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 215 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:
Solay shines , with exclusive features like Mobile Checkin and Payments.
STAY shines in ease of use and customer support — especially for brand properties (0.0/5) , with exclusive features like Mobile App and Guest Profiles.
Side-by-side ratings based on 215 verified hotelier reviews on HTR.
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| Starting Price | Contact sales | From $300/mo |
| Verified Reviews | 0 | 215 |
After analyzing 215 verified reviews, Solay users most value its , while STAY users highlight guest experience optimization, mobile and user experience, operational efficiency. Click any theme to see what reviewers say.
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Guest Experience Optimization
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Mobile and User Experience
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Operational Efficiency
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Support and Service
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CMS and Customization
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Integration Capabilities
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Analytics and Reporting
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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) ▾ | — | #9 10 reviews |
| Mid-Size (25-74 rooms) ▾ | — | #4 83 reviews |
| Large (75-199 rooms) ▾ | #30 0 reviews | #2 89 reviews |
| X-Large (200+ rooms) ▾ | — | #2 24 reviews |
By Property Type
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| Boutique ▾ | — | #2 77 reviews |
| Luxury ▾ | #38 0 reviews | #2 88 reviews |
| Branded / Chain ▾ | — | #3 91 reviews |
| Extended Stay ▾ | — | #6 7 reviews |
By Region
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| North America ▾ | #28 0 reviews | #5 27 reviews |
| Europe ▾ | — | #3 112 reviews |
| Asia Pacific | — | #6 3 reviews |
| Middle East | — | #7 2 reviews |
Choosing the right hotel guest app can significantly influence your guest experience, operational efficiency, and bottom line. Solay by Solay offers reservation management for poolside and beachside loungers, while STAY Guest App provides a comprehensive suite of digital hotel services. Both aim to improve guest engagement, but they serve different core functions.
Solay focuses on outdoor amenity reservations to reduce stress and enhance safety, especially in social distancing contexts. STAY, on the other hand, offers a broader range of hotel services—from room service to local recommendations—making it more versatile but also more complex.
Are you prioritizing specific guest amenities or seeking a comprehensive guest engagement platform? Let’s explore which solution aligns best with your needs.
This comparison hinges on your hotel’s main priorities. Solay specializes in managing outdoor seating like poolside loungers and cabanas, helping you reduce chaos and improve safety in those areas. STAY offers a broader set of features, including room service requests, hotel directories, and multilingual support, which cater to a more holistic guest experience.
Solay's features are narrowly focused but highly effective for outdoor amenity management, making it ideal for resorts or hotels with significant pool or beach facilities. STAY’s extensive feature set suits hotels aiming for a full-service digital experience that covers multiple touchpoints.
Do you need a solution for outdoor activities alone, or a platform that digitizes all guest services? The answer clarifies the best choice.
If your hotel needs a simple, efficient way to manage poolside and beachside lounge reservations, go with Solay. It’s designed specifically for these amenities, offering mobile check-in and payments, which streamline the guest experience in outdoor spaces.
If your hotel seeks to digitize the entire guest journey—from check-in to local recommendations—STAY is the better fit. Its extensive capabilities include room service ordering, chatbots, multilingual support, and guest profiles, ideal for larger, service-oriented hotels or chains.
For boutique resorts focusing on outdoor spaces, Solay makes sense. Larger hotels and chains that want a comprehensive digital guest platform should opt for STAY.
STAY’s user interface scores 4.78/5, with many reviews praising its intuitive design, simple content management, and quick onboarding. Support and onboarding are rated 4.83/5, with users noting the platform’s ease of implementation and staff training.
Solay’s ratings are unavailable, and it lacks recent reviews, making it difficult to assess its usability. Given the volume and recency of positive feedback for STAY, it’s clearly more user-friendly.
Edge: STAY.
Solay’s unique offerings include mobile check-in and payments, making outdoor amenity management straightforward. STAY boasts 10 features such as hotel directory, guest profiles, room service ordering, multilingual support, chatbot, message routing, automated replies, local recommendations, and request management.
While Solay’s features are limited, STAY provides a more comprehensive set for digitizing multiple guest touchpoints. Its breadth supports diverse hotel operations, providing more value for hotels seeking an all-in-one platform.
Edge: STAY.
STAY is rated 4.83/5 for support and onboarding, with reviews highlighting quick response times and helpful staff. Users appreciate the ease of implementation and ongoing assistance, although some mention limited regional support.
Solay’s support ratings and review volume are nonexistent, making it impossible to compare support quality. The clear winner is STAY, based on recent, consistent positive feedback.
