Deutsches Haus in Bonn, Germany, has been a true institution in the Rhine metropolis for 70 years. The hosts welcome their guests with true warmth and a family atmosphere.
“We operate the hotel as the third generation and attach great importance to our guests feeling comfortable with us,” emphasises Miles Lazaro, who is currently managing the 46-bed hotel with his mother Cora Hübner-Stauf.
Since 2023, the owner-managed city hotel has been using SiteMinder’s industry leading platform to better market its presence online and optimise workflows. We spoke with Miles about the challenges of running a hotel and how the platform supports the team in their daily operations.
Extensive features and better value for money
Before discovering SiteMinder’s channel manager, Miles had been working with a different platform for seven years. Initially, the collaboration went smoothly, but then the company’s support became increasingly worse until it was finally discontinued altogether.
“We could no longer work properly so that’s when I became frustrated and started looking for a new partner. However, I already had SiteMinder in mind,” Miles explained.
It’s a choice he has not regretted to this day:
“SiteMinder’s channel manager is much simpler. SiteMinder uses more sophisticated technology and I have many more options to present our hotel on the booking platforms the way that I want it. In addition, I can use Insights to see all the important parameters directly. I couldn’t do that before. SiteMinder is really ‘state of the art’ in that respect.”
He is also impressed by the value for money offered by SiteMinder’s platform.
“I can now connect a variety of OTAs and have more features than before – and at a lower monthly price. In addition, I have also utilised tools such as the online booking engine and Guest Engagement,” Miles said.
More revenue, more time, and less work What if you could boost your hotel's revenue while also reducing your workload and spending less time on mundane tasks? Our smart hotel platform helps you do exactly that.
“Automating workflows saves up to three hours of work per day”
Deutsches Haus has finally found a platform that streamlines accommodation management, automating tasks that were previously handled manually. This has resulted in significant time savings for the hotel, freeing up staff to focus on higher-value activities.
“Everything is now automatically booked into the PMS, which wasn’t the case before,” explained Miles. “A lot of work is being taken off our hands and we’re saving at least three hours every day!”
According to Miles, the hotel’s external perception has also improved, thanks to improved communication and personalisation delivered by Guest Engagement. This, in turn, has had a positive impact on booking numbers.
Smooth onboarding process
The transition to SiteMinder’s platform was nothing but smooth sailing thanks to its intuitive and user-friendly design.
“Anyone with some experience in the field can find their way around the platform quickly and easily,” Miles said. “The onboarding went great and the staff took a lot of time for us. We could come to them with any questions at any time. They even offered us more calls that we didn’t need anymore. All of our questions were answered,” he recalled.
In addition, Miles found the customer service beyond the initial onboarding phase to be just as stellar.
“It almost sounds too good to be true – but SiteMinder has so far kept all the promises it made in advance.”
Thank you, Miles, for this great feedback! We wish you and your family continued success with your wonderful hotel Deutsches Haus.