ADAPT Apartments Case Study | Apaleo Customer Stories

A decade of success

Marking a milestone in their journey, ADAPT Apartments recently received prestigious recognition at the SO!APART Awards 2023. Their commitment to sustainability in the existing property category and the title of the "most popular large serviced apartment" brand, as voted by the audience, underscore the resonance of their approach with both industry experts and guests.

Established in 2012, ADAPT Apartments embarked on a pioneering journey in the serviced apartments sector in Berlin. Over the past decade, they have consistently demonstrated a commitment to excellence, emphasising distinctive campus-like structures and maintaining the highest quality standards.

In 2023, ADAPT Apartments took a bold step to change the game. They traded the complexities of traditional hotel systems for the simplicity and power of a modern, cloud-native property management platform. This is a story of how they made everything smoother for their guests and cost-effective for their operations.

Online check-in

Legacy hotel property management systems previously imposed challenges on ADAPT Apartments, particularly during busy Monday evenings. Manual check-ins, long queues, and intricate processes for corporate clients, who make up 95% of their customers, significantly drained resources.

Additionally, handling registration forms was a manual and time-consuming endeavour for ADAPT Apartments. Their legacy hotel PMS demanded manual data entry, corrections, and the physical storage of registration forms, adding operational overhead, including scanning, printing, and documenting each file.

Following the implementation of Apaleo, the guest journey of ADAPT Apartments underwent a transformative evolution.

With Apaleo, registration forms are now available on a self-service basis to guests via Straiv, automatically added to guest profiles in their CRM tool, Umnion, and securely stored. This strategic shift has saved 14 hours per week, resulting in an annual cost reduction of €12,840.

“Guests now enjoy a hassle-free check-in: they scan a QR code, grab a coffee, easily find their apartment, and that's it. Regular guests take it a step further, checking in online while on the way and heading straight to their apartment.” Ralf Krause, MD of ADAPT Apartments

Virtual check-ins, the convenience of QR codes, and seamless integration of technology have not only replaced the manual processes of the past but have yielded remarkable results. The implementation led to a substantial 10 hours saved per week for the front office staff, equating to a yearly cost reduction of €8,560.

Automated payments

Handling credit card payments has become a breeze with Apaleo compared to their old system. Previously, guests presented their credit cards during check-in, leading to a series of manual steps - placing the card on a reader, entering the amount, printing receipts for the guest, and later dealing with reconciliations and archiving processes involving multiple Excel sheets and physical copies.

Now, with Apaleo, guests pay directly during the online check-in process through Straiv. The payment is instantly recorded and processed via Apaleo Pay, streamlining the entire workflow. Thanks to a carefully built workflow using Make, the settlement report is automatically generated. It assigns the invoice number, identifies the payment method using the reservation number, and automatically generates a Google Sheet imported into DATEV for seamless accounting.

This workflow significantly reduces the necessity for the accounting team to double check transactions, easing the burden of verifying each transaction. As a result, time is saved, and unnecessary paperwork is minimised, offering a more efficient and user-friendly experience for both staff and guests.

“The Apaleo Pay integration transformed our guest experience. Guests can settle their bills completely digitally, instantly registered in Apaleo. We automated several custom workflows, saving our accounting department an estimated 72 hours per month, with an annual saving of €15,000!"

The previous manual process posed a significant security risk, allowing potential unauthorised access to sensitive guest information, but with Apaleo Pay, details are tokenised and accessed only with proper authorisation, ensuring a secure and streamlined payment process.

Under the legacy system, each morning brought the chore of manual end-of-day reconciliations: no-shows, room changes, and locked rooms all demanded manual attention. Cash reconciliation, booking by booking, was a labour-heavy task. The old system took an extra 3 minutes to update databases and archive evaluations before manually exporting data through the DATEV interface.

In stark contrast, Apaleo has streamlined this entire process. The need for these manual reconciliations and exports has been completely eliminated, saving 2.5 hours per week for the back-office staff.

Comprehensive analytics

In contrast to their previous limitations, the introduction of Apaleo has opened new horizons for analytics. Leveraging open and extensive APIs, the team of ADAPT Apartments now seamlessly automates the import of essential performance metrics. With the integration of Make, Happyhotel (their recently implemented revenue management system), and Apaleo they are now able to populate a structured Google Sheet with room nights, occupancy rate, revPAR, and ADR.

The ease of accessing historical, present, and future data allows for accurate analyses on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. This empowers the team to make informed decisions, ensuring that promotions and company rates align with actual performance. With improved data visibility, ADAPT Apartments has transformed rate management into a more efficient and precise process.

This integration isn't limited to revenue metrics; it extends to the import of costs from DATEV into the same sheet, providing a comprehensive overview for accounting. Daily recording of transactions empowers them with the flexibility to correct and adjust calculations at any moment, and tailor forecasts for a more agile and informed decision-making process. The newfound approach has revolutionised the approach of ADAPT Apartments to analytics, bringing precision to the forefront, saving 5 hours per week, and €19.160 yearly.

Emotional relief

This transition has significantly reduced emotional stress for staff. Under the old system, there was a demanding routine, requiring teams to start work at least 30 minutes before reception opening and extend their hours by an additional 30 minutes after closing.

Additionally, a queue of up to 15 guests at the reception frequently elevated employee stress, resulting in tensions between the team and guests due to impatience and frequent misunderstandings.

“Notably, on Monday evenings, only an average of 25 out of 80 arrivals now stand at the reception for manual check-in, showcasing a drastic reduction. Guests have embraced the convenience of self-service check-ins, with some even enjoying the process while on the go. The option to check in with a cup of coffee via the QR code has been well-received, further streamlining the process.”

As a result, there have been modifications to shift schedules, often requiring only one team member at the reception. Another team member is stationed in the back office to handle peak periods, while the second team member efficiently manages emails and phone calls, addressing queries from guests in transit. This has not only improved the overall work environment but also enhanced guest interactions and satisfaction, as staff can now respond calmly to various requests such as inquiries about closing times, breakfast additions, early check-outs, parking, and late check-ins.

Summary

In a year marked by transformative changes, ADAPT Apartments saved 50 hours weekly driving a 50% cost reduction. Previously, their expenses exceeded an annual sum of €40,000, encompassing annual licence fees, acquisition costs based on a 5-year depreciation, integration costs, and training expenses. Now, they have reduced their expenses by 50%, by solely using Apaleo. This cost saving has provided them with the opportunity to explore and invest in additional applications, including Umnion for their CRM platform, Happyhotel for yield management, and Straiv for optimising their guest journey.

Their journey of digital transformation with Apaleo reflects a paradigm shift in operational efficiency, guest satisfaction, and substantial cost savings. From the streamlined check-in experience to digital workflows and comprehensive analytics, ADAPT Apartments is setting new standards in the serviced apartment sector.

A dive into the tech stack of ADAPT Apartments

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ADAPT Apartments achieves 50% cost cut with weekly 50-hour savings