Lata Luxury Rome
After trying a revenue manager for a year, I had no doubts—Smartpricing is better. Higher revenues, simpler management, and zero worries.
Roma
10
Tell us about your property
Lata Luxury Rooms & Apartments was created ten years ago as an idea between my business partner and me. We started with just four rooms, and today we manage five properties in Rome, all within walking distance of Piazza di Spagna, Piazza del Popolo, and the Trevi Fountain.
In total, we offer about fifty beds across three guesthouses and two vacation homes. 80% of our bookings come through Booking.com and Airbnb.
Beyond the peace of mind of always having the best rates, Smartpricing motivated us to immediately improve our properties: adding services, renovating spaces, or even just upgrading the mattress toppers—all actions that help satisfy guests, garner positive reviews, and work more effectively by balancing improvements and pricing.
How did you manage pricing before Smartpricing?
In our first five years, we used a seasonal price list. At the time, we didn’t even have a channel manager; everything was very manual. This approach required a lot of time, and we often left rates unchanged—it was clear they weren’t optimized, but we simply couldn’t keep up.
Then, in 2018, we realized we needed a solution. We felt unprepared in this area: predicting the right rate at the right time while considering all parameters was impossible for us.
This didn’t stop us from operating since we’re in Rome and demand is high, but we wanted to optimize our work. Our first choice was to hire an external revenue manager. The collaboration lasted a year, but honestly, it didn’t satisfy us—the revenue difference wasn’t significant, and the costs were high for a small operation like ours.
What convinced you to replace the revenue manager with Smartpricing?
The first motivation was cost, as the revenue manager charged a fixed monthly fee plus a percentage of our revenue. Additionally, when comparing results between a year with the revenue manager and a year with Smartpricing, the results were better with Smartpricing!
Ultimately, even the revenue manager relied on software. While it was true I could call and get direct feedback from this person, in the end, the rates were still published automatically via an interface that was far more technical and difficult to use than Smartpricing’s dashboard.
The other aspect that convinced me was that Smartpricing was a young and innovative company, whereas the revenue management company we worked with was large and outdated. You brought a breath of fresh air and pushed us to move away from old pricing strategies.
The final confirmation came from the immediate results, which we continue to enjoy today: the first quarter of 2023 was the best in our history, and we already have a solid booking plan for the coming months.
How has your work changed with Smartpricing?
We no longer have the constant worry of “Oh no, I need to check the rates today.” This doesn’t mean we’re indifferent, but we now have the peace of mind knowing that rates are constantly being adjusted. That’s no small thing!
Sometimes, I’ve seen rates that seemed high for our type of property, and the worry is always about disappointing customer expectations. But when that happened, I chose to wait, and indeed, the rooms were sold.
The new rates haven’t just increased our revenue; they’ve also motivated us to start making planned improvements right away: adding services, renovating where needed, and even upgrading all the mattress toppers. These actions help us satisfy guests, earn positive reviews, and work more effectively with Smartpricing by balancing improvements and pricing.
What would you say to someone unsure about Smartpricing?
I recommend Smartpricing even for small properties because as soon as you’re on multiple channels, it’s already hard to keep up with everything.
Here in Rome, I’ve seen many small properties like ours close due to pricing issues, which were worsened by the pandemic. For us, COVID is just a bad memory; even last year, we performed better than in 2019. The fact that we succeeded shows we were well-positioned at the right time, helping us stand out in a crowded market.
For example, we’re now achieving 100% occupancy—something that’s never happened before. But occupancy alone isn’t enough: with Smartpricing, we’re confident that every booking comes with truly profitable rates.