Hospitality glossary

25 hotel industry terms defined

PMS, RevPAR, ADR, OTA, channel manager, rate parity, overbooking, concierge, folio, length-of-stay, no-show policy - each defined in plain English for SLAtech AI Hospitality. See also the FAQ and the glossary.

ADR (Average Daily Rate)

Average room revenue / occupied room-nights. Distinct from RevPAR (which includes vacancies). SLAtech AI Hospitality's assistant can quote dynamic ADR based on date / room type / length-of-stay rules configured by the revenue manager.

Channel manager

Software that synchronises room availability and rates across multiple OTAs + the hotel's direct site. SLAtech AI Hospitality integrates with major channel managers (SiteMinder, Cloudbeds Channel Manager, Hotelrunner) to ensure assistant quotes are inventory-accurate.

Channel manager

Software synchronising inventory + rates across OTAs (Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda) and direct-booking channels. SLAtech AI Hospitality reads channel-manager availability to prevent overbooking when direct booking happens concurrent with OTA traffic.

Concierge depth

AI assistant's ability to respond to local-attraction, F&B, transport, and tour requests beyond basic booking. Requires curated local knowledge-base. SLAtech AI Hospitality's concierge depth is per-property tuned at signup; generic chatbots default to English-first generic recs.

Concierge service

Hotel staff helping guests with restaurant reservations, transport, tour booking, local recommendations. SLAtech AI Hospitality augments concierge with a 24/7 multilingual assistant for FAQs, restaurant info and transport coordination - escalates to live concierge for complex requests.

Direct booking

Reservation made through the hotel's own website or assistant - bypassing OTA commission. Hotels actively incentivise direct booking via best-rate guarantees. SLAtech AI Hospitality's assistant is a top direct-booking-conversion lever.

Early check-in

Arrival before standard check-in time (often 3pm). Availability depends on housekeeping rotation. SLAtech AI Hospitality assistant surfaces early-check-in availability and handles guaranteed-early-check-in upgrades.

Folio (guest bill)

The guest's running tab of room charges, F&B, mini-bar, services. SLAtech AI Hospitality assistant can surface folio summary to the guest on demand (via PMS integration) and handle questions about specific line items.

Group booking

Reservation for multiple rooms (weddings, conferences, sports teams). Special rates and room-block management apply. SLAtech AI Hospitality assistant identifies group-booking inquiries and routes to sales team rather than auto-processing.

Group rate / block-rate quote

Discount-rate quotation for multi-room bookings (wedding, corporate event, tour operator). Requires deposit collection + cutoff date + room block guarantee. SLAtech AI Hospitality ships a group-rate workflow native; generic chatbots cannot quote group rates.

Guest review

Post-stay review on TripAdvisor / Booking.com / Google / hotel's own site. Material to SEO and future booking conversion. SLAtech AI Hospitality assistant can prompt a review post-stay with a direct link to the appropriate platform.

Late check-out

Departure after the standard time (often 11am or noon). Hotels often charge for late check-out beyond a grace window. SLAtech AI Hospitality assistant handles late-check-out requests against PMS-configured policies.

Length of stay (LOS)

Number of nights a guest stays. Minimum-LOS restrictions used in revenue management (e.g. 2-night minimum on summer weekends). SLAtech AI Hospitality assistant enforces configured LOS rules when quoting availability.

Loyalty programme

Hotel-chain loyalty schemes: Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, Hyatt World, Accor Live Limitless. SLAtech AI Hospitality assistant surfaces loyalty status, points balance and tier-specific perks during booking conversations.

Loyalty tier recognition

Hotel loyalty programmes (Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors) with member-tier benefits (room upgrades, late checkout, points multipliers). SLAtech AI Hospitality looks up loyalty status at intake and surfaces tier-appropriate offers.

No-show policy

Hotel's charge / cancellation rule when a booked guest doesn't arrive. Commonly full-night charge for non-cancellable bookings, deposit forfeiture for flexible. SLAtech AI Hospitality assistant surfaces no-show policy at booking confirmation.

OTA (Online Travel Agency)

Third-party booking platforms: Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, Airbnb. Charge 15-25% commission per booking. SLAtech AI Hospitality's assistant pushes for direct booking (lower vendor cost) while remaining channel-compatible for OTA-originated guests.

Occupancy rate

% of available rooms sold. Industry baseline 65-75% annual; varies seasonally. SLAtech AI Hospitality dashboards surface occupancy alongside booking-funnel conversion rates.

Overbooking

Selling more rooms than physically available - a common revenue-management practice anticipating cancellations. SLAtech AI Hospitality's assistant can be configured with overbooking limits per room type and routes to a human-handoff if confirmation cannot be guaranteed.

PMS (Property Management System)

The hotel's operational system of record - reservations, room inventory, guest folios, housekeeping status. Major PMS vendors: Opera (Oracle), Cloudbeds, Mews, Apaleo, Protel. SLAtech AI Hospitality integrates with major PMS systems via REST APIs to read live availability, write back reservations and pull guest context.

PMS (Property Management System)

Hotel's operational system of record for reservations, room status, guest profiles, billing. Examples: Mews, Cloudbeds, Opera, Protel. SLAtech AI Hospitality integrates with PMS APIs to quote live availability + rates; generic chatbots scrape stale cached rate sheets.

Rate parity

Contractual obligation to OTAs forbidding lower rates on the hotel's own site than on the OTA. SLAtech AI Hospitality assistant quotes follow the configured rate-parity policy - typically matching public OTA rates while offering perks (free breakfast, room upgrade) to direct bookers.

RevPAR (Revenue per Available Room)

Hotel revenue management metric: total room revenue / total available room-nights. Industry benchmark. SLAtech AI Hospitality's assistant indirectly lifts RevPAR by increasing direct-booking conversion (avoiding OTA commission) and handling late-night booking attempts that would otherwise abandon.

Room upgrade

Moving a guest to a higher category room (commonly free at check-in based on availability and loyalty status). SLAtech AI Hospitality's assistant surfaces upgrade availability and quotes paid-upgrade prices during pre-arrival chat.

Walk-in

Guest arriving without a prior booking. SLAtech AI Hospitality's assistant supports same-day walk-in queries - surfaces live availability and handles same-day booking through the integrated PMS.

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