Verity for guest houses

A guest house has a few rooms and no spare hands. Every empty night and every missed form is felt.

A guest house sells a handful of rooms to a mix of guests: a family for the weekend, a patient's relatives for two weeks, a consultant on a long project, a foreign traveller for three nights. The owner usually is the front desk, the accountant and, on a bad day, the housekeeper. The diary says a room is free while an OTA says it is sold. A guest's ID sits in a phone gallery. One long-stay guest owes three weeks. Verity puts every room, guest, booking source, due and form on one set of records.

Verity in one line

One system that knows which room is free tonight, who is in the others, what each booking source really pays, what each guest owes and which forms are due.

See your guest house in Verity See the 16 problems we solve

Free: we set up a working demo of your own business, on your own data, within 7 days. You pay only if your team decides to use it.

Built for an owner with a small team and a ringing phone. The records come from check-ins, cleaning rounds and receipts you already handle.

Verity / Guest house / Today

Property: Sunrise Guest House, 10 rooms

Live

Rooms in use tonight

7 of 10

2 arrivals after 6 pm

Average rate

₹1,940

up ₹60 on last week

Long-stay dues

₹71,400

4 guests past due

Forms due

1

foreign guest, 5 h left

What a ₹2,200 room night leaves, by source

  • Phone and walk-in₹2,200
  • Regular guests on WhatsApp₹2,100
  • OTA A₹1,716
  • OTA B₹1,628

Room 6 is booked below the rate card for Saturday on one portal. Rate card: ₹2,400. Booked at: ₹1,900.

Review
  • Fire safety certificate renewal in 40 daysPapers with the ownerStart
  • Geyser in room 3 gives lukewarm waterReported yesterday, plumber not assignedAssign

Illustrative screen with sample figures. Yours is set up with your own rooms, sources, guests, dues and licence dates.

Watch

Verity in food and hospitality

Kitchen, counter and stock moving together.

35 seconds, no sound. An illustrative film, so the scenes are examples, not customer results.

How it runs today

Most guest houses know their rooms by heart and their leaks by guess.

With eight or twelve rooms, you can keep availability in your head, and that works until it does not. The diary at the desk, a WhatsApp chat with a regular, two OTA extranets and a walk-in at 9 pm all claim the same room. What is hard to see is what sits behind that: how much of last month went to OTA commission, how many nights fell between two stays and sold to nobody, who is three weeks behind on a long-stay bill, and whether every foreign guest was reported in time.

That information sits in different places. The booking diary or a sheet knows who is arriving. ID copies are photos on the desk phone. Housekeeping is a verbal instruction to one or two attendants. Dues are in a notebook. The licence file is in a drawer. The owner holds the rest in memory.

One consultancy puts all-India hotel occupancy for 2025 at 64 percent, for rated hotels. Guest houses are not in that count, but the point carries: a third of the rooms empty on an average night leaves little room to also lose nights to double sales, commission and unpaid bills.

What most guest houses run on

  • Booking diary or Excel sheet
  • OTA extranets and a phone
  • Photos of guest ID on a phone
  • WhatsApp with guests, staff and vendors
  • Notebook for dues and advances

Each one does its job. None knows about the others, and the owner is the only person who sees all of it, usually late at night.

16 problems, one by one

Where a guest house actually loses money.

These are the situations guest house owners describe again and again. For each one: what it looks like on an ordinary day, what it costs, and what Verity does about it.

  1. 01Rooms

    One room, four places that say it is free

    What it looks like

    A phone booking is pencilled in the diary. The same room is open on two OTA extranets. A regular messages on WhatsApp for the same weekend. At 7 pm a walk-in is shown room 4, which was promised to someone else.

    What it costs you

    A guest sent away costs the night, the goodwill and a review. A room held back out of caution is a night of rent with no sale.

    How Verity fixes it

    Rooms are records by number and type, with each night booked, held, blocked or free, and the source of each booking. The owner and the desk see one board. We agree during setup how bookings from your OTAs and the diary reach Verity, and which one is the source of truth. Verity does not change availability on the portals; your team does.

    See the screen
  2. 02Rooms

    Single nights and gaps that sell to nobody

    What it looks like

    A guest leaves on Tuesday and the next arrives on Thursday. Wednesday sits empty on every room, and nobody offered a short stay or a discount to the repeat guest who lives nearby.

