One of my customer asked me to build a website for his marriage palace. Marriage palaces are big halls or open grounds which are rented in India for the weddings. Marriage is one 'the event' for the whole family in India and you usually spend the most you can on the arrangements. Given the shortage of space and convenience more and more people are opting for renting out a marriage palace for the weddings.
The customer of mine was looking to build a website for his marriage place which amongst other things would have online reservation system. His requirements were
- A calendar that shows the availability of the marriage place
- Option to book the marriage palace
- Options for paying online, in cash or get cash collected
- Option for editing bookings by the admin
Therefore I set about looking for options and I found the following (in no particular order)
- WP-Reservation
A WordPress plugin which allows you to integrate a booking system into your WordPress site. The plugin is helpful for those who are using WordPress for a hotel or a hostel website. Using this plugin users can make a booking themselves on the website and a notification email is generated as well. Further the administrator has the ability to confirm, delete or edit bookings as well. - Online Booking Calendar
Online Booking Calendar is a plugin which comes with all the whistles and bells. The plugin allows you to make reservations by the hour. Jquery and Ajax lend to the sophistication of the plugin. You can view the demo of Online Booking Calendar plugin for WordPress here. There are different versions of the plugin available. The basic version is free and there are 5 other variations the highest price being $3750. You can see the version comparison here. - WebReserv Embedded Booking Calendar
This is a free plugin for WordPress for reservations in different industries or verticals. The plugin can be used by the hotel industry, restaurants, car rentals. There are different views available for the calendar. The plugin has a inbuilt notifications system. You have the ability to add discounted prices and seasonal rates. The payment systems that can be integrated are cash, cheque, credit card, paypal and different processing gateways.
The downside of this plugin is that you need to sign up for with Webreserv.eu. Webreserv embedded booking calendar is billed to be a free plugin but I would advise caution as I'm always wary about services which ask you to signup - Checkfront Booking Plugin
Checkfront Booking Plugin is free plugin which can be used amongst others for reservations online. It has multiple gateways integrated like Paypal and Authorize.net. If you are looking for something simple then this is the plugin for you. - HotelPress theme
If you are looking for a full framework for a hotel reservation website using WordPress the HotelPress is for you. Not only do you get a hotel template but a reservation system which has multiple options for payment. HotelPress is not free and it can be downloaded here. - Staypress
Staypress is set of plugins for a simple WordPress theme which can help you convert your website into a reservation and property booking website.Staypress is currently not allowing any new signups but keep a tab on the site as they would be back soon. - Appointy
Another reservation plugin for WordPress which has the bells and whistles is Appointy. Appointy is available in different flavors the basic one being free. It has a host of features in addition to the regular ones like send a SMS reminder, Google Calendar Sync and a marketing tool. If you are ready to invest some money into the reservation take a look at the pricing structure of Appointy.
If you have used any of the plugins or any other reservation plugin or theme please share your experience as it would help. As for my customer I would be using WP-Reservation plugin and see if it meets the customer requirements.
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