The Best Hotel POS Systems for US Businesses

According to our independent research and testing of POS systems, Square is the best POS system for hotels on the market. It offers free and paid restaurant, retail and spa POS software, making it a versatile and scalable option, and operates on tablets and physical terminals, helping staff serve customers from anywhere on premise.

However, large establishments with several restaurants or bars will prefer runner-up Toast, which offers advanced profit tracking and reservation management tools.

Needs vary across hotels, but most need POS systems to run their restaurants, bars and cafes, and even their gift shops, where applicable. Besides helping food and shop service run smoothly, good hotel POS systems integrate with your existing hardware, such as property management systems (PMS).

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For a quick overview of the findings from our research and testing, see the table below, and for a more detailed review of each featured POS system, keep scrolling.

1. Square: Best Overall Hotel POS System

Square offers three types of POS software: restaurant, retail and appointments (salons and spas), all of which are useful for hotels. Plus, since all three of Square’s POS software platforms include both free and paid plans, it’s easy for hotels to mix and match, and scale up as needed.

What makes Square a great hotel POS system?

Included in Square’s restaurant POS software are essential features, such as table and menu management, bill splitting, and tip management. You can also create “house accounts” for guests to keep track of all items or services purchased, and charge them via invoice at the end of their stay.

Square’s appointment POS software, on its end, comes with integrated scheduling and booking features, as well as customer text and email communication.

Plus, all Square POS software integrates with Square’s native ecommerce website builder, which is useful for small hotels looking to facilitate sales for customers across their spa/salon, restaurant/bar and shop.

Square’s payment processing software can also integrate with third-party websites via plugin or API, so if you have an existing hotel booking and room reservation website, you can consolidate online and in-person payments with Square.

Speaking of integrations, Square can integrate with most PMS via API, and offers ready-made integrations with a few hotel software systems’ booking and payment offerings, including Room Charge and Tripleseat.

Square also has a great selection of hardware. It offers a variety of countertop setups, including a tablet stand and a countertop terminal with a customer display.

Pair this with Square’s newly-launched Square Handheld, a $399 handheld POS device, and hotel staff have a range of options for taking payments at both reception desks and from anywhere in the hotel.

Our experience with Square

We found Square generally very easy to use. The backend was quite intuitive and we had no trouble creating menus or listing items. We also appreciated the search function, which helped us find tools quickly.

However, we did run into a few annoying glitches. For example, the table plan didn’t appear in the backend, and we found the process of cancelling orders and adding staff accounts overly complicated.

When it comes to hardware, we tested the $299 Square Terminal, its portable POS device, and card machine. While it was easy to access inventory and process payments from the device, we did have issues with the physical design. The card machine was quite wide, so it wasn’t easy to hold in one hand, making it better suited to countertops than table service.

How could Square improve?

Square’s restaurant POS software is missing a few features that are useful for hotels. It doesn’t come with built-in reservation management, although it does connect to third-party reservation apps, and it’s missing ingredient tracking, useful for keeping running costs down. You can access both these features with rival Toast.

Additionally, none of Square’s POS software systems come with cost versus profit management tools, making it difficult to track the profitability of your hotel’s various services.

Finally, Square is missing a training mode for staff, although this might not be a massive issue since Square was one of the easiest to use POS systems we tested.

2. Toast: Best for Managing Complex Inventories

Toast, unlike Square, only offers restaurant POS software, but, as a result, it’s highly advanced and capable of handling complex inventories. It’s a great option for hotels that have several restaurants or bars, and need to keep track of various menus and ingredients.

What makes Toast a great hotel POS system?

Toast stands out when it comes to inventory management, with features such as ingredient tracking and recipe costing, which are missing from rival Square, and low-stock alerts with easy supplier reorder. This can make it easier to ensure each restaurant and bar in your hotel stays profitable.

Plus, with Toast’s multilocation management feature, you can easily set up different menus, or even different versions of the same menu, within your POS system. Processing orders stays quick and easy for staff thanks to Toast’s search bar function.

Like Square, Toast also offers flexibility when it comes to hardware. Its POS software can be accessed on Android tablets, physical terminals with customer displays and handheld POS devices, giving staff maximum flexibility.

And, Toast integrates with most hotel PMS systems via API, allowing you to consolidate room charges and restaurant/bar charges. Staff can even look up guests’ names and room numbers directly on the Toast POS, allowing for easy record keeping.

Toast also has excellent built-in reservation features. Its reservation platform includes the ability to manage flow control, create block reservations and add special requests. You can access booking history, adjust end times and create reservation reports, too.

By comparison, Square and Clover don’t have their own reservation platform (although, like Toast, they do support integrations on this front, such as via OpenTable).

Our experience with Toast

We found Toast easy to use. The backend was particularly intuitive and easy to navigate, and the setup tutorial offered a clear step-by-step guide that helped us find our way around the platform.

The only task we struggled with a little was setting up a discount on an order, which is something we had trouble with on a lot of other POS platforms we tested. In this case, we found Toast’s wording a little confusing, since you have to click on an “update” button to find the discount button. Square clearly labels this option on the checkout screen.