    What it costs you

    Example arithmetic: 3 empty nights a week across 10 rooms at ₹1,800 is ₹54,000 of room nights a week that nobody tried to sell.

    How Verity fixes it

    Verity shows the next 30 days as a grid and marks gap nights between bookings. It lists past guests who usually book that kind of night, as a task for the owner to call. Your team calls; Verity records the result.

    See the screen
  3. 03Revenue

    Commission paid with no view of the net rate

    What it looks like

    A ₹2,200 room sold on an OTA leaves less than the same room sold on a phone call. A promotion the property joined to look better in search takes the rate lower still. Nobody checks the monthly statement against the stays.

    What it costs you

    Guides for Indian hoteliers put OTA commission at about 10 to 30 percent. Example arithmetic: 12 OTA nights a week at ₹2,200 with 20 percent commission is about ₹5,280 a week, over ₹2.2 lakh a year.

    How Verity fixes it

    Every booking records its source, rate and the commission or discount that applies. Verity shows what a room night leaves by source, month by month, and lists repeat guests who booked through a portal so your team can invite them to call direct next time.

    See the screen
  4. 04Revenue

    Rates that drift between the portals, the phone and the walk-in

    What it looks like

    In March the weekend rate was raised on one portal and not the other. A guest finds ₹1,900 on one app, ₹2,300 on another and gets quoted ₹2,000 at the desk. Next month a long weekend goes out at the old rate.

    What it costs you

    A drifting rate either undercharges the best nights or invites an argument. The same vendor guide that gives the commission range names parity drift between portal listings and your own rate as a source of lost revenue.

    How Verity fixes it

    The rate for each room type and date is a record, and each booking stores the rate it was sold at. Verity flags bookings that were sold below the rate card, and lists dates where sources show different rates for the same room, for your team to correct on the portals.

    See the screen
  5. 05Guests

    Enquiries on WhatsApp, calls and Instagram with no owner

    What it looks like

    A family asks about three rooms for Diwali, a company asks about a month for a visiting engineer, a cousin of a regular calls about a wedding. Replies go from whichever phone is nearest. Two days later nobody remembers who quoted what.

    What it costs you

    A multi-room or long-stay enquiry is worth many single nights, and is usually lost to a slow reply or a mixed-up quote, not to price.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each enquiry is a record with an owner, dates, the number of rooms, a quote and a next step. Verity lists the ones with no reply and tells the person responsible. Staff still reply to the guest, and the outcome is recorded.

    See the screen
  6. 06Records

    Guest ID copies on phones and in drawers

    What it looks like

    Aadhaar, passport and driving licence photos are taken on the desk phone and sent on WhatsApp for "the register". Some stay in the gallery for years. Some are never taken because the guest was in a hurry. The register page for a stay from August cannot be found.

    What it costs you

    A missing record is a problem the day a police officer asks. ID photos left in phones and chats are also a privacy risk for the guest and the house.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each stay has a guest record with the ID type, the number as your rules require, who checked it and when. Arrivals without a recorded ID are listed with the person on duty. Access to guest ID is limited by role, and every view is logged.

    See the screen
  7. 07Compliance

    The foreign guest form and its 24-hour clock

    What it looks like

    Two travellers arrive late, tired, with large bags. Their passports are copied in the morning. The online form is filled in on Sunday, or after a guest has already left, or not for the child on the second passport.

    What it costs you

    The Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025, in force from 1 September 2025, generally requires guest houses to report foreign guests online within 24 hours of arrival. A Goa government notice of December 2025 states a penalty of ₹50,000 in each case; other states may differ.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each foreign guest, including children, shows its form status on the arrival record with the time left. Verity lists arrivals whose form is not filed and raises a task for the person on duty. Your team files on the government portal; Verity records that it was done and keeps the acknowledgement.

    See the screen
  8. 08Housekeeping

    Rooms that are not ready when the guest is

    What it looks like

    Checkout is at 11 and a family arrives at noon. One attendant is washing sheets, the other is out buying water. The owner is on the phone and does not know which rooms are done.

