. HOIST GROUP - HotSoft offers 0 verified integration partners, while protel PMS (by Planet) offers 194. Review the feature comparison above to see where they differ before switching.
Small hotels should prioritize ease of use and fast onboarding. protel PMS (by Planet) leads in ease of use at 4.1/5 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.
HOIST GROUP - HotSoft: No. protel PMS (by Planet): No. Neither product currently offers a free tier. Most Property Management Systems 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. HOIST GROUP has an HT Score of 0 and Planet has 33. 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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