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Tried & Tested | The Avvie iPhone App

Alice | April 16, 2011 | Comments (0)

What Is It?

In a nutshell, Avvie is a way to manage a B&B availability calendar and B&B reservations on an iPhone – so any time, any place.

The Avvie availability calendar is added to your B&B website and – instead of receiving lengthy emails and ‘inquiries’ from a customer – you can receive an instant reservation request for any ‘available’ period in the calendar. As soon as you log in and confirm the reservation, it will appear as unavailable on the calendar.

On the front end, choose from different colour schemes and languages to customize the calendar’s appearance to suit your website. In the Back Office, manage, delete or edit any reservations yourself in the iPhone App and the changes will be updated immediately on the website. You can also send emails to customers from the iPhone.

For B&Bs with multiple rooms, there are two options; one calendar showing overall availability or – much better in BnB Edition‘s humble opinion – separate calendars for each room.

Pros

Screen potential customers – the reservations aren’t automatic so you can confirm or reject as you see fit.
Be the first B&B to respond – if travellers are searching for accommodation online right now, you can be the first place to get back to them and secure their custom.
A three month free trial so you can see if it’s for you without spending your hard-earned cash.
Instant updates.
Manage the B&B from anywhere. (As long as you have an iPhone with you!)
Set up email templates to reply to a guest with a single click.

Cons

First, you need an iPhone to take full advantage of the whole ‘instant’ side of the App … it’s a big investment. (And a contribution to the Steve Jobs Retirement Fund.)
Can it really be done anywhere? Avvie boasts that you can manage your B&B from the beach, but we reckon sand and sun cream might bean issue in real life.