Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: anyone using a web-based reservatoin system for guest rooms that accepts credit cards?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Jul 25, 2014, at 12:04 PM, Stephan Sylvan <stephan.sylvan [at] gmail.com> 
wrote:

> We've begun exploring web-based reservation systems used by bed and
> breakfast inkeepers, small hotel/motel inkeepers, etc. to manage the guest
> room reservation process including taking credit cards for the $20
> donation. If it worked out, such a system should eliminate most of the
> issues associated with collecting and processing checks as well as others.

We have a calendar on our members-only website that makes reservations for our 
two guest rooms but does not take payments. It was written by a former resident 
using several programming languages. One is CGI but even he doesn't remember 
what else he used. If it ever breaks we are done.

An important feature that we have not been able to find anywhere else is a 
queue. If someone cancels a reservation they can notify the person in the queue.

We use CalendarWiz for our other reservations and like it very much. We have 
assigned parking spaces and three people who don't have cars make their spots 
available to reserve for guests. We reserve all the other spaces in the CH. It 
will also record events in other locations, saving the event location. A few 
people go regularly to a SeaShanty sing at a pub in the next town, for example, 
so that address is stored as a location.

But CalendarWiz doesn't keep a queue or handle payments.

Paypal is very easy to set up to take payments. And easy to send invoices to 
people to pay using a credit cards without having your own credit card account. 
Just put a button on your website. Someone wil haven to check payments against 
reservations but you would have to do that anyway.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org