Start with buyer jobs, not feature checklists. Protect the book across direct and OTA inventory, price with guardrails, keep channel ARI healthy, serve guests on WhatsApp and web without unsafe writes, and grow modules without a rip-and-replace every two years.
India-specific must-haves usually include GST-aware billing, MakeMyTrip / Goibibo distribution habits, UPI-friendly guest payments when enabled, and staff who can run the front desk without a multi-week ERP project. AI is useful when it sits on the same property model with confirm gates—not as a bolted chatbot that cannot see the folio.

