How this international property management company boosted their revenue by 30% with Guesty
A New Venture Begins
Albert Gjonbalaj and Frank Hax are no strangers to growing and building a product to scale. For years, they worked on the construction side with coworking behemoth WeWork to develop its spaces as the company went through hyper-growth. This experience served as a masterclass on successfully growing and expanding a business, and by the end of 2019, Albert and Frank were ready for their next big venture.
As 2020 unfolded, the duo observed that people’s expectations of travel and hospitality were drastically changing. Families and friends were no longer looking to take a long-distance flight to a remote destination. They were instead opting for nearby getaways that offered space, nature, and most importantly—as the pandemic was developing—fresh, clean air.
Drawing from the immense knowledge they’ve accumulated over the years, Albert and Frank founded Stay at Lina with the goal in mind to establish a diverse portfolio of properties, in and around major cities within the US and Europe, that allow people the opportunity to escape their busy lives and enjoy a truly welcoming experience.
The Challenge
From the start, Stay at Lina was an international business, listing properties in Upstate New York, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Albania. As their portfolio grew across four different countries, It didn’t take long for the emerging property management company to meet challenges shared by all international organizations spread across a slew of regions; a severe gap in visibility and integration.
Double bookings and delays in response times were hindering Stay at Lina’s commitment to exceptional guest service, and a lack of an efficient revenue management system meant that despite their impressive growth, their expenses were too high to scale sustainably.
To stay true to their mission of providing the best possible hospitality experience to their guests, Stay at Lina was looking for a tool that would give them the type of visibility and centralized management they required in order to expand their business without losing their unique touch.
The Solution
Searching for a PMS that would match their needs, Stay at Lina’s founders were drawn to Guesty’s user-friendly interface and started using the platform in early 2020. The impact was immediate and Stay at Lina’s bookings, operations, and revenue, which up until that point were siloed, now funneled into one centralized system.
Stay at Lina started tracking its current and future reservations using Guesty’s Multi-Calendar feature, fusing it into their broader COVID-times strategy of creating contact-free experiences for guests ensuring as little face-time as possible with their team. “Having all reservations in one place really helps and makes it easier for the team to manage the day to day operations while limiting the in person interactions and continuing to provide an excellent experience for our guests” said Albert and Frank.
They’re also making use of Guesty’s Automated Messages to support their keyless entry procedure, sending guests who are still only getting used to this type of tech instructions upon check-in and checkout.
Additionally, Guesty’s Channel Manager, Task Management, and Unified Inbox were a game-changer for Stay at Lina, allowing them to focus their attention on their revenue management strategy by supplying them with a clear picture of their different tasks and streamlining cleaning and maintenance operations. “Guesty has been great for our team to look at our overall bookings and allow us to strategize which cleaning teams visit which areas and which houses need guest ops attention. It’s also great to have one central place to communicate with guests instead of jumping around and managing various platform interfaces. We constantly tweak our listings’ information, and Guesty is an excellent tool because we can make these updates easily in one place.”
The Results
In one short year, Stay at Lina grew from 30 to 44 properties (a 46% increase), adding 11 new locations in Upstate New York and on track to open 5 more by the end of the year. Guest reviews are glowing as the team is using Guesty to respond and preempt guest messages, leading to more bookings and, in return, a 30% boost in revenue. Although the world is still in a state of uncertainty, Stay at Lina’s properties are constantly occupied, leading them to up their rates by $250 per night on average.
As we head into 2022, expect to hear a lot more from this ambitious property management company. With this type of global expansion, it would be no surprise if a Stay at Lina location opened up near you very soon.
