Tell us about your property.

Mono Suites has two sites, one in the Old Town with 10 apartments and one in the New Town with four.

We've experienced exponential growth, as demand in Edinburgh is through the roof all year round. The city is very vibrant, with big concerts planned, which gives hoteliers a great opportunity to generate strong revenue.

At the moment, 70% of our bookings come from Booking.com, 20% from Expedia, and 10% from our direct channel.

How did you manage pricing before Smartpricing?

At the beginning, I was managing all the revenue myself. Every day, I adjusted prices based on competitor data, using spreadsheets to compare rates with our 10 key competitors.

There were some revenue management tools on Booking.com and Expedia that we used, but the amount of data to check was huge—especially when setting prices for the years ahead. In January, my entire focus was usually on setting rates for the upcoming year.

We used Cloudbeds' Price Intelligence Engine, which was our first step into dynamic pricing, but it was very basic. It worked with static rules: if occupancy was over 60%, it would add 10%, for example.

Smartpricing works differently. It picks up real-time market trends, reacts to demand shifts, and overall makes the process much easier.

What need did you have or what problem did you want to solve?

The biggest challenge was missing revenue opportunities. Even when I was managing rates manually, the approach was relatively static. I knew Sundays and Mondays would be the lowest rates, Tuesdays to Thursdays would be mid-range, and weekends would be the peak. But this didn’t account for unexpected factors—like train cancellations on a Sunday, which could push prices up.

Take August, for example. Thanks to Smartpricing, we had rooms selling at £500, and the last one in that category sold for £800. With our old system, we would have applied a blanket percentage increase, which wouldn't have captured the full potential of peak demand.

We also deliberately chose not to impose a price cap. In Edinburgh, limiting rates wouldn’t make sense—people are willing to pay premium prices during high-demand periods, so we let the market determine the maximum value. Before, we were likely underpricing and missing opportunities to maximize revenue.

What convinced you to use Smartpricing?

The experience with the team was a big factor.

During the first meeting, everyone was very positive, professional, and easy to talk to. That made me confident that communication would be just as smooth later on—and it was. They never let me down.

I believe that, even with many providers offering this kind of software today, the key factor is the people behind it. That’s what helped me decide.

What results did you achieve with Smartpricing?

We implemented Smartpricing in the summer of 2024, and we've seen a clear impact on revenue.

Looking at our reports, we were already seeing some growth before implementing Smartpricing. But once it kicked in, our revenue increased by around 20%, which is a significant difference.

Has Smartpricing saved you time?

Yes, absolutely.

Before, I was spending so much time on pricing. With Smartpricing handling that, I’ve been able to focus on other areas.

It's not just about revenue optimization—it also frees up time for upselling and enhancing other parts of the business, such as marketing, upselling, improving our website, and guest experience.

What is your favorite thing about Smartpricing? What is the biggest benefit?

I really like how Smartpricing works.

As I told my boss, using Smartpricing feels like being a DJ, mixing the "melody of revenue." You adjust things up and down, and you see the results immediately.

You have your strategy, your knowledge of your property, and the system helps execute it more efficiently than any manual approach ever could.

I've worked in this property for nearly four years, so I know how demand fluctuates. I put that knowledge into the system, and it does the rest—better than I ever could manually. It’s still my strategy, but Smartpricing refines and executes it with much more precision.

The reports are quick, the layout is good, and the support team is great. Any time I had an issue, I just opened a ticket and got a fast response.

If you like revenue management, and you have all the tools to make that happen, that’s just a joy. It gives me the potential to use it.

Smartpricing in one word?

"Fun."

For those who love revenue management and enjoy seeing their property grow so efficiently, it really is fun.

When I told my boss, I said, "I feel like a DJ." Watching occupancy rise, revenue increase, and seeing immediate feedback from the market—it’s exciting.

Smartpricing makes revenue management both effective and enjoyable.