Apple. Cillian Murphy. Punk Rock. Metro Hotels. If you’re wondering what the common thread is between these things, it’s that they were all founded, born, or rose to prominence in the year 1976. Fifty years have now passed and for Metro Hotels, there’s no end in sight.
As a 100% Australian owned and operated business, the brand is grounded in local expertise and genuine hospitality.
Established within Australia’s evolving tourism and corporate travel landscape, the brand has built a strong and trusted reputation for its hotels and serviced apartments in convenient, accessible locations.
“Operating across these different hospitality segments has strengthened the group’s experience and adaptability, while maintaining a consistent focus on service, value and strong local connections,” says Carlie Tait, Group Ecommerce & Distribution Manager.
While the portfolio has evolved over time, the brand’s core focus remains the same – delivering well-located, comfortable accommodation with genuine value for corporate, leisure and extended-stay guests.
“After 50 years in the industry, we have a clear understanding of our markets and our guests,” says Carlie.
“We’re not trying to be a luxury brand, and we’re not trying to be everything to everyone. Our focus is on delivering comfortable, well-located accommodation that represents genuine value. A large part of our business is corporate travel, along with leisure and extended-stay guests, so reliability, efficiency and consistency are key. Guests know what to expect when they stay with Metro Hotels, and that trust matters.”
Supporting this clear brand strategy is an emphasis on operational performance and distribution. With help from software like SiteMinder, Metro Hotels ensures its properties are visible on the right channels and competitively positioned in the market, allowing them the best chance to drive maximum guest bookings and revenue.
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A milestone that demands attention
Fifty years in business is an exceedingly impressive achievement for Metro Hotels, especially in the Australian hospitality sector where the survival rate can be harsh. To remain 100% Australian owned and operated is an even rarer cherry on top.
“It’s something we’re genuinely proud of,” says Carlie. “The hospitality industry is constantly changing, so to reach 50 years reflects the resilience of the business and the strength of the relationships we’ve built over time with owners, partners, team members and guests.”
“We’ve seen a lot of change across five decades – shifts in travel trends, economic cycles, new technology and evolving guest expectations. Being able to adapt while staying true to our core offering is something we don’t take for granted.”
Metro Hotels will be commemorating the anniversary throughout 2026 across various properties and digital channels to share history, recognise long-standing team members and partners, and also look ahead to what the future holds.
With the upcoming opening of Metro Hotel Martin Place later this year, the timing is perfect to both reflect and plan for further growth.
Choosing SiteMinder’s platform to support an expanding portfolio
With a diverse portfolio across multiple locations and property types, Metro Hotels was also operating across multiple technology systems. This increased overall costs and also hindered efficiency across the business. If the success that had been built was to continue, the brand needed a consolidated solution that unified key processes and delivered greater visibility and data functions.
With third-party distribution key to achieving growth and performance targets, Metro Hotels also needed a better way to capture demand across OTAs and the GDS.
“At the same time, we were focused on growing our direct channel too,” explains Carlie. “We wanted to improve our booking engine and metasearch presence.”
“Any solution we implemented had to support both objectives as part of a balanced distribution strategy.”
SiteMinder’s guest acquisition and revenue management platform was a clear winner, with a suite of powerful features housed in one seamless location.
“SiteMinder’s channel manager, booking engine, Metasearch Manager and GDS capabilities gave us that integrated structure,” says Carlie. “It has allowed us to manage third-party channels effectively while also strengthening direct performance, all within a connected platform that works across multiple properties.”
“SiteMinder has ultimately allowed us to achieve the balance between improving efficiency, strengthening third-party and direct performance, and creating a more sustainable cost model.”
Strengthening direct revenue performance and measurability
With its direct channel a core focus of its revenue strategy, Metro Hotels discovered a powerful enabler in SiteMinder’s Metasearch Manager, a feature that puts hotel groups in complete control of their metasearch presence and performance. It enables hoteliers to view critical performance information at a glance and manage bidding across multiple properties and channels from a single dashboard.
“We were active in metasearch and the costs were fairly consistent, but we didn’t have a clear view of whether it was actually performing. It was difficult to properly measure effectiveness, understand competitiveness or assess the return at a portfolio level,” explains Carlie.
“Metasearch Manager changed everything. It’s given us real control and visibility over our metasearch activity, which we simply didn’t have before. We now have clear oversight of spend, performance and positioning, which means we can make informed decisions and adjust strategy when needed, rather than just letting it run in the background.”
The results have been telling, with Metro Hotels seeing stronger direct contribution, improved cost efficiency and greater confidence in how metasearch fits within its broader distribution strategy.
Streamlined experience saves $30,000
With Metro Hotels also using SiteMinder’s GDS and Multi-Property solutions, the added simplicity and operational efficiency has been significant for the group from a financial perspective.
“Honestly, the cost savings associated with SiteMinder GDS were one of the key factors in our decision to move,” says Carlie. “The surrounding processes have been more streamlined than expected, compared to our previous product. The initial setup, rate loading and ongoing management tasks are simpler to manage, which has resulted in meaningful administrative time savings.”
“We’re estimating approximately $30,000 in savings in the first year alone, which is significant for the portfolio and made the commercial case very clear.”
Multi-Property has also delivered centralised visibility across the group’s portfolio, making it much easier to gather insights and report on performance.
“Being able to monitor performance at a group level makes it much easier to maintain oversight and identify trends without reviewing each property individually,” explains Carlie.
“Looking ahead, with Metro Hotel Martin Place opening soon, Multi-Property will play an important role in ensuring a smooth and efficient onboarding process. Having that centralised structure in place will allow us to align distribution settings, maintain brand standards and integrate the new property into the portfolio framework from day one.”
In addition, Metro Hotels is also utilising SiteMinder Insights, a tool that enables improved performance reporting and market insights to inform rate and distribution strategies.
Booking performance reports provide visibility across source markets, channel mix, room type mix and rate plan mix, all in one place, while insight into competitor rates offers a convenient reference point when reviewing rate positioning and day-to-day pricing decisions.
Room night and direct revenue increases generate $1.6m in additional revenue
The topline impact of SiteMinder’s platform for Metro Hotels has been exceptional, with the group reporting an 8% increase in direct room nights for a $700,000 boost to direct revenue year-on-year, since implementing SiteMinder..
The results from using SiteMinder to expand and optimise channel connections have been immense, according to Carlie.
“In the first seven months, new distribution channels generated in excess of $900,000 in additional revenue, reflecting access to markets we were not previously reaching.”
In total, this amounts to over $1.6m in additional revenue via SiteMinder’s platform.
“While overall performance is always influenced by a range of factors, improved distribution connectivity and stronger direct visibility through SiteMinder have supported that growth.”
The return on investment is undoubtedly clear to Carlie and the team.
“When we look at the combined impact of direct revenue growth, expanded distribution reach and the cost savings achieved through GDS consolidation, the commercial benefit is clear. The outcomes have been measurable,” she says. “From both a revenue and cost perspective, we absolutely believe SiteMinder has returned a positive return on investment.”
“At the same time, the improvements in efficiency, visibility and control across our distribution have strengthened how we manage the portfolio day to day.”
Thank you, Carlie, for the amazing feedback. It’s a pleasure for SiteMinder to support Metro Hotel’s continued growth and we wish you all the best for the opening of Metro Hotel Martin Place.