What could Toast improve?

While Toast’s POS software is available on Android, it isn’t on iOS, which makes it unsuitable for hotels that currently use, or plan to use, iPad tablets. A great alternative is Square, which works on both iOS and Android.

Additionally, Toast might not be the best option for small hotels with one restaurant and bar, since it can get expensive. Although Toast’s starting price of $69 per month is quite standard, its best features are all paid add-ons, including cost management and reservations. It doesn’t help that, unlike Square or SumUp, Toast doesn’t advertise how much add-ons cost.

Small hotels with simple needs might prefer providers that are more transparent with prices.

3. Clover: Best for High Quality Hardware

Clover is our preferred pick for hardware, since it offers a wide range of high-quality equipment, but that’s not all it has going for it.

Like Square, Clover offers separate POS software for restaurants, retail and services such as spas, which you can mix and match in a personalized plan, making it a versatile option for hotels.

What makes Clover a great hotel POS system?

Clover offers high-quality, modern-looking POS hardware, making it a great choice for hotels that value both functionality and appearance.

We particularly like that Clover’s main countertop terminal, the Clover Station Pro, comes with a fingerprint login, enabling easy access to staff during busy times and speeding up order taking. Plus, Clover’s handheld POS device, the Clover Flex, is a great option for taking payments anywhere in the hotel, since it’s lightweight while still featuring a built-in receipt printer.

Additionally, Clover has good own-brand equipment, such as printers with USB, ethernet, and Bluetooth connectivity, and other accessories, like scanners, scales and docks.

When it comes to software, since Clover offers a mix-and-match POS system to meet the needs of retail, restaurant and services businesses, it can act as a unified system for hotels.

Your hotel restaurant and bar will get access to advanced features, such as live table status tracking and open and transferable tabs. Plus, staff shift management is included at no extra cost, unlike with Square or SpotOn.

For other hotel services, such as spas or salons, Clover can also integrate with an online booking platform, enabling guests to book and pay independently via the hotel website.

Clover also comes with excellent reporting tools, which include reports by staff, shift, menu items and even discounts. Plus, Clover offers cost versus profit tracking and management, a feature missing from Square, which allows large hotels to optimize service for profitability.

Finally, Clover offers personalized integration services, making it easy for you to connect your hotel PMS with Clover POS.

Our experience with Clover

Clover has remained consistently easy to use in our testing, despite offering advanced features. We particularly like Clover’s frontend, which is highly intuitive and makes great use of color to highlight features. The drag-and-drop design of Clover’s table planner is also a nice touch for bars that change their floor plan a lot.

That said, it wasn’t quite smooth sailing when it came to certain backend features. For example, we had trouble finding where to set up discounts and loyalty programmes, and real-time syncing issues disrupted the overall smoothness of the experience.

When it comes to hardware, we were particularly impressed by how light the Clover Flex, Clover’s handheld POS device/card machine, was. Despite its size, it fitted easily in our hand and didn’t feel awkward to hold, making it great for table service.

What could Clover improve?

Clover’s software and hardware can be expensive, and prices have gone up further recently. The Clover Flex alone now costs $749, far more than Square’s $299 equivalent. If you operate a small hotel with just one restaurant and have simple needs, Square or SpotOn are better value options, since they both offer free plans and cheap hardware.

Additionally, Clover also doesn’t offer automated tip management. If tips are split amongst your employees, we’d again recommend choosing Square and getting Square’s Shift add-on.

4. SpotOn: Best for Staff Management

SpotOn offers both restaurant and retail POS systems, but its real strong suite is its excellent native staff management software. Although its retail POS is quite basic, it’s still a good option for hotels with a restaurant and modest gift shop.

What makes SpotOn a great hotel POS system?

SpotOn’s strong suite is its proprietary “Teamwork” staff scheduling software. With this, hotels can not only schedule shifts for all staff, but also prepare payroll, manage tip sharing and communicate with employees through SpotOn’s employee app.

At $3 per employee, SpotOn’s scheduling software is cheaper than Square’s ($4 per employee) and goes a step further with payroll features.

When it comes to POS hospitality features, SpotOn offers decent functionality, with a native kitchen display system (KDS), menu and table management, on even online ordering (useful for room service) included at no extra cost.

Unlike Square, Clover and SumUp, SpotOn also has built-in reservation management tools. Features include online booking, waitlist management, automated reminders and two-way guest communication. This allows you to offer a high standard of service to both guests staying at your hotel and those just visiting your restaurant for the evening.

Another bonus is that SpotOn includes full POS layout customization and in-person staff training as part of its onboarding and installation services. Although it does charge a compulsory fee for this (it used to be advertised as $1,000), it’s worth it for hotels that need to maintain a high standard of service.

Our experience with SpotOn

SpotOn was one of the most intuitive POS systems to navigate that we tested. We didn’t have much trouble setting up discounts or creating menu items with variations.

However, the backend was easier to use than the frontend, mainly because the frontend required a few extra clicks to add items to an order, compared with how quickly we could do this using other POS systems, like Toast.

