KWHotel User Guides

The main aim of KWHotel Team is to give our users as many possibilities as they can imagine. That is why we have created three different versions of KWHotel:

KWHotel Free
It grants you with an instant access to free hotel management software with legible calendar, customer base and individual reservations. It will never switch to commercial version or force you to pay for existing features. Moreover, you are still entitled to professional technical support and free software updates.

KWHotel Standard
If you seek full functionality, KWHotel Standard version is for you. All available modules and functions, professional technical support and frequent updates. All of this awaits you in KWHotel Standard.

KWHotel Pro
Those, who want to unleash full KWHotel potential, should check the Pro version. This network version of KWHotel allows you to work on multiple computers at once while maintaining full functionality, technical support and frequent updates.

You can find detailed comparison between each of KWHotel versions in Pick Your KWHotel Version section.

KWHotel software is using Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 to download the list of countries. This is a bit older version of .NET Framework and thus it does not include all countries around the world. We are planning to fix this issue in one of upcoming patches.

Luckily, even if your country is not listed in KWHotel and you select a different one, this information will not be listed anywhere. The only section that makes use of country parameter is report called “Statistical office” which shows the number of domestic and foreign tourists that visited your hotel.

Theoretically, it is possible to use KWHotel Free version on multiple computers. However, you would be limited to one computer at a same time since Free version does not feature network component. Additional problem is that in order to maintain database timeliness, you would have to carry it between each computer you are willing to use.

These problems can be easily overcome by purchasing KWHotel Pro version that allows you to work simultaneously on the same database with multiple users.

KWHotel Team is very open to your suggestions regarding our software development. Every day we receive at least few messages with interesting thoughts and ideas on how to improve KWHotel. We include all suggestions on our “to-do” list, which is growing more and more every day.

Online reservations system is a unique KWHotel Team application. It requires only a one time payment and we do not charge any commissions for processed reservations. System is located on our servers; we only share you a script that has to be inserted on your website.

Due to fact, that online reservations system is connected with KWHotel Pro database, there is no possibility to overbook your hotel.
Customer can place a booking only in avaliable terms. System can also be integrated with PayU or DotPay payments so that your customer can pay advance using Internet.

All reservations are instantly visible on the calendar in KWHotel Pro and in case of Internet payment, reservation status will be changed automatically.

You can try out online reservations system here

Available as a free of charge bonus for every KWHotel Pro user, online calendar can be posted on your website. Depending on your needs, it can either show number of available rooms/cottages or beds. Calendar supports multiple languages and additional ones can be easily added.

The price list can be found on KWHotel website (Pick Your KWHotel version).

Please note that you can lower the final price thanks to variety of discounts that we offer to our customers:

– 30% for being a registered KWHotel Free user before the 30th of May 2013
– 15% for placing the link to our website on your website
– 15% for hostels
– 10% for licence prolongation for 2 or 3 years in advance
– 10% for recommending our program to new client who will buy one of the commercial licences

Additionally, the final price includes:

– 12-month licence for KWHotel commercial version of your choice
– immediate access to all updates
– quick technical support via email, Skype, phone or TeamViewer
– professional phone or remote help during program installation

In case of any further questions, do not hesitate to write to contact (at) gretor.com.

KWHotel Team is currently running final tests of our brand new KWHotel app for Android system. It will allow you to browse your calendar, view reservations, edit them and create new ones. It will work only with Pro version. The release date and approximate cost are still yet to be announced.

We do not exclude possibility of creating iOS or web based application in the future.

There are manuals available for each KWHotel version. You can download them from “User Guides” section of this website. They contain detailed overview of program functions and step by step installation guide.

Here is the complete list of issues covered by KWHotel manuals:

*Online reservations system and online calendar (Pro version only)
*KWHotel installation guide
*Creating an in-house room base (Including assortment, room equipment, room groups, hotel packages and creating new rooms)
*Calendar module
*Adding new reservation (Both individual and group reservations)
*Customer module
*Logbook module
*Meals report module
*Bills module
*Statistics module
*Configuration tool
*Extras (Including information about reports, fiscal printers and hotel locks support)

You too can join the KWHotel Team! Become an authorized distributor of KWHotel software in your country! For more information regarding potential benefits of cooperation with KWHotel Team, please contact Us.

