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 46 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 in ease of use and customer support , with exclusive features like Guest Messaging and Mobile Checkin.
Staymyway shines .
Side-by-side ratings based on 46 verified hotelier reviews on HTR.
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| Starting Price | From $100/mo | Contact sales |
| Verified Reviews | 46 | 0 |
After analyzing 46 verified reviews, Gastfreund users most value its support, onboarding, and responsiveness, guest app usability and ease of setup, guest information and digital directory, while Staymyway users highlight . Click any theme to see what reviewers say.
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Support, onboarding, and responsiveness
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Guest app usability and ease of setup
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Guest information and digital directory
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Reducing reception workload and self-service communication
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Local recommendations, excursions, and activity promotion
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Multilingual support and translation quality
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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 | — |
| 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 | — |
| 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 digital guest app can significantly influence your hotel’s guest experience and operational efficiency. Gastfreund | Hotelcore and Staymyway aim to modernize guest interactions, but they approach this goal differently. Gastfreund offers a suite of tools with extensive features and a proven track record, while Staymyway focuses on mobile key access and direct communication. Your choice depends on whether you prioritize feature depth or streamlined guest interactions.
Both products seek to reduce front desk inquiries and enhance guest satisfaction, but Gastfreund’s broader feature set and recent reviews make it the more compelling choice today. How do these differences translate into real benefits for your hotel?
Gastfreund | Hotelcore provides a comprehensive digital guest experience, including a digital guest directory, info channel, hotel newspaper, and hotel board—offering multiple touchpoints for guest engagement. Staymyway centers primarily on mobile key access and direct messaging, making it ideal for properties prioritizing keyless entry and instant communication.
Gastfreund’s platform is more established, with over 7,000 accommodations trusting its solutions worldwide and more recent reviews emphasizing its ease of use and support. Staymyway, with no recent reviews or verified ratings, lacks the depth of feedback necessary to gauge current hotel satisfaction. Given the data, Gastfreund’s proven track record and recent positive reviews make it the more reliable option for most hotels considering a digital guest app.
If your hotel needs a full-featured digital guest experience that reduces operational workload and increases guest engagement, go with Gastfreund. It offers 11 unique features, including request management, room service ordering, and multilingual support, designed to streamline operations and personalize stays.
If your hotel’s primary goal is providing mobile key access, direct messaging, and notifications without extensive digital infrastructure, Staymyway could fit. However, with no recent reviews or measurable ratings, it’s unclear whether it delivers the same level of reliability. For most hotels, especially those wanting added functionalities, Gastfreund presents a safer, more complete choice.
Gastfreund has an impressive ease-of-use rating of 4.27/5, supported by onboarding scores of 4.44/5 and reviews praising its intuitive interface and staff support. Recent reviews mention quick implementation and straightforward operation, with users highlighting its modern design and helpful support staff.
Staymyway has no available ratings or recent reviews for comparison, making it impossible to assess usability. Given the absence of user feedback, it’s safe to say Gastfreund’s user-friendly reputation gives it a clear advantage. Edge: Gastfreund.
Gastfreund offers 11 distinct features, including request management, room service ordering, guest messaging, and automatic multi-lingual translations—capabilities that give your team multiple ways to interact with guests and automate operations. Staymyway’s feature set appears limited to mobile key access and basic communication, with no additional features documented.
This feature depth allows Gastfreund to support a broader range of guest needs, from pre-arrival to post-stay. Edge: Gastfreund.
Gastfreund has a customer support rating of 4.27/5, with reviews emphasizing professional, quick, and friendly assistance. Users praise the team’s responsiveness and flexibility, with some noting the platform’s ongoing improvements.
Staymyway lacks any recent review data or support ratings, making it difficult to evaluate its support quality. Given Gastfreund’s well-rated support and recent positive feedback, it clearly outperforms Staymyway in this critical area. Edge: Gastfreund.
Gastfreund integrates with 13 verified partners, including Winhotel, SiteMinder, and Mews, offering broad compatibility with property management and distribution systems. Staymyway connects with only 7 verified partners, including WebRezPro, Oracle Hospitality, and Cloudbeds, but its integration ecosystem is smaller.
The wider array of integrations with Gastfreund supports smoother operational workflows and easier onboarding for larger or more complex properties. Edge: Gastfreund.
Gastfreund’s recent reviews and ratings reflect a positive reception, with an overall rating of 0/5 but high scores in ease of use, support, and value. In contrast, Staymyway has no recent reviews or ratings, leaving hotelier sentiment unmeasured.
The quantity and recency of reviews for Gastfreund suggest a more reliable and satisfactory experience. Given the data, Gastfreund’s reputation is stronger among hotels currently using or evaluating guest apps. Edge: Gastfreund.
Gastfreund charges a $400 monthly fee, with no implementation or trial fees, and no freemium model. Pricing details for Staymyway are unavailable, which could indicate a bespoke or less transparent pricing structure.
For hotels seeking predictable costs and a clear value proposition, Gastfreund’s transparent pricing is advantageous. The lack of available pricing for Staymyway makes it harder to evaluate its value. Edge: Gastfreund.
Not ideal if you only need basic mobile key access with minimal digital engagement. Smaller properties or those with very limited budgets might find Gastfreund’s feature set more than they require.
Not ideal if your hotel needs a broad suite of guest engagement tools or detailed operational features. Hotels looking for a comprehensive digital guest experience should look elsewhere.
Gastfreund stands out with a well-rounded, feature-rich platform, supported by recent reviews and higher user satisfaction ratings. Its 11 features, extensive integrations, and proven support make it suitable for hotels of all sizes aiming to elevate their guest experience.
Choose Gastfreund if your hotel needs a complete digital guest app that automates many guest interactions, reduces workload, and increases ancillary revenue. Its recent reviews and high support ratings indicate a reliable, user-friendly solution.
Staymyway, with its focus on mobile key access and basic communication, might work for properties seeking a straightforward, contactless check-in solution. However, the lack of recent feedback and limited features make it a less robust choice for most hotels.
For most hotels looking for an established, feature-rich digital guest app, Gastfreund is the clearer, more dependable 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 | — |
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 | ||
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Content Management
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| Hotel Directory | ||
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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 |
We analyzed 3 verified case studies to compare what hotels actually achieve with each platform across four key business objectives.
"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..."
No published case study for this goal yet.
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.
Unique capabilities
Where the ratings diverge most
It depends on your requirements. Gastfreund and Mobile App (STAYmyway) share many core Hotel Guest Apps features, but each has unique capabilities. Gastfreund offers 17 verified integration partners, while Mobile App (STAYmyway) offers 7. Review the feature comparison above to see where they differ before switching.
Small hotels should prioritize ease of use and fast onboarding. Gastfreund leads in ease of use at 4.6/5 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.
Gastfreund: No. Mobile App (STAYmyway): 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 83 and Staymyway 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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