Hotel / motel / bed & breakfast / inn software, built around CFP, ServSafe and transient occupancy / lodging tax engine

Arkathos gives a hotel a workspace tailored to how the work actually runs — This workspace is built around filling room-nights and running the front desk — reservations, incidental POS, lodging tax, and hourly staff payroll. Arkathos tailors a hotel workspace around 5 agents: Quartermaster, Treasury, mint-warden, Marshall, Herald.

Compliance a hotel can't afford to miss

Watchtower tracks every license, bond, insurance policy, and continuing-education requirement for a hotel, with renewal cadences and staged reminders so nothing lapses.

• A hotel must maintain a General business license, which renews every year.
• A hotel must maintain a Lodging / Hotel Establishment License, through the State or local health/lodging authority (e.g., FL DBPR Division of Hotels & Restaurants; local health/building dept where no statewide license), which renews every year.
• A hotel must maintain a Lodging establishment / innkeeper license, through the State / County Health Dept or Lodging Board, which renews every year.
• A hotel must maintain a Transient Occupancy / Hotel-Lodging Tax Registration, through the State Department of Revenue and/or local (city/county) tax authority, which has no fixed renewal cycle.
• A hotel must maintain a Certificate of Occupancy, through the Local Building Dept, which has no fixed renewal cycle.
• A hotel must maintain a Food Service Establishment Permit, through the Local or state health department (retail food program), which renews every year.
• A hotel must maintain a Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM), through the ANSI-CFP / ANAB-accredited food protection manager program (e.g., ServSafe / National Restaurant Association), which renews every 5 years.
• A hotel must maintain a Food service establishment permit (breakfast / F&B), through the Local Health Dept, which renews every year.
• A hotel must maintain a Liquor / ABC license, through the State ABC / Liquor Board, which renews every year.
• A hotel must maintain a On-Premise Retail Liquor License, through the State Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) authority (municipal issue in some states, e.g., NJ), which renews every year.
• A hotel must maintain a Certified Pool/Spa Operator (CPO), through the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance (PHTA), which renews every 5 years.
• A hotel must maintain a Fire / life-safety inspection permit, through the Local Fire Marshal, which renews every year.
• A hotel must maintain a Fire & Life-Safety Inspection Certificate, through the Local fire marshal / Authority Having Jurisdiction (per NFPA 101 Life Safety Code as adopted), which renews every year.
• A hotel must maintain a Pool & spa operating permit, through the Local Health Dept, which renews every year.
• A hotel must maintain a Elevator Operating Certificate (Periodic Inspection), through the State or local elevator-safety authority (e.g., NJ DCA Division of Codes & Standards), which renews every year.
• A hotel must maintain a Transient occupancy / lodging tax registration, through the Local Tax Authority, which has no fixed renewal cycle.
• A hotel must maintain a General Liability Insurance, through the Licensed commercial insurance carrier, which renews every year.
• A hotel must maintain a ServSafe Food Protection Manager certification, through the ServSafe / National Restaurant Association, which renews every 5 years.
• A hotel must maintain a Commercial property & general liability insurance, which renews every year.
• A hotel must maintain a Liquor Liability (Dram Shop) Insurance, through the Licensed commercial insurance carrier, which renews every year.
• A hotel must maintain a Liquor liability insurance, which renews every year.
• A hotel must maintain a Workers' Compensation Insurance, through the State-regulated workers' compensation carrier or state fund, which renews every year.
• A hotel must maintain a Cyber Liability Insurance, through the Licensed commercial insurance carrier, which renews every year.

Everything Arkathos runs for a hotel

These are the agents set up first for a hotel — and because it's one platform, every plan includes all 16 Arkathos agents. Also included whenever you need them: Sentinel, Guardhouse, Scribe, Courier, War Room, Armory, Mint Warden, Vault Keeper, Watchtower, Bulletin Board, Client Portal.

• Quartermaster — Online booking & appointments, Calendar & availability, Events & waitlists, Automated reminders, Job dispatch & scheduling.
• Treasury — Invoicing & payment collection, Expense tracking, Accounting & bookkeeping, Business tax prep & filing, Recurring billing & subscriptions, Financial dashboards & reports.
• Marshall — Payroll runs, Employee & HR records, Tax withholding & filings, Time & PTO tracking.
• Herald — SEO & get-found content, Social media scheduling, Email & newsletter campaigns, Brand voice & content studio, Review & reputation growth, AI-overview & directory visibility.

Your tailored hotel workspace

These are net-new, hotel-specific capabilities — not a generic CRM bolted onto your industry.