KWHotel is a widely recognised software, thus we do our best to make it available in as many languages as possible. Our program is already sold in these languages:

– Polish
– English
– French

Moreover, it is possible to test multilanguage KWHotel Free version, which covers the following languages:

– English
– French
– German
– Spanish
– Italian
– Albanian
– Russian
– Serbian
– Ukrainian
– Slavic
– Swedish

There are even more language versions under construction, just to name few:

– Spanish
– Portuguesse
– Bosnian
– Greek

If you would like to translate KWHotel into your language, please Contact Us. Translators are given free commercial licence for any KWHotel version they pick. Their benefits may be increased if they also agree to translate manuals or our website.

Please go to „User Guides” on and download KWHotel Pro guide, where the newest MySQL installation guide is present.

KWHotel Free provides you with an instant, free hotel management software. We do not charge any fees for using it. The only thing that we ask our users for is to register their software after 30 days of usage. It is a free of charge process and we use it only for statistical purposes.

Once you have registered yourself, KWHotel Free will instantly switch to unlimited licence. If program is unable to complete the registration process, please check your firewall settings if they do not prevent KWHotel from completing the process. If the problem persists, please send us your application key to contact (at) gretor.com

KWHotel is our primary application and thus most of our human resources are dedicated to improving it as much as possible. We are aiming to release new updates quite frequently; some of them are just minor fixes but from time to time we are releasing so called “milestone updates” which bring a lot of new content to KWHotel. Our most recent update – 0.43 – has brought custom reports, possibility to add new fields to reservations, improved daily cleaning report and lots of other interesting features.

In November, we are planning to release another “milestone update”, featuring improved booking options and entirely new group reservations system.

You can check, how each update has improved your KWHotel experience, by visiting our Program Changelog section.

1. Downloading KWHotel Standard

a)Open your e-mail program, select message received from KWHotel Team and download attached file “licence201x.xml”. If having trouble, look for “Download” or “Save” option next to attachment window.
b) Copy file “licence.201x.xml” to chosen destination (Preferably Desktop to allow you to easily find it)
c) Proceed to www.kwhotel.com and log in by using data provided in the e-mail. Now proceed to KWHotel Standard section. You will notice that “Download” option is now available. Please download KWHotel Standard.

2. Transferring data from KWHotel Free
NOTE: Omit this point, if you don`t want to transfer database from the Free version.

a) Start KWHotel program which you want to import data from
b) Choose “File”, then “Create backup”
c) Save the backup copy in the chosen destination (Preferably Desktop to allow you to easily find it)

3. Registration process
IMPORTANT NOTE if you are using Windows Vista/7/8: when loading the licence key, start KWHotel Standard by right clicking on KWHotel Standard icon (Located on the Desktop) and select “Run as Administrator”.

a) KWHotel will ask you for the licence key. Either type your e-mail and licence key or import the “licence201x.xml” file. Both options will work.

ATTENTION
Sometimes firewall may block your registration procedure; in such case either add KWHotel to list of firewall exceptions or click “Load licence.xml file” and apply the licence from there.

1. Installing MySQL server

For more information on how to install MySQL server, please refer to MySQL guide located in “User Guides” section..

2. Downloading KWHotel Pro

a) Open your e-mail program, select message from KWHotel Team and download attached file “licence201x.xml”. If having trouble, look for “Download” or “Save” option next to attachment window.
b) Copy file “licence 201x.xml” to the chosen destination (Preferably Desktop to allow you to easily find it).
c) Now proceed to www.kwhotel.com and log in by using data provided in the e-mail. Now visit KWHotel Pro section. You will notice that download option is available now. Please download and install KWHotel Pro.

3. Transferring data from KWHotel Free or Standard

NOTE: Omit this point if you don`t want to transfer database from other version of KWHotel

a) Start KWHotel program which you want to import data from.
b) Choose “File”, then “Create backup”.
c) Save backup copy in the chosen destination (Preferably Desktop to allow you to easily find it).

