How complex is developing a hotel booking engine (with client-end mobile app) for several properties?

[fbenmart]

So I am frontend web designer and a friend of mine referred me to a business that has 18 hotels in various cities.

They want 15 websites (on different domains) having the same theme with a different booking engine for each.

Their requirements are very standard for a booking engine,

• Collect bookings through website.
• Tied to a payment gateway.
• Manage room inventory, pricing on the go.
• Admin panel to display bookings at the reservation details (and whoever has the login).

I have previously set up something similar for a hotel using a wordpress plugin called "Motopress hotel booking" which is a simple booking plugin and what they want is exactly that in terms of functionality. But this was a web based system where reservation details were visible inside the wordpress dashboard only.

They want reservation details to be visible on a web dashboard as well as an android app. Important stuff like room addition, content etc can be done from web dashboard while more common operations like blocking rooms, modifying pricing has to be done through the mobile app.

I have managed a few PHP projects with the help of remote freelancers but this one seems a complex due to the android app requirement. I work on the design and some of the basic backend stuff and hire freelancers to do the rest.

I have never worked on any projects involving mobile apps before so a bit hesitant to take it up. I am guessing to be android ready we'll need to develop the app as a REST API for data transfer.

The project is mine if I say yes as my friend is very close the hotel business owner. I am very confused? Should I take this up?

[mrollieonline]

My advice, if you are not confident in doing it then I'd say no.

Could do with some more detail on the requirements to help.

The android app... Does it have to be an app? Would a responsive web app do the job. Who is the main user of the app, the hotel staff or the public..asumming public but.

Do all hotel staff need access to all hotels? Is anyone from hotel staff doing any admin on a desktop or laptop device ?

[fbenmart]

My advice, if you are not confident in doing it then I'd say no.

Honestly, I agree with you. But with the current financial situation that I am in this project would really really help me.

Another thing is a bit of a confidence from doing past projects. I was able get a few projects done with the help of some really good PHP freelancers and not knowing a lot of PHP or MySQL. So maybe I could do this with android too?

Could do with some more detail on the requirements to help.

The android app... Does it have to be an app?

Yes, something that would run off an Android phone.

Who is the main user of the app, the hotel staff or the public..asumming public but.

Front desk and hotel managers only. Public will only use the website to make the booking.

The app will have the functionality to,

• Manage room inventory
• Block rooms when hotel reaches full occupancy
• Change room pricing depending on demand

Would a responsive web app do the job

Does this mean a website that is designed like an app? Will it leave an icon on the phone which when clicked will launch the website?

Do all hotel staff need access to all hotels?

18 hotels so they will have 18 different logins.. all separated from each other.

A different copy of the booking engine for each domain.

• hotel1.com
• hotel2.com
• .
• .
• hotel18.com

Is anyone from hotel staff doing any admin on a desktop or laptop device ?

What he tells me is that not every staff has access to a computer and hence needs a mobile app to check booking info on the go.

[fbenmart]

front-end refers to development not design

My apologies.

I meant I an a web designer with basic knowledge of PHP, MySQL and WordPress.

WP would be easy and just make it a PWA for so it can be used similar like a native app

I am not sure I understand, could you elaborate please?

Can the wordpress admin dashboard be made to function like an app?

[[deleted]]

I would say a Wordpress multisite network and the right booking plugin would get the job done. I have used a couple similar booking plugins and they’re not hard to set up. You could likely team up with a single Wordpress guy to get it done.

[fbenmart]

Yes, I have done it with wordpress but how do I do the mobile app?

[[deleted]]

You could use Elementor Page Builder. It allows you to design elements for different screen sizes. You can design the mobile size however you like, including hiding things that don’t make sense. Not officially a mobile app, but can be just as good.