Bauer Hotels implements IDeaS RMS in key properties

LONDON – November 27, 2012 – IDeaS Revenue Solutions, the leading provider of pricing and revenue management software, services and consulting, today announced that the luxury Venetian hotel group, The Bauer Hotels, has implemented the IDeaS Revenue Management System (RMS) across the hotels in its collection.

The Bauer Hotels’ flagship property, L’Hotel, opened its doors in 1880. Since then, the group has grown to include three further properties, Il Palazzo, the Palladio Hotel and Spa and Villa F, an exclusive set of private residences. Bauer Hotels is unique in Venice in that it has always been an independent, family-owned business, committed to setting the benchmark for luxury in a traditional Venetian setting.

Bauer Hotels was aware of the vital importance of revenue management to their continued growth, and the group created a Revenue Manager position several years ago. However, it was apparent that despite this appointment, the group was still missing valuable revenue opportunities.

“Our pricing strategy was purely reactive,” said Rachele Balladelli, Director of Sales & Marketing at Bauer Hotels. “More often than not, our room rates were being overpriced early, and then would be dropped too low when the revenue was not achieved. These practices meant large amounts of revenue were being missed,” she continued. “Because we experience many days each year when we are at 100% occupancy and sold out, we often had to turn away many potential customers on shoulder days who wanted to stay through our high-demand days too.”

As Bauer Hotels had just completed a series of refurbishments to all their properties, the group was particularly keen to drive better revenue in order to recoup the costs of the extensive revamp.

“We needed a revenue management system in order to automate our processes, including providing clear, detailed and reliable forecasting. This would support us to make the right pricing decisions to ensure both short and long-term wins,” explained Balladelli. “We turned to IDeaS for its industry-leading solutions, and we found the team to be extremely helpful. They arranged thorough training sessions, and their extensive knowledge and expertise have helped us instill an effective revenue management culture,” she added.

The IDeaS Revenue Management System (RMS) has since been implemented across the key hotels in the Bauer portfolio – L’Hotel, Il Palazzo and the Palladio Hotel. In addition, revenue management mentoring was provided by IDeaS Hospitality Consulting. The mentoring was used to ensure that the system would be optimised fully, as well as to analyse their market segmentation and business processes, and make relevant suggestions for enhancement. The Consulting team also acted as an interim solution whilst the position for Revenue Manager at Bauer Hotels was being filled.

“We are very happy to have been selected as The Bauer Hotels’ revenue management solutions provider,” commented Fabian Specht, EMEA Managing Director at IDeaS. “We are committed to providing a bespoke service to each of our customers, supporting them by providing solutions that will ensure sustained revenue optimisation. Winning a client like Bauer proves that our focus on helping Italian hotels is being received well by the market.”