    What it costs you

    A guest waiting in the lobby with bags starts the stay unhappy, and a late room means a late turn for the next guest.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each room has a status that the attendant updates: to clean, cleaning, ready. Verity orders the list by next arrival, shows who is on which room, and tells the owner which room to do first. If attendants do not carry phones, the owner or caretaker can update from a printed sheet at the end of each round.

    See the screen
  9. 09Stock

    Linen, laundry and amenities counted by eye

    What it looks like

    Sheets go out to the dhobi in a bundle and come back one short. Soap, towels, water bottles and toilet rolls are restocked when someone notices. A set of bedsheets left in room 6 after a long stay goes missing.

    What it costs you

    Example arithmetic: 20 sheets and towels that never return in a quarter at ₹450 each is ₹9,000. Unmarked shortages are never claimed from the laundry.

    How Verity fixes it

    Linen and amenities are stock records with a minimum level. Counts out to the laundry and back are recorded by batch, and Verity shows the shortfall per batch and per vendor. A low item produces a purchase task for the owner.

    See the screen
  10. 10Maintenance

    Faults reported by guests and fixed days later

    What it looks like

    The geyser in room 3 gives lukewarm water. A guest mentions a leaking flush. The plumber is called only when the owner remembers, and meanwhile the room is sold again.

    What it costs you

    A complaint in a review costs more than the repair. Example arithmetic: a room out of service for 4 nights because a fault was left until it failed is ₹7,200 at ₹1,800.

    How Verity fixes it

    A fault is a work order with the room, who reported it, priority and the person assigned. A room with a serious fault is blocked from sale until it is closed. Geysers, water tanks, inverters and air-conditioners have service dates that raise tasks before they fail.

    See the screen
  11. 11Money

    Long-stay guests who owe three weeks

    What it looks like

    A patient's relative stays for a month near a hospital, an engineer for ten weeks on a project. They pay "when the cheque comes". The notebook shows an old balance, and the meals and laundry added later are not on it.

    What it costs you

    Example arithmetic: three long-stay guests, each ₹18,000 behind on a monthly bill, is ₹54,000 of cash that is not in the bank. Chasing it by phone costs more goodwill than collecting it on time.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each long stay has a record with rate, dates, advance, extras and a running balance. Verity shows who is past their due date and by how much, and creates a follow-up task for the owner. The bill is made in your usual way; Verity compares it with what was recorded.

    See the screen
  12. 12Money

    Advances, cancellations and no-shows

    What it looks like

    A wedding party pays ₹10,000 in advance by transfer and ₹5,000 in cash. Another booking is cancelled the night before. A third does not turn up and the room stayed blocked. The policy lives in the owner's head.

    What it costs you

    Without a record, the advance is argued over, the refund is guessed, and a no-show leaves a blocked room and no money.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each booking holds its advances by mode, the cancellation terms that applied and the outcome. Verity lists bookings with an advance and no arrival, and bookings where an advance has not been settled at checkout.

    See the screen
  13. 13Suppliers

    Breakfast, the kitchen and local vendors

    What it looks like

    Eggs, bread, milk, gas cylinders and bottled water come from five vendors, each on a different day. Rates change on the bill and nobody compares them. A cylinder is paid for twice.

    What it costs you

    Small purchases add up, and the same vendor is paid from the till, a UPI app and the owner's pocket with no single total.

    How Verity fixes it

    Purchases are recorded with rate, quantity received and the vendor. Verity shows what is owed to each vendor, flags a rate that moved beyond your limit, and compares breakfast covers with food bought so waste shows.

    See the screen
  14. 14People

    One caretaker, one cook, one night watchman and no cover

    What it looks like

    The caretaker takes leave for a wedding. The cook falls ill. The night watchman sleeps in the porch and nobody can say who opened the gate at 1 am for a late arrival.

    What it costs you

    A guest house depends on three or four people, and every absence stops a service. A new hire learns by watching, so standards vary.

    How Verity fixes it

    Shifts, leave and rest days are one roster. Checklists for room turnover, night handover and gate duty are records, and each person's training and sign-off is recorded. The owner sees who is cleared for which task.

