The Oak Tree Inn is a charming, family-run hotel with 42 bedrooms on the banks of Loch Lomond in the picturesque village of Balmaha. They upgraded from Avondata’s previous server-based PMS, Hotel Executive, to move to the cloud with Rezcontrol just after Covid, and integrated with RoomPriceGenie to optimise revenue in early 2024.
Jenni O’Connor from Rezcontrol and Ewa Gabara from RoomPriceGenie caught up with General Manager Martin Buchanan to discover the difference these new technologies have made in driving up revenue while increasing efficiencies.
Background
The Oak Tree Inn opened its doors in 1997, and has been improving and expanding its offering to guests ever since, now including pods, cottages and even a private dining bus! They run an adjoining ice cream parlour and coffee shop; have won the accolade of Scotland’s best pub, and they cater for meetings and events as well as holiday makers and touring groups.
The hotel puts sustainability at the forefront of their decision making and has 246 solar panels that power much of the site, including its EV charging points.
They had previously carried out many management tasks by hand, updating reservation details and adjusting rates manually and struggling to maintain both consistency and visibility.
The Challenges
“We are a small team and really saw the benefits of streamlining and automating our processes, as well as internal comms and reporting”
As the business grew, with their offering being extended and their popularity reaching far and wide – alongside rapidly developing hospitality technologies – they realised the benefits they would gain from moving to the cloud and investing in a new tech stack for reasons of both revenue and efficiency.
As a family business, in a hotel which enjoys maximum occupancy at peak times, it was difficult to keep on top of all the tasks which needed doing, especially in the summer months. “We’re always full in summer, and there was just too much to do and too little time,” said Martin.
“We knew if we could streamline our processes it would free up staff time, as well as making everything more professional. We were also generating our own estimates when it came to pricing, and while we know our parameters and what the market will take, especially for our loyal repeat customers, we also knew that with more science behind it, we could generate more bookings in low periods, and more revenue in peak times.”
“We had little visibility into data and performance metrics, and knew this was an obvious area for improvement.”
As with any hotel which gets especially busy at certain times, The Oak Tree Inn also needed a system which was easy to use, and easy for seasonal staff to pick up.
The Solution
“Working manually with OTAs and trying to adjust rates was challenging."
Martin wears many hats, working as general manager and in charge of guest services, as well as the restaurant and bar. This extensive role naturally brings him into revenue management, strategy, optimising efficiency, guest experience and profitability – which put him in an ideal place to review the technologies available during the compulsory closures of the pandemic, and to bring the Oak Tree Inn fully up to date when the hotel was able to reopen.
“We had worked with Hotel Executive for many years,” he explained, “so it was a natural choice to consider Rezcontrol.” He could see the benefits of having everything in one place, updating automatically, with no need to refer to different reports to get the full picture, or check reservations and make manual amendments.
“The same applied to the decision to bring RoomPriceGenie on board, which we did in early 2024,” he said. “Working manually with OTAs and trying to adjust rates – and they always want to promote the lowest rate – was challenging. You’d see one aspect of general management or occupancy and availability in one place, then room rates in another, and correlating them was tricky, as well as not leading to optimised pricing.”
The Benefits
“Rezcontrol and RoomPriceGenie have dramatically improved both efficiency and revenue - and the way the data feeds from one into the other is seamless”
Rezcontrol and RoomPriceGenie’s combined solutions have dramatically improved efficiency and also rate-setting.
In terms of the PMS, Martin is full of praise for Rezcontrol’s overall ease of use in general, and the planner in particular.
“With Rezcontrol you can see everything at a glance, from rates and availability to payments and packages”
“It’s great,” he said. “You can see everything at a glance, from rates and availability to payment status, linked table bookings – we use Resdiary – and packages. As we’ve expanded, this has become increasingly important. The automated guest engagement emails save so much time, as well as looking really professional and ensuring all the details are correct – we also use them a lot to drive repeat business with bring-back emails and offers.”
“Stress levels have reduced and the automation of data flow between systems means far easier communication between departments”
The team also finds it especially useful that they can colour-customise the planner, and that the system is so easy to use for both receptionists and management, from changing reservations to pulling off reports for housekeeping, occupancy rates, revenue or anything else.
“We are so busy in summer,” Martin explained. “New staff need to be able to pick it up and run with it, and they always do. Stress levels have reduced and the automation of data flow between systems means far easier communication between departments, such as from the front desk to housekeeping and F+B, with clearer, more accessible information.”
Dynamic pricing has increased revenue
“Dynamic pricing means rooms are always sold at the best possible rates”
In terms of pricing strategy, RoomPriceGenie has enabled the Oak Tree Inn to move away from fixed rates into dynamic ones.
“We realised we were losing out with our fixed rates,” said Martin, “but we didn’t have all the information or analysis needed to set up dynamic ones. With our location, we are a very seasonal business, and we wanted to be able to set rates based on different days of the week, as well as times of the year; to fill gaps when we had them and maximise rates when demand is highest as well as encouraging direct bookings – without going beyond what guests are willing or able to pay.
“Having spent time working with RoomPriceGenie to set up the algorithm, I now hardly ever need to look at it!”
Martin invested more time up front working with RoomPriceGenie to fine-tune the algorithm, and says now it is in place he hardly ever needs to look at it! “We can take on board the data-driven rate decisions while allowing manual overrides,” he explains, “and we have been able to tailor changes to avoid alienating our core guest base.”
Adapting to the new tech stack
“Onboarding for both systems was really smooth - support is amazing and we've saved countless hours of staff time”
Change is always worrying, but for The Oak Tree Inn, migrating to Rezcontrol was seamless. This was made easier by having previously run Hotel Executive, which also gave the hotel confidence in the system. Rezcontrol imported all existing reservations, as well as providing excellent onboarding and step-by-step training.
“Rezcontrol’s customer service is the best I’ve ever experienced,” said Martin. “I’ve worked with a few systems, and this really stands out to both myself and the team.”
Similarly, once the RoomPriceGenie algorithm was fine-tuned to align with Martin’s pricing strategy, he found he had the confidence to step back from daily rate and revenue checking as it was clear the system was working, and both revenue and bookings increasing.
“I hardly ever get to sit at my desk in summer,” he said, “and I can see it all at a glance on Rezcontrol anyway. The new systems have saved countless hours of staff time.”
The bottom line
The return on investment is clear: 8% higher occupancy and 10% increase in revenue
So, can The Oak Tree Inn see quantifiable results from the implementation of Rezcontrol and RoomPriceGenie?
“The return on investment in RoomPriceGenie is clear,” said Martin. “We’ve increased our occupancy rates by 8% in the slower periods, while revenue has increased by 10% overall without this leading to any fall-off in bookings.
“From Rezcontrol, what we’ve seen is hugely increased efficiencies and time-savings, enabling us to focus more on our guests and less on admin – which also creates a level of cost saving.”
Testimonial
“Working with Rezcontrol and RoomPriceGenie is fantastic for the Oak Tree Inn"
“Working with Rezcontrol and RoomPriceGenie is fantastic for the Oak Tree Inn,” said Martin. “Rezcontrol’s service is outstanding and we have saved countless hours of staff time in admin, while we have seen an 8% occupancy rate increase and 10% revenue increase since integrating with RoomPriceGenie a year ago.”
Interested in integrating with RoomPriceGenie? Find out more or get in touch with us on sales@rezcontrol.com.