openROOM vs. Simple Booking (Reservations System):
Which Is Right for You?

The Decision

Choosing between openROOM by openROOM and Simple Booking by Simple Booking hinges on your hotel’s specific needs. Both products aim to streamline reservations but approach this goal differently: openROOM emphasizes conversion and tailored booking experiences, while Simple Booking offers a broad ecosystem supporting direct bookings, channel management, and marketing. Your decision should reflect whether your priority is a highly effective booking engine or an integrated reservation and marketing platform. So, which aligns better with your hotel’s strategy?

Is openROOM or Simple Booking Better for Hotels?

Both openROOM and Simple Booking serve as booking engines, yet they diverge significantly in scope, features, and market presence. openROOM is renowned for its high conversion rates, designed specifically to maximize bookings through an intuitive interface and adaptable search options, including youth hostels. Simple Booking, meanwhile, extends beyond the booking engine, integrating channel management, marketing tools, and a CRM, supporting hotels seeking a comprehensive reservation system.

With only 10 reviews and a limited recent feedback window, openROOM’s data is sparse and less current. Conversely, Simple Booking boasts 29 reviews, with recent feedback emphasizing its functional flexibility and integration strengths. This recent review activity makes Simple Booking’s user insights more representative of current performance. Given the difference in review volume and recency, Simple Booking’s standing is more reliable.

Which Should Your Hotel Choose: openROOM or Simple Booking?

If your hotel prioritizes a booking engine with a focus on high conversion, tailored guest search, and an intuitive booking process—especially suited for independent hotels, youth hostels, or small chains—openROOM is the better option. Its core strength lies in streamlining the booking flow and adapting to niche needs, making it ideal if your primary goal is to increase direct reservations.

If you require a broader platform that combines reservation management, channel synchronization, marketing, and CRM capabilities—particularly useful for hotels aiming to control their distribution and enhance direct bookings—Simple Booking is the clearer choice. Its extensive integrations, marketing tools, and scalability cater to mid-sized and larger properties seeking an all-in-one solution.

Is openROOM or Simple Booking Easier to Use?

Both products score near-perfectly on ease of use, with openROOM rated 4.8/5 and Simple Booking 4.79/5. openROOM’s interface is celebrated for its simplicity and intuitive design, making onboarding smooth and staff adoption straightforward. Customers mention that communication and support are fluid, reinforcing user confidence.

Simple Booking’s platform is equally praised for its user-friendly navigation and back-office efficiency, with reviews highlighting its speed and ease of managing reservations and channel integrations. However, some users have noted recent difficulties reaching support, slightly tempering the overall experience.

Edge: openROOM.

Which Has Better Features: openROOM or Simple Booking?

Simple Booking clearly offers a broader feature set, with 19 unique functionalities not present in openROOM, including urgency messaging, booking abandonment recapture, PCI compliance, social media integration, A/B testing, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal. These features support conversion, marketing, and flexible payment options, giving it a competitive edge for hotels looking to optimize guest engagement and revenue.

openROOM, in contrast, provides a single core feature—the booking engine—which is highly focused on conversion but lacks additional functionalities like marketing tools or payment options. Its strength is in delivering a highly effective, tailored booking experience rather than a suite of complementary features.

Edge: Simple Booking.

Which Has Better Customer Support: openROOM or Simple Booking?

openROOM’s support scores a remarkable 4.9/5, with reviewers emphasizing their commitment and fluid communication. Customers describe openROOM as a strategic partner who genuinely acts in your hotel’s best interest, making support and shared decision-making a standout.

Simple Booking’s support ratings are slightly lower at 4.76/5, with positive comments about responsiveness. However, recent reviews indicate difficulty reaching support and cumbersome interactions, reflecting some decline in support quality. For hoteliers valuing proactive, responsive help, openROOM’s support is the stronger choice.

Edge: openROOM.

Which Has More Integrations: openROOM or Simple Booking?

Simple Booking offers a significant advantage here, with 56 verified partners and integrations across property management systems, payment gateways, and marketing channels. It supports over 120 distribution channels and features native integrations with major metasearch engines like Trivago and TripAdvisor, facilitating broad distribution and management.

openROOM, on the other hand, lacks verified integration partners, limiting its connectivity options. This makes Simple Booking more adaptable for hotels seeking extensive platform compatibility and seamless multi-channel management.

Edge: Simple Booking.

Which Do Hoteliers Rate Higher: openROOM or Simple Booking?

Given the limited review volume and recent activity for openROOM, it does not currently have enough data to determine property-specific ratings—every review is marked 0/5, which suggests a lack of recent or detailed feedback. For Simple Booking, with 28 reviews, the feedback is more comprehensive, with many praising its flexibility, ease of use, and impact on increasing bookings.

For property types like city center hotels, resorts, and larger properties, recent reviews consistently highlight Simple Booking’s ability to boost revenue and manage complex booking scenarios. Due to the more detailed and recent reviews, Simple Booking holds the higher hotel rating reputation.

Edge: Simple Booking.

How Much Do openROOM and Simple Booking Cost?

openROOM’s pricing is listed at a flat rate of $400 monthly without a trial, no freemium version or implementation fees noted. Its high price point reflects its specialized focus on conversion and tailored solutions, but the lack of flexible pricing might be less attractive to smaller hotels.

Simple Booking, priced at $200 per month, also does not offer a free tier or trial but provides extensive functionality and integrations. Its lower cost combined with comprehensive features makes it appealing for hotels seeking value for money.

What Type of Hotel Should Use openROOM?

• Hotels that prioritize high conversion rates in their booking process.
• Independent hotels and youth hostels needing adaptable search options.
• Hotels with a focus on enhancing direct booking effectiveness.
• Small hotels or boutique properties seeking a specialized booking engine.
• Teams aiming to improve user experience and streamline reservations.
• Not ideal if your hotel needs extensive marketing, channel management, or integrated payment features.

What Type of Hotel Should Use Simple Booking?

• Hotels looking for an all-in-one reservation and distribution platform.
• Medium to large hotels, resorts, and properties with diverse distribution channels.
• Hotels wanting to integrate marketing tools, CRM, and metasearch capabilities.
• Hotels that need extensive customization and advanced analytics.
• Teams aiming to manage multiple channels and optimize revenue strategies.
• Not ideal if your hotel only needs a simple booking engine without integrated marketing or extensive features.

The Bottom Line for Hotels: Which Product Is Right?

openROOM offers a focused, high-conversion booking engine suited for hotels that want to maximize reservations through an intuitive interface. Its main advantage is its tailored experience for independent hotels and youth hostels, providing a simple yet effective solution for increasing direct bookings.

Simple Booking stands out with its broad ecosystem, offering more features, integrations, and support for diverse hotel types. Its extensive partner network and marketing tools make it the ideal choice for properties seeking a scalable, integrated reservation and distribution platform.

If your hotel’s priority is a cutting-edge booking engine with proven conversion rates, go with openROOM. But if you need a comprehensive, flexible system that simplifies distribution, marketing, and reservations, Simple Booking is the safer bet for future growth.