RateTiger suites were employed at Umi Hotel, formally Westminster Hotel, when Malgosia joined in 2005.

Malgosia Zielinska knew from the outset that taking over revenue management at the Umi Hotel was going to present her with a tough challenge.

The 34 year old was appointed Rooms Business and Revenue Manager at the 114-room Hotel in Bayswater in 2005. Her predecessor had held the post for 20 years.

Umi Hotel’s business model is built around the internet travel trade and it was important to maintain a high level of online sales. Umi Hotel does not compare itself on rates and inventory availability to nearby venues due to their size, instead it goes with instinct.

“We recently rebranded the hotel group but it was important Umi Hotel retained its own identity and most importantly we choose our own rates,” says Malgosia. “We have a healthy base rate and a central location so we are confident with how we fit into the market.”

“When I arrived we sold across multiple distribution channels, I knew if I did it all manually it would just eat into my life– especially since our focus is online distribution.”

Umi Hotels now sells rooms across Expedia, Bookings.org, Venere, Laterooms.com, RatestoGo, Lastminute.com, Discount City Hotels, Hotels London, Hotels Assist and soon to be two or three more.

“Can you imagine remembering ten, eleven, twelve usernames and passwords plus everything that had just been updated on other sites?” says Malgosia. “I knew we needed a tool that would dramatically save me time and make my role more efficient.”
For Malgosia and Umi Hotel, the installation of RTAllocator proved to be the answer. “It really is a life-saving tool; I wouldn’t know how to live without it now. I spent five out of my eight hour day playing with rates online in order to maximise sales across the booking engines.”
 
RTAllocator allows the hotel to view all its distribution channels in one screen, the revenue manager can identify each of their outlets and allocate rates and inventory accordingly.

“My rates fluctuate on a daily and hourly basis depending on demand,” says Malgosia. “RTAllocator must be used as a tool – by feeding it constantly with information you will begin to see a return. It is important to ‘yield manage’ and squeeze as much out as you can – especially by looking at the time of year.”

Malgosia looks at the strongest performing sites and places rooms where they sell – where demand is. “The level of activity I undertake on the system and my rates means I always exceed monthly budgets purely by making the most of what there is in front of me.”

For Malgosia revenue management is time-consuming with room rate and inventory distribution tools making time efficient, and she couldn’t imagine doing it without RTAllocator.

In 2008 she plans to add further channels to widen the exposure Umi Hotel has online; “Rate parity to go across all extranets is very quick, it is less stressful than working manually, RateTiger is definitely irreplaceable.”