5 key considerations: property management systems for Serviced Apartments

If the hotel business is an adult, the serviced apartment industry is still a toddler. It still has a lot of developing to do and a lot of changes to go through which means that if you’re in the industry already, you will have to adapt as well. You need a property management system that is not only built for purpose, but one that will develop and grow with you.

So when looking for a property management system for your Serviced Apartments or Aparthotel, you should take into account the following considerations:

• How will it help drive my direct bookings?
• What revenue distribution tools are available?
• How is it set up for multi-locations?
• What are the corporate profiling and corporate extranet options?
• Are other Serviced Apartment or Aparthotel companies using the system?

Why so specific?

Well, over our years of engaging with a range Serviced Apartments, Aparthotels and other apartment complexes, these key areas were always top of mind and the ‘hot topics’ owners and managers were keen to have answered.

The good news, is that when we built Elina Property Management System (PMS), we designed it with specifically these needs, and this marketplace in mind. I say ‘we,’ I don’t have the tech brains to write code or build such a programme, but my bosses did 6 years ago and they are the reason we have Elina today. They identified a gap in a market that had huge potential – the serviced apartment industry - and there wasn’t a system on the market that was designed specifically for use in multi-owner, multi-location properties, anywhere in the world.

As you go through your selection process for a new property management system – or are thinking about upgrading to a new one, below are some of my thoughts to help you when it comes to the key considerations – and specifically why Elina PMS is the perfect partner for Serviced Apartments and Aparthotels…in fact an additional member of your team…

 

1. How will it help drive my direct bookings?

Online travel agents dominate the market within all aspects of the hospitality industry, and that includes the serviced apartment and Aparthotel industry. Elina allows you to work with the channels, but also allows you to optimise your rates, promotions and offers to maximise your direct bookings. We also have a feature which allows you to restrict which properties you send to which channels and at what time so you only send properties when it is most convenient, and most profitable for you.

There are also several outreach tools in Elina which give you the ability to automatically email your guests to drive them back to you directly, or directly to your website. And, once there are there, Elina also has an industry leading booking engine to ensure that your guests can book on your live availability and also purchase additional services to boost your bottom line, all on a seamlessly integrated online booking engine.

 

2. What revenue distribution tools are available?

Dividing up the spoils of a successful month or year across multiple agents and owners can be a tedious job, but with the automation within Elina’s revenue distribution tool this is all done for you. Each property that you have set up within Elina has its own revenue distribution rule which means that money that is made from bookings on that property is automatically assigned to the account of the property owner. Then at the end of every month, or every quarter- or however often you pay your owners- you are able to run a report which displays how much you have to pay, and to who.

There is even an online owner lounge area which is built into the booking engine to allow your owners to login and monitor their own accounts without them ever having to get in touch with you!

 

3. How is it set up for multi-locations?

Elina can work with properties all over the world- each location can be set up individually which means that you can have properties in any format you require. These are governed by categories known as ‘areas’ and ‘types’. Typically an area would be a city or district and then within those areas, a type represents either an individual property, or a group of similar properties.

 

4. What are the corporate profiling and corporate extranet options?

In many ways, the world of corporate bookings is the gold mine of the serviced apartment industry. They are, rolled into one, your most and least demanding customers. Yes they will typically demand seamless service from top to bottom, but they will also stay longer, they won’t be with you to party (most of the time) and there is a better than fair chance that they will come back and stay with you again. Elina can help you manage them right the way through their stay and then help them come back.

Within Elina you can create corporate profiles for each of the companies that you work with, and within those companies you can attach guests which means that companies can create bookings on behalf of their employees, or employees can book on the company rate.

These profiles can have their own invoice rules- every company wants to pay at different times so we can accommodate this- and their own rate codes. If you wish, you can have invoices automatically post to the account of the company for the stay, and then any add on’s or extras that the guest buys from you while they are staying can be auto posted to the guest account. They can even have their own additional services that they are allowed to purchase.

Like the owner lounge area, corporate guests and companies have their own lounge accessible through the booking engine. This allows them to monitor accounts, bookings and company spend, without ever having to get in touch with you directly.

You can even target specific companies with offers and promotions using Elina’s email marketing tool to drive them back to you every time they are in town.

 

5. Are other Serviced Apartment or Aparthotel companies using the system?

This may seem like a chicken and egg scenario, but for proof that Elina is perfect for use within serviced apartments and Aparthotels, you need look no further than our client list.

We work with some of the largest apartment providers in the UK, as well as a significant number of international providers as well from right across the spectrum of providers.

Not only was the system perfect for all of these providers when they chose to move over to Elina, but the influence they have on the development of the product means that Elina keeps getting better, and stays ahead of the curve.

So if you’re a serviced apartment company, Aparthotel, corporate housing provider, extended stay specialist, or any other classification of Apartment Company, Elina PMS would be a great fit for your business. Give me a call and I will show you.