Granada Beach Resort is an intimate boutique hotel located in the beautiful destination of Oslob in the Philippines.
General manager Chris Liles knew that being a newcomer to the area meant competing with the established, larger brands in the region. However, he counted on the personalised experience offered at his nine-room hotel as well as the assistance of a qualified technology solution to boost his brand’s reputation.
The Challenge
Starting a business and marketing the new brand to prospective travellers was of key importance
Chris knew from the start the importance of streamlining direct reservations. His initial idea was to use a reservation system built into the property’s web page and then input the bookings manually. This meant he was only able to allocate a small percentage of his inventory to OTAs. He was trying to promote his boutique hotel to prospective travellers, but it was difficult to reach some of the most powerful and motivated market segments.
It only took a few short months for him to realise that this was not a long-term strategy, so he began to look for technology solutions that may be able to help him streamline his business.
The Solution
A quick search for a technology solution revealed the answer
A quick online search pulled up plenty of results and SiteMinder was top of the list. He liked the fact that SiteMinder offered a variety of products designed to improve hotel operations.
Within a few hours Chris had successfully implemented the new system, knowing it was going to change the way he did business for the foreseeable future. He appreciated the setup assistance that was offered by SiteMinder, and was even more impressed with how easy it was to use the technology and communicate with support throughout the duration of the 14-day free trial.
The Result
Business operations improved by more than 100%
With SiteMinder, Chris found that he was able to distribute his available rooms in a way that maximised occupancy at any given time, without overbooking rooms. The Channel Manager allowed him to connect to new distribution agents, many of which are OTAs that work directly with his target market segments.
By being able to automatically update his live rates and availability across all channels, Chris was able to streamline his operations and increase his efficiency.
“With a large number of our guests coming from Europe and North America, most of our reservations will come in during late evening or overnight in the Philippines.
“By operating SiteMinder, when we open our office in the morning we are safe knowing that all of our incoming reservations have been allocated to a room and the reservation information is in one secure location.” Chris explains.
While The Channel Manager was beneficial in helping the hotel access new guests from different market segments, he found that TheBookingButton had more capabilities and functionality than the booking system he previously used on his hotel’s website.
“We can safely say our direct reservations have increased by 100% since we began using SiteMinder”, Chris adds.
Chris appreciated the fact guests were able to get the valuable information they needed about individual rooms, and can clearly see individual room availability, and be able to book directly using a simple two-step booking form.
Ultimately, SiteMinder’s products allow Chris and his staff to better manage hotel inventory.
The risk of double booking has decreased significantly, while room occupancy has also been maximised.
“We do not have to spend our time doing this task manually any more. This allows us more time to spend with our guests and making sure that our service to our guests is the best it can possibly be”, says Chris.
Rather than spending all of his time in the office focused on administrative work, Chris can focus on providing his guests with the superior experience they expect and deserve.
