--- title: Hotel Management Articles & Guides | bedsKey description: Practical articles, hotel terms explained and software comparisons for independent hotels, hostels and guest houses, in one place. canonical: https://bedskey.com/blog/ updated: 2026-10-05 publisher: bedsKey (Innovate Solution) --- # Articles and guides for hotel owners and managers Practical articles, plain-language guides to hotel terms and side-by-side software comparisons for the people who run independent hotels, resorts, hostels and guest houses. Use them whether or not you run bedsKey. ## Latest articles ### [How to choose a hotel PMS](https://bedskey.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-hotel-pms/) A buyer's checklist for independent hotels, hostels and guest houses: the 12 questions that separate a good hotel PMS from an expensive mistake. ### [Prevent double bookings and overbooking](https://bedskey.com/blog/prevent-hotel-overbooking/) Why hotels end up selling the same room twice, the five usual causes, how to prevent each one, and what to do for the guest when it still happens. ### [Get more direct bookings](https://bedskey.com/blog/get-more-direct-bookings/) Practical ways for independent hotels to move guests from online travel agencies to their own website: booking page, pricing, payments and repeat guests. ### [Revenue management for small hotels](https://bedskey.com/blog/revenue-management-for-small-hotels/) A simple revenue management routine for independent hotels: three KPIs, BAR and derived rates, stay restrictions, occupancy-based pricing and a weekly review. ### [Night audit checklist](https://bedskey.com/blog/hotel-night-audit-checklist/) A step-by-step night audit checklist for hotels: what to reconcile before the audit, what the audit does, which reports to review after, and common errors. ### [Housekeeping room statuses explained](https://bedskey.com/blog/housekeeping-room-status-guide/) What vacant clean, vacant dirty, inspected, occupied, DND, out of order and out of service mean, who sets each one, and a simple daily housekeeping workflow. ### [bKash and Nagad payments for hotels](https://bedskey.com/blog/bkash-nagad-hotel-payments/) How hotels in Bangladesh can take bKash, Nagad, card and bank payments for direct bookings: deposits, card holds, refunds, reconciliation and setup steps. ## Hotel terms explained ### [PMS](https://bedskey.com/glossary/pms/) A hotel PMS runs reservations, check-in, room status, billing and night audit in one system. What it does, who needs one and how to choose. ### [ADR](https://bedskey.com/glossary/adr/) ADR is room revenue divided by room nights sold. The formula, a worked example, what to include and exclude, and how ADR relates to RevPAR. ### [RevPAR](https://bedskey.com/glossary/revpar/) RevPAR is room revenue divided by rooms available, or ADR × occupancy. Formula, a worked example and why hotels use it to measure performance. ### [Occupancy rate](https://bedskey.com/glossary/occupancy-rate/) Occupancy rate is room nights sold divided by room nights available. The formula, a worked example, bed-level occupancy for hostels and common mistakes. ### [BAR](https://bedskey.com/glossary/best-available-rate/) BAR is a hotel's standard public rate for a night, and the parent other rates are derived from. How BAR works, derived-rate examples and BAR vs ADR. ### [Night audit](https://bedskey.com/glossary/night-audit/) The hotel night audit posts room and tax charges, reconciles the day, flags no-shows and rolls the business date. What it does and how to automate it. ### [Guest folio](https://bedskey.com/glossary/guest-folio/) A guest folio is the running statement of every charge, tax and payment for a stay. How folios work, split and transferred bills, and folio vs invoice. ### [City ledger](https://bedskey.com/glossary/city-ledger/) The city ledger is a hotel's accounts receivable for companies and agents billed after the stay. How it works, an example and how to manage it. ### [Channel manager](https://bedskey.com/glossary/channel-manager/) A channel manager sends rates and availability to booking channels and brings reservations back. How it works, key features and how to avoid overbooking. ### [Rate parity](https://bedskey.com/glossary/rate-parity/) Rate parity means consistent room prices across channels. What parity is, why disparities happen, how to check it, and parity vs channel-specific rates. ### [Booking engine](https://bedskey.com/glossary/booking-engine/) A hotel booking engine lets guests book directly on the hotel website, without commission. How it works, must-have features and how deposits work. ### [CTA / CTD](https://bedskey.com/glossary/cta-ctd/) CTA stops stays starting on a date; CTD stops stays ending on it. How both restrictions work, examples, and how they differ from minimum stay. ## Comparisons ### [PMS vs spreadsheets](https://bedskey.com/compare/pms-vs-spreadsheets/) Spreadsheets vs a hotel PMS compared on double bookings, rates, billing, night audit, reporting and cost, and the signs it is time to move to a PMS. ### [Cloud vs on-premise PMS](https://bedskey.com/compare/cloud-vs-on-premise-pms/) Cloud vs on-premise hotel PMS compared on cost, setup, updates, security, backups, remote access and internet dependence, with honest trade-offs. ### [PMS vs channel manager vs booking engine](https://bedskey.com/compare/pms-vs-channel-manager/) What a hotel PMS, a channel manager and a booking engine each do, how they connect, whether you need all three, and the benefit of one system. ## More reading - [Full glossary (27 terms)](https://bedskey.com/glossary/) - [Comparisons](https://bedskey.com/compare/) - [FAQ](https://bedskey.com/faq/) ## bedsKey https://bedskey.com/contact/ · sales@bedskey.com