iHotel - Hotel Reservation System

Welcome to iHotel, a hotel reservation system developed as a group project as part of my final year project for my Bachelor of Science in Computing. The system allows customers to search, compare, and book hotel rooms, while providing hotel staff with tools to manage reservations, customer data, and hotel services.

Table of Contents

1. Project Overview
2. Features
   • Customer Side
   • Staff Side
3. Database Structure
4. Installation
   • Dependencies
   • Installing
   • Executing Program
5. Usage
   • Customer Portal
   • Staff Portal
6. Contributors
7. Weekly Journals
8. License
9. Help
10. Acknowledgments

Project Overview

The iHotel system aims to improve the hotel booking experience by providing customers with an easy-to-navigate platform and real-time room availability. It also simplifies hotel staff's ability to manage bookings, customer information, and additional services.

This project was developed using:

• PHP for server-side logic
• MySQL for database management
• HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the front-end
• Apache (XAMPP/WAMP) as the web server

The platform was developed using an agile approach, focusing on customer and staff requirements, with scalability in mind.

Features

Customer Side

• User Registration & Login: Customers can create accounts, log in, and manage their profiles.
• Room Booking: Real-time room availability based on check-in and check-out dates. Customers can view rooms and book their stays.
• Extras Management: Customers can add additional services such as room service, car rentals, etc., during their booking.
• View Reservations: Customers can view their booking history and details of upcoming reservations.
• Secure Payments: A dummy payment system is integrated for processing credit card information.
• Review System: After completing their stay, customers can leave reviews and ratings for the hotel.

Staff Side

• Login System: Staff members can securely log in to manage hotel operations.
• Room Management: Staff can add, update, and delete rooms from the system.
• Reservation Management: Staff can view, modify, and cancel customer reservations. The check-in/check-out system helps manage guest flow.
• Extras Management: Staff can update the list of extras available for booking.
• Customer Interaction: Staff can access customer profiles and assist with their reservations.

Database Structure

The system uses a well-structured MySQL database to store customer, room, reservation, and staff information. Below is an overview of the main database tables:

• customer: Stores customer details, including login info, personal details, and credit card info.
• reservation: Manages booking details such as room number, check-in and check-out dates, and customer ID.
• booked_extras: Links extras to reservations, allowing customers to customize their stay.
• extra_list: Contains a predefined list of available extra services (e.g., room service, car rentals).
• review: Stores customer reviews and ratings.
• room: Stores room information such as room type, price, and availability.
• staff: Manages hotel staff login credentials and personal information.

-- Example: Table structure for 'customer'
CREATE TABLE `customer` (
  `CustomerID` int(11) NOT NULL,
  `CustomerLogin` varchar(32) NOT NULL,
  `CustomerPassword` varchar(32) NOT NULL,
  `CustomerEmail` varchar(32) NOT NULL,
  `CustomerName` varchar(32) NOT NULL,
  `CustomerSurname` varchar(32) NOT NULL,
  `CustomerPhoneNum` varchar(32) NOT NULL,
  `CreditCard` varchar(32) DEFAULT NULL,
  `CreditCardExpire` varchar(8) DEFAULT NULL,
  `CreditCardSecurity` varchar(8) DEFAULT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY (`CustomerID`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8;

Installation

Dependencies

• XAMPP or WAMP server
• PHP 7.x or higher
• MYSQL 5.x or higher
• Web browser (e.g., Chrome, Firefox)

Installing

1. Clone the Repository:

2. Set Up the Database:

   • Import the SQL dump file (hotel.sql) into your MySQL database using phpMyAdmin or the MySQL command line:

3. Configure the Database Connection:

   • Update the database connection settings in the config.php file with your local database details:

     $dbHost = 'localhost';
     $dbUsername = 'root';
     $dbPassword = '';
     $dbName = 'hotel';

4. Set up a Local Web Server:

   • Move the project files to the htdocs directory (for XAMPP) or www directory (for WAMP).
   • Start your Apache and MySQL services.

Excuting Program

1. Run the Application:

   • Open your web browser and navigate to:

   http://localhost/ihotel
   

2. Log in as a customer or staff member using your credentials

Usage

Customer Portal

• Room Availability: Customers input check-in and check-out dates to see available rooms.
• Booking: After selecting a room, customers can proceed with booking and add extra services if desired.
• Manage Bookings: Customers can view, modify, or cancel their reservations.
• Leave Reviews: After their stay, customers can leave reviews for their experience.

Staff Portal

• Manage Rooms: Staff members can add, edit, or remove room listings.
• Manage Reservations: View, modify, or cancel customer reservations.
• Check-In/Check-Out: Staff can manage guest check-in and check-out processes.
• Manage Extras: Staff can update and manage additional services (extras) available for booking.

Contributors

• Daniel Gallagher - Back-End Developer responsible for the booking and reservation system aswell as the check in/check out system.
• Oksana Aleksandrovica - Front-End Developer responsible for UI design and customer login systems.
• Eryk Gloginski - Full Stack Developer focused on room management and database design.
• Donal McGinty - Full Stack Developer contributing to form validation.

Weekly Journals

Throughout the development of the iHotel project, weekly journal entries were maintained to track the progress of the team and identify challenges encountered. These journals were vital for staying organized, reflecting on our development journey, and adjusting tasks as needed.

Example Weekly Entry: Week 6

Work Completed in Hours Last Week:

Team Member	Hours
Oksana Aleksandrovica	5
Daniel Gallagher	5
Eryk Gloginski	5
Donal Mc Ginty	2.5

Tasks Completed:

• Oksana: Implemented the customer review system and integrated it into the customer dashboard.
• Daniel: Completed the room booking feature with real-time availability check.
• Eryk: Finalized the room management CRUD operations for staff.
• Donal: Started working on the check-in/check-out functionality for staff.

Tasks In Progress:

• Daniel: Working on implementing secure payment integration for bookings.
• Donal: Continuing to refine the check-in/check-out system.
• Oksana: Styling improvements and adding extras feature for room bookings.
• Eryk: Finishing the integration of extras into the reservation system.

Challenges Encountered:

• Oksana: Waiting for the room CRUD operations to be fully functional before integrating extras management.
• Daniel: Faced issues with validating payment forms securely; collaborating with the team to find a solution.
• Donal: Encountered database consistency issues when managing check-in/check-out dates, which caused errors in the system.

Next Week's Goals:

• Oksana: Finalize the styling improvements and complete the integration of extras.
• Daniel: Finish implementing secure payment and testing end-to-end booking process.
• Eryk: Assist with finalizing the customer and staff flows, including room management.
• Donal: Resolve database issues and fully implement the check-in/check-out system for staff.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE.md file for details.

Help

If you encounter any issues while setting up or running the application, please ensure that:

• PHP and MySQL are correctly installed and running.
• The config.php file contains the correct database credentials.
• Your SQL dump has been correctly imported into MySQL.
• Apache and MySQL services are running before accessing the application. If issues persist, consult the documentation.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to:

• PHP Documentation for support during backend development.
• MySQL Documentation for database management help.
• Stack Overflow for providing community-driven answers to technical challenges.
• Agile Methodology principles for keeping the project structured and efficient during development.