4. Registration process

IMPORTANT NOTE if you are using Windows Vista/7/8 system: When loading the licence key, start KWHotel Pro version by right clicking on KWHotel Pro icon (Located on the Desktop) and select “Run as Administrator”.

a) Choose MySQL database server
b) Type your access data; more information about it can be found in KWHotel Pro section.
c) If you haven`t created a database before, click “New DB”.
d) When the database is created, either click “Import from KWHotel” or “New Structure”. If you choose to import data from KWHotel Free or Standard, you must choose the database backup that you want to import data from (It`s the .sdf file).
e) Finally, click “Remember data” and “Connect”.
f) Now KWHotel will ask you for the licence key. Either type your e-mail and licence key or import the “licence201x.xml” file and apply it from there.

Apart from inserting your company logo, KWHotel documents cannot be customised directly from the program. Such modification has to be prepared by KWHotel Team. Minor modifications such as change of few terms or font are free of charge but more advanced operations may require a small fee.

If you would like to customize any document in KWHotel, please send us an e-mail containing the layout you would like to achieve. We will verify it and estimate the potential cost and accomplishment date.

You can also ask us to add fields that currently do not appear in KWHotel. Cost might be slightly higher in such situation.

KWHotel has originally been created thanks to suggestions of our befriended hoteliers back in 2005. We have never gave up on this tradition. We are very open to suggestions brought to us by our users. If you have an interesting idea on how to expand KWHotel, please Contact Us We will gladly consider all suggestions and many of them will certainly be included in the future updates.

Our idea of KWHotel Free was to provide our users with a simple yet powerful hotel management software – for free. We cannot charge anything for KWHotel Free and call it “Free” anymore.

We will never switch KWHotel Free to commercial version and we will never charge anyone for existing features.

Unfortunately, KWHotel is available only through digital distribution.

If you come accross an error, when trying to save fiscal documents, you are most likely missing the Report Viewer 2005 software.

You can download it from here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=21916

Thanks to this feature, you can check how did the customer find out information about your hotel. You can write these descriptions manually. Here are some exemplary ones used by our users:

– From street
– Passing by
– Booking.com
– TV advert

Now you can see which ways of advertising were the most accurate in case of your accommodation facility and which require improvements.

KWHotel Team is very happy that our Pro version receives such positive feedback. Since it is the ultimate version of our software, we would like everyone to be able to try it out.

When you place an order for KWHotel Pro version, you are automatically entitled to 2 week free trial. Even if you decide not to go with our software after trial expires, you will not have to pay any fees.

If you are interested in getting KWHotel Standard trial, feel free to Contact Us.

In order to maintain swift performance and stability, KWHotel does not load full list of customers when you search for them in Customers module or in reservation screen. Instead, you can find particular customer by typing first characters of his name.

For example, if your customer is Leon Smith, you just have to type “Leon”. Now KWHotel will show you the full list of customers that match your criteria. When you select desired customer, program will fill the rest of data for you.

But what if your customer is named Leo Kim? Just type first three characters and press space!

Obligatory check-in and check out options force user to manually check in and check out every guest. This option is useful for those who want to have full control on the reservation procedure.

In order to activate these options, proceed to Tools –> Configuration –> Obligatory check in / Obligatory check out.

KWHotel is currently available in the following languages:

KWHotel Free
– Polish
– English
– French
– German
– Spanish
– Italian
– Albanian
– Russian
– Serbian
– Ukrainian
– Slavic
– Swedish

KWHotel Standard/Pro
– Polish
– English
– French

Under construction
– Spanish
– Greek
– Portuguesse
– Bosnian

KWHotel gives you complete freedom in terms of using currencies. Our program operates on amounts and simply adds the sufix we determine in Tools –> Configuration –> Taxes.

In order to speed up your work, we advise to create assortment in Bills module first. You can assign parameters such as service name, tax, validation date, unit of measurement and more.

