Leveraging innovative hotel technology is the key to running a successful hotel business that can keep up with today’s quickly evolving travel and demand trends.
In this case study we’ll explore how Go Hotels in Denmark modernized its tech stack and grew its ADR and RevPAR by 10% compared to 2019 with the help from Atomize RMS.
About Go Hotels
Go Hotels is a young budget-friendly brand based in Copenhagen, Denmark. It started with a single property in the Danish capital and has since grown to include five hotels with room counts ranging from 56 to 219. The sixth property is already in the pipeline. On top of that, the portfolio boasts the Hages Badehotel. It’s set on the coast of the Baltic Sea and offers 72 houses (124 rooms) surrounded by nature.
Given that things are going well, the group is looking to add more hotels and branch into serviced apartments. We recently spoke with Tim Tidman, general manager at Go Hotels, about the role modern hotel technology plays in the company’s expansion plans and its ongoing success.
Setting the stage for further development
The base for a growth-enabling tech stack
The Go Hotels brand promises excellent value for money as well as an unforgettable experience.
“From our earliest days, our goal has been to over-deliver on service quality. Since we’re a budget brand and run on a lean team, we’ve always leveraged technology. It keeps the workload manageable for our staff and makes the stay fun and easy for travelers,” Tim explains.
For this to work, Tim and his team had to lay the right foundation. That meant implementing a property management system that makes it straightforward to roll out other new tech solutions.
“During the pandemic, we began revamping our operation to adapt to changing guest expectations and realities like the staff shortage. The first thing we changed was the PMS. We wanted a cloud-based system with an open API, so we could easily add new properties as well as other tech tools in the future. That made Mews the obvious choice for us,” he goes on to say.
Finding the right RMS
As markets became more volatile due to the pandemic, Tim and his team decided to move away from pricing their rooms manually.
“In the past, we used a rate shopper to see what our competitors were doing and updated our rates accordingly. This manual approach worked as long as demand was predictable, and we had only one hotel to manage. But when booking patterns were flipped upside down and we began adding new properties, we knew it was time to get an RMS,” he says.
In search of the best solution, Tim explored the many options on the market.
“We looked at all major providers, but a lot of systems were too complex and too expensive for us. We wanted a cost-effective solution that would be easy to learn and use. Atomize fit that bill and it offered an automated pricing module. That was exactly what we needed to keep our team lean but achieve our revenue goals at the same time,” Tim recounts.
Results of running the fully automated Atomize RMS at Go Hotels
Increased efficiency and quick reactions to demand shifts
Before implementing Atomize, Tim spent the first hours of every day analyzing competitor rates and adjusting his prices accordingly. Once the RMS went live, this changed dramatically. The system automatically provided rate recommendations based on the latest market developments and all Tim had to do was approve or reject them. This saved him a considerable amount of time. But it got even better.
“After a couple of weeks of reviewing Atomize’s price suggestions every day, I became comfortable with the system’s approach. That made me decide to give the full autopilot mode a try. It was a complete game changer, and I haven’t looked back. Now the system handles all rate updates. I only open the dashboard for a few minutes in the morning to get an overview of the latest changes. And sometimes I check the mobile version when I’m on the go, just because it’s fun,” Tim shares.
Apart from ensuring that Go Hotels’ properties can make the most of every demand shift, the Atomize autopilot also leaves Tim extra time to work on other projects and be more present on the floor.
Reframing attitudes toward pricing through a data-driven approach
Atomize’s rate suggestions challenged Tim’s ideas around optimal rates and seasonality.
“It’s hard to take emotions out of the equation when pricing manually because there’s often an idea of what the maximum price is allowed to be. That’s why I used to be skeptical whenever Atomize prompted me to increase our rates significantly. But since the system bases its suggestions on live data, I decided to go with it,” he explains.
That has paid off for Go Hotels. As of May 2023, the group’s year-to-date on-the-books business is considerably higher than last year’s. That applies especially to times that used to be considered middle- or off-season. Seeing these results has strengthened Tim’s confidence in the RMS’ recommendations and in his brand’s ability to deliver the value guests expect.
“Atomize helps me see things in a new light. I can check OTB business, the forecast, and our history in just a few clicks in the RMS. That allows me to be bolder with my pricing than I would have been in the past because I know exactly what’s happening at my hotels and in the market,” he goes on to say.
KPI increases as a result of automated pricing
2022, the year Go Hotels began using Atomize, was the company’s best business year to date. After implementing the RMS, their ADR and RevPAR increased by over 10% compared to 2019 and beat budgeted figures.
“We wanted to try a new approach to increasing revenue at Go Hotels and Atomize seemed like a solid starting point. The results have been fantastic, especially during the low season. That’s where we really see the system seizing opportunities we didn’t know existed,” he emphasizes.
Looking into the future
The successful implementation of Atomize was an important step for Go Hotels. Still, Tim and his team are far from done. Currently, they’re working on digitalizing the last step of the arrival process by rolling out mobile keys. But even after that, there will be more to do.
“Travelers expect digital service options throughout the guest journey today. And in the future, even more contact points will shift online. As hoteliers, we need to understand this and adapt our offering. The same goes for back-of-house workflows. Hotels which embrace new solutions first will come out ahead, both in terms of the guest experience they can provide and the revenue they generate,” Tim concludes.
