Latest / Pillow Talk Sessions / Scaling Hospitality Through Automation with Alexander Limpert (RentalReady / GuestReady)

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Scaling Hospitality Through Automation with Alexander Limpert (RentalReady / GuestReady) · Pillow Talk Sessions

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to Pill Talk Sessions.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Kristen Lapinsky, joined as always by my co-host Jessica Gillian.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Christian.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: And today we're joined by Alexander Limpet, who is the co-founder and CEO of both Rental Ready and Guest Ready.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: Alex brings deep insight into the intersection of hospitality, short-term rentals, technology, and also midterm rentals.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_02: We'll be diving into the rise of flex living, how operators are navigating the push toward hotelization, and what it really takes to build trust with both guests and property owners.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: Alex, welcome to Pill Talk Sessions.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: It's great to have you on the show.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: But before you know we jump into today's conversation, maybe you can give us a bit of background on you, uh rental ready and guest ready.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, great to be here.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me on the show.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Alex, the co-founder and CEO of Guest Ready and Rental Ready.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: I started GuestReady 10 years ago almost, and uh it's been a it's been a great journey.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, the industry has moved a lot, and so have we.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: And over the years uh we have uh we've scaled Guest Ready to seven different locations, 4,000 units.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: We're now the largest short-term rental manager in Western Europe in urban areas.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: And to scale this business, we have built RentalReady, which is our PMS that has become the probably most comprehensive short-term rental PMS in the industry, AI at its core.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: And we've gotten a lot of requests from the industry over the time that we built Rental Ready to open it up to the market, and that's what we did a couple of years ago.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: And now Rental Ready is empowering lots of other property managers to grow their business and hopefully scale to the same levels as GuestReady.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm very excited about that because I love empowering small entrepreneurs, mid-sized entrepreneurs, and help them grow their business.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: Brilliant, Alex.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: And you and I were reminiscing recently that we've known each other almost that a whole 10 years because Abode Worldwide is also coming up to 10 years.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I think you were one of my first calls that I had when I started Abode Worldwide.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I still remember being on a boat in the middle of Greece answering the phone to you.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: And uh over the years we've seen each other at events, I've had you on different panels, and I always really enjoy talking with you.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: And it's quite a journey that you've had, you know, growing first guest ready to being one of the largest operators in Western Europe, and then also being a software provider and a tech solution.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: What like why have you gone down those journeys?
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: And what is it that you think that you have learned and what do you bring to the table, I guess, from the tech?
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Because being an operator, I mean, you're not the first and only operator to develop tech, but you have done it really successfully.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: So tell us a little bit more about that.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thanks.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I do remember that first phone call as well.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: I think I was in Amsterdam, and Amsterdam was actually the city where we had our first few properties, the first two, but we never scaled more than two properties in Amsterdam.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't a very long journey for us there, but uh, luckily we've been more successful in other cities.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, so that's that's about that first conversation with you.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: And going back to your follow-up question, then well, maybe let's take a step back.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, originally uh before Gastready, I was in food delivery, which is a completely different industry, but it's also very operational and very logistics heavy, and you need to coordinate a lot of different moving parts the same as property managers have to do.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: And in food delivery, originally, uh, I was country managing director at Food Panda.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: We only had a platform to connect restaurants with the end consumers.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, similar to how OTAs, Airbnb Booking.com connect guests with their hosts.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: And what we realized is that restaurants are good at cooking the food, not very good at delivering the food.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: So if we wanted to make it a better experience for everyone, we had to go one level deeper and actually take care of the operations too.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: And to do that, we realized uh we needed to have strong technology to coordinate all the different aspects: apps for the restaurants, apps for the riders, apps for the guy for the end consumers.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: And we said that in in our industry, in shorter mentals, is essentially the same as an operator.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: You have so many moving parts that you need to think about the cleaning, the linen, the maintenance, the guest arrivals, the owner communication, and so on and so forth.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want to scale that, and we knew that from the beginning, we needed to have really strong technology.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: So that was sort of the the starting point of our technology journey.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: We never said that we have to create this technology absolutely in-house.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: We said let's look what's on the market.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: And actually, we started off by leveraging third-party technology and a third-party PMS, and that worked well for the very beginning.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: But then we realized that a lot of the PMS that existed on the market, they were more focused on helping you to market on different OTAs, maybe more the online aspects, because that's what software companies do a lot.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: They focus on online parts, but they didn't really capture all the offline elements of property management and the relationship with the clients and so on.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: So we started to build on top of the PMS, an owner app, a task management app for cleaning and maintenance, coordinating all of that, a really uh good guest messaging inbox and so on.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: And uh sooner or later we had replaced all the elements of the PMS, and we then yeah, we we had built our full suite, and and that was then the beginning of Rental Ready.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: And whenever we talked with others about our technology, they were quite excited and and asked us if we could open it up to them.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: And well, back then it was just an internal software, but uh we made that step eventually and and opened it up to the market, and that's become now a separate journey that has been very successful for our clients at Rental Ready, but also for us.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's not for the faint-hearted to to build, is it?