We also didn’t like the floor plan functionality, since it’s not drag and drop. To change the size of the tables, you have to click a bar chart button rather than drag them to make them bigger, something hotel restaurants with large floor plans might want to consider.

What could SpotOn improve?

SpotOn isn’t the best option when it comes to hardware. Its POS software isn’t available on tablets (iOS or Android), and it doesn’t offer as many accessories as competitors. If you’re a hotel looking to purchase all equipment from the same provider, Clover or Square are better options.

Additionally, as we’ve noted above, changing a table floorplan on SpotOn can be challenging and slow. This isn’t great if your restaurant has one dining room and changes layout depending on the time of service (breakfast buffet versus dinner service, for example). For smooth floorplan control, Toast is a great alternative.

5. SumUp: Best for Integrated Marketing

SumUp isn’t most hotels’ first thought when it comes to POS, but the provider has improved its system in recent years, especially when it comes to its loyalty and marketing features. While we don’t recommend it for high-end hotels, SumUp POS is a great option for small, trendy and hip hotels that operate a coffee shop or bar, or have a small merch shop.

What makes SumUp a great hotel POS system?

SumUp only offers one type of POS system, which can be used for both food and drink service and retail, making it a perfect all-in-one system for hotels.

Although SumUp offers free POS software, we recommend hotels start with at least the $99 per month Connect Lite plan, since this gives you access to SumUp’s marketing and loyalty tools, called its “Connect” platform.

SumUp Connect is essentially a full customer relationship management (CRM) system built into a POS. It includes a customer directory, messaging (text/email, automated and AI messages) and a loyalty and rewards program.

When it comes to more traditional POS features, all paid SumUp plans include menu and table management and staff scheduling (shift tracking and logging).

We also particularly like that SumUp has built-in menu allergen warnings, which let you easily add allergens to menu items in the backend, which then appear in the frontend, simplifying allergy safety for staff and customers.

Plus, it’s easy to integrate SumUp into your existing hotel website and use it to process both payments for room bookings and in-hotel purchases, since it offers plugins and API. The API also allows hotels to integrate SumUp with their PMS, making sure data is shared between the two systems.

Our experience with SumUp

The frontend of SumUp’s POS system is very user-friendly, allowing for speedy service, but the backend remains hard to navigate.

SumUp’s frontend has a simple, clear, and responsive interface, with a minimalist design making finding features, such as table management, and order cancellation and editing, easy. We especially like the “park order” function, which allowed us to quickly adjust items mid-transaction.

However, the backend consistently frustrated us since its design was much clunkier and we ran into a lot of slow loading when trying to access reports, bulk imports and user settings. The sidebar menu would also often cover up other navigation elements, which made completing tasks difficult.

What could SumUp improve?

SumUp’s hardware options, like SpotOn’s, are a little limited. Although SumUp works on iOS and Android tablets, allowing for some flexibility, it doesn’t yet supply handheld POS devices in the US, although it has rolled out a new device for the European market.

It also offers a very limited range of accessories, so Clover and Square are better options if you want a POS provider that’s a one-stop shop for equipment.

Additionally, while SumUp works well for casual settings, it’s not a great option for high-end hotels. It’s missing built-in reservation tools, for example, which enable hotels to offer a personalized guest experience.

How Much Do Hotel POS Systems Cost?

POS system costs for the majority of hotel POS system suppliers in our article start from $69 per month for the software and go up to $200 per month for advanced features, such as multi-purpose POS software or multi-location management.

You’ll likely need to pay extra for the hardware too, which usually costs approximately $1,000+ as a one-off fee. Inevitably, this will vary depending on the type of hardware your hotel needs, with card reader costs starting from just $59 via Square, for example.

What Should You Look For in a Hotel POS System?

Since hotels use POS systems to fulfil a variety of needs, it’s crucial to consider what tasks you’re looking to accomplish with your POS before choosing a provider.

Here’s what to look for:

Sector-specific features

Not all POS systems are a one-size-fits-all. Some are designed specifically for serving food, others for retail, and others still for service and appointments. Hotels might need a POS system to fulfill just one of these tasks, two or all three.

So, when choosing a POS system, make sure you take into account what type of industry or industries it serves, and whether that fits your hotel’s needs.

Operate a fine-dining restaurant? You’ll need a POS with a good reservation management system, such as Toast. Run beauty services, such as a spa or salon? A POS system such as Square, with built-in booking management, is a good choice.

Integrations

POS systems aren’t designed to run hotels, but they can be used alongside software that can, typically a hotel PMS system. Choosing a POS system that can integrate with your existing hotel management software can help you consolidate transactions, leading to better guest invoicing and easier accounting.

Hardware

The POS hardware you need is highly dependent on not just what you’re using your POS for (food service, beauty treatments, retail), but also on your hotel’s branding.

For example, some hotels don’t have dedicated receptions, such as boutique hotels that favor discretion and minimalism. In this case, opting for a tablet-based POS system, such as Square or SumUp, is a good idea.

If you operate a restaurant, choosing a POS provider that supplies handheld POS devices is also a must, to make table service run smoothly.

Our Methodology: How We Test Hotel POS Systems