Rezcontrol PMS works with Brakspear across its ‘Honeycomb Houses’ portfolio, while SiteMinder manages their distribution, ensuring visibility and optimised pricing across multiple channels. Since combining forces, with Brakspear appointing Sid Kostromin as Rooms and Revenue Manager at the start of 2024, the group has gone from strength to strength.
Jenni O’Connor from Rezcontrol and Hollie Raleigh from SiteMinder caught up with Sid to find out more about what had made such a difference.
Background
Brakspear operates a large portfolio of British pubs, including a group of ten ‘Honeycomb Houses’, which together account for around 140 bedrooms across seven of these properties – three remain standalone pubs or restaurants.
Each property is unique, often housed in listed or historic buildings, oozing character and charm under the ethos “our home is your home.” While each property maintains an independent look and feel, they are run with a consistent structure, particularly regarding their menus and overall approach to hospitality – creating consistency for the brand, which is now being matched in its operational systems and functions.
Sid joined the group in January when the group’s previous reservations and revenue management team was replaced, and was tasked with streamlining operations in these areas. His role focuses on optimising bookings and pricing strategy, as well as implementing new technologies and delivering related training.
The Challenges
“We knew we needed to move to the cloud for greater efficiencies, as well as to enable Rezcontrol and SiteMinder to integrate seamlessly”
“Before implementing Rezcontrol and SiteMinder, managing room availability and pricing was more challenging.”
“Before implementing Rezcontrol and SiteMinder, managing room availability and pricing was more challenging,” said Sid. “Availability and pricing had to be checked manually across the different channels, which was time-consuming and could lead to errors. Rate setting wasn’t optimised and channel choices could be hit or miss.”
The decision to adopt Rezcontrol and SiteMinder was therefore driven by both the need to modernise and move to the cloud, and to integrate the platforms fully and so better manage room availability, pricing and distribution.
The Solution
“Bringing Rezcontrol and SiteMinder together created a single, centralised rate management and bookings hub to save time and ensure consistent performance”
Having previously worked for a company that used both Rezcontrol and SiteMinder separately, Sid was brought into Brakspear to streamline the tech stack by upgrading to Rezcontrol and ensuring seamless integration with SiteMinder.
“The key benefit of this upgrade was the ability for the systems to communicate through a single, centralised hub,” explained Sid. “This eliminated the need to contact each solution provider individually, consistently saving a significant amount of time.”
Another major advantage was regaining control of system access. Previously, access to critical platforms like SiteMinder and Booking.com was often kept by a single employee, leading to inefficiencies and problems.
“With Rezcontrol, Brakspear now has centralised access to all key platforms, allowing for smoother management and reducing the complexity of multiple logins – it is so much more straightforward and reliable,” said Sid.
The Benefits
“We have dramatically improved efficiency through automation on both systems”
Rezcontrol and SiteMinder’s combined solution has dramatically improved efficiency. Tasks that once took hours are now completed in minutes, thanks to automation.
“For example, setting up a wedding promotion code used to be a lengthy manual process, but it now takes me just 30 seconds,” said Sid. “Automation has reduced the administrative burden, allowing myself and the team to focus on higher-level tasks, such as strategic planning and guest service. I also carry out a monthly review and take care of any exception reporting – much of it essentially runs itself!”
Sid also notes the quality of the support they receive. “Onboarding was exceptionally smooth and the support team, if I do need them, are excellent.”
Optimised pricing strategies to maximise room revenue
“Dynamic pricing means rooms are always sold at the best possible rates”
Rezcontrol has improved Brakspear’s ability to optimise pricing strategies and maximise room revenue, in conjunction with RoomPriceGenie (RMS). The system allows for dynamic pricing, meaning rates can be adjusted in response to demand, and fed out in real time to all channels via SiteMinder.
This has helped ensure that rooms are sold at the best possible rates, and that availability is always up-to-date across all platforms. While they continue to rely on OTAs like Booking.com, the system has improved overall control and efficiency in managing these relationships.
“Seamless channel management with availability and pricing updated across all channels has made managing room distribution much more effective”
“Availability and pricing are automatically updated across all channels, preventing double bookings or discrepancies between platforms,” said Sid. “This has helped maintain consistency and ensure rooms are always available for booking, whether through the website or third-party platforms.”
Adapting to the new tech stack
“With training and support, staff now realise how much easier it is to work with newer technologies”
Change always involves some level of complexity, and indeed resistance – with the upgrade to Rezcontrol and the integration with SiteMinder, this was no exception.
Honeycomb Houses do not have dedicated receptionists, so it was imperative that Sid could ensure a seamless reservation process from his position off-site, to alleviate pressure on the on-site team.
“We did encounter some initial resistance,” said Sid, “particularly from staff who were unfamiliar with technology generally! However, one of the cornerstones of my role is to provide on-site training and hands-on support, especially during the transition, which helped ease any concerns. Now it is fully embedded, they rarely have to call me!”
Staff rapidly became more confident, also realising how the new systems reduced their workload while improving accuracy, and created far more time for them to spend with their guests.
The bottom line
“The return on investment is clear - without the new technology, we wouldn’t be selling rooms as effectively or achieving the occupancy levels we are seeing"
So, can Brakspear see quantifiable results from the implementation of Rezcontrol and SiteMinder?
“The return on investment is clear,” said Sid.
“Without our streamlined tech stack, we wouldn’t be able to sell rooms as effectively or achieve our current occupancy levels, while we have also improved productivity and reduced costs.”
Using the combined solution with SiteMinder and Rescontrol has undoubtedly improved productivity and reduced operational costs for Brakspear. “Eliminating manual processes and the efficiency of systems like Rezcontrol and SiteMinder allow me to work more effectively, freeing up time for other important tasks,” said Sid.
“In today’s market, embracing automated technology is imperative, and we have finally found the combination that works for us. The benefits of these modern systems are evident in our day-to-day operations.”
Testimonial
"After working with both Rezcontrol and SiteMinder for many years, I see them as the best solutions on the market."
“I strongly recommend all hoteliers invest in a reliable Property Management System (PMS) and Channel Manager. After working with both Rezcontrol and SiteMinder separately for many years, I see them as the best solutions in the market.
“In today’s industry, manual management of bookings is no longer feasible. The integration of these two constantly innovating products has brought significant improvements to our operations at Brakspear, streamlining tasks and ensuring smooth business processes. We live in an automated world, so automated hotel tech is essential.”
Interested in integrating with SiteMinder? Find out more or get in touch with us on sales@rezcontrol.com.