10minhotel.com

A group running 20 hotels, with five more opening next year, faces a familiar question: does each new property need its own finance team? The default answer is usually yes, if that is how the existing hotels were set up. That default is getting harder to justify. When a property-level finance role sits vacant, the income audit falls to whoever is covering it, and outside major cities those vacancies are slow to fill. The work itself has changed too: much of the role was keying, copying and chasing, and software now does that part. The largest chains answered this by building shared service centres, often as multi-year projects. There is a lighter option. When finance work runs in one digital workflow, a new hotel joins the existing team instead of needing one of its own, usually within weeks, because the group's interfaces and mapping already exist. What each new hotel adds to the finance workload Every new hotel adds to the daily workload: another income audit, with a pack to compile, check and sign off each morning another approval chain for invoices, credit notes and adjustments another set of documents to file, and to find again when auditors ask another finance role to recruit, train and cover during leave Run separately, each property also develops its own version of these. Group finance then struggles to compare hotels, or to confirm that yesterday's income audit at a given property was signed off. A cluster is a team, not a building A hotel finance cluster is a group of properties whose finance work, such as the income audit, accounts payable and accounts receivable, is handled by one shared team. The team can sit in one office or across the group's existing hotels, so a dedicated head office is optional. When several hotels operate in the same city, the team often works from one of them. Hilton Netherlands clustered finance for five hotels, including large properties like Hilton Amsterdam and Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam. On the income audit, one person now covers three or more properties. In the clusters we have set up, ratios like that depend on how standardised the income audit already is and how many revenue streams each property runs, so treat any one figure as a planning reference. Clustering does reduce the number of finance roles a portfolio needs, though much of that absorbs vacancies that were hard to fill anyway. Staff who move into cluster roles can usually keep working from where they live. Agree the process before you digitise it Most groups start with the income audit, the daily review that confirms the previous day's revenue was captured, posted and approved correctly. It is the simplest finance process to standardise and in many hotels the biggest daily inefficiency. The instinct is to digitise it as it stands, only faster. But making a bad process electronic does not improve the process. A siloed, time-consuming audit becomes a siloed, time-consuming audit with a login. In a cluster, five versions of

Located next to one of Paris's busiest train stations, the 128-room Holiday Inn Paris — Gare de Lyon Bastille maintains 90% occupancy year-round. With a focus on operational efficiency and guest satisfaction, the team prioritizes technology investments to keep pace with modern travelers' expectations. To help manage its bustling business, the hotel sought a tech upgrade that would reclaim staff time, streamline guest communication and tap into its full revenue potential. A year after implementing Canary Technologies' Guest Management System — including Payment Links, Mobile Check-In, AI Guest Messaging, Dynamic Upsells and Smart Checkout — the results speak for themselves. Canary connected with General Manager Guillaume Derien to learn more. Paying for Itself: €2K a Month in Upsell Revenue Before Canary, early check-in requests were handled manually — and typically given away for free. Room upgrades were offered on arrival, but inconsistently. The hotel was leaving money on the table. Once the team activated Canary's Dynamic Upsells, everything changed. "We make around €2,000 euros a month from upsells," said Guillaume. "The solution absolutely pays for itself." Faster, Safer Transactions With Payment Links Processing prepaid reservations used to mean long phone calls and manual credit card entries. This was a slow, error-prone process that raised operational risk and compliance concerns. With Canary's Payment Links, the team eliminated that step entirely. Guests now receive secure, branded links to pay via card, Apple/Google Wallet or bank transfer, and payment data flows directly to the PMS. No time-consuming calls. No data security concerns. "My staff are happy. They've won back so much time," Guillaume said. "We don't risk errors from manual entry anymore, and our guests know their data is safe and secure." Streamlined Operations, Happier Guests In a high-traffic Paris hotel, smooth communication is critical. With Canary's AI Guest Messaging, guests easily get the information they need and can ask questions at any time. WhatsApp is a standout, guest-favorite feature. "Guests are often surprised we communicate over WhatsApp," Guillaume said. "Many hotels don't do that, but it's so much easier for guests. They also love that we don't have to send them a ton of emails or make them do paperwork at the front desk." Canary's solutions have helped shave time off nearly every daily task, but AI Guest Messaging has transformed the team's workflow the most. Routine questions are answered automatically, call volume is reduced and service tickets are created automatically, all from the Canary platform. "Across all products, the time savings are clear," said Guillaume. "We've gotten so much time back for our team, and they're much happier as a result." Robust PMS Integrations, Excellent Customer Service Guillaume considers himself an ambassador for the platform. Initially drawn to Canary's PMS integration, he's won over again and again by the results and the exceptional service. He always tells other hoteliers, "If your PMS is connected to Canary, Canary will win you time and money every time. Plus, the team there is great — they're always improving the solutions and implementing our feedback."

"Revinate Core and Marketing was exactly what we needed. We saw results immediately – even though we were a new Revinate customer. We got more out of our guest data from day one and can deliver the exact experience we want for our guests." Stefanos Iliadis Sales & Marketing Director, Miraggio Thermal Spa Resort About Miraggio Thermal Spa Resort Located in Chalkidiki, Greece, Miraggio Thermal Spa Resort is a five-star beachfront getaway with a thermal spa, private marina, fine dining, and genuine Greek hospitality. The award-winning resort offers panoramic Aegean views and direct access to a pristine beach. Built above a natural hot-spring groundwater source, it provides a rare setting where wellness, relaxation, and modern luxury coexist. With over 265 luxury rooms and suites, the resort attracts wellness seekers, couples, families, and nautical enthusiasts. Miraggio Thermal Spa Resort's challenge As Miraggio approached the end of its contract with a generic e-commerce email provider, the marketing team faced fragmented guest data. Guest records lived in their property management system (PMS), website signups, and loyalty lists. Without a solution built for hospitality, the team couldn't identify high-value segments — such as repeat guests or top spa spenders. The vendor's reporting tools also fell short. They provided standard metrics like opens and clicks, but couldn't track room nights, reservations, or room revenue. Without clear revenue attribution, the marketing team couldn't prove the financial impact of their campaigns or capture pre-arrival revenue opportunities. Miraggio needed a customer data platform and email marketing system designed specifically for hotels. When searching for a new solution, the team prioritized fast implementation to ensure immediate return on investment (ROI) ahead of their upcoming busy summer season. How Revinate Core enabled precise segmentation Miraggio connected their PMS and website signup form to Revinate Core , unifying scattered records into a clean, central database. Ivy, Revinate’s AI intelligence layer, automatically cleans, deduplicates, and synthesizes raw guest profile records. With clean guest profiles available immediately after onboarding, the marketing team began creating guest segments using 100+ criteria — including location, stay dates, repeater history, and outlet spend. Instead of sending generic mass blasts, Miraggio can now target distinct guest segments with relevant communications. Single source of truth : Centralizes scattered records across PMS, website newsletter signups, and loyalty lists into unified guest profiles. Automated data hygiene : Continuously merges duplicate profiles 100+ segmentation filters: Runs instant guest segments using criteria like stay dates, location, family status, on-property guests, and number of stays. How Miraggio proved €515,000+ in direct revenue with Revinate Marketing in four months Unlike generic e-commerce tools that only report surface-level metrics like opens and clicks, Revinate Marketing connects directly to Miraggio's PMS to track email ROI. For the first time, the resort's marketing team gained visibility into room nights, reservations, and total revenue generated per campaign. Campaign attribution enabled the team to clearly prove their strategic value and financial impact to executive leadership. Within four months of going live, Miraggio generated over €515,000 in direct room revenue. Clear