Once it has been done, you can quickly add predefined assortment in reservation screen. Simply click Goods and start typing first four letters of the assortment`s name. KWHotel will show you all options that match your criteria. When you select desired assortment, KWHotel will fill the rest of data automatically.

If name of your assortment is less than four characters, simply type them and add space.

Edit customer whose history you are interested at.
Proceed to Other tab
Here, on the bottom, you will notice Issued documents summary.
Select date range and desired document type and click Show report. It will be automatically exported to .csv format.

You can enhance the customer module by introducing your own fields. Those fields can contain any sort of information, including gender, airport pickup request, etc.

In order to add new fields to customer data, add or edit any customer you wish and proceed to “Custom” tab. There will be three options visible on the bottom:

– Add value –> It allows you to add new information
– Edit value –> It allows you to make amendments to any value you wish
– Delete value –> It allows you to delete values you do not want anymore

Value edition screen contains following options:

– Name –> Provide name of your field (I.e GENDER)
– Default –> Marks default answer that will be provided in this field
– Length –> Indicates how many characters can be typed in this field
– Type –> Choose what type of field would you like it to be. Possible choices are:

– String –> Normal string of characters
– Integer –> Digits only
– Boolean –> True/False answer (I.e VIP –> FALSE)
– Enum –> Add multiple options to select from (I.e GENDER [Male/Female])
– Date Time –> Select date

Once you have configured particular field, click Save. Now this field will be visible in all customers.

You can enhance your booking module by introducing your own fields. Those fields can contain any sort of information, including gender, airport pickup request, etc. In order to add new field to bookings, add or edit any booking and proceed to “Custom” tab. There will be three options visible on the bottom:

– Add value –> It allows you to add new information
– Edit value –> It allows you to make amendments to any value you wish
– Delete value –> It allows you to delete values yo do not want anymore

Value edition screen contains following options:

– Name –> Provide name of your field (I.e AIRPORT PICKUP REQUEST)
– Default –> Marks default answer that will be provided in this field
– Length –> Indicates how many characters can be typed in this field
– Type –> Choose what type of field would you like it to be. Possible choices are:

– String –> Normal string of characters
– Integer –> Digits only
– Boolean –> True/False answer (I.e VIP –> FALSE)
– Enum –> Add multiple options to select from (I.e GENDER [Male/Female])
– Date Time –> Select date

Once you have configured particular field, click Save. Now this field will be visible for all bookings.

Additionally, you can now use those extra fields in Reservation parameters report.

After clicking Issue document in reservation edition screen, new window will come up. There you can see four fields, where your own data can be added:

– Room number and description (It`s functional in every booking confirmation)
– Guest policy (It`s functional in every booking confirmation)
– Additional 1 (Please ask KWHotel Support to enable this functionality for you)
– Additional 2 (Please ask KWHotel Support to enable this functionality for you)

Once you have inserted any data into these fields, click anywhere on the booking confirmation to make those changes visible. Now you are good to go.

Reservation parameters report is a brand new report, introduced in 0.43 version of our program. Originally designed for Apostolic Faith church, this report can be freely customised. You simply select information you want to be included in the report, determine the dates and you can either print it or save to .pdf file.

It`s worth noting that additional fields from bookings will also be present here. This enables you to, for instance, print a report with all guests who request pickup from airport at the specific day and hour. Then you can hand it to your driver.

Beginning from 0.43.64 update, revenue report can be picked from KWHotel reports menu. It presents the following data:

– Room symbol
– Room description
– Date
– Total revenue
– Average Daily Rate
– Revenue per available room
– Occupancy
– Total number of residents
– Number of available rooms
– Number of rooms sold

Rooms bar allows you to check payments that have been done for the given room and compare it to total expected payment.

In order to enable hotel locks module, it has to be purchased first.

To acquire information regarding the price, please contact KWHotel Support.

Our software is synchronized with three POS systems:

– Bistro
– Foodsoft
– Gastro

It is a simple synchronization where you can send information from Restaurant POS to our software about charges that should be applied to a specific room.

kwhotel_Import imageWhat makes KWHotel Pro the ultimate version of our software, is the network component. It uses the MySQL and MS SQL databases to ensure swift and stable connection between multiple computers simultaneously.