• Transient occupancy / lodging tax engine (Treasury): Per-room-night lodging tax stacked across state + city + county + tourism/destination assessments with monthly remittance worksheets; the Sales tax tab only handles product sales tax, not nightly lodging tax.
• Room-type & rate-plan channel calendar (Quartermaster): Room-type inventory and rate plans (rack/OTA/corporate) on a per-room-night grid with two-way OTA channel sync (Booking.com/Expedia/Airbnb) so one booking blocks every channel.
• Guest folio / lightweight PMS (Mint Warden): A running guest folio that accumulates room + incidentals (minibar, F&B, parking, resort fee) against card-on-file and settles at checkout, bridging reservation -> POS -> Treasury.
• Housekeeping room-status board (Marshall): Clean/dirty/inspected status per room driven by checkouts, assigned to housekeepers with turn-time tracking and a ready-for-arrival flag the front desk can see.
• Form 8027 tip allocation (Marshall): Large-F&B tipped-employee tip pooling and allocated-tip computation feeding Form 8027 and tipped-minimum-wage payroll.
• Digital guest registration + ID/signature capture (Quartermaster): PCI-safe check-in registration card with ID and signature capture and card-on-file authorization, retained per lodging recordkeeping rules.

The agents and tabs you get

Quartermaster for a hotel surfaces Calendar, Bookings, Availability, Waitlist, Chat. Treasury for a hotel surfaces Financial sheet, Transactions, Invoices, Sales tax, Filings, Tips, Integrations, Chat. Marshall for a hotel surfaces Home, Employees, Time tracking, Payroll, Departments, Kiosk, Chat. Herald for a hotel surfaces Compose, Schedule, Get found, Directories, ✦Studio, Chat, Brand voice.

Frequently asked questions

best software for a small bed and breakfast

All-in-one B&B tools like Little Hotelier, Cloudbeds, and ResNexus cover reservations, channel sync, and housekeeping. For the back office—finances, guest CRM, payroll, and tax—Arkathos runs it on flat pricing with no per-seat fees.

how much does hotel management software cost per month

Most small properties budget $75–$150/month; a full stack (PMS + channel manager + booking engine + payments) can reach $600+. Per-room plans run roughly $1–$25/room. Arkathos uses flat pricing, no per-seat fees.

do i need a channel manager for my b&b

Only if you list on multiple sites (Booking.com, Airbnb, Expedia). A channel manager syncs availability in real time to prevent double bookings. On just one or two channels, manual updating is manageable.

how do i stop double bookings between booking.com airbnb and my website

Use a channel manager that syncs calendars in real time, so a booking on one platform instantly blocks those dates everywhere. Manual iCal syncing only updates every few hours, which is what causes overlaps.

do i have to collect occupancy tax on my bookings

Usually yes—lodging/occupancy tax rules vary by state, county, and city. OTAs collect it in some places, but direct bookings are your responsibility. Arkathos helps track lodging and sales-tax obligations and filing by jurisdiction.

how to get more direct bookings instead of paying ota commission

Match or beat OTA rates, add direct-only perks (free breakfast, late checkout), speed up your mobile booking page, run SEO/content, and build a guest list. OTA commissions run 15–25%. Arkathos handles the marketing and CRM side.

what features should all-in-one hotel software have

Reservations, front-desk check-in/out, room inventory, channel management, a booking engine, housekeeping status, guest messaging, payments/folios, and reporting. Back-office needs like accounting, payroll, tax, and CRM are often separate—Arkathos consolidates those under flat pricing.

housekeeping and staff scheduling app for a small motel

Housekeeping tools (RoomRaccoon, Flexkeeping, WebRezPro) assign cleaning tasks and show real-time room status on mobile. For staff scheduling, payroll, and time tracking across a small team, Arkathos covers it with no per-seat fees.

do i need a pms if i only have a few rooms

Even with a handful of rooms, a PMS prevents double bookings and automates check-in, payments, and guest emails—saving hours daily. Very small properties usually pick lightweight all-in-one tools over enterprise systems.

What licenses and insurance does a hotel need?

Arkathos tracks 23 items for a hotel, including General business license, Lodging / Hotel Establishment License, Lodging establishment / innkeeper license, Transient Occupancy / Hotel-Lodging Tax Registration. Each renewal and expiration is monitored in Watchtower with staged reminders.

Which Arkathos agents does a hotel get?

Arkathos tailors a hotel workspace around 5 agents: Quartermaster, Treasury, mint-warden, Marshall, Herald.

How is the Arkathos workspace tailored for a hotel?

Beyond the standard tools, Arkathos builds hotel-specific features: Transient occupancy / lodging tax engine; Room-type & rate-plan channel calendar; Guest folio / lightweight PMS.

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