One team, one paycheck, and one system to run it all
Bogentrakt required a software solution that would work well with hostels specifically, and all the specialized needs they have when it comes to selling beds in a dorm and having flexible inventory.
For Marco, who had experienced the hassle of logging into multiple systems in the past, adopting an integrated solution that would save time and help processes run more smoothly and efficiently was also a must.
Marco takes a unique approach to training his staff. All staff members are compensated equally and are relied upon to check in guests, the housekeeper included. “No matter if they work in housekeeping or the front desk, they get paid the same because they all have the same impact on the success of the hostel,” explains Marco.
It was therefore important that Bogentrakt also selected an intuitive solution that was easy to learn.
The end of checking five different systems
Having used Cloudbeds before, Marco was confident that it was the right software partner for Bogentrakt. As he puts it,
I’ve worked with other PMS systems before and discovered Cloudbeds at another hostel I worked at. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to use. That’s what made me decide to choose Cloudbeds for my own property.
Cloudbeds’ seamless, integrated platform also means that the days of logging into multiple solutions are long gone for Marco and the team at Bogentrakt, “I don’t have to check five different systems because Cloudbeds is my booking engine, website, channel manager, PMS, and revenue management tool.”
Selling a bed and a room at the same time
Cloudbeds has helped Bogentrakt maximize revenue by selling room inventory in flexible ways, thanks to its Split Inventory feature which works automatically across all of Bogentrakt’s different channels.
Marco explains, “with split inventory, if someone books the quadruple room as a private, it will block availability of individual beds so that it’s not double sold – it works automatically across all of our different channels; Booking.com, Hostelworld, and Airbnb. It’s a really handy way of giving the guest the option to either have a quadruple room or individual bed.” He continues,
Cloudbeds has a lot of really good functions for hostels – it has split inventory where I can sell dorm beds but also sell that room as a private room at the same time.
Wanting to further maximize revenue, Marco decided to try Cloudbeds’ revenue management tool PIE. Complete with competitive rate tracking and automated occupancy-driven price alerts, PIE helps properties get ahead of their competition and can play a key role in maximizing revenue. As Marco puts it, “For our opening month we decided we weren’t going to use PIE and instead just had our lowest price to see how many bookings we could get. The next month we had rules in PIE set up and saw a huge growth in revenue.”
Cloudbeds’ ease of use also saves Bogentrakt valuable time when it comes to training staff, with most new team members comfortable using the software in just three days.
All in all, Marco recommends hoteliers use Cloudbeds because,“it’s an all in one solution, it’s very easy to use, and has really nice features tailored to the needs of individual hotels and hostels.”
