CheckInn - PG Hostel Management System

CheckInn is a full-featured room and property management system built for PG (Paying Guest) accommodations and hostels. It unifies rooms, meal plans, deposits, billing, reservations, and operations in one Laravel 12–based application. The system replaces spreadsheets, WhatsApp, and paper with a single dashboard, automated reminders, multi-branch support, and a clear audit trail.

CheckInn is designed for single or multi-branch PG/room/hostel/small hotel operations. It covers the full lifecycle from inquiry and reservation to check-in, stay, check-out, invoicing, and payment, with optional modules for mess/cafeteria, visitor management, staff, maintenance, and a configurable public website.

What it is 

CheckInn is a full-featured room and property management system for PG (Paying Guest) accommodations and hostels. It unifies rooms, meal plans, deposits, billing, reservations, and operations in one Laravel 12 - based application - replacing spreadsheets, WhatsApp, and paper with a single dashboard, automated reminders, multi-branch support, and a clear audit trail.

Who it’s for 

Built for PG and hostel owners/operators (single or multi-branch), small hotels and guest houses, and teams that need role-based access (reception, accountant, admin) and one source of truth for deposits and mess charges - without enterprise PMS complexity.

Problem it solves 

Operators today juggle fragmented tools: spreadsheets for rooms, WhatsApp for inquiries, paper for deposits, and separate systems for mess billing - leading to errors, double-entry, lost revenue, and weak audit trails. Generic hotel software rarely includes meal plans and cafeteria billing. CheckInn addresses this by delivering one system with meal plans and cafeteria as first-class modules.

Core workflow 

The system supports the full guest journey: Reservation (inquiry, room assignment, deposits) → Check-in (room status, optional invoices, lease agreements) → Stay (rent and mess billing, payment reminders) → Check-out (pending payments, room condition, receipts). Dedicated reception dashboards show today’s check-ins, check-outs, and key actions so staff act instead of search.

Dashboard intelligence & automation 

Role-based dashboards cover reservations, check-in, check-out, rooms, financials, complaints/maintenance, store/inventory, and staff - with KPIs, schedules, and quick actions. Automation includes optional payment/rent reminders, email notifications (reservation confirmation, check-in invoice, payment receipt), and full audit/login logs. Caching and optional queued jobs keep the UI responsive.

Technical excellence 

Built on Laravel 12 (PHP 8.2+) with Repository/Service/Policy architecture, two-factor authentication, policy-based authorization, multi-branch and multi-organization support, and production-ready caching and optimization. Quality is backed by CI, static analysis, and 539+ test files.

Business impact 

One system eliminates re-keying and spreadsheet drift, speeds collection with clear invoices and reminders, reduces disputes via audit trails, and scales across branches from a single install. Reception gains time by acting from one screen; owners get visibility into occupancy, revenue, and meal-linked billing.

Installation 

A web-based installation wizard (no CLI required) guides through requirements check, database setup, application settings, and admin account - WordPress-style - so deployers can go live quickly on shared hosting.

Competitive edge 

PG/room/small hotel/hostel-native design with meal plans and cafeteria built in; multi-branch from one install; modern Laravel stack for maintainability and extension; unified, reception-first dashboards; and a low-friction install experience suited for marketplace and non-technical users.

Features

Key Features & Modules

Core Module

• Organization & location: Organization, countries, states, cities, areas 
• Branches: Multi-branch management 
• Room management: Buildings, floors, room types, room configurations, rooms, beds, facilities 
• Room operations: Room photos, availability, status, housekeeping, blocking 
• Pricing: Room rates, seasonal pricing, event-based pricing, competitor pricing, revenue forecast/analysis, RevPAR 
• Reservations: Reservations, group bookings, waitlist, check-in/check-out, lease agreements, guest documents 
• Guests: Guest management and history 
• Billing & payments: Invoices, payments, payment methods, reminders, refunds 
• Financial: Income/expense, categories, daily/monthly billing, fee structure, fee collection, tax settings 
• Mess & cafeteria: Mess, mess plans, rates, members, attendance, mess bills; cafeteria menus, bills, audit 
• Meal & food: Meal types, meals, menu plans, meal schedules, meal calendars; food inventory, stock, suppliers, purchase orders, costing 
• Rent management: Rent, adjustments, payment reminders 