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: But you have done it successfully, which is really fantastic.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I just want to reflect on something about the um food delivery.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: So, food delivery has changed the way that we eat out, basically, all that we eat, and it's it's been revolutionary all across the worlds in different every kind of community.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I guess you brought with you to property management a sort of an understanding that you needed to think about processes and systems and technology rather than just what maybe typically property managers might start with, which is the hospitality piece and and and being very sort of guest focused in a way rather than systems process operations focused.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: And that's really interesting.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think that's a very, very good point, and that's probably a point that at Guest Ready we underestimated a bit in the beginning, because we we knew that we needed to have these processes, these systems, uh, this technology to scale.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: But on top of that, and you're absolutely right, you also need the hospitality mindset, the true care for the guests, uh, and also for for the owners.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: And only if those two elements can be brought together as an operator, you can really scale and be successful.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why also the journey of guest ready and rental ready have over time separated more and more.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Originally, we saw Guest Ready more as a tech platform, a sort of a prop tech platform.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: And over it's not very fashionable anymore to call a hospitality business a prop tech.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: And well, I think there are different ways to look at it, right?
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: But our journey has moved on the guest ready side much more on the hospitality uh side of things, and then on the rental-ready side, it's a pure play, pure uh pure software play.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, I think those two elements are uh need to be combined.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I think as an operator, you you really want to be hospitality focused.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: You also need to have the processes and systems in mind, and for that you need to have good technology, but you don't have to build that in-house.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: You can you can luckily now there's uh there's rental ready which truly understands operators and and is built from an operating mindset uh to support other operators.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I was gonna jump in and ask you, you know, AI is is a big game changer here uh in all sectors, you know, not just hospitality.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um you know, this gives way to a lot of automation, things that free people up from having to, you know, sit and type and do paperwork that they can actually offer this kind of hospitality more um style.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: You know, how do you decide what should be automated and what needs that personal human touch?
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, where have you seen this technology make the biggest difference day to day?
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: AI now is is very good at language, and uh that's the obvious first part that everybody is talking about, and that also we have addressed with uh RentalReady.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: So at RentalReady, we've uh to my knowledge been the first uh the first PMS to actually integrate with Open AI.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh that was over two and a half years ago, around two and a half years ago.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: And uh back then it was sort of a button to create an AI response, and it took a very long time to load, and it was very expensive also from a cost of uh to reply uh through the API.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: But uh over time it's become so powerful, and and now we're in the third version of of our AI assistant, Maya, in RentalReady, and uh the the AI for each guest message checks uh if it's confident enough, if it has all the information to reply, and then automatically replies.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: If it's confident, if not, then it it raises the ticket to to guests.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: And on top of that, we do the the review replies.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we do a sentiment analysis of the guest sentiment, and then based on this guest mood, we can then trigger different events.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: For example, if the guest is happy, you definitely want to chase them for a review.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: If they're not so happy, then maybe you leave the chaser out, things like that, smart automations.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: And uh yeah, it's been it's been super powerful.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: We can do uh audits of all the reviews and send that to to create a report for the owners that uh they really appreciate.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot around language.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh there's uh a lot that we uh can do on.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure there's a lot that can be done on pricing.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's not something that is is the area where we invest uh uh as much.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh there are really good tools out there that do that.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, uh there's a ton to be done.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: And uh also I think on uh coordinating different aspects of uh of maintenance, for example, cleaning.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think uh voice AI is maybe not as good yet, uh, but I see a future where maintenance providers or also are are called up by an AI and uh and coordinated by an AI, so this might be the future.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: Alex, I moderated you on a panel in Croatia, VRM days, recently, just a few weeks ago, and it was a tech panel.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I believe one of the questions that I asked the panel was around AI changing the way search and discoverability happens.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: And this was before Google announced its new Google Trip search that I know it's just in the US, I believe, at the moment, but it was literally we've just just been kind of launched, and how it's changing the way people are discovering and finding properties.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: And you had quite an interesting answer, and I will remind you of it.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think you said something along the lines of you were not concerned because you've got the inventory, and if you've got the inventory, you don't need to be concerned necessarily, and I may have that slightly wrong, but do you still feel that way?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think that the the way AI is changing the the way we buy anything now, we find anything, not just vacation rentals, short-term rentals, properties, is changing the way that we we buy and consume and find products, if you like.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: But I just wonder what your take is on that.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: And is it the same answer you might that you gave in Croatia?
