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10 Hotel Operators Using Automation to Cut Costs and Elevate Guest Experiences
As rising operating costs remain a top concern, hotel companies face mounting pressure to streamline operations and maintain high standards of guest service. One of the most effective strategies to achieve these goals is by automating back-office functions.
By leveraging automation technology, hotel companies have centralized data to automate back office tasks that improve operational efficiency, such as:
- Night audit compliance
- Income journaling
- Financial reconciliations
- Vendor payments
Automating these operations minimizes the manual hours required for repetitive tasks. This not only reduces labor costs but also allows hotel teams to focus on what matters most: delivering an exceptional guest experience.
Incorporating automation not only saves time and money but also reduces human error, as detailed by Doug Rice in Hospitality Upgrade. Rice explains that many hotels miss out on potential revenue by not fully embracing automation technologies, leaving "money on the table" through inefficient operations and outdated practices.
Here are 10 companies on the forefront of innovation in hotel operations, using automation software from Otelier to solve their operational challenges and improve efficiency:
1. Crescent Hotels & Resorts
Crescent Hotels & Resorts has spent the last decade embracing digital adoption to centralize its back-office operations. Previously, processes like audit compliance, payroll, and finance were manual, requiring property-level staff to handle administrative tasks. With automation, Crescent has shifted these functions to corporate, freeing up general managers to focus more on guest service. This centralization has also improved efficiency, allowing Crescent to streamline tasks like cash management and financial reporting, providing faster access to accurate data across the portfolio.
2. Fairbrook Hotels
Fairbrook Hotels struggled with managing labor costs and revenue streams in a rapidly changing environment. With the help of automation, they were able to gain instant access to critical data, allowing them to make better-informed decisions about cost management and revenue optimization. This real-time insight has enabled them to better manage expenses and adapt quickly to market shifts, helping to solve labor and financial challenges more effectively.
3. First Call Hospitality
First Call Hospitality needed to provide timely, accurate data to both internal stakeholders and hotel owners. Their manual night audit process took several hours each day, limiting the team's ability to focus on other important tasks. With automation, the process is now completed in minutes, and reports are ready for review by the start of the day. This has not only saved hours of manual work but also eliminated the costs of paper storage.
4. Five Rivers Hospitality
Managing more than 30 hotels, Five Rivers Hospitality faced inefficiencies with paying vendors and handling manual invoices. By automating accounts payable workflows, they cut the time spent approving and processing invoices in half. Automation has also centralized their back-office tasks, freeing up general managers to spend more time on guest engagement rather than administrative duties, ensuring consistent performance across all properties.
5. Golder Hospitality
Golder Hospitality faced growing pains as their manual data entry processes couldn’t keep up with their expanding portfolio. Automation enabled them to have real-time access to data without adding to their staff. Centralizing data in a single system reduced the complexity of manual data entry and provided greater oversight. The team now receives standardized reports across all properties, improving decision-making and operational control.
6. Hotel Equities
As Hotel Equities expanded its portfolio to over 250 hotels, managing budgeting and forecasting on such a large scale became a significant challenge. To overcome this, the company adopted automation technology to streamline its financial planning processes. By using real-time data, Hotel Equities improved the accuracy and efficiency of their budgeting, reducing the time needed for annual budget revisions. With the ability to unify processes across all properties and integrate data from accounting systems, Hotel Equities has created a scalable approach that supports accurate forecasting and efficient budgeting.
7. Insignia Hospitality Group
With a focus on improving accuracy and agility, Insignia Hospitality Group centralized its data and automated its night audit process. This eliminated the need for manual reporting, which was prone to errors and inconsistencies. Automation has not only improved the speed and accuracy of financial reporting but also allowed the company to reduce its environmental footprint by cutting down on paper waste.
8. MCR Hotels
MCR Hotels, owner-operator of more than 150 properties, struggled with manual processes that distracted General Managers from their primary responsibilities. By implementing automation, they centralized data from multiple systems, ensuring consistency across their portfolio. Automating document management also increased their report compliance rates from 85% to over 98% while reducing the burden on property-level staff.
9. McNeill Hotel Company
Fortunately, McNeill Hotel Company took a proactive approach to centralization before the COVID pandemic, moving much of their accounts payable and receivable processes to their corporate office. Automation further enabled this transition, allowing property-level staff to concentrate on guest satisfaction rather than administrative tasks. By digitizing night audits and centralizing reporting, McNeill significantly reduced labor costs while improving operational visibility and compliance.
10. Remington Hotels
The COVID pandemic forced Remington Hotels to operate with fewer resources, making efficiency a top priority. By automating their night audit and end-of-month processes, they eliminated the need for paper and significantly sped up financial reporting. This shift toward automation has also led to environmental benefits, reducing the use of paper and other materials. And on-property leaders now have the flexibility to focus on more strategic tasks rather than being bogged down with administrative work.
Innovate Hotel Operations with Automation
The above hotel companies demonstrate how leveraging Otelier’s back office automation software – DigiAudit for night audit compliance, DigiPay for automated Accounts Payable, and Rec for automated financial reconciliations – can address key operational challenges, reduce inefficiencies, and lower costs.
By shifting away from manual processes and centralizing data, hotel operators can empower their teams to focus on providing superior guest experiences and improving overall business performance.
