Evolving into a multi-unit hospitality brand: How Guesty enables NORD collection to manage 6 boutique aparthotels
In 2014, Sune Liengard, Co-Founder of NORD Collection, was running Key Butler, an Airbnb property management company primarily focused on managing private homes in the short-term while their owners were away on vacation.
While he had been successful with single-unit homes, Sune soon recognized the huge potential of the multi-unit short-term rental market. In 2018, he facilitated a merger between Key Butler and lejlighedsvis, another Denmark-based property management company, and NORD Collection was born.
Today, NORD manages 6 multi-unit aparthotels with over 100 units. All of the properties are located exclusively in Copenhagen, Denmark and come fully furnished as well as stocked with top-notch amenities and 5-star services.
The Challenge
Pivoting from single-unit homes to aparthotels brought with it unforeseen challenges. As Sune and his team onboarded new customers and partnered with more property owners, the everyday issues began to add up. They realized that in order to scale smartly, they would need a reliable property management software to help them streamline and automate their operations.
“As our business grew, we needed a PMS that would grow with us,” said Sune, “Guesty was the obvious choice.”
The Solution
Sune had already been working with Guesty while managing Key Butler, so continuing the partnership after the merger in 2018 was a no-brainer.
“We looked at a few other PMS companies available at the time, but none were developing as fast. Guesty really stood out to us because of its capabilities and we bet on them to continue to build tools that would become the new industry standard,” said Sune.
NORD relies on Guesty’s Automation Tools for their internal communication needs. They can easily sync their teams on all tasks, whether it’s the customer support team in Manila or a local handyman in Copenhagen. Unlike traditional hotels, NORD has been able to automate administrative roles by using smart and contact-free technology. Rather than having greeters or a receptionist, the company can run its entire check-in/check-out process remotely.
In addition, Guesty’s open API gives NORD the ability to build out functionalities based on their specific needs. And with Guesty’s Marketplace of partners, NORD has integrated with a variety of tech tools to further their business goals, such as keyless entry solutions and dynamic pricing software.
“We’ve been able to do everything we want so far with Guesty, either by using the system’s internal tools or building on top of them,” added Sune.
The Results
Pivoting their entire inventory to aparthotels meant that NORD was able to increase its average nightly rates. As a result, the company grew by 100% in booked revenue.
Currently, NORD Collection has a Global Communication Services team of seven sitting in Manila, providing high quality guest support that has landed the company a spot on the list of the top ten hotels in Copenhagen three times. “Most of the other hotels on this list have 10 people working in the lobby to achieve the same results,” said Sune.
“By using automated messages and saved replies, one person can handle the communication for our entire aparthotel portfolio,” he added, “Our team is sitting across the world and can answer questions about how the radiator works in an apartment in Copenhagent that they’ve never been to; they know every detail about how everything works. This wouldn’t be possible without Guesty.”
With the capabilities Guesty offers, NORD can manage all of their units with half the number of employees. “We have been able to increase the level of how our team is performing, without increasing the number of people. Guesty has saved us countless hours,” said Sune, “Every minute you put into Guesty, you get ten back.”
Here is a link to the full video testimonial:
