Migration guide
Switch from Little Hotelier to FrontDesk
Export your bookings from Little Hotelier as CSV; FrontDesk recognises the Little Hotelier booking columns and maps them automatically.
1. Export from Little Hotelier
- In Little Hotelier, open the bookings report (or the bookings list) and choose the export option.
- Pick a date range covering arrivals from today onwards and filter out cancelled bookings if the report allows it.
- Download the CSV and upload it as-is.
Menu names change between Little Hotelier versions and plans; if yours differ, look for the reservation list or report with an export button. We have no commercial relationship with Little Hotelier.
2. Import into FrontDesk
Upload the file in Import. FrontDesk detects the Little Hotelier format from the headers and pre-fills the mapping below; you can still change any column before confirming.
guest first namefirst nameguest last namelast nameguest emailemailguest phonephoneroomroom typecheck incheck-inarrivalcheck outcheck-outdepartureadultschildrennotesguest commentstotaltotal amountbooking totalHeaders are matched without regard to capitals or extra spaces; where several are listed, the first one found is used.
Specific to Little Hotelier
- • The room column is matched against FrontDesk room names; if the export shows room types rather than individual rooms, name your FrontDesk rooms to match or add the room number to the file.
- • Guest comments are brought across into the reservation notes.
How the import behaves
- Create your rooms in FrontDesk first. The room column must match a FrontDesk room name exactly (case does not matter); a row whose room is not found is skipped and listed with the reason.
- Arrival and departure are required, as is a guest name (first, last or full). Dates with a time ("03/10/2026 14:00") and local day/month orders are converted automatically.
- Guests are de-duplicated by email, then by first + last name, so a repeat guest keeps a single profile.
- A row that overlaps an existing booking on the same room is refused, so importing the same file twice does not create duplicates.
- Formats: .xlsx, .xls or .csv, first sheet, one reservation per row, headers in the first row.
- Nothing is written until you confirm: you see the detected preset, the column mapping (editable) and a preview of the first rows.
What does not migrate
The import brings guests and reservations. Everything else stays in Little Hotelier or is set up again:
- Rate plans and seasons: the stay total comes across when the export has a price column (mapped to Stay total, read as an amount in your property currency), but rate plans, seasons and payment history do not. Rebuild rates in FrontDesk for new bookings.
- Payments, deposits and stored card tokens: tokens belong to the old PMS's payment provider and cannot be moved. Deposits already taken stay in your old payment account; note them on the reservation.
- Folios, invoices and historical charges: FrontDesk starts its own invoice series. Keep the old PMS export (or its invoice PDFs) for accounting and tax retention.
- Reservation status and source: every imported row becomes a confirmed reservation with source "Import Excel". Rows whose status column says cancelled or no-show are dropped automatically; checked-out past stays should be filtered out before upload, or they come in as confirmed.
- Guest ID documents, nationality and date of birth: only name, email and phone are imported for the guest profile.
- Channel manager mappings and OTA connections: reconnect in FrontDesk through Channex (two-way, a separate subscription) or iCal feeds, and map room types again.
- Rooms, room types, rate plans, restrictions, users, housekeeping history and reports: set these up in FrontDesk; the import only creates guests and reservations.
And if you ever leave FrontDesk: Settings → Data export downloads your reservations, guests, invoices and payments as Excel or CSV, for one property or the whole group, on every plan. No ticket, no fee, no waiting.
How long it takes
Small property (up to ~20 rooms)
30–60 minutes
Create rooms, export future reservations, import (cancelled rows are skipped). Most of the time goes into rooms and rates, not the file.
Mid-size hotel (20–150 rooms)
Half a day
Same steps; export by month or quarter so any refused rows are easy to fix, and reconnect channels on the switch-over day.
Large hotel or group
About a day per property
The import runs on the property you have open, so do one property at a time: start with a pilot property, check the planner against the old PMS, then repeat. Channel reconnection and staff logins take longer than the import itself.
Estimates for the whole switch, not measurements: the file import itself takes minutes.
Still deciding? See pricing and features side by side.
FrontDesk vs Little HotelierFrequently asked questions
Does the booking source (Booking.com, Expedia, direct) come across?
No. Every imported reservation gets the source "Import Excel". If you need the channel for reporting, keep the original export.
Do I lose my Little Hotelier booking engine?
You replace it: FrontDesk has a commission-free booking page per property, with deposits paid to your own Stripe account. Point your website's "Book now" button at it on switch-over day.
Can I test the import before I commit?
Yes. The 14-day trial needs no credit card and includes the import: create a couple of rooms, upload a real export and look at the result in the planner. The demo at /demo shows a sample hotel with no sign-up at all.
Try the import with your own Little Hotelier file
The demo runs on a sample hotel with no forms or sales calls; the 14-day trial needs no credit card.