The problem
Under the Immigration (Hotel Records) Order 1972, places that provide sleeping accommodation for payment must record every guest aged 16 or over: full name and nationality on arrival and, for guests who aren't British, Irish or Commonwealth citizens, passport number and place of issue and their next destination. The record must be kept for at least 12 months for police inspection. If a 6-room B&B copies details into a register by hand for 60 bookings a month at 4 minutes each, that's 240 minutes, 4 hours a month.
What the AI does
Beds24's features page says it can auto-generate and print guest registration forms. Set the form up with the fields the Order requires, so each arrival's form is filled from the booking. At check-in, the guest checks and completes it, you sign it off, and the forms are filed by date. The legal duty stays with you: Beds24 produces the form, a person makes sure every guest aged 16 or over is recorded.
A worked example
A 6-room B&B in Bath already uses Beds24 as its channel manager and takes about 60 bookings a month, many from overseas guests. It switches from a hand-written book to forms printed from Beds24.
Before
4 minutes per booking copying details into the register: 60 x 4 = 240 minutes, 4 hours a month
After
About 1.5 minutes per booking to check and file the form: 90 minutes, 1.5 hours a month
What it's worth
About $53£40€48A$77C$75 a month saved, at an assumed $21£16€19A$31C$30 an hour for 2.5 hours (240 minus 90 = 150 minutes). There's no extra cost if you already use Beds24; otherwise it's about €32 (about $36£27€32A$52C$51) a month for 6 rooms on 2 channels, from its calculator.
How to set it up
- Read the Immigration (Hotel Records) Order 1972 on legislation.gov.uk, or ask your local police, so you know which details to collect.
- Set up the Beds24 registration form with fields for full name and nationality, and for passport number, place of issue and next destination where needed.
- Print the day's forms each morning and have each guest aged 16 or over complete or confirm theirs at check-in.
- File the forms by arrival date and keep them for at least 12 months.
- Shred forms older than your retention period and limit who can see them.
What goes wrong
- Beds24's page says it generates forms; it doesn't say which fields are included. Check you can add every field the Order needs.
- Passport details are personal data under UK GDPR. Collect only what the Order requires, store it securely and delete it after your retention period.
- Group bookings list only the lead guest. You still need a record for every guest aged 16 or over.
- Don't photocopy passports unless you have a reason; the Order asks for details, not copies.