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: I would stick with that answer because uh in the end, it's as you say, we're we're we're discovering products differently and we're uh we're booking them differently, maybe, but in the end, we still, if it's a good product, then uh it will still be bought.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: It maybe not uh through an OTA, maybe it's directly through Chat GPT or your personal uh AI travel assistant, whatever it is, it will still be it will still be booked, right?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: I think one one thing I would imagine is that AI is becoming very good at knowing your preferences and is very good at also understanding different trade-offs.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe if there are more favorable booking options uh when going through Airbnb or Booking.com or any other OTA, uh then uh it might be difficult to get direct bookings, but as long as the conditions are the best to book direct, then I think AI would probably want to go that route eventually.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think uh my answer still holds true.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_02: Sticking on the technology, I got one more thing to ask you about that.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's um quite interesting, and we we spoke a bit about it.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, you you said Guest Ready had made more than 10 acquisitions while rental ready you know enables smaller business to operate more efficiently.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: Do you think technology will level the playing field, or will scale still be the defining advantage in the years ahead?
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think that's a crucial question that I'm actually very interested to see how it will play out.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: On on the one side, definitely, as you say, there are uh economies of scale and there are benefits of having scale, having better access to capital, having a more uh distributed uh work uh workforce that uh can uh split the work more efficiently and so on.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and there are definitely this these advantages, but on the other side uh as you say, there technology empowers uh smaller players more.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: So, for example, for rental ready, well we're we're empowering smaller property managers, not just with with the booking or and listing on different platforms, but also automating the the whole payment cycle, including the payouts to their to their hosts and splitting between their own share and and hosts and even providers, so we can do like a triple split fully automated.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: We uh can uh take care of the guest messaging 24-7 for them with rental ready.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: We can uh automate the task assignment for cleaning and so on, and also the check-in process if if there are smart uh locks or or smart ways to enter the property.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: So a lock can be automated, and I think for tech-savvy small property managers, they can run a business now much, much more efficiently.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I sort of see I see this as a bit of a parallel.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, let's say, look, let's look at e-commerce, where you we have Amazon that is a huge global player that is incredibly strong and has a very good offering.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: But on the other side, you have Shopify, that is also one of the largest tech companies globally, that is empowering small and medium-sized uh e-commerce players and really giving them the best tools to actually compete then with a player like Amazon.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I see rental ready a bit like that, the Shopify for short-term rentals, empowering local entrepreneurs and competing with the large companies.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: I want to move on to a different topic now, Alex.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: And on this podcast, we've interviewed quite a few operators from the service living sectors.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: So that's build-to-rent, co-living, multifamily.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the things that we talk to them about is the hotelisation of real estate.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: So the kind of changing expectations of tenants and residents, and the changing way operators are delivering their service offering.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's being more of a focus on experience, more of a focus on service, more of a focus on just that little bit extra than you typically might have in a rental kind of the rental unit.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: We've also had student operators on.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: You're on the other side of it, that you come from that hospitality side, but I believe you also have certainly a midterm offering, but do you also have a long-term rental offering?
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: And do you have any thoughts on that?
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: Or whether the hotelization of just the way we live is what we're seeing, or is it just uh kind of a term that's used and flung about here and there?
