Every contactless check-in vendor claims to "integrate with Mews" or "connect to Cloudbeds." The reality ranges from genuine real-time API connections to CSV uploads that someone runs manually twice a day. For independent hotel GMs evaluating check-in software, this gap between marketing language and technical reality is where bad purchases happen. You end up with two systems that don't actually talk to each other, a front desk team reconciling mismatched data, and guests who still wait at the counter despite your "contactless" investment. This guide breaks down what native PMS integration actually looks like for hotels running Mews, Cloudbeds, or Apaleo — and gives you specific questions to ask before committing to any vendor, LOXE included.
Native integration means the check-in software connects directly to your PMS through its published API — not through a middleware layer, not through file exports, and not through screen scraping. Here is what that looks like in practice: a guest books a room through any channel, and the reservation appears in the check-in system within seconds. The guest completes pre-arrival steps — ID verification, registration card, payment authorization — and that data writes back to their guest profile in the PMS automatically. When a mobile key or digital door code is issued, the room status in your PMS updates without anyone clicking anything. LOXE's integrations with Mews, Cloudbeds, and Apaleo work this way: bi-directional, real-time, with reservation data, guest profiles, room assignments, and key provisioning flowing through direct API calls. No spreadsheets. No manual sync. No end-of-shift reconciliation.
Before signing with any check-in vendor, ask these five questions and pay attention to the hesitations. First: does reservation data sync in real time, or is it batched on a schedule? Batched sync means a guest who books at 2 PM might not appear in the check-in system until the next cycle. Second: when a guest completes check-in, does the room status update in the PMS automatically? Third: if you modify a reservation in Mews or Cloudbeds — changing the room type, extending a stay, adding a guest — does the check-in system reflect that change without manual intervention? Fourth: does ID verification data and the signed registration card write back to the guest profile? Fifth: can the vendor show you the specific API documentation from your PMS that their integration is built on? If any answer involves "middleware," "a short delay," or "your team just needs to," you are looking at a bolt-on dressed up as an integration.
Mews, Cloudbeds, and Apaleo each expose different API architectures, and a properly built integration respects those differences. Mews uses its Connector API with an event-driven model — the check-in software subscribes to reservation events and responds instantly when bookings arrive, change, or cancel. Cloudbeds provides a REST API with webhooks, sending real-time notifications when reservation data changes. Apaleo takes an API-first approach where virtually every property data point — rates, availability, folios, guest records — is accessible through standardized REST endpoints. You don't need to understand these technical details as a GM. But you should ask your vendor which specific API they use and when they last updated their integration for your PMS version. A vendor that says "we integrate with Mews" but cannot name the Connector API is likely using a workaround rather than a direct connection.
PMS integration alone does not complete the contactless experience. The real value appears when the entire chain is unbroken: PMS to check-in software to smart lock. A guest finishes pre-arrival check-in, the PMS confirms the room assignment, and the check-in software issues a digital key code or mobile key — all without front desk involvement. LOXE connects with Dormakaba Oracode, Salto, and TTLock to close this loop. Without smart lock integration, "contactless check-in" is really just "contactless form-filling" — the guest still has to visit the front desk for a physical key card. With the full chain in place, you get genuine arrival-to-room automation. For after-hours arrivals especially, this chain is the difference between a self-sufficient guest experience and a property that needs overnight staff stationed at the desk to hand out keys.
If you are evaluating check-in add-ons for your Mews, Cloudbeds, or Apaleo property, ask for a live demo on your actual PMS environment — not a vendor sandbox with fake data. Create a test reservation in your PMS and watch how quickly it appears in the check-in system. Modify the reservation — change the room type, extend the dates — and see if the check-in interface updates within thirty seconds. Have the vendor walk through the complete guest journey: booking, pre-arrival email, ID upload, registration card, key code delivery, PMS status update. Every step should flow without manual intervention. LOXE offers this kind of live environment test during evaluation because native integration is the entire product — not a feature bullet point on a comparison page. If your current check-in workflow still requires manual handoffs between systems, the integration is not real, and neither are the labor savings it promised.