30. September 2025

The housekeeping integration blueprint: connect PMS, guest apps, and maintenance in 30 days

Integration is not about technology for its own sake. It is about turning reservations into ready rooms without calls, turning guest requests into tasks with clear owners, and turning issues into fixes with a time bound loop. With the right scope and sequence you can launch a reliable integration in about 30 days and start capturing value before peak season.

This blueprint gives you a plan you can run with a small team. You will define a simple scope, map your fields, pilot on a small footprint, and go live with confidence. It works whether you use Mews, Oracle Opera Cloud, Cloudbeds, or another modern property management system that supports APIs.

Who this is for - IT managers and system owners who need a clear integration scope and timeline - operations directors and tech savvy general managers who want fast time to value - housekeeping and maintenance leads who care about reliable status and fewer calls

What you will take away - a 30 day plan with owners, checkpoints, and go or no go gates - a data model and status mappings that prevent mismatches - a test, monitor, and security checklist you can reuse for future integrations

Why integration matters for housekeeping outcomes When the PMS, housekeeping app, guest messaging, and maintenance tool work together, teams stop guessing and start delivering. The right data moves once and stays in sync.

From reservations to readiness - turn a PMS checkout into an automatic housekeeping task with room type and priority - apply priority flags for VIP arrivals and rush rooms so teams sequence work with confidence

Guest requests without the back and forth - capture guest messages and preferences and create tasks with service level agreements - auto escalate missed deadlines to a supervisor and keep a log for coaching and review

These flows reduce manual calls, cut waiting, and improve on time completion. They also create a data trail that helps you coach and plan staffing.

Choose your integration pattern Pick a pattern that matches your vendors and your risk tolerance. Start simple and build up.

One way vs two way sync - one way can be enough when the PMS is the source of truth for reservations and you only need to read status - two way is helpful when you want housekeeping status to update the PMS so front office sees true readiness without calls

Start with one way for speed if you are unsure. You can add writes later when trust is built.

Event driven vs polling - event driven uses webhooks or similar notifications so updates arrive in near real time - polling reads at set intervals. It is simpler but can hit rate limits and introduce lag

If your PMS supports webhooks for room status and reservations, use them. If not, set safe polling intervals and include a reconciliation job to catch mismatches.

30 day plan: from scope to go live A month is enough if you keep scope tight and test progressively. Here is a simple schedule you can adjust.

Week 1: scope and access - define use cases and fields. Start with room status sync, housekeeping tasks, guest requests to tasks, and maintenance handoffs - secure API keys, set up a sandbox if your vendors offer one, and confirm rate limits and quotas - align on status definitions across teams. Write down what ready, inspected, dirty, out of order, and out of service mean - create a shared doc with owners, tasks, and dates

Week 2: configure and map - map room types, floors, and statuses between systems. Use a canonical list and keep a reference table - set task types for housekeeping and maintenance. Connect guest request categories to these types - define priorities and service level agreements so tasks are scheduled and escalated properly - configure user roles and access so only the right people can view guest data

Week 3: pilot - run on one floor, one shift, and one manager for 3 to 5 days - observe real work. Capture a bug list and field mapping gaps. Collect feedback from attendants and supervisors - measure room readiness time and on time task completion against your baseline - decide what to fix before expanding

Week 4: go live and stabilize - roll out in stages across floors or buildings with a simple playbook for training and communication - perform daily checks on API health and service level agreements in the first two weeks - keep a visible issue log and share updates with teams so confidence grows

Data model and mappings that prevent breakage A clean data model prevents 80% of headaches. Align on a few core objects and fields.

Core objects and fields - room: number, type, floor, status, and house status such as clean, dirty, inspected - reservation: arrival and departure dates, stay type, VIP flag, and occupancy - housekeeping task: room, type, priority, due time, status, and assignee - maintenance work order: room, category, priority, due time, status, and assignee

For each status, define allowed transitions. For example, dirty to in progress to clean to inspected to ready. Keep transitions simple and document them.

Edge cases - split stays and room moves: decide how to show and handle changes in both systems so attendants do not see stale tasks - late checkouts and extensions: ensure that a change event updates due times and priorities automatically - out of order or out of service: block assignment in housekeeping and maintenance until status clears

Write these rules down and review them with front office, housekeeping, and maintenance leaders.

Testing, monitoring, and security Build trust by proving reliability and protecting guest data from day one.

Test plan - write unit tests for each event type you rely on such as checkout created, status updated, work order closed - create user acceptance scripts that a housekeeping lead can run. Include expected results and a place to note defects - rehearse a failover. For example, what happens if the PMS webhook queue delays events for 10 minutes

Observe and protect - monitor API error rate, latency, and throughput. Set alerts for spikes so you can respond quickly - design retries for transient errors and a reconciliation job that runs daily to catch status mismatches - practice data minimization. Only pull fields you need. Use role based access and audit logs. If you operate in the EU or UK, align with GDPR and local guidance

Troubleshooting playbook When things go wrong, make it easy to diagnose and fix without drama.

Common errors - status mismatches where the PMS shows a room ready but housekeeping shows dirty - webhook delivery failures or timeouts that leave tasks unsynced - missing or changed fields in vendor APIs that break mappings after an update

Fix tactics - run a reconciliation job that compares room lists and statuses and then corrects or flags differences - keep a clear escalation path with vendor support and know what information they need to help - version your mappings and configuration. Note the change history so you can roll back when needed

Metrics that tell you it is working - percent of rooms auto assigned to attendants - room readiness time compared to baseline - API error rate and average latency - on time task completion rate for guest requests and maintenance - manual calls per shift between front office and housekeeping

Track these weekly for the first 2 months, then monthly. Share a simple dashboard with managers.

See how Sweeply connects to your PMS and guest apps to automate workflows in weeks, not months. Book a demo and we will review your field mappings and rollout plan together.

- Explore features: https://sweeply.com/features - View integrations: https://sweeply.com/integrations - View pricing: https://sweeply.com/pricing - Learn about PMS marketplaces: https://sweeply.com/blog/sweeply-mews-stacks-housekeeping-marketplace-hotels

Frequently asked questions

What data should sync between PMS and housekeeping? Start with room status, reservations, stay type, and priority flags. Then add guest requests and maintenance handoffs so cross team work stays visible.

How long does a PMS integration take? A focused scope can go live in about 30 days if vendor access is in place and you pilot before scaling. Larger scopes take longer, which is why you start with essentials.

Is two-way write back required? It depends on your workflows. Two-way status updates reduce mismatches but one way may be sufficient for smaller teams. Start with what delivers the most value with the least risk.

Key takeaways - map data flows before you configure so status and tasks stay aligned - pilot on one floor with one shift before you scale - monitor API health and set clear service level checks from day one - document status definitions and allowed transitions to avoid confusion - protect guest data with least privilege access and audit logs - maintain a troubleshooting playbook with reconciliation and escalation paths