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I have a lot of thoughts that come to my mind now on this on this topic.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: I I I always describe it as a way of blurring lines between hotels and uh long-term rentals, and uh maybe before there are like a couple of decades ago, you have those two options.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: Either you stay stay short-term in a hotel or you stay uh long term than in a in an apartment that you rent long-term or that maybe you even buy, and now you have a whole lot of options uh from weekly up to monthly to to yearly service living and co-living.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's actually really great to see all these different options.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I think what is driving that is that more people live a more flexible lifestyle, we're becoming more mobile, we enjoy that flexibility, we want to live many people want to live an asset-like lifestyle.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, including myself, and maybe it's also more limited to bigger cities, uh, less so smaller cities or countryside.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: But in bigger cities like London or Paris uh or any uh similar cities globally, many properties are furnished, you don't have to buy furniture, you don't have to um you don't have to invest in in these kind of assets.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: And uh on top of that, you have more service offering now.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that's also something that we provide at Guest Ready.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: We're not in the 12 months plus, we're not in the true tenancy agreement space, but uh we do offer anything up to to 12 months where you know people just arrive with their luggage and they have everything in the property.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they can organize cleaning through us, they have all the uh amenities in the in the property fully equipped.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's it's uh we can we see we definitely see that people appreciate that uh convenience that that we offer, not needing to organize utilities and uh change things around and uh buy new stuff for the kitchen, things like that.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's definitely uh uh much appreciated, and I think it will be uh become a bigger, bigger part of um of the market.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_02: And uh on top of that, I mean, yeah, yeah, like you said, you mentioned it it being a lifestyle thing and it's a shift in lifestyle.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_02: Do you think this is like you know, for the next 10 years, or is this like the way we gonna we're gonna live now and future generations are gonna live?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_02: They're not gonna want to settle down, buy a house or anything like this.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: That their life is about being able to have this flexibility uh moving forward.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's a lifestyle shift.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think this will be for everyone.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think this will still be for a minority of people in the end, but I think it will be for a growing minority of people.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, uh if you have a family, you have kids going to school, then probably you're not gonna change around every couple of months.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: But uh for for younger generations uh and and for those that are maybe a bit more flexible in their setup, I think this is very attractive, and it's it's gonna be a growing demand, and also the offer will grow in this in this segment.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's very clear.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's only gonna go in one direction.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: In terms of markets that you guys operate in, and by the way, I don't think I've ever told you this, but I live next door to a a guest ready property.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but in terms of markets that you operate in in Europe, what what do you what do you see as the kind of nuances?
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: Is like one particular one more difficult than the other?
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I guess I'm thinking of this from a legislation point of view as well.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like, where do you see the growth or where where are you most excited about as well?
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, good question.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: And and I also hope that our guests always behave next as you're Neighbors.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: If not, then you know who to call.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: They're perfectly fine, yes.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, thank you.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's what I like to hear.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they have a good uh good manager looking after them.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: So in terms of markets, actually, it's interesting.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: Being in different markets, I have observed over the years that there's always one market that is doing better and one market uh or so that is doing a bit worse, and then it changes around the other a couple of years later, right?
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: So it comes and goes in waves, and uh maybe regulation tightens and then it changes again, or the the supply increases and there's oversupply, and then a couple of years later people leave the market again and there's undersupply, and uh there's always dynamics, so it's actually helpful also to be in in different markets.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: It also brings complexity, of course.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's easier to just operate in one market, uh, but in terms of those dynamics, it's helpful to be uh in different markets and hedge a bit between the different markets.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I wouldn't say there's a one market that that stands out.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: I think uh each market has their um has their own dynamics and each market has their own regulation and and and so on.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, that's what I would say on this topic.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: But in terms of legislation and regulations, what's your view on it?
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like what do you think is a good solution for the industry?
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think there's one good solution, but the way how I see it is that often now short-term mentals are being blamed for housing shortage, and I absolutely don't agree to that notion.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I think it's typically cities that are very popular for long-term living, but also for short-term visiting that have a housing shortage, and the only way that we can solve this is by building more in these cities, and that's actually gonna also help the economic growth and create jobs in these cities, and not by just regulating and restricting more and more and more.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: But I also agree that there needs to be some limitations, ideally.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think it needs to be reasonable.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think we can just completely forbid short-term rentals, but uh I think reasonable regul uh legislation can be some nightly caps or uh a contingent of number of properties that can have a license uh full year round.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um there I think uh there's definitely a need for this product, and it's very helpful also to have a flexible uh uh stock uh of apartments that are more flexible rather than that needed to be rented for 12 months, because as we said, there is a growing demand for that, and this demand is true and it's it's there and it's not gonna go away just because uh that offer in the city goes away.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um but of course, there there shouldn't be just uh complete uh complete freedom to to operate as short-term mentals.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think there needs to be some sort of control.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think it makes sense to understand which properties have a license or or are registered for short-term mentals.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think the uh it makes sense for cities to have that overview, but I don't I don't agree to just completely for forbidding uh short-term mentals.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_02: And on that, how do you you know approach these markets that remain unclear or in flux?
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_02: You know, do you wait for clarity or do you build like adaptable operating models you know from the start?
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: We uh we always uh we always play with the rules, right?
