Operations
or loyalty plans being rolled out in 2025? Our guest experience strategy continues to evolve with one clear objective: to deepen the sense of being known, welcomed and pleasantly surprised. We’re not looking to replace the human touch – on the contrary, our initiatives are designed to enhance it. One of our key focuses is hyper-personalisation, using data from our PMS to tailor each guest’s stay based on preferences and behaviour. We’re constantly listening to what guests tell us – both their compliments and their critiques – which helps us understand where we excel and where we can improve.
Above: Room Mate has significantly bolstered its portfolio.
Below: Hotel Helen Berger – a boutique hotel in the heart of Valencia.
clearly willing to pay more for a refreshed, design- forward experience that reflects Room Mate’s boutique identity. At the same time, guest satisfaction has improved significantly – reviews frequently highlight the upgraded interiors, enhanced comfort and elevated ambiance. This has translated into higher scores on platforms like
Booking.com and Google, and our consolidated ReviewPro rating has also seen a boost, which in turn supports stronger conversion rates. We’ve also observed a notable increase in occupancy, driven by improved online visibility and stronger word of mouth. Together with the uplift in ADR, that’s led to a clear improvement in RevPAR, especially during peak demand periods. Beyond the numbers, the renovations have reinforced our brand identity as a stylish, urban hospitality brand. We’re seeing stronger brand loyalty and a clear rise in repeat bookings, particularly in cities like Florence where guest return rates are already high.
With over 1.22 million guests in 2024 and a strong ReviewPro score, how are you evolving your guest experience strategy? Any new tech, service concepts
ReviewPro remains an essential tool in this process. It gives us a clear, data-driven view of how we’re performing both internally and compared with our competitor set. That insight allows us to fine-tune operations, boost reputation and increase awareness in a meaningful way. We’ve also integrated technology like Civitfun, a solution that digitises and automates the check-in and check-out process. The goal is to streamline operations and make the experience faster and more convenient for guests, while freeing up our front desk team to focus on what really matters: the guest journey. By removing friction from the operational side, our staff can spend more time creating meaningful, personalised interactions that elevate the overall experience. Looking ahead to 2025, all of these efforts are part of a broader commitment to smart service innovation – where tech supports hospitality, not replaces it.
You are a chain focused on “homes” and friend-like hospitality. How do you balance that boutique ethos while scaling up across multiple countries? We have an incredible team and team-building ethos that is the result of over 20 years of history and passion for what we do. When people come to work at Room Mate, they end up with a deep sense of belonging. We are like a big family. We make sure we get together regularly to share. As we grow, we will continue with this team-building ethos. Without being complacent, as there is no room for that, we truly believe we will be able to maintain this as we grow.
With revenue up 23% year-on-year, what’s been the biggest internal driver of this growth – better yield management, increased occupancy or broader distribution?
It has really been a combination of different factors: we’ve seen a lot of growth from the renovation of some of our properties; we’ve seen very strong market performance from our hotels in Spain, particularly in destinations like Madrid where we have many hotels; we’ve always had good yield management at Room Mate but we’re always striving to do better; and of course, we’ve added new properties to the portfolio in places like Valencia. ●
18 Hotel Management International /
www.hmi-online.com
MARMONT; HELEN BERGER
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