Getting started with Hesty: what happens after you sign

The most common question we get on demo calls is not "what can it do". It is "how long will this take, and what will we have to do".

Don't switch everything on at once

The temptation is to enable every module on day one. Don't. A property does not stop running for two weeks while staff learn a new system.

The order that works in practice:

1. Booking engine and rooms. Nothing else has anything to attach to without it. You configure rooms, rates and cancellation terms.
2. Payments. Once bookings are flowing, deposits and balances have something to hang off.
3. Whatever hurts most after that. Staff, vouchers, website content.

Multi-tenancy is the exception — if you run several properties it is handled at the very start, because it shapes how the data is structured.

Migrating from your current system

Almost always migrated: rooms and room types, rates, future reservations, guest contacts.

Rarely migrated: history older than about two years. It tends to be inconsistent, and carrying it across usually is not worth it. You keep the export aside in case you need it.

The longest part of onboarding is not technical. It is deciding what your rates and cancellation terms should actually be — because in the old system they are usually the result of several years of patches nobody can explain any more.

What you will need to do

• Provide access to an export from your current system.
• Go through rates with us and decide what carries over and what gets cleaned up.
• Check test bookings before anything goes live.

When to switch

Not in high season. Off-season or a quieter week is ideal — you want a few days where reception can afford to work slowly.

Going live is not a same-day cutover. Both run alongside each other for a while, so there is somewhere to fall back to.

If you are weighing up a move from your current system, book a demo and we will walk through what it would specifically involve for you.