How Raines Built Team Confidence with a More Intuitive PMS

OPERATIONS

Raines was dealing with a PMS that created ongoing challenges with OTA connectivity, rate shopping, and room-type pricing. The 60-property hotel owner-operator turned to its revenue management partner, Lighthouse, for a recommendation for their independent, boutique properties. They pointed Raines to Stayntouch.

Why it matters: For Raines, ease of use was more than a nice-to-have. Two of its independent boutique hotels work with programs like the Carolina Life Program, which gives college students with disabilities hands-on experience in front desk and housekeeping roles. Raines needed a PMS that was intuitive, visual, and easy for teams to learn, while still delivering the reliability and integrations required to support a growing multi-property portfolio.

Stayntouch PMS is the system Raines’ teams use every day to manage reservations, check guests in and out, assign rooms, and process payments. At its independent boutique hotels, some front desk and housekeeping roles are supported through college programs like the Carolina Life Program, making an intuitive, easy-to-learn system especially important for teams with a wide range of experience and abilities.

Top 3 Core Objectives: Raines needed to replace an unreliable PMS with a cloud-based system that was easy for a diverse front-line team to learn and use, worked seamlessly with its existing technology partners, and could support the growth of its independent boutique portfolio.

Improve PMS Reliability: Replace an unstable system that was causing OTA connectivity issues, rate-shopping errors, and room-type pricing problems that disrupted day-to-day operations.
East to Learn PMS: Choose an intuitive, easy-to-learn PMS that front desk and housekeeping staff with a wide range of experience and abilities could use confidently.
Preserve Existing Technology Stack: Find a PMS that worked with Raines’ existing partners, including M3, Toast, and Dormakaba, so the team could avoid replacing trusted systems or retraining staff on new tools.

Innovators Mentioned

Raines

Stayntouch

Stephanie Atkisson

SVP of Commercial Strategies

Raines

"A lot of our tech stack lined up with everything Stayntouch had integrations with, which was important, because with our prior system, that was not the case. Running a lot of properties, it's just easier to keep your partners in line rather than going off book and having to train on new things."

Stephanie Atkisson

SVP of Commercial Strategies

👍 SVP of Commercial Strategies Stephanie Atkisson said that Asked what tipped the decision toward Stayntouch after Raines' revenue management partner, Lighthouse, recommended a few options::

"A lot of our tech stack lined up with everything Stayntouch had integrations with, which was important, because with our prior system, that was not the case. Running a lot of properties, it's just easier to keep your partners in line rather than going off book and having to train on new things."

⚖️ The selection process: During their research process, Stephanie Atkisson evaluated Stayntouch's product differentiators, customer support, and holistic value as a strategic partner and ultimately decided that Stayntouch was the best fit solution:

SVP of Commercial Strategies Stephanie Atkisson said, about their decision: "We haven't had any connectivity issues, we haven't had rate-shopping issues, nothing that would impede us doing business."

📈 The results: Since switching to Stayntouch, Raines has eliminated the major connectivity, rate-shopping, and booking issues that had become part of daily life with its previous PMS. The team is spending less time troubleshooting the system, and leadership no longer has to stay closely involved just to keep hotel operations running smoothly.

More Reliable Day-to-Day Operations Raines has experienced no major connectivity or rate-shopping issues since making the switch. That is a significant change from its previous system, where unresolved support issues often left the team in what Stephanie described as a “holding pattern.” While the team is still working through a newer texting integration, it has not disrupted day-to-day hotel operations.
A Smoother Onboarding and Go-Live Raines’ executive team found Stayntouch straightforward to learn, especially compared with the lengthy training required by previous systems. Stayntouch also provided on-site support during go-live, something Stephanie called “monumental” given how many moving pieces are involved in a PMS transition.
Less Hands-On Oversight, More Room to Scale Stephanie no longer needs to be deeply involved in daily PMS operations or troubleshooting. When she does need visibility, remote access allows her to check in on any property in seconds. Raines is now bringing its second independent hotel onto Stayntouch and plans to use the multi-property dashboard to manage both from one place as it continues growing its independent boutique portfolio.