    See the screen
  15. 15Compliance

    Licences, tax rates and renewals in a drawer

    What it looks like

    The trade licence, fire safety certificate, FSSAI registration for breakfast, police intimation papers and tourism registration each carry their own date. In September 2025 the room tax slabs changed, and nobody is sure which rooms are above the threshold.

    What it costs you

    A notice, a fine or a closure order, and an invoice at the wrong tax rate. Missing papers on a busy long weekend are costly.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each licence and certificate is a record with a date and an owner, and a renewal is a task weeks ahead. Rates are stored by room type, so your accountant can see which fall on either side of the ₹7,500 slab. Your accountant decides the tax rate; Verity does not file anything.

    See the screen
  16. 16Owner

    The owner cannot see the whole house from a phone

    What it looks like

    You are at another property, or at a wedding, or simply away for the day. The night report is a voice note. You cannot tell which rooms are in use, what was collected, or whether the foreign guest's form is done.

    What it costs you

    Without a clear picture, every decision waits for you to come back, and every leak runs a little longer.

    How Verity fixes it

    One owner screen shows rooms in use, tonight's arrivals, what each source leaves, dues, open faults and licence dates. A second guest house is a second location in the same system, with the same numbers side by side.

    See the screen

The numbers behind it

The numbers that make these problems worth fixing.

From published sources, with the source named under each figure. Your own numbers will differ, and showing you yours is the first thing Verity does.

  • 10 to 30%

    OTA commission range given in a 2026 guide for Indian hoteliers, which also names parity drift between portal listings and your own rate as a source of lost revenue.

    AxisRooms, 2026

  • 64%

    all-India occupancy of rated hotels in 2025, against an average daily rate of ₹8,624. About one night in three, a room is empty.

    Horwath HTL, India Hotel Market Review 2025, 2026

  • 24 hours

    the time within which accommodation providers, including guest houses, generally must report a foreign guest online under the Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025, in force from 1 September 2025. A Goa notice states a penalty of ₹50,000 in each case.

    Right to Information wiki, 2026

  • ₹7,500

    the room rate per night at or below which, from 22 September 2025, the tax rate on a room is generally 5 percent without input tax credit; above it, 18 percent with credit.

    Petpooja summary of Notification 15/2025-Central Tax (Rate), 2026

The occupancy figure is one consultancy's review of rated hotels, not guest houses. The commission range is from a software vendor's guide, which cites an outside source and gives no India-specific data. The penalty comes from a Goa government notice, so confirm the amount for your state with the FRRO or your police. The tax slab is from a vendor summary of the September 2025 notification, so confirm it with your accountant.

What you will actually see

The screens you would use every day.

Six views, each built for one job. Names, columns and terms are set up in your own guest house's language.

Screen 1 of 6

The owner's morning view

Rooms in use, what each source really leaves, dues, forms due and licence dates on one screen, with the items needing a decision under it. It replaces the owner's late-night tally.

Fixes

  • 15 Licences, tax rates and renewals in a drawer
  • 16 The owner cannot see the whole house from a phone

Verity / Guest house / Today

Property: Sunrise Guest House, 10 rooms

Rooms in use tonight

7 of 10

2 arrivals after 6 pm

Average rate

₹1,940

up ₹60 on last week

Long-stay dues

₹71,400

4 guests past due

Forms due

1

foreign guest, 5 h left

What a ₹2,200 room night leaves, by source

  • Phone and walk-in₹2,200
  • Regular guests on WhatsApp₹2,100
  • OTA A₹1,716
  • OTA B₹1,628

Room 6 is booked below the rate card for Saturday on one portal. Rate card: ₹2,400. Booked at: ₹1,900.

Review
  • Fire safety certificate renewal in 40 daysPapers with the ownerStart
  • Geyser in room 3 gives lukewarm waterReported yesterday, plumber not assignedAssign

Screen 2 of 6

Which room is free, on which night

Every room by night as booked, held, blocked or free, with the source of each booking. Gap nights between stays are marked, and rooms with a fault are blocked from sale.