Additional Features

• Visitor management: Visitor entry, check-in/out, history, alerts, host notifications, gate pass, approvals 
• Complaints & maintenance: Complaints, categories, resolutions; maintenance requests, schedules, tasks, preventive maintenance; work orders 
• Staff management: Staff registration, profiles, documents, directory; attendance, leave, payroll setup, salary structure, payroll generation; KPIs, performance reviews, tasks; biometric devices 
• Announcements & communication: Announcements, schedules, distribution; circulars, notices, templates; internal messaging, email/SMS/push notifications 
• Store & inventory: Stores, inventory categories/items, requisitions, suppliers, purchase management 
• Events: Event planner, attendees, reminders 
• Website: Pages, inner pages, sliders, banners, sections (hero, services, testimonials, FAQ, gallery, CTA), navigation menus, team, SEO, header/footer 
• System & admin: Roles & permissions, audit/login/error logs, backup, monitoring, security (password policy, 2FA), API settings, channels, integrations 
• Settings: Profile, SEO, SMTP, email templates, system lists 

Key Highlights

• One system instead of many: Single dashboard for reservations, rooms, and billing 
• Meal plans built in: Cafeteria/mess plans and charges are part of the product 
• Multi-branch from one install: One login, consistent workflows across branches 
• Modern Laravel stack: Laravel 12, Vite, Tailwind, Alpine — maintainable and extensible 
• Audit trail and reminders: Clear records and optional automated reminders 
• Public frontend: Home, dynamic pages, room search, booking flow, contact form 
• Installation wizard: Guided setup when the app is not yet installed  

Requirements

Layer Technology Backend PHP 8.2+, Laravel 12.x Database MySQL 5.7+ / 8.x or MariaDB 10.3+ (SQLite for tests) Frontend Blade, Vite 7, Tailwind CSS 3, Alpine.js 3, Turbo (Hotwired) Build Laravel Vite Plugin, PostCSS, Autoprefixer PDF barryvdh/laravel-dompdf QR codes endroid/qr-code Spreadsheets / presentations phpoffice/phpspreadsheet, phpoffice/phppresentation 2FA pragmarx/google2fa Charts Chart.js Optional Redis (cache/sessions/queues)

Instructions

• Organization & setup: Organization, locations (country/state/city/area), branches 
• Property structure: Buildings, floors, room types, room configurations, rooms, beds, facilities 
• Room operations: Photos, availability dashboard, status, housekeeping, blocking, rates, seasonal/event-based pricing, competitor pricing, revenue/RevPAR 
• Reservations & guests: Reservations, group bookings, waitlist, check-in/out, lease agreements, guest documents 
• Billing & financial: Invoices, payments, methods, reminders, refunds; income/expense, billing, fees, tax 
• Mess & cafeteria: Mess plans, members, attendance, bills; cafeteria menus and billing 
• Meals & food inventory: Meal types, menus, schedules, calendars; food inventory, stock, suppliers, purchase orders, costing 
• Rent management: Rent, adjustments, reminders 
• Visitor management: Entry, check-in/out, history, alerts, gate pass, approvals 
• Complaints & maintenance: Complaints, maintenance requests/schedules/tasks, work orders 
• Staff: Registration, profiles, documents, directory; attendance, leave, payroll, salary structure; KPIs, performance, tasks; biometric 
• Communication: Announcements, circulars, notices, internal messaging, email/SMS/push notifications 
• Store & inventory: Stores, items, requisitions, suppliers, purchases 
• Events: Event planner, attendees, reminders 
• Website: Pages, sliders, banners, sections, menus, team, testimonials, FAQ, SEO 
• System: Roles/permissions, audit/login/error logs, backup, monitoring, security, API settings, integrations 
• Public frontend: Home, pages, room search & booking, contact 
• Installation: Web-based install wizard 
• Localization: Multi-language UI 
• Reporting & exports: Reports, report builder/templates, scheduled reports, Excel/PDF exports