Rich History Meets A Modern Mindset: The Success Story of The Anthony and HotelPartner
Situated in the heart of Utrecht, The Netherlands, The Anthony Hotel is a former monastery that has been transformed into a modern and comfortable residence for short and long stays. Offering hotel rooms and suites as well as fully equipped self-catering apartments and meeting facilities, the hotel caters for both business and leisure travellers. Wouter Visser, General Manager of The Anthony, and HotelPartner’s very own Luca D’Achille and Alexander Cleven offer insights into the successful partnership. Enjoy the read!
Location, Legacy, and Luxury: The Winning Trifecta Behind The Anthony’s Success
Housed in an ancient monastery, the unique atmosphere created by the high ceilings, stained glass galleries, beautiful gardens and 100 year old chapel is one of the key USPs of The Anthony Hotel. The monastery is still bursting with history and outstanding architecture, attracting guests with a high sense of quality, and the hotel’s concept of hotel rooms, apartments and function facilities opens up a variety of possibilities for business and leisure travellers. The Anthony’s location, close to Utrecht Central Station, is an additional advantage in the hotel’s favour.
Although the hotel market in Utrecht is growing, it is far less competitive than markets such as Amsterdam, says General Manager Wouter Visser. In other words, The Anthony benefits from a market with relatively high demand, which has been less saturated on the supply side for a long time. This goes hand in hand with how the city council handles its tourism agenda, for example in terms of the level of municipal taxes and so on.
Choosing the Right Partner: How The Anthony Found its Match in HotelPartner
Prior to partnering with HotelPartner, The Anthony had been working with another full-service revenue agency since the hotel opened. Wouter explains that they were looking for a partner that better understood their specific product in order to take them to the next stage of development they were in at the time. In their search for such a partner, they focused on finding a match in terms of working structure and technology to support their business.
After extensive research and discussions with a number of revenue management providers, The Anthony selected HotelPartner because they felt that its approach to revenue management and distribution aligned strongly with their own views on how to approach this important area.
Adapting to this new way of working wasn’t without its challenges. Having been used to specific processes with the previous agency, this new partnership turned everything upside down to find further optimisation potential and streamline existing processes. The ambitious goals set by both partners led to a complete overhaul of processes in the middle of the season. However, this intensity at the start of the partnership meant that the first positive results were quickly achieved. Luca D’Achille adds: “It has been rewarding to see the almost immediate impact of our strategy adaptation and implementation on The Anthony’s performance. It’s a testament to the strength of our combined efforts and the unique potential of this historic property.”
From Rapid Results to Sustained Success: A Strategic Journey
Once the partnership was up and running, Chief Portfolio Manager Luca D’Achille and Senior Portfolio Manager Alexander Cleven quickly got to grips with The Anthony’s unique concept. After a short time, the results showed that it was a very strong product with a lot of assets that could be turned into even more revenue. They also quickly identified some weaknesses in the existing strategies and how they could be improved.
The first results came in the form of market performance, as shown by the STR figures. With great attention to detail, HotelPartner’s revenue experts looked at room category management and subsequently optimised the performance of each category. Working closely with General Manager Wouter Visser, they reviewed the performance of each category and worked on changing various factors such as surcharges, category visibility, promotions with availability boosters or booking restrictions.
Wouter goes on to describe working with Luca and Alexander: “The success of our partnership lies not only in the great results we’ve achieved, but also in the revenue management system that HotelPartner provides. I really appreciate the depth and range of performance analysis that the tool allows – it gives me great insight”. In addition, both parties appreciate the honest and open ‘sparring’ that takes place in the exchange of new ideas and feedback, as well as the mutual trust. Alexander elaborates: “A partnership like this can only be successful if the revenue management company believes in the value of the hotel and the hotel believes in the partnership. At The Anthony, we both value and trust each other, which I believe is a big factor in our success.
Working closely with HotelPartner, The Anthony’s next goal is to optimise mid-week occupancy. As an independent hotel, they have different sales structures and revenues on weekdays, so their challenge is to find the right balance between price and quality perception that fits the hotel’s unique concept.
We are delighted to support The Anthony and Wouter Visser in translating the hotel’s strengths into increased revenue performance. We look forward to many future successes together!
Your HotelPartner Team