Fixes

  • 01 One room, four places that say it is free
  • 02 Single nights and gaps that sell to nobody

Verity / Rooms and availability

Next 10 nights

RoomTonightWedThuFriStatus
1, StandardBooked, OTA AFreeFreeBooked, phoneGap 2 nights
3, DeluxeBlocked, faultBlockedFreeFreeGeyser
4, StandardBooked, walk-inBookedBookedFreeLong stay
6, FamilyFreeHeld, WhatsAppHeldBooked, OTA BConfirm hold
  • Gap night: Wednesday, 4 rooms free6 past guests usually book mid-weekCall
  • Room 6 held for the Kapoor family, hold ends tomorrowAdvance not yet receivedFollow up

Screen 3 of 6

Where bookings come from, and what each pays

Every booking by source with the rate sold and the commission or discount that applies, plus open enquiries with an owner and a next step. Rates that differ across sources for the same night are listed.

Fixes

  • 03 Commission paid with no view of the net rate
  • 04 Rates that drift between the portals, the phone and the walk-in
  • 05 Enquiries on WhatsApp, calls and Instagram with no owner

Verity / Sources and enquiries

This month

SourceRoom nightsAvg rateCommissionLeft per night
Phone and walk-in96₹2,150None₹2,150
Repeat guests, WhatsApp52₹2,050None₹2,050
OTA A74₹2,18018%₹1,788
OTA B41₹2,09022%₹1,630

14 OTA room nights this month were by guests who had stayed before. Invite them to call direct next time.

Create tasks

New2

  • 3 rooms, Diwali weekendSharma family, via WhatsAppReply
  • 1 room, 4 weeksEngineer, Pune, via callNo reply 3 h

Quoted1

  • Wedding guests, 5 roomsSat 8 Nov, advance askedWaiting

Screen 4 of 6

Arrivals, ID and the foreign guest form

Each arrival shows ID status and the foreign guest form with the time left. Your team files on the government portal; Verity lists what is due and records that it is done. Access to ID copies is limited by role.

Fixes

  • 06 Guest ID copies on phones and in drawers
  • 07 The foreign guest form and its 24-hour clock

Verity / Arrivals and guest records

Today

GuestRoomID recordedForeign formNoteStatus
Marco Rossi, 2 guests6Passport, yesDue in 5 hLate arrivalFile form
Rekha Menon1Aadhaar, yesNot neededEarly check-inReady
Sharma family, 44PendingNot neededChild cotID pending
Anil Joshi3Licence, yesNot neededLong stayReady

Rekha Menon

9 stays since 2023. Visits a relative in hospital nearby

Usual room
Ground floor, quiet
Breakfast
7:30 am, no onion
Last stay
12 September
Rate
Repeat guest, ₹1,900
Open request
Extra blanket
  1. 12 SepRoom 1, 5 nights
  2. 4 AugComplaint: hot water, fixed same day
  3. NoteBooks by calling the owner

Screen 5 of 6

Rooms ready, linen and faults

Room status by arrival time, linen out and back from the laundry, and faults as work orders. A room with a serious fault stays blocked until the order is closed.

Fixes

  • 08 Rooms that are not ready when the guest is
  • 09 Linen, laundry and amenities counted by eye
  • 10 Faults reported by guests and fixed days later
  • 14 One caretaker, one cook, one night watchman and no cover

Verity / Housekeeping and upkeep

Today

To clean2

  • Room 6, FamilyArrival 12:30 pm, Kapoor familyFirst
  • Room 1, StandardArrival 3 pmQueue

Cleaning1

  • Room 4, StandardLata, 18 minOn time

Ready2

  • Room 2, DeluxeChecked 11:40Ready
  • Room 3, DeluxeGeyser faultBlocked
ItemIn roomsAt laundryIn storeMinimumStatus
Bed sheets18121040Short 12
Bath towels2061440OK
Water bottlesn/an/a3660Reorder

Screen 6 of 6

Long-stay balances, advances and vendors

Each long stay with its rate, advance, extras and running balance, plus advances on future bookings and what is owed to vendors. Past-due balances become follow-up tasks.

