Free Reservation System for Malaysian Guesthouses
One calendar for every booking: Booking.com, Agoda, Airbnb, Traveloka, WhatsApp, phone calls and walk-ins. No double bookings. No missed reservations. Check-in, room status, a bill with service charge, SST and Tourism Tax where they apply to you, and daily reports. Free. No subscription, no trial period.
OnlineHotelier PMS is a free hotel reservation system for Malaysian guesthouses, homestays, serviced apartments, hostels and small resorts. It puts every booking in one calendar: Booking.com, Agoda, Airbnb, Traveloka, WhatsApp, phone and walk-in. Check-in, room status, housekeeping, bills with Tourism Tax and SST where they apply, and daily reports are all included at no cost. The optional paid add-on is the channel manager, which syncs availability across OTAs automatically.
OnlineHotelier PMS at a glance
| Product | OnlineHotelier PMS, a free cloud hotel reservation and management system |
|---|---|
| Price | Free. No subscription, no trial period |
| Who it is for | Guesthouses, homestays, serviced apartments, hostels and small resorts in Malaysia with limited inventory |
| Local tax handling | Configure Tourism Tax (RM 10 per room per night for foreign guests), SST (8%, where it applies to your property), and your own service charge. Bills calculate automatically |
| Paid add-on | Channel manager that syncs availability and rates to Booking.com, Agoda, Airbnb, Traveloka and other OTAs. Pricing on WhatsApp |
| Runs on | Any web browser on a phone, tablet or laptop. Nothing to install |
| How to start | Sign up online, or message us on WhatsApp for guided setup |
One calendar for every booking source
You run a guesthouse in Penang. A Booking.com reservation comes in for Room 2 on Saturday night. A few minutes later, a WhatsApp message arrives: a couple asking if that same room is free for the same night. You check your notebook, or your phone, or the Booking.com app. A mistake is easy to make.
That is the problem the OnlineHotelier calendar solves. Every booking lives in one place, whatever its source:
- Booking.com, Agoda, Airbnb and Traveloka (via the channel manager add-on, or entered manually)
- WhatsApp enquiries (entered at the front desk)
- Phone calls and walk-ins (entered directly)
- Direct bookings from your own social media or referrals
When a room is taken, the calendar shows it as blocked. No double booking. Nothing missed. If you add the channel manager add-on, a Booking.com reservation closes the room on Agoda, Airbnb and Traveloka automatically.
WhatsApp as a booking channel in Malaysia: Most Malaysian guests, and many international travellers, will message a small property on WhatsApp before or instead of booking on an OTA. A quick message to check availability is the default in Cameron Highlands, Langkawi, Melaka and everywhere in between. Adding those conversations to the same calendar as your OTA reservations is how you stop a double booking from happening.
Check-in, room status, housekeeping and check-out
The calendar is one piece. The rest of the day-to-day runs here too.
Guest check-in
Record the guest's name, ID number (MyKad for Malaysians, passport for foreign guests), nationality and room on arrival. The system creates a guest folio from the moment they check in. Read our guide on the hotel check-in process for what to collect and why.
Room status
Mark rooms as occupied, vacant, dirty or clean after housekeeping. The front desk sees the update live so they know which rooms are ready for the next guest.
Housekeeping
Your housekeeper updates room status from their phone as they clean. No walkie-talkies, no calling reception. The room shows as clean the moment it is ready.
Guest check-out and bill
Post room charges, any extras, and the guest's payments to their folio. Review the bill, apply service charge, SST and Tourism Tax as configured, and share it at check-out. Done in one step.
Daily reports give you occupancy, average room rate and total revenue for the day. Your numbers are ready each morning without building them by hand.
Tourism Tax, SST, service charge and guest ID
The PMS can be configured for every levy and charge that applies to your property. You set it up once in the settings. After that, every bill calculates correctly. Not every charge applies to every property: read the notes below and confirm your own obligations with an accountant.
Tourism Tax
Tourism Tax (TTx) is charged only to foreign guests. Malaysian citizens and permanent residents are exempt. The rate is RM 10 per room per night, regardless of hotel category. You collect it from the guest and file monthly returns with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department through the MyTTx portal.