Edge: STAY.
STAY integrates with 20 verified partners, including major systems like hotelkit, SiteMinder, Oracle Hospitality, and more. Solay only has 2 verified partners, including Mews and Revinate.
The broader integration ecosystem of STAY allows it to connect with various hotel management and marketing tools, making it more adaptable to your existing tech stack.
Edge: STAY.
With 206 reviews in the last six months, STAY scores a 3/5 overall and a 9.59/5 NPS, indicating high hotel satisfaction and likelihood to recommend. Hotels of various sizes and segments, especially larger chains, rate it favorably for operational improvements and guest satisfaction.
Solay has no recent reviews or ratings, making it impossible to determine hotel satisfaction or preferences. Based on available data, STAY’s rating profile is significantly stronger.
Edge: STAY.
Solay does not publicly list pricing; it appears to operate without a clear pricing model or free tier. STAY charges $300 per month, with no mention of setup fees or additional costs.
If budget transparency is critical, STAY offers a predictable monthly fee, while Solay’s cost structure remains unclear.
Not ideal if you want a broader digital guest experience or operate mainly indoors.
Not ideal if you only need outdoor amenity management or have a limited budget.
Solay offers a focused solution for outdoor amenity reservations, especially valuable for resorts and hotels with pool or beach facilities. Its niche focus helps manage social distancing and enhances outdoor guest experiences but lacks the broader functionality many hotels need.
STAY provides a comprehensive platform covering nearly every aspect of the guest journey—request management, dining, multilingual support, analytics, and integrations. Its high review volume and recent positive feedback make it a reliable choice for hotels aiming for a full digital transformation.
Choose Solay if your primary goal is outdoor amenity management. Opt for STAY if you want a versatile, scalable guest experience platform that integrates with your existing systems and enhances operational efficiency across your property.
According to HTR's product database, Solay and STAY Guest App share 4 features. Here are the key differences — features one has that the other lacks.
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| Automated Replies | ||
| Chatbot | ||
| Message Routing | ||
| Mobile App | ||
| Mobile Checkin | ||
| Payments | ||
| Request Management | ||
| Room Service Ordering |
We analyzed 8 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.
"Thanks to STAY, we offer our guests an interaction tool with our staff. We can make real-time decisions with it. This simplifies our staff's duties at the same time. The guest expe..."
No published case study for this goal yet.
"Implementing STAY contributed to a significant increase in our revenue and customer satisfaction. The app pays for itself. We have seen significant increases in consumption for all..."
Unique capabilities
What hoteliers love
Multiple reviews highlight how STAY dramatically enhances guest experience by providing digital and sustainable ways for guests to access information... Multiple reviews highlight how STAY dramatically enhances guest experience by providing digital and sustainable ways for guests to access information and services. Features like real-time updates, mobile service ordering, and the ability to make restaurant reservations reduce wait times and provide convenience.
The app's user interface and mobile experience are lauded for being intuitive and easy to navigate. Users find it simple to update information and man... The app's user interface and mobile experience are lauded for being intuitive and easy to navigate. Users find it simple to update information and manage content, whether they are hotel staff or guests.
STAY aids in improving hotel operational efficiency by allowing quicker handling of guest requests, optimized internal processes, and reduced front de... STAY aids in improving hotel operational efficiency by allowing quicker handling of guest requests, optimized internal processes, and reduced front desk lines. The tool facilitates sustainable practices by digitizing traditional paper-based services, aiding hotels in their sustainability goals.
Where hoteliers push back
The CMS is highlighted for its ease of use and customization capabilities, though users have indicated some areas for improvement, particularly more f... The CMS is highlighted for its ease of use and customization capabilities, though users have indicated some areas for improvement, particularly more flexibility in design and functionality.
Users appreciate STAY's robust integration capabilities with various internal applications and systems, including PMS and CRM systems. These integrati... Users appreciate STAY's robust integration capabilities with various internal applications and systems, including PMS and CRM systems. These integrations streamline data management and help provide a seamless experience for both staff and guests.
Ranks higher for
Unique capabilities
Where the ratings diverge most
It depends on your requirements. Solay and STAY Guest App share many core Hotel Guest Apps features, but each has unique capabilities. Solay offers 2 verified integration partners, while STAY Guest App offers 20. Review the feature comparison above to see where they differ before switching.
Small hotels should prioritize ease of use and fast onboarding. STAY Guest App leads in ease of use at 4.8/5 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.
Solay: No. STAY Guest App: 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. Solay has an HT Score of 0 and STAY has 47. 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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