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: We we look at the rules what they are and then we stick to those rules.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: And uh in in in a market like Dubai, for example, it's very easy to get new a new license.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um so we can help owners to get new licenses in a market like Lisbon.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: Uh there are no new licenses, at least for now, so we just work more with the existing licenses that are available.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh in a market like Paris, there are clear nightly caps for primary residences, and then there are commercial properties that can be rented year-round.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so we do both of those.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and also the software supports with that, uh supports different models.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: And uh yeah, I think that's that's how we approach it.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: Just adapt to the local markets and the local regulatory uh realities.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about owners a a little bit now, because that's your primary customer is the owner rather than the guest, isn't it?
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: So how do you build trust with them and and differentiate because the owners you know they're they're they're looking at things like legislation, they're looking at in certainly in the UK, things like the renters reform bill, so longer-term rents are looking less attractive to have longer-term tenants over here.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how do you approach owners with guest ready and building that trust with them?
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so that's uh firstly, I would say uh it's the eternal question who is the who is the more important part, the owner or the guest.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, for rental ready, our most important customer are the property managers.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: But for for guest ready, the journey has been that initially we only saw the owners as our main customer, and we optimized everything for them, and we we just listened to them whatever they wanted.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: We said yes, because we also saw each other more as a as a we saw us more as a platform.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think now we see us at Guest Ready more as an advisor to these owners, and an advisor that sometimes also says things that maybe an owner doesn't want to hear, like, for example, that they need to invest in their property, where initially maybe we would have just taken properties as they are.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: We have now very clear standards of what we accept and what we don't accept, and it's in the end for the benefit of the owner because we know as operators what works in the market and what doesn't, and what actually works with the guest, because we're not operating in a vacuum, we're uh competing against so many thousands and tens of thousands of other short-term rentals, and we're not only uh competing against short-term rentals, we're competing against hotels, apart hotels.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um we're competing against individual hosts that host people in their spare bedroom and provide a super personalized service and so on.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's as I said before, this whole spectrum that is just becoming one uh one range of different options.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: And as operators, we understand that we need to stick out with the options, we need to deliver the best service to guests and we need to have the best reviews and the most attractive offer, and only then can we actually truly deliver value for our owners too.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's what the savvy owners understand that their product will only work if it works well for the guests, because in the end it's the guests that choose where to spend their money.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: They have so many options, right?
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: And we need to attract these guests to us and to our owners, and and we need to advise the owners that they have a strong offer.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a bit the way how we've how our thinking on owners versus guests and what we have to do for them, how that has evolved over the years.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's quite a shift.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: I have a question, and you may already do this, but I'm not aware that you do.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: Apart hotels and actually running kind of hotels as well, then you just have one owner.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's always, you know, on paper, it's a lot more simple as well.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: Is that what you is that part of your game plan is to go into the apart hotel and hotel sector as well, a little bit more?
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for for for guest ready, that's definitely a big part of what we're doing now.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: We're seeing more and more demand from professional investors that don't just invest in one unit, but they're investing in an entire hospitality building with uh 10, 20, 30, 50 keys, and then they're looking for an operator, and we're ideally positioned to uh support them because we have proven that we can run even individual units across the city efficiently and professionally and profitably.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: So managing entire buildings is much simpler, you have much more control, and uh we can we can be extremely efficient.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: We can just take this building and plug it into our infrastructure, no additional overhead needed versus traditional hospitality operator, they always operate on premise, they always allocate fixed resources to each individual hospitality asset, and we don't have to do that.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: We have the whole infrastructure and whole technology already, and we can just seamlessly plug in these new new assets.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: So it's something that uh these investors understand that we operate more lean, we deliver great guest experience and great yields for them.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: So big big part of what we're doing, and also driven by by regulation, right?
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: That uh regulation in Europe uh in most markets, I think globally is only becoming stricter.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: I think at some point in time we'll probably reach a limit, but for now it's becoming a bit stricter every year.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: And uh that on the other side opens opportunities for professional investors to invest because the more restrictive a market, the higher the ADRs, the higher the REVP pan, and the higher the yields can be, and and that's what these professional investors understand, and that's uh what we what we see happening now.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_02: You you mentioned briefly about you know regulations and consistency.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I wonder about the brand.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: How do you maintain brand consistency when the inventory spans multiple ownership structures, property types, local regulations?
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_02: You know, how do you keep that on a level playing field that this is what we do?
