Trendiest hotel chain chooses trendiest software. citizenM, ranked by Tripadvisor as the trendiest hotel in the world, just finished rolling out hetras to the entire chain. With occupancy rates approaching 100%, hetras couldn’t afford to make a mistake. Manual workarounds were simply not an option at these highly automated properties. But hetras and citizenM pulled it off.
Get the story behind the story in this issue of hetras hummingbird.
We’re always happy to hear from you.
Best regards from the Austrian Alps,
Keith Gruen
Get the story behind the story in this issue of hetras hummingbird.
We’re always happy to hear from you.
Best regards from the Austrian Alps,
Keith Gruen
Just one year ago, there wasn’t much to see at hetras. Just some screen mockups, database designs and a lot of web services. However this didn’t stop citizenM CEO and visionary Michael Levie from recognizing that hetras shared a lot of his same entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to break the rules. So that’s how our partnership started.
When we first talked to citizenM about a user interface, we discussed how the system is not designed to be used only by hotel staff. After all, it’s the guests of citizenM who make the reservations and check themselves in and out on kiosks in the lobby. The hotel staff only needs to get involved in exceptional cases. So instead of thinking of the hotel employees as the users, hetras considers hotel guests as users. And indeed this philosophy continues to influence our design decisions.
Because hetras is an all-in-one system, there's no separation at all between PMS, CRS, internet booking engine, channel management or any of those applications you typically find in a hotel or chain. Nevertheless, we still had to interface to 20 external systems, including room management, credit card processing, back office accounting, SMS gateway, GDS and various booking channels.
Within the space of about four weeks, all three citizenM properties – Glasgow, Amsterdam Airport and Amsterdam City – went live with hetras. The Amsterdam properties cut over even during 100% occupancy – with a minimal amount of downtime.
“hetras is even faster and better than we expected” said Michael Levie. “Our website in combination with the hetras system is better than ever. But the main thing is that our guests have an experience that exceeds their expectations. That’s part of our philosophy at citizenM.”
Read the press release
When we first talked to citizenM about a user interface, we discussed how the system is not designed to be used only by hotel staff. After all, it’s the guests of citizenM who make the reservations and check themselves in and out on kiosks in the lobby. The hotel staff only needs to get involved in exceptional cases. So instead of thinking of the hotel employees as the users, hetras considers hotel guests as users. And indeed this philosophy continues to influence our design decisions.
Because hetras is an all-in-one system, there's no separation at all between PMS, CRS, internet booking engine, channel management or any of those applications you typically find in a hotel or chain. Nevertheless, we still had to interface to 20 external systems, including room management, credit card processing, back office accounting, SMS gateway, GDS and various booking channels.
Within the space of about four weeks, all three citizenM properties – Glasgow, Amsterdam Airport and Amsterdam City – went live with hetras. The Amsterdam properties cut over even during 100% occupancy – with a minimal amount of downtime.
“hetras is even faster and better than we expected” said Michael Levie. “Our website in combination with the hetras system is better than ever. But the main thing is that our guests have an experience that exceeds their expectations. That’s part of our philosophy at citizenM.”
Read the press release
Uli Pillau brings over 20 years of hospitality experience and proven expertise in hotel software solutions to the hetras team. He started his hotel career at groups such as InterContinental, Hilton and Mövenpick. Prior to joining hetras, he was responsible for all IDeaS Revenue Optimization operations in the EAME region and contributed to the significant growth of the company from 1998 - 2010. Between 1988 and 1998, Uli held senior level positions in Fidelio Software and later Micros Fidelio Software including Training Director, Managing Director of Fidelio France and Vice President of Fidelio Major Accounts worldwide.
Describing his new role, Uli said "unlike traditional software license deals, the key to success in software-as-a-service lies mainly in the service component. That's why we at hetras place as much effort in ongoing client services as we do in the initial sales effort. In fact, it is always my highest objective to provide superior service to my hotel chain customers and this has contributed to my companies' success over the past decades in the hotel technology business."
Uli joins Keith Gruen as managing directors of hetras.
Read the full press release
Describing his new role, Uli said "unlike traditional software license deals, the key to success in software-as-a-service lies mainly in the service component. That's why we at hetras place as much effort in ongoing client services as we do in the initial sales effort. In fact, it is always my highest objective to provide superior service to my hotel chain customers and this has contributed to my companies' success over the past decades in the hotel technology business."
Uli joins Keith Gruen as managing directors of hetras.
Read the full press release
Although Zell am See is probably the most scenic home base of any hotel software company, hetras needs more locations to grow. So last Fall we opened an office in the heart of Munich, Germany, which ranked number one worldwide in a recent quality of life survey. hetras employees in Munich can’t jump on the ski lift during their lunch break like their counterparts in Zell am See, but they can easily stop by a world-famous Biergarten after work. Just minutes from the Deutsches Museum and the Gasteig Cultural Center, hetras Munich offers our staff and our visitors more than just a professional working and meeting environment.
