How Innkeeper achieved 900% growth and tripled its revenue projections with Guesty

Meet Innkeeper

João Alves was working as the Head of Operations for a property management company in Portugal, when he decided along with his brother, a real estate agent at the time, to start a business of their own. 

The brothers launched Innkeeper in June 2018 with a single-unit vacation rental in The Algarve. The business quickly evolved into a property management company for both long and short-term vacation and urban rentals across Portugal. Currently, the duo manages 100+ listings in key areas such as Lisbon, Algarve and Sintra, and is planning to add an additional twenty properties before the end of the year. 

The Challenge 

From automating guest communication to delegating tasks to the team, there are several key components that go into running an efficient property management business. João realized from the beginning that in order to achieve the type of growth desired, that they wouldn’t be able to manage everything alone.

Having worked with an internal property management software at his previous company, João knew what to look for from a software provider, and Guesty checked all those boxes. 

The Solution 

“Guesty has been with us since Day 1, even before we got our first listing. We’ve grown with them ever since, something that wouldn’t be possible without such a powerful tool behind us,” said João, “At the beginning, we only had a handful of listings, but as we grew, it became more clear how much Guesty was helping us save time and money.” 

Automation tools have had the biggest impact on Innkeeper’s success, automating the repetitive daily tasks like responding to guest inquiries, sending check-in/check-out instructions and more. 

Perfecting these communication needs, both internally with team members and externally with guests, has resulted in a 9.6+ rating across Innkeeper’s properties listed on Airbnb and Booking.com, all tracked by advanced Analytics Tools. And, integrations have also helped João and his team keep up with new COVID-19 guest expectations, for instance, limiting human contact by implementing keyless entry systems. 

“Right now, we are running with 33% of the needed workforce – operationally speaking – than we would have needed if we didn’t use software such as Guesty,” João added. 

In addition, Innkeeper’s occupancy rates have improved significantly since João teamed up with dynamic pricing tool PriceLabs from Guesty’s Marketplace, which helps generate real-time pricing to optimize rates and therefore boost occupancy. Innkeeper relies on Chekin to simplify and streamline pre-stay tasks, such as authority reporting and collecting relevant documentation from guests. 

“With Guesty, my team can do their job properly and efficiently without having to single-handedly look at every interaction with guests – since Guesty’s tools handle that. We have more time to bring in new clients, close better partnerships and improve our relationships with owners. Business development is definitely where we have benefited the most from all the time Guesty has saved us,” said João. 

The Results

Since working with Guesty, Innkeeper has grown from managing 6 short-term rentals to over 60 – a 900% growth in one year, and prior to COVID-19, their projected 2020 year-end revenue is 3x that of 2019. 

“In terms of the software itself, Guesty is extremely versatile and can adapt to so many different situations or users’ needs. All of Guesty’s features have made a huge impact on the success of my company,” added João.

In the near future, João and his brother plan to expand Innkeeper to new cities across Portugal, such as Porto, as well as into Spain. Given the current climate, Innkeeper is also looking to attract more corporate guests, student travelers and digital nomads with midterm rentals of 2-3 months. And in order to grow his mixed portfolio further, João is looking to expand his portfolio to encompass aparthotel and multi-unit options. “For anyone thinking about working with Guesty, my advice? Do it! Guesty offers a complete and comprehensive approach to every single aspect of the property management business,” said João, “Using Guesty is not just one less concern, it’s 100 fewer issues that you have to concern yourself with during your day-to-day operations.”