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, very good question.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: And and uh definitely our ambition is not to have the brand that uh every property, every room looks exactly the same.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think we're the opposite of that.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: Our premise and our ambition was always to uh bring the best of a home together with the best of a hotel as guest ready.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: And uh to yeah, to to mirror that local character of a local home and uh bring that to guests, but with a professional service layer that you'd expect from a hotel on top.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because why why are shorter mentals doing so well?
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well, because many people they don't want to stay in a cookie-cutter uh type hotel where every room looks exactly the same everywhere around the globe.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: They actually travel, we travel because we want to have a local experience, and and therefore our ambition is not that every place looks the same, our ambition is that we have different uh properties, but that all live to uh the live up to a certain standard of the property, and then we bring our service uh our service levels on top of that, and that's what our ambition is, and that's why also before I said our standard of what we expect from properties, what we expect from owners, also in terms of their investment into the property, that's only become higher over the years, and and that's supporting that brand brand standard.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_01: Excellent.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: It feels kind of refreshing to hear you say that rather than we we must be like hotels and and everyone mustn't know exactly what to expect when they turn up to one of our properties.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of obviously they will expect a good service, they'll expect all the um amenities that's in the listing, but it might be a very different listing um when they actually arrive, as long as it's what what's being promised to them.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's a it's a brand promise, I guess, isn't it?
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think that's the key word as long as it is what it's promised, and it needs to be very clear, the expectation management, because in the end, the guests' delight is just the difference between their expectation and reality, and hopefully, reality is at or above the expectation, and that's what we're working really hard towards.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_00: That also we're not looking to oversell what the property is, or that there are some truth about each property that we need to highlight.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe some property is perfect located, but it's because it's so perfectly located, it might be a bit loud at night.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: So if if you are a very light sleeper, then maybe this is not the best option for you, and we want to highlight this truth, or it can be a great property in a great location, but it's in the fifth floor without an elevator.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_00: If you're traveling with a light luggage, a backpack only, perfect for you.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: But if you have heavy suitcases, maybe not.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just about making this very clear, and uh and that's something that we're also uh have done a lot of work over time.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's a perfect place to us to come to an end, Alex.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: And it's been great speaking with you.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much for coming on.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_01: And and I don't know, Christian, do you want to finish us out with asking the last question?
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_02: One more important final question for you, Alex.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_02: Any last thoughts for our audience?
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_02: And then, of course, if people are interested uh in finding out more, where should they go?
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you for the chat.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's been great.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: Well, as we talked about, everybody's excited about AI, and and so am I.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I think one part I didn't mention, which is I'm very excited the way how we built RentalReady with the property information at the heart of Rental Ready, accessible to AI.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: And originally we built it this way because as a large operator, GuestReady had uh the need to have all the property information that maybe as a small operator you might have in you might hold in your head.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: We had the need, we absolutely had to put this into the system in a very structured manner.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: So, for example, when we onboard a property at Guest Ready, we put down over 200 pieces of information.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that's how we build rental-ready, very sophisticated data architecture, so that our team, let's say in the guest communication at Guest Ready, we have over 30 people, that they can always access all this information without ever having been at the property.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: And the cool thing now is that AI can access this information, and and what I hear sometimes from other operators is that the system they're using is, or they're using different systems, and they're maybe not talking each uh so well together.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_00: And the way how we've built rental ready is with the data at the heart flowing to the different parts of the system, the task management, the owner app, the guest messaging system, and so on.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that's all accessible by by AI, and I think that gives us a unique unique advantage to unlock more efficiency through AI than maybe some other systems that were not built this way.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that's something really cool, and uh yeah, I hope we can harness this power.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm I'm very excited about all the stuff that we're gonna build in in AI AI going forward and how to empower again the small operators through that.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want to find out more, check out RentalReady.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh check out GuestReady on our websites, rentlready.com, guestready.com, and also follow us on LinkedIn.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_00: And thanks again for having me on the show.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_01: Brilliant.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_01: Alex, thank you.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_02: And that wraps it up for today's episode of Pillow Talk Sections.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for joining us.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_02: And to stay connected and never miss a conversation, head over to PillowTalkSections.com to subscribe.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_02: You can also follow us on LinkedIn for more insights and interviews with leaders shaping the future of hospitality, multifamily living, and community-driven spaces.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_02: Pillow Talk Sections is brought to you by Abode Worldwide, the strategic public relations agency for tech brands and tech enabled operators, transforming the way we work, play, and stay.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_02: Abode Worldwide creates category leaders and builds brand value across hospitality in modern rental living.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on Pillow Talk Sections.