Hotel management is challenged by seasonal in the mountains

When Ana Sánchez join Snow hotel as Income manager More than five years ago, he faced interesting challenges; Helps build a hotel chain from the beginning that specializes in snow and mountain destinations – using the right technology from the first day.

“We have seen in other hotels the problems arising from not having the right tools: Manual availability, lack of communication between systems, excess books … We know we need solid technology infrastructure from the start,” Ana explained.

SNö Hotels, founded in 2017, currently manages 15 companies with 970 rooms and 92 apartments distributed throughout the most beautiful Pyrenees and Galicia valleys. Among the properties are Snö Mont Romies hotels and apartments in Sarardú, Snö Hotel Aragón Hills in Formigal, and Pazo O Rial Hotel at Vilagarcía de Aroususa. This chain specializes in mountain and snow tourism, with a marked seasonal that requires maximum operational agility, maintaining an average level of € 110 and 57% of dwellings over this season.

PMS channel managers and integration are important for seasonal hotels

When Snö Hotels designed its business model in 2017, the team identified the unique challenges they would face as a chain that was specialized in the mountain destination. Seasonal Extreme Snow Tourism, where demand fluctuates drastically according to weather conditions, requires nimble technological foundations.

A diverse portfolio will require a system that is able to manage various operations without additional complexity. “Good snow can trigger demand in hours,” Ana said, explaining why agility is a fundamental requirement in their planning.

The distribution strategy is also designed with a vision with an insight forward. They know they will need the presence of traditional OTA and channels that are specialized in snow tourism, and that manually manually managing this diversity will not be sustainable for developing chains. The decision to implement channel managers integrated with their PM from the beginning is not a coincidence, but a strategic decision based on the experience of the previous founding team.

“What makes us find this solution is especially a need to automate the process so that we can dedicate more time for strategy and less for recurring administrative tasks,” commented Ana, explaining the philosophy that guides choices PM Suitech and Siteminder channel manager.

Integration of PMS and Channel Manager allows automation smoothly

SNö Hotels focus on applying a complete integrated technology pile, where the hotel management system and distribution platform function as a single solution. This strategic decision allows them to avoid problems such as fragmentation that affects many hotel chains.

Integration of two-way real-time to the heart of their surgery.

“When every change occurs in a reservation, information automatically flows to all sales channels. Everything happens in the background, without staff must intervene,” Ana explained.

This perfect synchronization includes inventory, tariffs, restrictions, and reservations, creating truly integrated workflows.

The power of this integration is truly clear during a critical situation. Ana remembers extraordinary snow that is truly changed in demand:

“We can adjust our tariffs in minutes and see it instantly reflected in hundreds of channels. While reservations enter, the system automatically manages the availability of real time. We reach full dwelling with premium rates without a single bookkeeping or manual intervention. That is the perfect weekend of both operational and income perspectives.”

40% more night night night and reduce OTA’s dependence

SNö Hotels technology investments have produced extraordinary impacts in all fields of business.

Direct channel growth

Direct channels experience spectacular growth: from 8.42% to 10.5% of the total reservation in just one year, representing an increase of 40% in the night of the room.

“This direct channel growth not only increases our margin but also allows us to have a closer relationship with our customers,” Ana explained. At present, the direct channel represents nearly 30% of the total chain reservation.

Distribution optimization

While the average sector maintains 70-80% dependence on traditional OTA, SNö Hotel has managed to reduce it to 50%. This diversification also allows them to increase their presence in the special mountain tourism channel, capturing customers of higher value with a longer inpatient period and higher average expenditure.

Transformative operational efficiency

This chain manages 15 companies and 2,500 beds with a highly reduced team, has eliminated the problem of excess books, and has released its staff from repeated administrative tasks.

“We have been able to manage our growth without the need to improve administrative staff proportionally,” highlighting Ana. “This allows us to invest in what is true -really makes a difference: guest experience and training our team in customer service.”

Management of real-time availability in practice

The actual test of any technology is in its practical application, and Snö Hotels has a concrete example that describes the strength of an integrated ecosystem. One of the most significant achievements is to solve relations with Viejes Baqueira Beret, a strategic partner for their mountain hotel.

“Previously, we had to update the availability manually through their platforms, which spent time and produce a risk of mistakes. Now, all our beds are sold in real time without manual intervention,” Ana explained with satisfaction.

Managing season openings is another perfect example of how technology adapts to the uniqueness of the snow business. Meteorological uncertainty is the inherent part of this sector, and agility is very important.

There are times when we do not have certainty that a station will be opened until the previous day. Imagine what previous means to manually tell each channel, update the tariff, manage existing orders … Now, in minutes we can open or close sales on all our channels simultaneously. The same reaction condition.

Integral Hotel Revenue Management from Digital Transformation

Snö Hotels are not satisfied with the current achievements and have worked in the next phase of their digital transformation. This chain applies allotment management and automatic guarantees, important aspects of optimizing relationships with tour operators during high seasons. In parallel, they advance in the integration of direct tariff uploads from PMS, which will eliminate one of the last processes that still requires some manual interventions.

“Every technological improvement that we apply has a clear goal: liberate more time for human elements,” reflects Ana.

“What I appreciate the most of all of this technology ecosystem is to allow us to focus on what is truly important: guest attention. We have experienced in -depth transformation, switching from reactive management, where we continue to issue fires and resolve operational problems, to be truly proactive management. We can anticipate our customers’ needs, personalize their experience profitable. “

This ongoing evolution reflects the philosophy of SNö Hotels: technology is not the goal itself, but the way that allows them to offer extraordinary experiences at the most spectacular Mount Spain’s destination.

Thank you, Ana, for extraordinary feedback and we hope Snö is all the best in the future!