A family atmosphere, personal service and lots of local advice are things all guests staying at the Little Guesthouse in Salzburg should expect – because owners Constanze Gehmacher and Mario Inthal are more than able to meet these expectations.
The two have been running the Little Guesthouse, which is located in walking distance from Salzburg’s historic old town, since 2018. The property consists of eleven individually designed and furnished rooms as well as a large garden with a terrace, hammocks and sun loungers. It’s a place for guests to get comfortable and recharge for their next outing or a leisurely tour with one of the rental bikes, which are prepped and ready to go.
We recently spoke with Constanze Gehmacher about how she is managing the online distribution of her property. She talked about her success using SiteMinder and the crucial advantages the platform provides.
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A multi-dimensional tool
The choice of technology solution was an important part of preparing the grand opening of the property in 2018. Required was a PMS as well as distribution tools like a channel manager and a booking engine. It was both a challenge and opportunity to set all this up from scratch: it meant a lot of work but also provided Constanze and Mario with the opportunity to assemble the ideal tech stack for their hotel.
“For us it was particularly important to find a time-saving and effective solution that made our online distribution quick and easy to manage. We then happened on SiteMinder during an event. I immediately took to the system because it seemed so clear and organized as well as user-friendly”, Constanze recalls.
Beyond this first great impression, SiteMinder also offered the advantage of a complete solution for their online distribution, featuring a channel manager, a website builder and a booking engine:
“Getting all three in one product was a godsend. It made it even easier to keep on top of everything because we could manage all necessary distribution tasks in one single platform.”
A simple but powerful platform
As soon as they had created the website and uploaded all room types into the system, Constanze and her team started enjoying the full benefits of SiteMinder:
“The platform worked really well from the very beginning. The channel manager was connected with our Mews PMS, which made sure that our inventory was always updated across all channels and new rates were automatically sent to all our booking channels.”
Constanze is also happy with her website: “Thanks to the website builder we were able to create an attractive online presence without much effort. This helped increase direct bookings, which now make up about 30% of our bookings”.
Finally, she also has good things to say about SiteMinder’s support:
“To be honest we rarely needed the support. We didn’t struggle using the system and were able to implement changes in rates and on the website by ourselves. But when we did have a query, we never had to wait long for a response. That’s another reason I would recommend SiteMinder to all hoteliers”.
Thank you for your feedback, Constanze! We wish you much future success at the Little Guesthouse. Keep up the good work!