Some smaller properties may not need to collect it. Current guidance exempts operators with fewer than five rooms in total, counted across all the premises you run, and homestays or kampungstays registered with MOTAC. The room threshold has changed since the tax began, so confirm your status with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department or a tax professional before deciding not to collect.
SST (Service Tax on accommodation)
SST service tax on accommodation is 8%, effective from 1 March 2024. If your property's annual taxable revenue is above RM 500,000, you must register via the MySST portal and charge it. Properties below that threshold are not required to register. Many small guesthouses and homestays fall below RM 500,000 a year and are therefore outside the SST requirement.
Service charge
Service charge is your own charge, not a government tax. Many Malaysian hotels set it at 10% of the room rate. Small guesthouses and homestays often charge none. The PMS works either way. If your property is above the SST threshold, SST applies to the room charge plus service charge combined.
Here is how a bill looks for a foreign guest at a property that charges all three (room rate RM 200, service charge 10%, SST 8%, Tourism Tax RM 10):
| Room rate (1 night) | RM 200.00 |
| Service charge (10%) | RM 20.00 |
| Subtotal | RM 220.00 |
| SST (8% on RM 220.00) | RM 17.60 |
| Tourism Tax (foreign guest) | RM 10.00 |
| Total payable | RM 247.60 |
The PMS calculates this automatically. Set the percentages and which taxes apply once in the settings. Every bill comes out right. For a Malaysian guest at the same property, Tourism Tax drops off and the total is RM 237.60.
Payments
Record how each guest paid on the folio: FPX bank transfer, DuitNow QR, Touch 'n Go eWallet, GrabPay, card, or cash. The daily report shows total collections by payment type.
LHDN e-invoicing (MyInvois)
As of September 2026, businesses with annual revenue below RM 3 million are exempt from mandatory MyInvois e-invoicing. Most small guesthouses and homestays are well below it. If you do take part, the PMS produces itemised invoices for the reporting side, but it does not submit them to MyInvois for you yet. Ask us on WhatsApp if this applies to you.
Guest ID at check-in
At check-in you record each guest's ID details: MyKad number for Malaysians, passport number and nationality for foreign guests. The PMS stores these in the guest folio. If you need a guest-list export for any reporting or compliance purpose, contact us on WhatsApp and we will set it up for your property.
Property types across Malaysia
The system is built for small properties. Wherever you are in Malaysia, if your main job is keeping track of who is in which room on which night, this covers it.
Penang guesthouses and heritage hotels
George Town's heritage zone draws a steady mix of domestic and international guests. High check-in volumes, mix of OTA and walk-in bookings, and guests who message on WhatsApp before they arrive. One calendar keeps it all in order.
Cameron Highlands and Fraser's Hill homestays
Family-run homestays in the highlands with a few rooms, mostly Malaysian guests, and a heavy reliance on WhatsApp and phone calls for reservations. A free system that runs on a phone is often the first step up from a notebook.
Langkawi and Tioman island resorts
Island properties with seasonal peaks and a mix of Malaysian and international guests. Agoda and Booking.com are the main OTA channels. Preventing double bookings during peak season is the biggest operational problem the calendar solves.
Melaka and Kuala Lumpur budget hotels
Urban budget properties with a high turnover of short stays. Multiple OTAs, plus Traveloka for the Indonesian market, mean keeping availability in sync by hand is time-consuming. The channel manager add-on automates that.
Serviced apartments
Short-stay serviced apartments that list on Airbnb and Booking.com alongside direct enquiries. The PMS handles both monthly tenants and nightly guests in the same calendar.
Hostels
Hostels track beds, not just rooms. Mixed dormitories and private rooms can both be set up. Preventing a double booking in a busy dorm is the same problem: one calendar, all sources.
Channel manager: for when you outgrow updating each OTA by hand
If you are on one or two OTAs and you update availability yourself after each booking, the free PMS is enough. Most small properties start here.
The channel manager add-on becomes useful when you are on three or more OTAs and a booking on one platform means you need to close the room on all the others. Doing that by hand is slow, and a missed update causes a double booking.
The add-on connects your PMS calendar directly to Booking.com, Agoda, Airbnb, Traveloka and other OTAs. When a booking arrives, all connected channels update automatically. Read our guide on what a channel manager does before deciding whether you need one.
The channel manager add-on is paid. Message us on WhatsApp and we will give you the current price for your property.