Used it for 7 years

I'll have to admit that in 9 years working in hotels that I've only used 2 PMS programs. Of the two, I strongly preferred Maestro. I've used Maestro as a front desk agent, night auditor, front office manager, and general manager. Once past the learning curve, and with repeated use, you can fly through the program quicker than the computer can refresh... at least I could :)

Pros

Once you get past the learning curve, it's very easy to use and move quickly through the program. It is a great program for all aspects of managing hotel be it inventory and rate management, guest management, reservations, sales, accounting. I'm sure in 7 years I've used it, I didn't get to use every function since there was just so much.

What I liked most was that it is quick and easy to access a lot of information (guest, company, or group info or history / room availability and pricing / accounting and sales figures). This was very helpful since easy flow of information is vital to a hotel running smoothly.

When loading rates, I particularly liked that I could set automatic rate adjustments base on parameters such as dates, day of the week, occupancy, room type, or a combination of any of the aforementioned. This automation meant that if sudden inventory changes occurred on the rare occasion that I was not working, the rates would increase or decrease to achieve the best average daily rate and occupancy.

Managing inventory was very easy with Maestro. Even with 9 different room types, I could use various reports to see overall occupancy, occupancy by room types, and also by specific rooms.

I could go on. It is a very solid PMS program and I would use it again.

Cons

The only real dislike that I had with this program was the learning curve. Because the particular Maestro PMS we used was easier to use without using a computer mouse, it was essential to learn the mnemonics (ALT- letter combo) of every function. I still remember that to get to reservations was ALT-I-R. This was was complicated by the fact that sometimes the ALT-letter combo varied between different tasks even though they were similar tasks. The best way to explain is an example: In a guest reservation, to access notes I would key in ALT-I-N, in a group reservation, I would have to key in ALT-I-T.

Customizable PMS on MSDOS platform easy on server resources

Pros

The vendor Northwind is outstanding. Great support. Great sales team. They listen to customers and worked closely with our team to understand our software needs, IT resources, personnel, and our customers. Their attention to our needs helped their product stand out as the right fit for our resort. We purchased the highest level of support and they have gone above and beyond to deliver what we need.

Maestro has countless customized and customizable options. It has numerous modules for the different operations of a resort like ours.

Cons

Northwind is based in Canada, so we changed our phone plan to package calls to Maestro tech support.

Maestro has a basic GUI design. User interface has the outdated look, feel, and functionality of a text-based interface. Menu bar and menu lists are not intuitive and some lists are 20 items long making it hard to find menu items. Copy and paste only available in text entry boxes. Cumbersome, not intuitive. Although the data can be found, it can take 10-12 steps to locate it.

Group Reservations/Systems Manager

I have been using Maestro for 10 years (maintaining the setup, training staff and booking groups) and have seen improvements during this time with periodic upgrades. As a retreat center we have some unique requirements compared to hotels/resorts and the company was able to provide a way to accommodate most of those needs. It is a great program to use for individual and group reservations. Analytics views are great for historical data as well as projecting future usage. Support is great to work with and management is open to discussing enhancement requests.

Pros

That you can view availability and schedule meeting rooms along with guest rooms seamlessly.

Cons

The learning curve. However, there are certain individuals that adept more quickly than others.

Easiest reservation program I've ever used.

For the most part Maestro is a great program and hasn't let us down. I love all the different avenues you can take to find existing, and checked out reservations.

Pros

Maestro is super simple to learn and use. Once I got the operations down it was quick and easy to set up reservations for our guests. I'm so glad we use this program.

Cons

The only thing I can say I don't like about Maestro is sometimes when you put in a date and select "New Guest Resv" it sometimes changes the date to the day before, day after, or just a completely random date. I am not sure if this is some kind of default or not.

Excellent Support, Great Features, Superb Value

One of the best systems I've had the pleasure to work with. Support is excellent, the software is robust and full of upper-tier functionality. CANNOT be implemented without a rigorous training schedule. Not a system you can throw a temp or intern on and expect them to understand.

Pros

Hand down the best support I've ever experienced from a tech company. Not only are they fast to respond to questions, they provide monthly training at no extra cost.

Cons

Naming conventions are misleading. Navigation can be cumbersome and thee online help feature is too vague.

Best PMS for independent properties

The best thing about Maestro PMS is the support team associated with the product. From the rep. in the analytics department, to the one in customer support, every team member you interact with is there to help you in any way they can.

Pros

Availability to create the system as we see fit! The opportunities to customize our property to our liking is very beneficial! The analytics that come with the PMS are outstanding!

Cons

Connectivity to other programs. We have had a very difficult time finding a CRM that has two-way communication with Maestro.

Maestro Review

Over all, we like using Maestro PMS.

Pros

Transaction details, Customer Support, Auditing Reports

Cons

Unfortunately, we are still waiting on Tax reporting for our 1099's / 1042s annual tax reporting. Being in the US, we require both. We've requested the function over 3 years ago and it is still on the back burner. For US Clients-this is a BIG CON

Fantastic customer support drives feature rich PMS

Pros

The hospitality industry is about people - connecting people, servicing people, and other various interactions. Having a key software vendor that is also about people is invaluable. The support staff at Maestro are what sets them apart from their competition - the Canadian hospitality is on full display here.

Cons

As is common with PMS suites, the interface is a bit dated in its look. The HTML version is a bit more polished however.

Maestro is dynamic but can be complicated at times. Support is excellent though!

Pros

There are a lot of possibilities within the program to make it ideal for a variety of companies. The support team are excellent and I can tell Maestro wants to make things work for their clients.

Cons

Trying to figure out the best way to do some things can be difficult, and certain things that are seemingly simple are often a lot more complicated than they should be

Maestro

Pretty Good

Pros

The customer support is great rep. who I usually spoke with was almost always able to solve my problems rather than escalating the problem.

Cons

The software is glitchy and as good as customer support is they can fix it but never showed us what to do in many of the occasions when it glitched.

Maestro Review

Pros

I like that it's customizable and also love the availability and responsiveness of the customer service department. Maestro Support is always available to help me with whatever I need, from trouble-shooting issues to creating custom reports.

Cons

I can't really think of much that I don't like

Maestro PMS

Pros

I like that you can put events in and track bookings. You can make payments and keep record of events and rooms booking.

Cons

The program is not user friendly from a hotel stand point. To check in the employees have so many steps in order to get the guest checked in. The reports are not easy to pull and use. when you call support the person is not always nice and helpful.