The fact, that KWHotel Pro takes a different approach to database structure in comparison to KWHotel Free or Standard editions, implies few questions, that have to be taken into account before installing KWHotel Pro.

First of all, distinction between KWHotel Free/Standard and Pro database structure makes it possible only to import data from Free/Standard editions into KWHotel Pro. It cannot be done the other way round.

kwhotel_mysql_iconThe second question, that has to be answered, is whether to use the MySQL or MS SQL server. Although both of them offer the same amount of complexity and performance, we recommend the MySQL server to our customers, since it is easier to configure and manage. All the manuals and information regarding KWHotel Pro are based on the MySQL server configuration option.

After that, User has to think where to store his database. There are four possible options, each of them having its stronger and weaker spots:

1. Install your database on local computer.

In this case, KWHotel Pro will work very fast but in order to connect it from outside the hotel you will have to reconfigure the router. It will still be possible to connect this database through Local Area Network (LAN). The additional advantage of having the local database is that it will still be accessable when your Internet connection goes down.

2. Link your database in Local Area Network

In such case, one of computers located in LAN will perform the role of database host. That`s where MySQL server installation has to be performed. Please bear in mind that access to your database will only be granted when the server computer is turned on. Additional advantage of LAN option is that it gives you excellent performance.

3. Set up your database on KWHotel online hosting server.

For those, who wish to connect their KWHotel Pro from any place worldwide, KWHotel Team has prepared a fast online hosting service for the price of 25 Eur/year. Moreover, such solution greatly increases safety of your database thanks to automatic backup feature. Twice a day, our server creates a backup copy of your database. In case of unexpected issues such as computer crash, your database can be restored the very first moment you install KWHotel Pro. You just need to insert the access data that you have received from our company after purchasing the server. However, you have to bear in mind that performance of this solution is greatly dependent on your Internet connection. At least 2 MB/s Internet connection is required to ensure swift software performance and losing your Internet connection equals losing access to your KWHotel Pro database (For that specific moment).

4. Setting up your database on another hosting server.

If your company happens to have its own remote server or you wish to buy such service from someone else, you can always do so. The performance of this solution also depends on your Internet connection. At least 2MB/s is recommended for good performance. If your Internet connection gets down, you will not be able to reach your KWHotel Pro for that time.

 

KWHotel PMS Screenshots

KWHotel Software Changelog

Changes included in 0.44.41 update:
(March 2015)

– Possibility to automatically check customer`s VAT EU number
– Possibility to display rooms from all hotels on the same calendar (In case of using multiple licenses)
– Enhanced Layout settings (Tools –> Configuration –> Layout)
– Enhanced Users module; it is now possible to assign different privileges to each user group (Tools –> Configuration –> Users)
– New cash reports
– Possibility to place additional comments on the invoice (Tools –> Configuration –> Invoices –> Page 3)
– Possibility to change prefixes in the accounting documents
– Possibility to disable issuing receipts
– Possibility to print invoice`s duplicate
– Possibility to hand keys to the customer (Key icon in the reservation screen)
– Possibility to book reservation for multiple terms (I.e. every three days).
– Possibility to provide additional descriptions for rooms (“Advanced” tab)
– Highly expanded History module (Available in the reservation screen)
– Numerous bugfixes and stability enhancements

Changes included in 0.44.05 update:
(October 2014)

– Improved performance
– New reports
– Customizable booking and customer statuses
– Possibility to add custom nationalities
– Possibility to mark holidays on the calendar
– Possibility to add discounts and additional tax to the reservations
– Possibility to assign access to certain rooms for each user
– Statistical report fixes

Changes included in 0.43.85 update:
(26.03.2014)