Fixes

  • 11 Long-stay guests who owe three weeks
  • 12 Advances, cancellations and no-shows
  • 13 Breakfast, the kitchen and local vendors

Verity / Dues and advances

Open balances

GuestRoomStayBilledPaidBalance
Anil Joshi, engineer310 weeks₹58,000₹40,000₹18,000
Menon family, hospital stay44 weeks₹44,800₹30,000₹14,800
Sunil Rao, trainer76 weeks₹36,000₹36,000Clear
VendorItemLast rateChangeOwed
Fresh DairyMilk, weekly₹1,180+4%₹1,180
Sri Gas AgencyCylinder₹1,060No changePaid twice, credit asked

Advance of ₹10,000 for the 8 November wedding rooms was received by transfer. ₹5,000 balance is due 1 November.

Add reminder

Illustrative screens with sample data. Layouts, fields, names and terms are set up around how your guest house works.

An ordinary day

The same Saturday, before and after.

What changes is not the building or the team. It is that the day leaves a record, and the record does the chasing.

WhenTodayWith Verity
7:30 am TodayYou open the diary, check two portals and a chat to see which rooms are really free tonight. With VerityThe Today screen shows 7 of 10 rooms in use, two arrivals after 6 pm, and one hold that ends tomorrow.
11:00 am TodayCheckout is a scramble. Lata does not know which room the noon family needs first. With VerityRoom 6 is first on her list, with the arrival time beside it.
1:00 pm TodayA guest on a portal asks for the lower rate she saw on another app. With VerityThe desk sees the rate card and the rate the booking was sold at, and the difference is noted for the owner.
6:00 pm TodayTwo foreign guests arrive and the form waits for tomorrow. With VerityThe arrival shows the form due in 5 hours. The person on duty files it, and marks it done.
9:00 pm TodayThe long-stay guest in room 3 says he will pay "next week". Nobody remembers how much is owed. With VerityThe balance and the days past due are on his record, and the follow-up task has the owner's name on it.
Month end TodayThe accountant asks for sources, commissions and advances, and you rebuild them from three apps and a notebook. With VerityEvery booking recorded its source, rate and advance, so the month is already in order.

How we work with you

We set it up with you, in four weeks.

You do not get a login and a manual. We spend time at your front desk and on the floors, build Verity around how your guest house really runs, bring your data in, then stay to make sure it keeps working.

  1. Week 1

    Discovery and mapping

    What we do
    Spend a check-out to check-in window at your guest house and one evening at the desk. Watch how a booking is taken, how a room goes from occupied to ready, how ID and forms are handled and how dues are noted, and note which leaks matter most.
    What we need from you
    Two to three hours of yours. Access to your booking diary or sheet, a month of OTA statements, the dues notebook and the licence papers.
    What you have at the end
    A written map of your guest house: rooms and rates, booking sources, housekeeping flow, long-stay guests, vendors, licences and the first leaks we will close.

  2. Weeks 2 to 3

    Configuration

    What we do
    Set up your rooms and types, rate cards, booking sources and commissions, guest and long-stay records, housekeeping steps, linen and amenity lists, vendors, shifts and licences, and build the six screens around your own terms.
    What we need from you
    Check the setup with your caretaker or manager. Tell us where a name, a rate or a rule is wrong.
    What you have at the end
    A working Verity with your real rooms, staff and rules, ready for your data.

  3. Weeks 3 to 4

    Migration and training

    What we do
    Bring in your guest list, upcoming bookings, long-stay balances, vendor details, stock counts and licence dates from the diary, sheets and phones you use. Train the desk, the housekeeping staff and the caretaker at their own stations during a live day.
    What we need from you
    Your guest history and booking diary in whatever form they exist, and an opening count of linen. One hour with each person.
    What you have at the end
    Your rooms, guests and dues inside Verity, and a team that has used it through a check-in day.

  4. After go-live

    Operations partnership

    What we do
    Stay on after launch. Review the first weeks with you, tune the limits and checklists, and handle changes when you add a room, a source, a vendor or a second property.
    What we need from you
    A short monthly review of what the numbers say.
    What you have at the end
    A system that keeps matching how the guest house runs, with someone responsible for it.

Bring these on day one

  • Your room list with types and rate cards
  • A month of OTA statements and the booking diary or sheet
  • Your dues notebook, even if it is handwritten
  • Your vendor list with the last bills
  • Licence papers and certificates with their dates

Your time

About 8 to 10 hours of your own time across the four weeks, mostly in week 1. Your caretaker or manager needs a few more.

After go-live

Nobody is hired to run Verity. Room status, forms and dues are recorded as part of work the team already does, and the reports come from those records.