We will manage international sales and marketing and most of Research & Development in the new office.
We will manage international sales and marketing and most of Research & Development in the new office.
In addition to Target Partners, who made a large investment in hetras in 2009, Scottish Equity Partners (SEP), based in Glasgow and London, becomes the second venture capital firm to back hetras financially.
After months of intense study where independent industry professionals were pulled in to analyze hetras inside and out, SEP came to the conclusion that hetras is indeed the future of hotel software. In a multi-million Euro transaction, SEP together with Target Partners committed enough capital to ensure the long-term growth and success of hetras. That one of hetras’ first hotel customers is located in Glasgow is merely a coincidence, but the partners at SEP were able to see hetras live in action - just minutes from their office.
Mark Gracey, Principal at SEP, who drove the deal to completion, said “hetras is on the cusp of creating a major shake-up in the hotel technology industry. We are impressed how hetras is rewriting the rules of an industry that has lacked creativity and new solutions for far too long.”
Keith Gruen, co-managing director of hetras, adds “thanks to the support of SEP as well as Target, we are better positioned than anyone in our industry to deliver a world-class hotel management system to international hotel groups.”
Read the full press release
After months of intense study where independent industry professionals were pulled in to analyze hetras inside and out, SEP came to the conclusion that hetras is indeed the future of hotel software. In a multi-million Euro transaction, SEP together with Target Partners committed enough capital to ensure the long-term growth and success of hetras. That one of hetras’ first hotel customers is located in Glasgow is merely a coincidence, but the partners at SEP were able to see hetras live in action - just minutes from their office.
Mark Gracey, Principal at SEP, who drove the deal to completion, said “hetras is on the cusp of creating a major shake-up in the hotel technology industry. We are impressed how hetras is rewriting the rules of an industry that has lacked creativity and new solutions for far too long.”
Keith Gruen, co-managing director of hetras, adds “thanks to the support of SEP as well as Target, we are better positioned than anyone in our industry to deliver a world-class hotel management system to international hotel groups.”
Read the full press release
Do you know how hotels work inside and out? Are you familiar with the processes and procedures used by the top hotel companies? Have you worked in operations, sales, revenue management or distribution? If so, that’s a great start.
But if you can also communicate in a highly structured and logical way so that a software engineer can turn your ideas into reality, then your next job might be Business Analyst at hetras.
Find out how you can directly influence the next generation of hotel management software. Visit our careers page or our job posting on LinkedIn.
But if you can also communicate in a highly structured and logical way so that a software engineer can turn your ideas into reality, then your next job might be Business Analyst at hetras.
Find out how you can directly influence the next generation of hotel management software. Visit our careers page or our job posting on LinkedIn.
1.5 trillion text or SMS messages were sent in the United States in 2009. That’s a mind-boggling volume of nearly 5,000 messages per person per year. Fortunately the spam quota for SMS is significantly lower than with email for the simple reason that it still costs something to send a SMS. So when someone receives an SMS, they tend to read it.
Not many hotels have mastered or even understood how they can improve guest service with this means of communication. But this may be changing. A few hotel companies have started to send booking confirmations, pre-arrival reminders, up-sell promotions, room number confirmations, notifications regarding spa appointments and even post-stay thank you messages via SMS. On the other hand, that could be a few too many messages. The art is getting the number and frequency right so as not to unnecessarily bother your guests.
One thing is certain: to implement an effective SMS policy, the Hotel Management System needs to be tightly linked to a SMS gateway. No manual intervention should be required to send the messages. However, the hotel should assume that some guests will answer their messages via SMS and the hotel must be prepared to respond to them – manually.
Where is this all heading? Hotel guests may in the future receive an MMS prior to check-in. The MMS could contain a 2D barcode or an acoustic signal that can be used to open the hotel room door of the future. Then even check-in kiosks will become a thing of the past.
Not many hotels have mastered or even understood how they can improve guest service with this means of communication. But this may be changing. A few hotel companies have started to send booking confirmations, pre-arrival reminders, up-sell promotions, room number confirmations, notifications regarding spa appointments and even post-stay thank you messages via SMS. On the other hand, that could be a few too many messages. The art is getting the number and frequency right so as not to unnecessarily bother your guests.
One thing is certain: to implement an effective SMS policy, the Hotel Management System needs to be tightly linked to a SMS gateway. No manual intervention should be required to send the messages. However, the hotel should assume that some guests will answer their messages via SMS and the hotel must be prepared to respond to them – manually.
Where is this all heading? Hotel guests may in the future receive an MMS prior to check-in. The MMS could contain a 2D barcode or an acoustic signal that can be used to open the hotel room door of the future. Then even check-in kiosks will become a thing of the past.