– Fully reworked group booking engine to provide more functionality and stability
– Added possibility to move bookings with mouse cursor to another room or term without entering reservation screen
– Added possibility to select multiple reservation terms on calendar while holding CTRL button (Then press ENTER to create group booking)
– Possibility to extend or shorten reservation terms using your mouse cursor without opening reservation screen (Requires holding SHIFT button during operation)
– Added mini-calendar that shows number of free rooms and beds for each day. Feature designed for hostels to facilitate their work when booking a big group
– Added revenue report
– Added additional privilege level – accounting
– Fixed problems with hotel packages
– KWHotel Free –> added possibility to change language in the program
– Improved synchronisation with YieldPlanet, BBLiveRate and WuBook channel managers
– Added synchronisation with Bistro, Gastro and Symplex POS systems
– Increased maximum capacity of hotels to be supported in one KWHotel program
– Added Rooms tab in Statistics module which calculates payments for desired rooms
– Added possibility to prevent junior receptionist from issuing and editing invoices
– Added option to delete selected and finished reservations after desired number of days
– Added possibility to switch between old and new group booking system
– Added “Date of provision” on accounting documents with possibility to change its date and description based on current date, booking start date or booking end date
– Added possibility to force loading Report Viewer during program startup to prevent stability issues
– Possibility to use up to 4 decimal places on invoices
– Minor translation enhancements
– Numerous stability and bug fixes

 Changes included in 0.43.27 update:
(16.10.2013)

– Added possibility to create custom fields in reservation window
– Added possibility to create custom fields in customer window
– Added possibility to include guest photo in customer window
– Added “Find room” option in the calendar screen
– Added possibility to create custom reports, that also include custom fields created in reservations window
– Added option to transfer advance amount as second payment in accounting documents. Option designed for gathering commissions and provisions by travel agencies
– New daily cleaning report, designed for better legibility (Old one is still present in the program as “Daily cleaning report 2”)
– Added HTML Booking Confirmation 3 and 4 (For preview purposes)
– Added possibility to attach any type of file to reservation
– New tab in Statistics module: Rooms. It shows cash inflow for particular rooms in the given time range
– TeamViewer Support is now available from Help
– Postcode can now be up to 15 characters long
– Added option to disable Booking Confirmation 1&2 or 3&4 in the reservation window
– Added possibility to download rates from YieldPlanet to booking confirmations (Advised for Premium module users only)
– Added possibility to include custom fields in booking confirmations. These have to be enabled by KWHotel Team for your request
– Fixed statistical office report bug
– English translation greatly improved
– Increased stability
– Minor fixes and enhancements

Changes included in 0.41 update:
(04.02.2013)

– Advanced room price list
– Possibility to set disproportionate price in accordance to number of people accommodated in the room
– Auto-booking from On-line booking sites; includes rate plan, On-line reservation number and On-line booking site`s name (Premium Module)
– English translation greatly improved
– Reports module renamed to Statistics

Changes included in 0.40 update:
(11.01.2013)

– Year 2013 invoices support
– Detailed shift report
– Sending bookings confirmation to selected E-mail
– On-line backup
– After deleting meals description, ammount on accounting documents will also include cost of meals

Changes included in 0.39 update:
(–.11.2012)

– Option to support multiple objects at once
– Premium Module: downloading prices from selected rate plans
– Automatic subtracting advances on fiscal receipts
– Sorting documents fixed
– Meals statistics fixed
– Customer database search speed improved

Changes included in 0.38 update:
(03.09.2012)

– Calendar layout improved
– Hotel locks support
– Expanded “Deleted reservations” report
– Cash reports fixed and expanded
– Additional logbook reports and functions

Changes included in 0.37 update:
(01.06.2012)

– Sending On-line reservations to travel agencies system modernized
– Rate plans and rate plans management features for Premium Module and YieldPlanet

Changes included in 0.36 update:
(22.02.2012)

– Invoices adjusting notes
– Second type of bookings confirmation
– Date change speed improved
– Free rooms in group reservations refresh speed improved

Changes included in 0.35 update:
(15.01.2012)

– Cash Receipt printings
– On-line reservations number and search engine next to it
– User, who added a customer
– Option to ask whether customer agrees for mailing

Changes included in 0.34 update:
(10.12.2011)

– Individual customer and company division
– Room cleanliness statuses

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