The most profitable hotels today are shifting towards total revenue management – increasing guest spend across every part of the property, from early check-ins to spa bookings.
In a recent Matt Talks episode, Mews CEO, Matt Welle, spoke with Henry Blackman, Director of Product GTM Strategy, to discuss how hotels can use smarter data, guest empathy and automation to transform revenue performance.
Here’s how Mews helps you rethink your hotel revenue strategy for long-term success.
Simplify how you use hotel data
As a revenue manager, it’s easy to overcomplicate data analysis. But ultimately, hotel revenue optimization comes down to three outcomes: numbers go up, down or stay the same. The key is acting quickly.
If you see positive indicators in the data, then act on it. Allocate more resources and grow that part of the business faster. For hotels struggling with unreliable or dirty data:
- Validate with multiple data sources – stress-test trends before acting.
- Run simple hypothesis tests – for example, testing upsell conversion on different guest segments.
- Focus on action, not perfection – doing nothing is the worst decision.
Mews helps hotels simplify reporting by combining PMS, payments and guest profile data into clear dashboards. This makes it easier to spot trends, run experiments and respond quickly. Check out our help site article on understanding the Mews dashboard.
Monetize every hotel asset
Optimizing room rates is only the beginning. To build a strong hotel revenue strategy, you need to maximize every asset in your property.
This means monetizing everything your hotel sells – or could sell. Parking, bicycles, flexible spaces. These services often deliver higher profit margins than breakfast or other high-cost amenities, as well as creating a richer guest experience.
Mews Space Management makes this easy. Hotels can sell non-room inventory like meeting rooms or coworking spaces directly in the PMS, with seamless booking and payment flows. You can also sell these spaces and services in time units that suit your needs. Parking spots by the hour. Function rooms by the day. This flexibility is vital for total revenue management.
Use empathy to drive revenue
The most effective hotel revenue strategies start with empathy, not pricing. Understanding what guests actually want leads to upsells that feel natural rather than pushy. Three things to try:
- Train front-desk staff to ask open questions – then record insights in Mews guest profiles.
- Interview regular guests to uncover what makes them return and what they’d pay extra for.
- Use AI and review scraping to identify what guests mention most in reviews.
Personalization pays off. A well-timed, relevant upsell can have 10 times the perceived value of a generic one. Once you’ve captured this information within Mews, our AI-powered Smart Tips provide instant, bitesize feedback on guests, so staff can deliver more tailored, meaningful experiences.
Make upselling relevant and timely
Random upsells rarely work. Guests ignore them, and hotels assume upselling doesn’t deliver. The problem isn’t upselling itself – it’s execution.
Follow this four-step model for hotel upselling success:
- Create services guests value – identify gaps in what you currently offer.
- Choose the right moment – early check-in at booking, spa packages mid-stay, restaurant offers at check-in.
- Align price with perceived value – upgrades and low-cost, high-value experiences drive the best profit.
- Make payment frictionless – Mews Payments processes upsells instantly within the booking flow.
A simple place to start? Early check-in and late check-out. Hotels using Mews Kiosks often see high conversion because kiosks sell early arrivals consistently and without any potentially awkward conversations.
For practical ideas, read our tips for hotel upselling.
Empower revenue managers to experiment
Today’s hotel revenue strategist is part analyst, part change manager. They influence multiple departments, test new revenue streams and drive cross-team collaboration.
With so many possibilities in play, how do you know where to begin?
- Start with one experiment – run it for two months, measure results, then scale.
- Focus on high-margin upsells – early check-in, room upgrades, coworking spaces.
- Share wins with department leaders – celebrating success builds momentum for larger tests.
Mews supports this experimental mindset by automating testing and reporting. With integrated analytics and payments, you can test an offer and track results without manual processes. There are also over a thousand specialist tools available via Mews Marketplace, all of them fully certified with zero connection fees. This makes it easier to test out new apps (for example, an upselling specialist likeOaky) without fear of high setup fees or being locked in for years.
Use psychological tactics to boost conversions
Great hotel revenue strategies also apply basic psychology. Two proven tactics:
- Framing – offer a “premium” option to push guests toward a mid-tier choice, similar to how cinemas use extra-large popcorn to sell more medium-sized portions.
- Scarcity and urgency – “only two rooms left at this price” or “offer valid until check-in” encourages quicker decisions.
Even sensory triggers can help. There’s a hotel in Berlin that bakes cinnamon rolls throughout the day, creating demand simply by letting the delicious smell waft through the property.
Simplify everything – for you and your guests
Finally, keep things simple. Offering too many upsells overwhelms guests and leads to fewer purchases. Focus on five high-impact products and tailor them to different stages of the stay.
Mews Booking Engine lets you easily add additional products to the booking journey. You can quickly upload pictures and descriptions for each item to improve uptake, and even sell additional space inventory like parking spots, all in one platform. The more friction you remove from the act of booking, the more revenue you’ll earn.
Start your hotel revenue transformation
The future of hotel revenue strategy is total revenue management. By combining guest empathy, experimentation and automation, you can grow revenue per guest, not just per room.
With Mews and Atomize, the AI-powered revenue management solution, you can:
- Sell rooms, spaces and services in one system
- Automate upselling and payments for higher conversions
- Build rich guest profiles to personalize offers
- Track and optimize performance with clear analytics
- Sell every space at the right price, every time with an AI RMS
The best strategies start small. Test one idea, measure the results, then scale.
Ready to rethink your hotel revenue strategy?