Verity AI

Ask your guest house a question. Get an answer, not a report to build.

Verity AI reads your own rooms, bookings, guest and dues records. Ask in plain language, then turn the answer into tasks for the right people.

  • Your records only Answers come from your own guest houses data, not from generic knowledge.
  • Right person, right view It only shows what the person asking is allowed to see.
  • Turns into action An answer can become a task assigned to a named person.

Verity / Ask

Which nights next week have free rooms between bookings?

Wednesday has four free rooms and Thursday has two. Six past guests usually book mid-week stays.

  • Wednesday4 rooms
  • Thursday2 rooms
  • Past mid-week guests6

Create call tasks for the owner

Verity / Ask

What did we pay OTAs in commission last month, and for how many repeat guests?

About ₹56,000 on 115 room nights. 14 of those nights were by guests who had stayed before.

  • OTA A₹32,000
  • OTA B₹24,000
  • Repeat guests via OTAs14 nights

Create invitation tasks for the desk

Verity / Ask

Which foreign guests still need a form filed?

Marco Rossi and one companion in room 6, arrived 5:40 pm. About five hours left of the 24.

  • Room 62 guests
  • Time left5 h
  • FiledNo

Create a task for the person on duty

Sample questions and answers with illustrative figures.

Without chasing

The follow-ups nobody has time to make.

Set once, then they run from your records. Staff still talk to guests and vendors; Verity makes sure the right person knows what to do.

When

A guest checks out of a room

  • Room set to to-clean and ordered by next arrival
  • Task to the attendant on duty
  • Marked ready only after the attendant confirms

When

A foreign guest is checked in

  • Form task to the person on duty with the time left
  • Reminder before the 24 hours end
  • Done status and acknowledgement recorded on the stay

When

A long-stay balance passes its due date

  • Added to the dues list with the days late
  • Follow-up task to the owner
  • Promise and payment recorded on the guest

When

A booking is sold below the rate card

  • Marked for the owner with the source and the difference
  • Reason added by the person who sold it
  • Rate card corrected if the reason is valid

When

Linen or water stock falls below its minimum

  • Purchase task to the owner with the usual vendor
  • Laundry counts out and back recorded
  • Shortfall marked against the batch

When

A licence or equipment service date is 45 days away

  • Task to the person who owns it
  • Last papers and vendor shown on the task
  • Next date set when it is done

Rules and paperwork

The rules a guest house has to keep up with.

Verity does not give legal or tax advice and does not file anything for you. It keeps the records these rules depend on in order, so you are not hunting for them when an officer asks.

  • Foreign guest reporting

    What is expected

    Under the Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025, in force from 1 September 2025, accommodation providers including guest houses generally must report a foreign guest online within 24 hours of arrival, on the report earlier called Form C, through the FRRO portal. A Goa government notice of December 2025 states a penalty of ₹50,000 in each case; other states may differ.

    How Verity helps

    Each arrival shows ID and form status with the time left, and a task goes to the person on duty. The filing and its acknowledgement are recorded.

    Right to Information wiki, 2026

  • Tax on room rates

    What is expected

    From 22 September 2025, rooms at ₹7,500 or less per night are generally taxed at 5 percent without input tax credit, and rooms above that at 18 percent with credit. The test uses the rate actually charged, and borderline cases should be confirmed with your accountant.

    How Verity helps

    Rates by room type and the rate charged on each stay are recorded, so your accountant sees which fall on either side. Verity does not file returns.

    Petpooja, 2026

  • Guest register and local police rules

    What is expected

    Guest houses are generally expected to keep a record of guests with identity details, and some cities and states have their own rules on registers or police intimation. The details differ by place, so ask your local police station what it requires.

    How Verity helps

    Each stay carries the ID type and details your rules ask for, who checked it and when, so the register can be produced on request.

  • FSSAI registration, fire and local licences

    What is expected

    A guest house that serves breakfast or meals generally needs FSSAI registration or a licence, with the band set by turnover. Fire safety, trade or tourism registrations are set by the state or city, and homestay-type properties may also use state or Ministry of Tourism classification schemes. Check your own category and dates.

