APX Hotels chooses Pynbooking for the digitization of Wolkendorf hotel in Brașov
Situated on the edge of a forest in Vulcan, near Brașov, Wolkendorf is a BIO-HOTEL. Yes, you read that right, a bio-hotel, because Wolkendorf prioritizes the sustainable use of resources, protecting the environment through every action.
Part of the APX Hotels group, Wolkendorf offers 45 rooms, as well as SPA and conference facilities. The restaurant offers genuine Romanian cuisine, based on eco-friendly ingredients from local producers. APX Hotel Group also manages Union Plaza, Venus Boutique, and Filiti (Bucharest) hotels, as well as Snagov Mansion and Hermanns (Sibiu).
Business Challenges
Since eco-tourism is increasingly appreciated, Wolkendorf's activity has steadily developed, both in services and in the number of guests. Initially, the hotel was managed with simple software, but growing demands necessitated the transition to a superior platform.
The APX Hotel team, which also manages Wolkendorf, wanted to connect the hotel to a larger number of online booking platforms, integrate the hotel and restaurant, and better plan activities in conference rooms.
To overcome these challenges, Wolkendorf Bio Hotel & Spa opted for the Pynbooking platform, which best met the requirements and has a high-quality price-performance ratio.
"Because we have grown intensely in recent years, we needed a management system to support all activities. We chose Pynbooking because it is a stable cloud platform with a high availability level, thanks to hosting on Amazon, and also because it allowed us exposure on a large number of online booking platforms, both international and local." George Mandaghios, Reservations, and Revenue Manager APX Hotels, of which Bio Hotel Wolkendorf is also a part.
The Solution
After contracting the service package, Wolkendorf proceeded with the configuration of the Pynbooking platform. PMS Cloud Hotel was integrated with the Channel Manager module in Pynbooking and Channel Manager/Booking Engine solutions from other providers to allow the automatic updating of prices and availability on as many online booking platforms and travel agencies as possible.
Through API, PMS Cloud Hotel was integrated with the Saga financial management system for the automatic export of billing data.
Additionally, the Guest App mobile application was configured to send guests notifications regarding bookings, accommodation forms, check-in/check-out options, and online payment.
For managing SPA appointments and conference rooms, the necessary resources and services were defined within the Event Management module.
Additionally, integration between the hotel and restaurant was completed (through the integration of PMS Cloud Hotel – POS Restaurant modules), and a digital menu was configured to allow taking orders from a tablet or mobile phone, room service, and payment allocation to the room.
For the management of food/goods stocks necessary for the restaurant, Wolkendorf uses the Cloud Management module, which allows the easy handling of product entries, consumption vouchers, and transfers between stocks.
The entire Wolkendorf team accesses Pynbooking on both desktops and mobile phones, and the platform is used at the operational level as well as for decision support with historical or real-time data.
Results
Reviews from Booking.com and Tripadvisor.com show that guests feel comfortable at Wolkendorf and appreciate the services provided, from the simplicity of bookings to the quality of the food in the restaurant. A plus is also digitization, which helps create a pleasant experience for each guest.
Indeed, a relevant percentage of Wolkendorf's guests use the Pynbooking GuestApp for interaction with the hotel.
"Pynbooking brought us the advantage of exposure on a large number of booking platforms without increasing the workload for processing reservations. Today we automatically sync with over 20 online platforms without manual intervention from employees. Along with the modern experience offered to guests, automation is the most significant gain brought by digitization." George Mandaghios
For Wolkendorf, the immediate results of using Pynbooking include:
- Increasing to over 20 the number of digital booking platforms on which the hotel is present, both international (Booking, Expedia, Agoda, Hotels.com, Trip.com) and local (Travelminit)
- Automating the data update process (prices and availability) on multiple heterogeneous platforms
- Reducing pressure on Reception staff through the automatic takeover of reservations and guest notifications
- Shortening waiting time at reception through check-in facilities, digital signing of accommodation forms, online payment, and check-out via GuestApp
- Increasing guest satisfaction by ordering services (SPA, room service) directly from the mobile phone with payment allocation to the room
- Advanced mobility for employees
- Automatic export of billing data to the ERP Saga system
APX Hotels manages with the Pynbooking platform the activity of other accommodation units in the group, the company having over 40 users defined in the system.
"We appreciate Pynbooking because it is a stable platform, with natively integrated modules and we can always rely on it. It is accessible from any device, regardless of location, and the provider constantly adds new functionalities." George Mandaghios
