69-unit apartment hotel: selling the stay guests actually wanted
Updated: 4 days ago
69 apartments, 11 PMS categories — 44 ways to sell them. A good reservations agent sells the same room differently to different guests. GauVendi does that on the website, automatically. The rooms don't change; the pitch does.
On average, around €9 more for every direct online booking
Per 100 bookings in the same direct online channel:
Sales mix: 52 individualised feature or experience products · 48 plain categories.
23 of those 52 product bookings were above the relevant category price. At an average premium of around €20 on those bookings, the room-feature premium totalled around €456.
Additional-service upselling on individualised product bookings generated €484 more than additional-service upselling on comparable category bookings. Together with the room-feature premium: around €940 in additional premiums per 100 bookings.
Regular category upgrades and the usual sales of additional services come on top of these premiums.
The courtyard becomes a reason to book
Layout was actively selected in 29% of bookings in the guest-choice analysis. Guests also deliberately chose courtyard-facing apartments.
For last-minute guests, the choice needs to be clear
The guest analysis classified 55% of bookings as last-minute. Average booking windows were 26 days for solo travellers, 29 for couples and 27 for groups.
A clear layout and a bookable location help guests decide on the spot. They can choose the apartment that suits them online, without a call to check whether their preferences can be met.
44 products without 44 separate availability lists
An agent who sells room 12 as 'garden view' to one guest and 'next to the lift' to another still has one room 12. Every product draws on the same physical rooms and shares their availability. Availability and smart room assignment run automatically. Assignment is included and respects the booked features. More products add no manual inventory or assignment work. This apartment hotel uses apaleo.
Guests can take a recommendation or select the layout and location they want. They do not have to inspect every product in the inventory: the Direct flow presents up to six retail choices.
Price guest preferences and flexibility
You decide what guests pay to secure a preference such as a courtyard-facing apartment. Guests who leave the location open give you more assignment flexibility and can book at a lower price. You can price both individual preferences and flexibility. The measured premiums reflect this property's chosen strategy.
Giving guests choices they cannot find in a standard category listing creates a reason to book directly. Bookable preferences also save calls to reservations and reception. This property's online direct-booking share has at least doubled compared with the period before GauVendi.
Two questions for your IBE or CRS comparison
“How much additional premium do your customers earn per online booking from room features and increased additional-service sales, beyond their usual upselling?”
“What is your average look-to-book conversion rate, and how do you calculate it?”
Ask for both figures, the booking sample and the calculation. That shows what the technology actually delivers in sales.
Source: GauVendi Business Intelligence. Premiums are averaged across all online bookings analysed and expressed per booking and per 100 bookings for comparability.
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