    How Verity helps

    Each registration is a record with its number, category and renewal date, and a renewal becomes a task weeks before it lapses.

Rules change and differ by state and city. Confirm current requirements with your accountant, your local police and the relevant authority.

Who sees what

Everyone sees the same records, through their own window.

An attendant should not see room revenue. The desk should not edit vendor rates. Each role opens on what it needs.

  • Owner

    Is the guest house making money, and where is it going?

    Occupancy, what each source leaves, dues, forms due, licence dates and every property side by side.

  • Manager or caretaker

    What needs sorting today?

    Rooms to turn, arrivals, faults open, gate and night handover, and approvals waiting.

  • Front desk

    Who is arriving and what do they need?

    Arrivals with ID and form status, requests, guest history, rate cards and holds.

  • Housekeeping attendant

    Which room do I do first?

    Rooms by status and arrival time, the cleaning checklist and linen counts.

  • Accountant

    What was sold, collected and owed?

    Room nights by source, commission, advances, long-stay balances and vendor bills.

Straight answers

What changes, and what stays the same.

Keep using

  • Your OTA extranets and rate tools. We record the source and rate of each booking.
  • Your booking diary or sheet while you move across. We agree during setup how bookings reach Verity.
  • WhatsApp for guests and vendors. Staff reply
  • Verity tracks who owes a reply.
  • Your accountant, who still prepares your returns.

Verity does not

  • Take online bookings or run a booking engine.
  • Change your rates or availability on the portals.
  • Send messages to guests or vendors on its own.
  • File your foreign guest forms or returns, or run your payroll.

We bring your rooms, guest history, long-stay balances, vendor details, stock counts and licence dates across from the diary, sheets, notebook and phones you use now, in stages, so the guest house keeps running while it happens.

  • Excel
  • Google Sheets
  • Legacy ERP
  • CRM
  • One operating environment

Questions

Questions guest house owners ask.

I have eight rooms and two staff. Is this too much?

A small house has the same leaks and less time to notice them. We set up only what you need, in the same four weeks, and leave out what you do not.

Does Verity replace my booking diary or my OTA tools?

No. Your portals keep taking bookings and you keep managing rates there. Verity records where each booking came from and at what rate, so you can see what each source leaves, and keeps room status and dues in one place.

Can it stop double bookings?

It gives your team one board with every booking and hold, so the clash shows before the guest arrives. It does not change availability on the portals; your team updates them, and we agree during setup which record is the source of truth.

Will my housekeeping staff actually update room status?

Only if it takes a few seconds, so we set it up as one tap on a phone or a screen at the desk. If your staff do not carry phones, the caretaker updates rooms from a printed sheet at the end of each round.

Can it file the foreign guest form for me?

No. Your team files it on the government portal. Verity shows which arrivals have a form due, how many hours are left, and records when it is done.

How does it help with long-stay guests who delay paying?

Each long stay has a record with rate, advance, extras and a running balance. Verity lists balances past due and creates a follow-up task for you. You still make the bill in your usual way.

Can it keep my guests' ID safe?

ID details are kept on the guest record, and access is limited by role. Every view and change is recorded with who made it and when. It replaces photos in phone galleries and chats.

I have two guest houses in different areas. Can I see them together?

Yes. Each is a location in one system, with rooms, sources, dues, faults and licences side by side. Guests are the same people across both.

Who can see my data?

Only the people you allow. Access is set by role, so the desk, housekeeping and your accountant each see what they need, and every change is recorded with who made it and when.

What does it cost?

It depends on the number of rooms, properties and what you want set up. Message us and we will give you a clear number after a short conversation about how your guest house runs.

Where the figures come from

Sources

  1. AxisRooms, 2026
  2. Horwath HTL, India Hotel Market Review 2025, 2026
  3. Right to Information wiki, Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025
  4. Petpooja, GST on hotel rooms, 2026

Last checked 15 October 2026. Published figures vary by region and method, so treat them as indicative, not as a promise of your results.

Start with the nights that sold to nobody.

Tell us how your guest house runs and we will show you the gap nights, the commission paid on repeat guests and the dues running late, using your own numbers.

Get your free demo Email us

Free: we set up a working demo of your own business, on your own data, within 7 days. You pay only if your team decides to use it.